T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (2010 Series) #5

April 29, 2011

Title: Never the Whole Truth

Writer: Nick Spencer
Pencils: Cafu
Inks: Bit
Colorist: Santiago Arcas
Art (Menthor Sequence): Ryan Sook
Letterer: Steve Wands
Cover: Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato
Editor: Wil Moss                
Publisher: DC Comics

Continuing DC’s reinvigoration of one of comics’ most acclaimed properties, this issue we look into the history of the new Menthor… a T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent that has ties to one of our viewpoint characters. Toby has been kind of a cipher since this book started. Nick Spencer hasn’t dug too deeply into his history or his psyche before, but now we’re finally learning a little bit about him, and it’s none too soon. What’s more, we’re also getting some serious action this issue, which is something else we’ve been waiting for. Cafu does some cool stuff with his layouts, and the battle sequence looks good. My problem with this title actually comes in through Toby and Colleen, the characters through whom we’ve been seeing this world. While Spencer is spending plenty of time picking apart the Agents themselves, we don’t really know enough about the viewpoint characters to relate to them or feel for them. This issue starts to change that, and that’s all to the good. Of course, with Spencer going Marvel-exclusive, we’re left with the question of how long he’s going to keep this storyline and who – if anybody – is going to pick it up when he’s gone. Until those questions are answered, though, best to just enjoy what we’ve got to go on.

Rating: 8/10

DC Comics Presents: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1

February 6, 2011

Writers: Larry Ivie, Len Brown & Dan Adkins
Art: Wally Wood, Reed Crandall, Gil Kane, George Tuska, Mike Esposito, Mike Sekowsky, Frank Giacoia, Dan Adkins, Richard Bassford, Tony Coleman & Steve Ditko
Cover: Wally Wood
Publisher: DC Comics

I’ve started reading the new T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents comic by Nick Spencer despite never having read any previous incarnations of the team. It’s been good, but I’ve been hoping for a chance to take in some of those old school adventures. Thanks to the uber-cool DC Comics Presents 100-Page Spectaculars, I’ve gotten that chance. This volume reprints stories from the original T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1, 2 and 7.

As our story begins, a special U.N. task force uncovers the body of a brilliant scientists slain by a villain called the Warlord. The U.N. decides to use some of the advanced weaponry the scientist had developed to equip a new team of special agents. This volume introduces us to the most colorful agents – Dynamo, Noman and Menthor, as well as the surprising sacrifice of one of the heroes. The flavor of this book is definitely ahead of its time. The heroes have a Silver Age feel to them, but there are layers of complexity not really common in other superhero comics of the time. We also meet the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad here, a group of non-powered special agents that seem to serve as a sort of back-up to the other agents. This group has a definite Silver Age flavor, with traces of the Challengers of the Unknown and Doc Savage’s group of agents among them.

The art side is a who’s who of famous artists at the time, with a lot of truly spectacular artists contributing to the many stories collected here. There’s a sort of unity to the art, however. If you look closely, you can tell which pages belong to Steve Ditko or Gil Kane, but at a casual read, the art moves from one artist to the next fairly easily.

This book was great to give me a little more background on these characters. I hope that the Agents get a few more of these DC Comics Presents specials, because I want to read more now.

Rating: 8/10