Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents # 1 (of 6)

By Koppy McFad
December 27, 2011 - 02:19

Another round of gritty adventures of the new T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents as they battle the evil subterraneans!

This miniseries builds both from the original THUNDER Agents comics in the 1960s and the recently-cancelled THUNDER Agents revival of DC Comics.

This time around, the new Agents are overseeing a rally by the subterraneans, an underground race the original THUNDER Agents defeated in the 1960s. Suddenly, the protest rally turns violent and the subterraneans turn on the Agents and prepare to invade the surface world.

Many of the same defects of the recently-cancelled series are still evident in this mini-series: the decompressed story-telling, the shortage of action and the need to have an encyclopedic knowledge of old THUNDER Agents story to enjoy it. Is a newcomer really supposed to get excited when one of the heroes goes, "Oh My God, it's XXXXX!"? Most readers have probably never heard of supervillain XXXXX before so they may be wondering what the fuss is about. In fact, the new reader may be left wondering why a UN security agency is monitoring an underground race. Don't they have enough problems in the Sudan?

The writer is clearly just concluding a long story arc he had planned when the regular THUNDER Agents title was first announced (and before it was cancelled.) He makes no attempt to introduce the book to new readers. This is a major fault with many new comics where the writer makes all sorts of big plans and then tells the readers to 'watch out for the big twist in issue no. 9'.... except the book gets cancelled at issue no. 7 and we are all left in the dark.

But there are some good things about this book: the character interaction is more entertaining, the history of THUNDER is spelled out and proves to be extremely interesting and the new artist on the book is producing some very sharp work that also makes the human characters look more impressive and makes the story more dynamic and exciting. The only real disappointment from the art is Andy Kubert's muddled and uninspired cover.

Like the first series, this miniseries may actually read much better when it is collected in a trade paperback. Sadly, there probably won't be another sequel.

Rating: 7.5 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12