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