Short Lived Comic Series #28 - T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (Tower Comics)

I first came across T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents back in the mid-80s at my local comic store in Louisville when I saw the beautifully drawn cover of Deluxe Comics' first issue, as rendered by George Perez (probably the most magnificent comic artist ever in my book!).  I had never heard of the team before, and I thought it was a new concept, so I picked up that first issue.  If I recall correctly, I got the second issue after that, but I did not pick up any more because my money was limited and there were so many comics I wanted.  I never really gave much thought to that comic or those heroes again until many years later when DC Comics got the license for the characters and published a short-lived series featuring that team.  I enjoyed the stories and the heroes, so I decided to go back and hunt down those original books.  Little did I realize they would not be easy to find at prices I could afford!

The very first issue of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents was published by Tower Comics back in the mid-60s (twenty years prior to my first introduction to the team) with a cover date of November 1965.  The name T.H.U.N.D.E.R. was an acronym (obviously, based on the periods after each letter!) that stood for The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves, an organization that worked hard to defend America and the world from the dangers that arose - particular those of a mysterious criminal known only as the Overlord.  That first issue was a 64-page comic for only twenty-five cents, and it featured the origin stories of Dynamo, No-Man, and Menthor, alongside the first story of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad (a team made up of Guy, the leader; Dynamite, the weapons man; Kitten, the technical device expert; "Weed," the locksmith; and Egghead, the strategist).  The first issue also introduces readers to the Iron Maiden, a villain who would return time and again to both challenge and aid the Agents, and more specifically, Dynamo!  As with many comics from that time period, there were no credits displayed for the stories; however, it has since become common knowledge that Len Brown, Larry Ivie, Lou Silverstone, Dan Adkins, and Wally Wood scripted the stories, while Wally Wood, Reed Crandall, Gil Kane, George Tuska, and Mike Sekowsky provided the art.  I thoroughly enjoyed those first stories of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and found it to be a pretty solid start to the series.

The series lasted for a total of 20 issues over the course of five years (from 1965 to 1969), with the issues coming out less frequently towards the end of the series (there was an entire year gap between issues 19 and 20!).  While the cover price never changed from twenty-five cents, by issue 17, the page count decreased from 64 pages down to 48 pages for those last four issues.  Additionally, the last couple of issues were more reprint tales than new stories, and the last issue actually featured the origin story of Dynamo from issue one, but completely redrawn.  During the course of the series, two spin-off titles were published:  Dynamo, which lasted only four issues, and No-Man, which only had two issues published.  While Len Brown and Wally Wood provided the stories and art for a lot of the original tales, other creators came and went during the run, including Dick Ayers, Ogden Whitney, Jack Abel, Steve Ditko, and many others.

Dynamo was definitely the lead character for the title, as he appeared in more stories than another other, often having two stories in each of the early issues.  No-Man also had his own stories in each issue.  Menthor was surprisingly killed-off in issue 7 of the series in a powerful tale written by Dan Adkins and drawn by Steve Ditko and Wally Wood.  The story had an impact because the man behind the mask was originally a plant within the Agents by their enemy, but he eventually decided to take the path of good and right, which is what ultimately cost him his life as he tried to make it out and warn his fellow Agents of the threat awaiting them.  While the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents held on to Menthor's helmet (which is what gave him his powers), no one else ever wielded that power again during this original series.  

The team was not static, though, as two new members were introduced during its run.  In issue 4, Guy Guilbert, who was the leader of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad, was given a suit that granted him super-speed, but at the cost of knowing every time he used the speed, it shortened his life span.  He donned the costume anyway and assumed the name Lightning. He appeared in several individual stories, as well as team stories throughout the remaining issues.  Then, in issue 8, the team recruits an ex-trapeze artist / acrobat / gymnast by the name of Craig Lawson to wear a newly designed cape that allows its wearer to fly - and thus, the Raven is born!  At first, he plans to use the cape and its costume for his own profit, but eventually he becomes a part of the team and the hero he was meant to be.  I was hoping at some point they would add a female hero to the team, but, alas, that 20th issue came and went, the series ended, and the team remained exclusive to men (with the exception of Kitten, who was a part of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad and played only small parts here and there when the Squad would appear in the title).

The quality of the stories and art went down as the series progressed, and even the addition of Lightning and Raven was not able to keep the title afloat.  By December 1967 (issue 17), the series was already faltering, and issue 18 did not come out until nine months later (September 1968).  Issue 19 was published in November 1968, and the final issue a year later in November 1969.  Issues 18 and 19 were even published with no ads, featuring cover-to-cover action, but even that was not enough to save the title.  So, in November 1969, the series ended, and the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents were sent off to comic book limbo...

Until 1983 when John Carbonaro acquired the rights to the title and its characters and relaunched the series under his JC Comics company.  There were only two issues of new stories published as T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, as well as three issues of reprints under a Hall of Fame: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents title.  There was also a one-issue crossover special with Justice Machine that same year published by Texas Comics.  The next year, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents resurfaced at Deluxe Comics, who published five issues of original stories over the course of three years (1984 - 1986).  The books featured gorgeous covers provided by George Perez (1 through 4) and Mike Machlan and Jerry Ordway (5), and the stories were actually very well done.  Sadly, that series came to an end because it turned out Deluxe did not have the rights to the characters to be able to publish stories about them.  In 1987, the Agents made a guest appearance in an independent comic called Thunderbunny (issue 11).

Eventually, DC Comics acquired the rights and published a 10-issue series in 2010, with a follow-up six-issue series in 2011.  In 2012, IDW got the rights and published an 8-issue series.

The original 20-issue series is definitely a classic, and the first half of that series, at least, is well worth the read.  The stories are well-written, there is great characterization, and the art is nicely done.  There is a lot of continuity among the stories, even between the individual and team tales.  Later issues seemed to move away from that and simply tell one-off stories, some of which were extremely unusual (including one where No-Man is taken off-planet!).  Nevertheless, it was this series that gifted the world with some unique and fun characters that have managed to stay in the comic world for nearly sixty years - will be curious to see where they show up next!

RATING:  7 super-charged belts out of 10 for creative characters and stories that were not afraid to take chances with something new!

Modern Love - The Complete EC Series (Dark Horse)

When I first started reading and collecting comics back in ... well, no, that would be telling - let's just say my first comic book ever was a Super Friends comic - back when it was first published and on the spinner rack at the convenience store ... anyway, I was never a fan of the romance comics. Even though I liked soap operas (All My Children, General Hospital, Santa Barbara, Passions, Dynasty, Dante's Cove, etc.), I could just never get into the romance comics. They were way too cheesy for me. Flash forward quite a few years, and now, as an adult (uh...hmmm), I have discovered romance comics in a whole new light! Private Secretary by Dell, Soap Opera Romance and Soap Opera Love from Charlton, Night Nurse by Marvel, Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love and Secrets of Sinister House by DC, among others - and so it is that I came to purchase this Dark Horse hardcover collection of the EC Comics' romance series, Modern Love.

With only eight issues, Modern Love was not a long-running series, but each issue featured three stories of 7 or 8, or even more, pages, as well as a prose story or two, including features such as "Dear Diary" and "Advice from Adrienne..."  While the lead/cover story for each issue was allegedly a "true love story" as told by readers, there was always a blurb on the first page indicating that "the names in this true love story have been fictionized for obvious reasons!"  I had never heard of this series before seeing the solicit for this collection in Previews magazine, but then again, I was never really one to pick up EC comics.  The writers and artists for the eight issues worth of tales are mostly unknown to me, with the exception of Gardner Fox and Wally Wood, who contributed as writer and artist, respectively, for several of the stories.

The series was originally published from 1949 through 1950, published bi-monthly by Tiny Tot Comics, Inc. under the "EC" label ("An Entertaining Comic").  As the inside front flap for the dust jacket of this collection proudly proclaims, Modern Love was ahead of its time in a number of ways - the artists for the series were allowed to draw in their own style and not be forced to draw in a similar style to every other artist in the company.  The stories also featured some, what would have been at that time, highly controversial subjects, such as racial bigotry and strong-willed women who put their career above their men!  Of course, most of the stories featured your standard soap opera, romance tropes - cheating boyfriends/husbands, conniving sisters/best friends, thought-dead husbands returned to life, long-buried secrets come to light, and just about any other ideas that you can imagine that would throw a monkey-wrench into what appears at first to be the perfect romance.

The first issue starts off with a bang, featuring a story of a mean-spirited woman who tries to steal her younger sister's beau away!  It is the third story, however, that really caught my eye, as it not only features a young girl searching for love, but also involves a mystery surrounding muggings that happen just outside of a dance hall where the girl works! It's Nancy Drew ... er, Nina Foster! ... to the rescue! The second issue's strongest tale is about a meddling aunt who believes her niece should only marry for money - and when Janet Mason falls for a kitchen worker, her Aunt Mary will do whatever it takes to keep them apart!  For the third issue, it's mining family vs. farming family in a Romeo & Juliet type tale of star-crossed lovers from two very different families.  The fourth issue, surprisingly enough, features a lead story about an older sister who tries to steal her younger sister's boyfriend - very similar to the one in the first issue.  Of course, it's the title of that story, "Three-Cornered Romance" that caught my eye, since it reminded me of the Dana Girls' mystery, A Three-Cornered Mystery. As far as romance stories, though, it's the last story in that issue, "I Gave My Love Away" that is by far the best one - a female author is looking for new inspiration for her latest romance novel, so she takes a bum off the street, cleans him up, and has him pretend to be the hero of her latest adventure - the only problem is, she never expects to fall for him!  And, of course, as with any good soap, he is not everything that he seems, providing for a rather unexpected outcome to this tale.

The fifth issue features a rather controversial tale called "Shame." While it never comes out and directly says it, the heroine of the story ends up pregnant by a man who takes off and leaves her, so she turns to the neighbor she's known all her life, where she knows she can be safe and secure - but what happens when the baby's father returns? An interesting story for the time, since an unwed mother (and a man marrying a woman pregnant with another man's child) was not your typical comic story fare!  That same issue also features a story about a woman on a game show who wins $45,000!  Yes, you read that right.  Can you imagine the value of that back in 1950?  And yet, in the story, she manages to blow through all that money, but still find love by the end of the story ... and then there's the story of the woman released from jail, who takes a job in a city where no one knows her.  She falls in love, only to have her past come back to haunt her, threatening to expose her and destroy her happiness!  Issue six has another career girl story, but it also features one of the first tales without a happy ending - a woman who falls in love again after her husband dies - only to come face to face with him again, and must give up the one she truly loves now in order to stay faithful to the husband she thought was dead.  Issue seven gives readers a repeat of the dead husband come back to life story with another sad ending, but it also features a tale of bigotry and racial bias, when a father refuses to allow his son to become involved with a Mexican girl who works for the family.

The eighth and final issue of the series has a few surprises.  One is a third tale of a widowed woman who finds love, only to have her "dead" husband come back to claim her - only this time, a second tragedy gives Katha Trenton the happy ending she longs for.  Another is a mystery at a ranch, where someone keeps causing dangerous accidents - and it's up to the new girl to figure out who before she becomes the next victim! And the issue (and series!) ends with a satirical tale that pokes fun at the whole romance comic genre, allegedly written by (and starring) the office boy of the T. Tot Comic Magazine Publishing Company - a story about a comic book publisher that decides to take on romance comics after falling in love himself; but when that love turns out to be a lie, he puts an end to the line of romance titles (just as it signals the final issue of Modern Love comic magazine...)

The stories are fun, serious, sad, happy, over-the-top, and subtle - just about covering anything and everything you'd expect to find in a regular soap opera-type story.  The art varies from issue to issue and story to story, by artists such as Al Feldstein, Graham Ingels, Johnny Craig, Ed Waldman, Lou Morales, John Sink, Harry Harrison, Rudy Palais, Wally Wood, Jack Kamen, and S.M. Iger, but it despite the different styles, there remains a consistency of bold colors, simple backgrounds, and outstanding expressions on the characters (so easy to see what they are feeling just by looking at their faces - you don't even need to read the word balloons!).  All together, the writing and art make this book a fantastic read, and leaves the reader wishing there were more stories to come...

RATING:  9 mine cave-ins out of 10 for telling truly "modern" love stories, highlighting topics and issues that weren't necessarily so open for discussion back in the day.