CBR: Bringing The "T.H.U.N.D.E.R." Agents"

[CBR News]

Writer Nick Spencer takes CBR News on a tour of how he brought cult classic superheroes the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents back to life from his impending death take on the team concept to the sci-fi twists that link solo super stories.


Full article here.

[redvector]

This will go the way of the Red Circle books, which is nowhere.

[gwangung]

This will go the way of the Red Circle books, which is nowhere.

Self fulfilling prophecy.

[vbartilucci]

Now, an argument based on personal opinion (wrong or right) is damn hard to shift. I can only get too frustrated over them, even if it's a book I really think a person would like if they gave it a shot. But the saddest reason I've heard against a new book is...

"What's the point, they're only going to cancel it anyway"

How defeatist does that sound? That's the argument of a guy who's had one too many (too few, perhaps?) failed relationships and has soured on personal contact in general. They've gotten into one book too many, only to have it canceled out from under them, leaving them with a small number of issues that almost don't warrant it's own title card in the Longbox.

More at My Blog.

[rick]

It's pretty obvious that this Spencer guy never actually read the THUNDER Agents.

Sure Lightning had the suit that was slowly killing him, but Dynamo's biggest problem was being a civil servant and Noman was a character who was quite happy to no longer be an old man but an immortal who could switch bodies.

Turning these "fun" heroes into the modem day Strikeforce: Moritouri is just a waste of great characters.

[Nick Spencer]

It's pretty obvious that this Spencer guy never actually read the THUNDER Agents.

Sure Lightning had the suit that was slowly killing him, but Dynamo's biggest problem was being a civil servant and Noman was a character who was quite happy to no longer be an old man but an immortal who could switch bodies.

Turning these "fun" heroes into the modem day Strikeforce: Moritouri is just a waste of great characters.

I think you might wanna read those stories again.

NoMan longed to be human again and came to lament his cloned being over time. Every time he met a woman he'd pull away due to problems over establishing emotional contact. He developed self-destructive tendencies and started going through bodies too quickly.

Len's Thunderbelt clearly caused his body harm. They're continually trying to tweak it with things like timers to prevent him from passing out in the field (and thereby losing the belt). Even in the first issue, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. higher-ups warn him that the physical strain of the belt is enormous and puts his life at risk.

The original T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS stories are indeed a lot of fun, but this stuff is all there, too. Take a look!

[gwangung]

It's pretty obvious that this Spencer guy never actually read the THUNDER Agents.

Sure Lightning had the suit that was slowly killing him, but Dynamo's biggest problem was being a civil servant and Noman was a character who was quite happy to no longer be an old man but an immortal who could switch bodies.

Um, no. Len Brown was constantly warned about the strain of the belt on his heart and Noman had considerable angst about being in a robot body and being kinda creepy; and it's not that far-fetched to posit a transfer process that's only 99.99% perfect with problems that crop up after time.

I think it's pretty obvious you're cherry picking here....

[TheRifter]

I'm not going to enter the fray of the debate. As a former potential writer whose first assignment was to write a short NoMan story for the now deceased John Carbonaro I'm willing to keep an open mind towards the new books and am happy that DC Comics is at least carrying on the tradition after John's family sold the rights off to them. I've got T.H.U.N.D.E.R.agents #1 in my read pile, but haven't read it or the other issues yet.

I would like to correct the CBR article though that has "Dynamo" listed as "Lightning" under Ethan's cover shot. It's nice to see great covers from contemporary artists. I remember when JG Jones and my buddy Jimmy P. were slated to work on a book a few years ago and had the honor of seeing and scanning many originals from the 90's mini-series from Omni Comix drawn by Paul Gulacy. Good luck with the new series, Nick. It'll be interesting to see where you and the audience take the book.

[Karl O'Neill]

Sounds interesting. I think I want to collect this comic now.

[Sir_i4got]

I loved the first issue, It wasnt bogged down by everything else and it had amazing art.Its on my list. It need support so everyone buy it

[Bicycle-Repairman]

Another interesting aspect about the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is that their powers came from technology that was the organization's property. The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. leadership valued their technology more than their agents, who could always be replaced. Dynamo was warned that the Thunderbelt could be assigned to another agent if he didn't follow orders and he was instructed to flee rather than risk being captured and having the Thunderbelt fall into enemy hands. Lightning's life was shortened by using his suit's powers. NoMan's android bodies were expendable but expensive and he was criticized for being careless with them.

The original T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents series had its flaws, but it had intriguing concepts with a lot of potential. I haven't read the new series yet, but I'm interested in checking it out.

[Desaad]

I think you might wanna read those stories again.

NoMan longed to be human again and came to lament his cloned being over time. Every time he met a woman he'd pull away due to problems over establishing emotional contact. He developed self-destructive tendencies and started going through bodies too quickly.

Len's Thunderbelt clearly caused his body harm. They're continually trying to tweak it with things like timers to prevent him from passing out in the field (and thereby losing the belt). Even in the first issue, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. higher-ups warn him that the physical strain of the belt is enormous and puts his life at risk.

The original T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS stories are indeed a lot of fun, but this stuff is all there, too. Take a look!

First issue was jawsome, man. Great stuff. I think I've written most everything you've had published, and while Forgetless is easily the best (IMHO), you've been consistently hitting it out of the park I think.

Very much anticipating this series and your run on Supergirl (can you say/do you know if that is a permanent thing or just a 6 issue run?), as well as Iron Man 2.0.

[Professor Arkham]

I'd never heard of THUNDER Agents before picking up issue #1 on a whim the other week. I loved it, great, compelling story and amazing art. Can't wait for the next issue. Get on board people!

[paulski]

Good first issue, Nick. I'm a Thunder virgin but enjoyed #1 - nicely written and very strong artwork.

Hoping it'll be a little pacier than JMS's Supreme Power which took forever to get going, but I'm patient enough to hang around for a while.

[hondobrode]

Loved it !

Can't wait for more.

Will we be seein any DCU crossovers ?