Press Release
IDW Publishing announced to a full house at this year’s New York Comic Con that they’ve acquired the rights to publish the exploits of the legendary band of super-powered heroes, the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS!
First published in 1965, the fan-favorite team has seen their exploits published by Tower, JC, Deluxe, and DC Comics and been written and drawn by a virtual who’s-who of comic industry titans. The diverse cast of Agents have seen their share of adventures over the years—including DC’s well-received run most recently—but IDW is excited at the opportunity to put their stamp on the legendary team.
“I’m thrilled that IDW will be bringing its extraordinary talents and craft to producing everything from beautiful omnibus volumes to bold and cutting-edge new comic book titles based on T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents,” said Michael Uslan, who initiated the project. “With top quality, IDW will be presenting the works of comic book super-stars, including T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents creator, Wally Wood (Daredevil, MAD, EC horror and science fiction comics, All-Star Comics, Power Girl) along with the legendary Steve Ditko (Spider-Man, Dr. Strange); Gil Kane (Green Lantern, The Atom); Mike Sekowsky (Justice League); Reed Crandall (Blackhawk); Dave Cockrum (X-Men); George Perez (Wonder Woman, New Teen Titans); Murphy Anderson (Hawkman, The Spectre); Paul Gulacy (Master of Kung Fu); Jerry Ordway (Shazam, Justice Society); Ron Lim (Warlock, Silver Surfer), Keith Giffen (Legion of Super-Heroes, Lobo); Dan Adkins (Creepy, Dr. Strange), and many others.”
“T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents always had a great premise in addition to the list of esteemed creators who worked on the comics—people whose day job was being government-employed superheroes,” said IDW’s Chief Creative Officer/Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall, “That premise offers a resonant jumping-off point for some exciting new stories that will add to the great comics already left behind by both Tower and DC’s recent run.”
“T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is a classic, beloved property,” added Greg Goldstein, IDW’s President and C.O.O.. “Its original stories featured some of the best superhero art of the silver age and it was well ahead of its time in many areas of storytelling. As an example, it was the first mainstream comic book to feature the ‘permanent’ death of a major character.”
In addition to the rights to reprint classic T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents comics as well as create all-new series around the property, IDW also now controls the rights to fellow Tower Comics titles Undersea Agent and Fight the Enemy, too.
“We are very excited that T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents has found a new home at IDW,” said David M. Matthews, Managing Director of Radiant Assets, owner of the property. “Their history of high-quality publications coupled with top-notch creative teams perfectly compliments our desire to expand not only the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent franchise, but Undersea Agent and Fight the Enemy, as well. We join them with great optimism about bringing this storied team’s past, present and future to a whole new generation of readers, who will join the longtime legion of fans already anxious for the continuation of the team’s legendary exploits.”
Though specific plans have yet to be revealed, 2013 is looking to be a mighty year for the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents!
About IDW
IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. Renowned for its diverse catalog of licensed and independent titles, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry, including: Hasbro’s The TRANSFORMERS and G.I. JOE, Paramount’s Star Trek; HBO’s True Blood; the BBC’s DOCTOR WHO; Toho’s Godzilla; and comics and trade collections based on novels by worldwide bestselling author, James Patterson. IDW is also home to the Library of American Comics imprint, which publishes classic comic reprints; Yoe! Books, a partnership with Yoe! Studio.
IDW’s critically- and fan-acclaimed series are continually moving into new mediums. Currently, Warner Brothers and Barry Sonnenfeld are attached to adapt LORE into a feature film starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Disney are creating a feature film based on World War Robot, with Michael Bay‘s Platinum Dunes and Sony bringing Zombies vs. Robots to film.
3 Comments
This is pretty surprising to me. DC just launched two Thunder Agent runs that were really good. I guess TA no longer fits into the streamlined New 52 very well. Still its weird.
I hope IDW makes good. I’m up for more stories.
Spencer’s run was really good. It had that espionage feel for those of us who liked Sleeper, or Secret Warriors. I would have thought it would have worked great to keep that, instead of this Team7 crap.
I didn’t read the recent run, but since it sounds like IDW will be reprinting the older runs, I think this is pretty good. I’ll finally get a chance to read those 80s stories that looked so cool in the Hero Histories!