JC Comics (also known as JC Productions) was a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

company primarily involved with the post- Silver Age iteration of the characters the

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' is a fictional team of superheroes that appeared in comic books originally published by Tower Comics in the 1960s. They were an arm of the United Nations and were notable for their depiction of the heroes as everyday peop ...

. JC Comics was owned by

John Carbonaro JC Comics (also known as JC Productions) was a comic book company primarily involved with the post- Silver Age iteration of the characters the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. JC Comics was owned by John Carbonaro (Sept. 30, 1951 – Feb. 25, 2009). Histo ...

(Sept. 30, 1951 – Feb. 25, 2009).

History

Acquisition of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents rights

Carbonaro acquired the rights to the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents from the defunct

Tower Comics Tower Comics was an American comic book publishing company that operated from 1965 to 1969, best known for Wally Wood's ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'', a strange combination of secret agents and superheroes; and Samm Schwartz's ''Tippy Teen'', an Archi ...

,Sodaro, Robert J. "The Resplendent Sound of T.H.U.N.D.E.R.!" ''Comics Value Annual'' (1999). Archived o
ThunderAgents.com
. Accessed Feb. 8, 2014. and tried to relaunch them with his own comic book company.

Association with Archie

Shortly after acquiring the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents rights, Carbonaro made an arrangement with

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Red Circle Comics Dark Circle Comics is an imprint of Archie Comics Publications, Inc. Under its previous name, Red Circle Comics, it published non-humor characters, particularly superheroes in the 1970s and 1980s, and was a digital imprint from 2012 to 2014. In ...

. This resulted in cross-advertisements between the two companies and appearances of the companies' characters in each other's titles. Although Carbonaro was hired as an editor at Archie, Archie never owned the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents characters; nor was JC Comics an Archie imprint. From 1981 to 1984, JC Comics published three T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents titles: ''JCP Features'', a single issue featuring early work by the artist Mark Texeira (which also contained an Archie '' Black Hood'' reprint); ''Hall of Fame Featuring the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'', a three-issue series reprinting stories from the titular superhero team's original 1960s

series, with new covers by artists including Steve Ditko and Bob Layton; and the two-issue series ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'', featuring new stories. Ultimately, the wrap-up story of the latter series appeared in Red Circle's ''

Blue Ribbon Comics ''Blue Ribbon Comics'' is the name of two American comic book anthology series, the first published by the Archie Comics predecessor MLJ Magazines Inc., commonly known as MLJ Comics, from 1939 to 1942, during the Golden Age of Comic Books. The rev ...

'' anthology title. During this period, JC Comics also published a single issue of ''Basically Strange'', a black-and-white horror comics magazine featuring artist

Rick Bryant Donald Richard Bryant (1948 – 5 December 2019), generally known as Rick Bryant, was a New Zealand blues and rock singer/songwriter. Bands include Rick Bryant and the Jive Bombers, The Jubilation Gospel Choir, and Windy City Strugglers. With ove ...

and writer-artist Bruce Jones.

Texas Comics

Also in 1983, Carbonaro arranged for the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents to appear in a

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

adventure with Justice Machine in ''Justice Machine Annual'' #1, then being published by Texas Comics.

Dispute with Deluxe Comics

In 1984, a former associate of Carbonaro named David M. Singer claimed that the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent characters were in the public domain. He founded

Deluxe Comics Deluxe Comics was a short-lived comic book publishing company which published one title, ''Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents''. History Deluxe Comics was a division of Singer Publishing, founded by David M. Singer (11 February 1957–24 August ...

and began publishing a new series, '' Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'', featuring top artists including George Pérez, Dave Cockrum,

Keith Giffen Keith Ian Giffen (born November 30, 1952) is an American comics artist and writer. He is known for his work for DC Comics on their ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' and ''Justice League'' titles as well as for being the co-creator of Lobo. Biography K ...

, Murphy Anderson, and Jerry Ordway. A lawsuit by Carbonaro asserting his copyright and trademark rights was heard in the federal district court for the Southern District of New York (John Carbonaro, et. al. v. David Singer, et. al., 84 Civ. 8737 (S.D.N.Y.), and via summary judgment, the judge ruled from the bench that the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents were indeed Carbonaro's property. Under the settlement, Carbonaro received an assignment of all rights to ''Wally Woods T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'', and an undisclosed sum of money.

Omni Comix

Over the years, JC Comics tried many times to launch new T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents material. A 1995 deal with Penthouse Comix resulted in a single story in '' Omni Comix''.

Later attempts

In the early 2000s another attempt to revive the characters was planned with

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

, but the ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archive'' and some statutettes are all that came of it. Following Carbonaro's 2009 death, DC briefly licensed the rights to the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents from owners Radiant Assets, and they have since been licensed by

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

Titles

; Published by JC Comics: * ''JCP Features'' a.k.a. ''JCP Features the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' #1 ( cover-date Dec. 1981) * ''Basically Strange'' #1 (dated Nov. 1982 in copyright indicia, but cover-dated Dec. 1982) * ''Hall of Fame Featuring the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' (3 issues, May-Dec. 1983) * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' (2 issues, May 1983–Jan. 1984)JC Comics
at the Grand Comics Database ; Published by

: * ''

'' #12 (1983) ; Published by Texas Comics: * '' Justice Machine Annual'' #1 (1983) ; Published by Penthouse Comics: * '' Omni Comix'' #3 (Oct.–Nov. 1995)''Omni Comix'' #3
Grand Comics Database. Accessed Feb. 8, 2014. ; Published by

(

DC Archive Editions ''DC Archive Editions'' is a line of hardcover reprint runs of early, often rare comic book series, titles, and stories which ran from 1989-2014. They include more than 160 Golden Age and Silver Age comic properties currently owned by DC Comics, ...

): * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archive'', vol. 1 (2002), * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archive'', vol. 2 * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archive'', vol. 3 * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archive'', vol. 4 * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archive'', vol. 5 * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archive'', vol. 6

Notes

References

External links

* * {{comicbookdb, type=publisher, id=2296, title=JC Comics
"John Carbonaro is dead (miss, him, miss him)"
''Freelance Ink'' blog (March 7, 2009) Comic book publishing companies of the United States Defunct comics and manga publishing companies Publishing companies established in 1981