Category Archives: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents

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RETRO REVIEW: Justice Machine Annual #1 (Summer 1983)

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Or – “A Retro Review First!”

I’ve done a lot of reviews in the past 7 years with Major Spoilers, many of them have been notable for reasons big and small.  Some were awful, some sublime, and others were simply inexplicable, but this is the first time, to my memory, that we have reviewed THE ENTIRE OUTPUT of a publishing house in one swell foop.  Add in the earliest work by one of the most respected creators of the day AND a first appearance of some characters near and dear to the hearts of many collectors, and we’ve got ourselves a winner.  Ladies, gentlemen and various and sundry monstrous monsters, your Major Spoilers (Retro) review awaits!

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REVIEW: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #6 (of 6)

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Or – “Man, I Don’t Have ROOM For All These Last Issues Of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents!”

Occasionally, I get all maudlin and pouty about the fact that some of my favorite comic series can’t keep a regular monthly title.  I know that it’s a combination of factors, but I still want a monthly Agents of Atlas series, a monthly Secret Six, even a successful revamp of Archie’s Crusaders.  (Fingers are still crossed on that one.)  Still, even the succes of The Defenders doesn’t entire make up for having to once again bid farewell to the agents of The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves…

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REVIEW: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #4 (of 6)

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Or – “Inversion – Noun:  A Reversal Of The Usual Or Of The Natural Order.”

Any given comic book series has a status quo.  A talented writer can play with that status quo and make it interesting, and even a hack can convince us that ‘everything we know is WRONG!’  But once in a while, a REALLY good writer comes along and crafts that expectation into a compelling story.  This issue tweaks one key element of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents history, one established in the very first panel of the very first issue, decades ago and changes everything we know about the franchise…

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REVIEW: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #8

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Or – “This N’ That With Rusty!”

Ever since the relaunch news hit, I (like many other fans) have been wondering about the status of fave-rave titles that haven’t been announced as part of the relaunch.  While not as irritated as fans of Donna Troy, Cassandra Cain or the JSA, I was a bit trepidatious to see no news of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents in the new world.  Thankfully, since the book isn’t part of the relaunch, it’s just going to skip big relaunch month and continue afterwards (which makes sense, as it doesn’t seem to be part of the DCU, as far as I can tell.)  What all this means is, we get an answer to a question 45 years in the making:  Whatever happened to The Iron Maiden?

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REVIEW: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #4

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Or – “In Which 45 Years Of Continuity Subtly Reappear…”

Being the type of fan that I am, my major concern with T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents has been where (if it all) it fits into the continuity of the older Tower Comics series, and previous continuations thereof.  The first three issues have (probably wisely) focused on the new characters, but the reappearance of original agent NoMan last issue has brought us deeper into the world of T.H.U.N.D.E.R., and this issue answers most of my questions once and for all, while raising a few more troubling ones as it goes…

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REVIEW: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1

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Or – “Whether To Burn Out Or Fade Away?  I’ll Take Cake, Please!”

I’m super-psyched to FINALLY see the relaunched T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents after so many years on the MIA list.  Forty years ago, the legendary Wally Wood and a cast of comics legends launched the team as a combination of the then-red-hot superspy concept (think James Bond, Napoleon Solo, Derek Flint) with the post-Batman-boom superhero industry, combining two great tastes that ended up tasting great together.  After half a dozen failed revamps through the last 20 years, DC promised to give us a new T.H.U.N.D.E.R. team around 2000, but it failed to materialize till now.  Will it live up to the hype in my brain?  Let’s find out, shall we?

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HERO HISTORY: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent NoMan

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Or – “Hero Of Many Roles:  Scientist…  Superspy…  Android…  Island…”

The history of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents began with a scientist murdered in his lab, but Emil Jenkins wasn’t alone in his development of super-weapons for the United Nations Defense Enforcement arm.  Other men worked tirelessly to create weapons of democracy for use in the brave new world of terrorist cells and metahuman threats to liberty, including today’s history entrant.  The eldest and wisest of the Agents, his nature is unique among not only T.H.U.N.D.E.R. but among heroes in general.  It is fitting that the man who was so key in the beginnings of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. be our final look at the team.  The agent whose super-weapon makes him most suited to spycraft, he is a mystery wrapped in an enigma, downloaded into the body of Commander Data.  This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Doctor Anthony Dunn of The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves…  T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent NoMan!

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HERO HISTORY: The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad

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  Or – “Think “Mission: Impossible” Only With Awesome Red Blazers and No Peter Graves…”

The various inventions of Professor Emil Jennings allowed The Higher United Nations Defense Enforement Reserves  to empower their agents with super-abilities for the new era of spycraft, but even before they branched out into supers, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. was overthrowing tinpot dictators and defending liberty around the world.  Once Dynamo, Lightning and their ilk arrived, there were still old-school agents doing their thing, and the Best of the Best of the Best (HOO-AH!) was the elite T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad, the team who went in when all other options had failed.  Each agent is master of many disciplines, and all can be counted on to not only outfight, but also outwit and out play those who would attempt to poison my brothers threaten democracy and the forces of good.  This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Daniel John “Dynamite” Adkins, James “Egghead” Andor, Virgil “Guy” Gilbert, Kathryn “Kitten” Kane and William “Weed” Wylie of The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves…  The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad!

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HERO HISTORY: U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A. Agent

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Or “He Needs Either A Tambourine Or A Locker!”

The one universal truth about government agencies is that there are always subdivisions, sub-contractors and related departments whose jobs remain unexplained to all but the most knowledgeable of operatives.  So it is with T.H.U.N.D.E.R.  The job of Defense Enlistment Reservations (or is that Enlisting Reserved Defenses) takes on many forms and many guises, and even consummate professionals like Dynamo, Lightning and The Raven can’t be everywhere at once.  Thus was formed U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A., the United Nations Department of Experiment and Research Systems Established at Atlantis.  Where T.H.U.N.D.E.R. handles trouble on land, U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A. handles trouble on the other 3/4 of the planet.  Today’s entrant, like his brethren before him, is a seasoned professional whose credentials prove him to be one of the most talented operatives on the planet, but even he couldn’t be prepared for what waits under the sea.  (And it ain’t Princess Ariel, Faithful Spoilerites.)  And unlike Dynamo and the rest, he did most of his super-soldiering as a solo act.  This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of David Jones of The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves…  Undersea Agent!

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HERO HISTORY: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent Raven

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Or – “James Bond With Wings…”

These days, it seems every super-team has a little bit of formula to its makeup.  A leader, a tech guy, an airhead, a quipster, a loner, and fill in with your favorite other guys.  Back in the day, though, there weren’t any such things  as “the loner character” (mostly because there wasn’t a whole lot of character to be found in many superteams.)  The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents set a number of precedents with their team, foreshadowing the modern tendency for heroes with feet of clay, the fascination with spycraft and intelligence work, and even the use of gadgetry rather than exotic radiation (The Marvel method), alien intervention (The DC method), or magic (The “We Had An Idea” method.) to empower their heroes.  Today’s entrant is unique, even among his peers, as having been a top-notch secret agent BEFORE he became a super-agent.  Sure, Guy Gilbert spent his time in the field, but he wasn’t knee-deep in lasers and all that.  Len Brown was an accountant, John Janus was a two-fisted manly man, and even Professor Anthony Dunn (a story we’ll get to sooner or later) was a thinking man first.  Our subject today lives in a world of fog and shadows, where shades of grey are the norm and honor is hard to find.  With the help of another tricksy gadget, though, he gets to do what most of us only dream of…  But can you fly away from a life lived in ambiguity?  This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Craig Lawson of The Higher United Nations Defense Enlistment Reserves…  T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent Raven!

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HERO HISTORY: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent Lightning

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Or – “Who Is This Allen Person, Again?”

Professor Emil Jennings was a man ahead of his time, finding technological ways to capture the powers that took Gamma bombs, alien rockets, special serums and more in the hands of others. From Dynamo’s Thunderbelt, with it’s ability to make you nigh-invulnerable, to Menthor’s helmet and it’s full-spectrum psionic abilities to the mysterious cloak that accompanies them (a long story that I’ll be getting to soon enough) Jennings was pretty much a full-service superpower clearing house. But, it should be noted that not ALL the scientific accomplishments used by T.H.U.N.D.E.R.’s eponymous agents were his doing, as this week’s entrant will tell you. Originally a non-powered support agent, he was able to move to powered agent status with the help of an accelerator rifle a reinforced speed-suit, though his power comes with a very high price… His service proves that sometimes, the needs of the many will far outway the needs of the one, as his abilities shorten his life with each and every use. This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Guy Gilbert of the Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves… T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent Lightning!

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HERO HISTORY: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent Menthor

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Or – “Fresh And Full Of Life!”

In the grand scheme of things, there are only a limited number of really good ideas in the universe.  The old cliche of movie producers explaining something as “X Meets Y” is a cliche for a reason, after all.  (Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull = Han Solo + Lizzie McGuire / Nostagia.)  So, when defining today’s Hero History entrant, you find yourself explaining that he kind of looks like the Silver Age Atom, but has the abilities of Professor X, with a touch of Ilya Kiriakin for seasoning.  But even that explanation doesn’t do him justice, as the character quickly became both more and less than the sum of his parts, and has taken a special place in comic book history in the doing.  One of the first characters to really embody the reality of the intelligence field, his story is probably the most known of all the agents of T.H.U.N.D.E.R.  This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of John Janus of The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves…  T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent MENTHOR!

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