Out of the Past
The Lost Sound of T.H.U.N.D.E.R.
A Comic Book Review of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #19 published in 1968 by Tower Comics
Copyright © 2003, Glenn Walker
Fifty-two pages with no ads from cover to cover and it was all for just twenty-five cents. How could you go wrong? It was 1968 and two bits was a lot of change at the time, worth any two DC or Marvel comic books on the racks at the time but any kid who picked up T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents was getting their money's worth and more.
For the most part Tower Comics' T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents were the cool number three to what Marvel and DC were offering at the time. Soon titles featuring spin-off characters like Dynamo and NoMan sprung up. Tower Comics also published U.N.D.E.R.S.E.A. Agent, who while unaffiliated with the THUNDER (sans periods to save my fragile two finger typing) Agents was obviously part of their universe, as well as war anthology Fight the Enemy and the Archie-ish Tippy Teen. For the short time these books were printed it's amazing how fondly they are looked upon today.
THUNDER stood for The United Nations Enforcement Reserves and was obviously inspired by other spy acronyms of the time like UNCLE and SMERSH. The Agents themselves were all superheroes of a technological nature. No gods, aliens or magic rings here, no sir. The folks at Tower were going for a bit more realism than their competitors.
The team included the super strong and tough Dynamo, the high flying Raven, psychically powered Menthor and Lightning who aged a little every time he used his superspeed. These were all pretty standard superhero templates compared to the originality of NoMan. He was a human mind that moved from body to body from a seemingly endless supply of android bodies.
Like their name implied the THUNDER Agents operated in the world of espionage, and fought against an evil spy organization called S.P.I.D.E.R. which stood for Secret People's International Directorate something something. Give me a break, I'm old, I don't remember. There were also costumed villains on the other side as well like the Warlord, Andor and the deadly and beautiful Iron Maiden.
If I recall correctly, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #19 was the second to the last issue of the series, and the last to feature new material, although the cover is composed of previous cover bits. Most of the material here, though uncredited, is the storycraft of Wally Wood. Wood's master storytelling made the Agents the legendary characters they are today. He weaves super-powered espionage tales of Dynamo fighting the Ghost, evil robot doubles of the THUNDER Agents and Satana's all-girl gang. We also see NoMan take on the misguided Dr. Einzwei and Lightning face his super fast opposite number Speed Demon. All stories but one have the sinister SPIDER stalking the background.
Woody supplied art for one of the Dynamo stories within and George Tuska and Paul Reinman provided visuals for the other two. Tuska's work in still in its infancy but he would go onto glory in the next decade. Paul Reinman is a classic comics artist who also depicts NoMan in this issue. Mr. Reinman has also done such myriad assignments like Spider-Man, the original Green Lantern, Archie Comics' short-lived Shadow and many of the Marvel monsterpieces of the 1950s.
Fifty-two pages of superhero excitement by the masters of their craft, who could ask for more for their quarter?
As for the fate of the THUNDER Agents today we turn to John Carbonaro. After many long and arduous legal battles, John Carbonaro of JC Productions now fights a never-ending battle to bring the THUNDER Agents to the public. Currently the original stories are being reprinted by DC Comics in beautiful Archives editions. These three (so far) volumes are a must for every comic book fan. If you've never heard of the THUNDER Agents, find out what youčre missing. Now.