Category Archives: Tower Comics

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

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Or – “Not Bird, Nor Plane, Nor Even Frog…”

The 1960′s featured a proliferation of spy organizations, from Nick Fury’s SHIELD, to Derek Flint’s ZOWIE, even Napoleon Solo’s UNCLE. In fact, for a time it seemed that the only thing more plentiful in the mid-60′s than intelligence operatives were superheroes, so it was natural that, eventually, SOMEBODY would discover a way to combine the two. The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents were created in response to a dangerous world, working as operatives of the United Nations to combat threats that your average super-friend wouldn’t have the reach or resources to combat, and foremost in their field operations was the irresistible force of today’s Hero History subject. Neither as invulnerable as that Kent kid, nor as smart as Tom Wayne’s boy, he nonetheless was the lynchpin of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. in all its incarnations, showing what the average man was capable of in extraordinary circumstances. This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of Leonard Brown, agent of The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves… T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent DYNAMO!

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