T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is a

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

al team of

superheroes A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

that appeared in

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

s originally published by Tower Comics in the 1960s. They were an arm of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and were notable for their depiction of the heroes as everyday people whose heroic careers were merely their day jobs. The series was also notable for featuring some of the better artists of the day, such as

Wallace Wood Wallace may refer to: People * Clan Wallace in Scotland * Wallace (given name) * Wallace (surname) * Wallace (footballer, born 1986), full name Wallace Fernando Pereira, Brazilian football left-back * Wallace (footballer, born 1987), full name ...

and

Gil Kane Gil Kane (; born Eli Katz , ; April 6, 1926 – January 31, 2000) was a Latvian-born American comics artist whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s and virtually every major comics company and character. Kane co-created the modern-day vers ...

. The team first appeared in ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' #1 (

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

d Nov. 1965). The team name is an acronym for The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves. The team has appeared in several versions via several publishers since the early 1980s.

Publication history

Tower Comics

''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' was a bimonthly comic book published by Tower Comics. It ran for 20 issues (Nov. 1965 – Nov. 1969), plus two short-lived spin-off series starring the most popular super agents (Dynamo and No-Man). To launch the project, Wallace Wood huddled with scripter Len Brown (and possibly

Larry Ivie Larry Ivie (1936–2014) was an American comics artist, writer, and Comic book collecting, collector who was active in comics fandom in the middle part of the 20th century, described by comics historian Bill Schelly as "the closest thing to an aut ...

) on a superhero concept Brown had described to Wood a year earlier. Brown recalled: "Wally had remembered my concept and asked me to write a 12-page origin story. I submitted a Captain Thunderbolt story in which he fought a villain named Dynamo". With a few changes by Wood and a title obviously inspired by the success of the spy-fi television series ''

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents Napoleon Solo, played by Robert Vaughn, and Illya Kuryakin, p ...

'' and the then-current

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

film '' Thunderball'', the series got underway. Tower Comics went out of business in 1969, and the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents went into limbo.

JC Comics

In 1981 the rights to ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' were bought by John Carbonaro,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. who published two issues of a new series in the early 1980s under his JC Comics line, the storyline of which concluded in ''Blue Ribbon Comics'' #12, published by

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc. (often referred to simply as Archie Comics) is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the village of Pelham, New York. The company's many titles feature the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Jug ...

' Red Circle Comics line.

L. Miller & Son, Ltd.

Meanwhile, in the UK, L. Miller & Son, Ltd., and some of its successors published large monthly compendiums of uncolored American superhero comics up until the 1980s, often reproducing ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' material.

Texas Comics

In 1983, the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents appeared in Texas Comics' '' Justice Machine Annual'' #1, written by

William Messner-Loebs William Francis Messner-Loebs (; born William Francis Loebs Jr., February 19, 1949) is an Americans, American comics artist and writer from Michigan, also known as Bill Loebs and Bill Messner-Loebs. His hyphenated surname is a combination of his a ...

, with art by Bill Reinhold,

Jeff Dee Jeff Dee is an American artist and game designer. He was the youngest artist in the history of pioneering role-playing game company TSR when he began his work at the age of 18. He also designed the ''Villains and Vigilantes'' superhero game. He ...

, and Bill Anderson.

Deluxe Comics

In 1984, David M. Singer's Deluxe Comics began publishing a new series, ''

Wally Wood Wallace Allan Wood (June 17, 1927 – November 2, 1981) was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, widely known for his work on EC Comics's titles such as ''Weird Science (comic), Weird Science'', ''Weird Fantasy'', an ...

's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'', featuring some of the best artists of the era, including

George Pérez George Pérez (; June 9, 1954 – May 6, 2022) was an American comic book artist and writer, who worked primarily as a penciller. He came to prominence in the 1970s penciling ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four'' and ''The Avengers (c ...

Dave Cockrum David Emmett Cockrum (; November 11, 1943 – November 26, 2006) was an American comics artist known for his co-creation of the new X-Men characters Nightcrawler (character), Nightcrawler, Storm (Marvel Comics), Storm, Colossus (character), Colos ...

Keith Giffen Keith Ian Giffen (November 30, 1952 – October 9, 2023) was an American comics artist and writer. He was 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 ...

Murphy Anderson Murphy C. Anderson Jr. (July 9, 1926 – October 22, 2015) was an American comics artist, known as one of the premier inkers of his era, who worked for companies such as DC Comics for over fifty years, starting in the Golden Age of Comic Books in ...

Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko. Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular ac ...

Rich Buckler Rich Buckler (February 6, 1949 – May 19, 2017) was an Americans, American comics artist and penciller, best known for his work on Marvel Comics' ''Fantastic Four (comic book), Fantastic Four'' in the mid-1970s and for creating the character Deat ...

, and

Jerry Ordway Jeremiah Joseph Ordway (born November 28, 1957) is an American writer, penciller, inker and painter of comic books. He is known for his inking work on a wide variety of DC Comics titles, including the continuity-redefining ''Crisis on Infinite E ...

. Singer claimed that the group was in the public domain. A lawsuit by Carbonaro claimed otherwise. The lawsuit was eventually decided in U.S. District Court in favor of Carbonaro, with Singer acknowledging Carbonaro's registered copyrights and trademark. Under the decision, Carbonaro also received, among other things, an assignment of all rights to ''Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'', and an undisclosed sum of money. Deluxe Comics closed its doors in 1986 when several major distributors failed to pay sizeable past-due invoices.

Solson Publications

In 1987, Solson Publications produced one issue of ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R.'', a planned four-issue

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

which was never completed. A second issue was almost finished. This series was not quite set in the same universe as the original series and took the characters in a different direction.

1990s

In the early 1990s,

Rob Liefeld Robert Liefeld (; born October 3, 1967) is an American comic book creator. A prominent writer and artist in the 1990s, he is known for co-creating the character Cable (comics), Cable with writer Louise Simonson and the character Deadpool with wri ...

stated that he had the rights to publish ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'', and advanced

money to illustrate the series through Liefeld's

Extreme Studios Awesome Comics or Awesome Entertainment (also known as Awesome-Hyperwerks when briefly joined with Hyperwerks Entertainment) was an American comic book studio formed in 1997 by Rob Liefeld following his expulsion from Image Comics, a company he ...

. Ads for a ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' series appeared in Extreme Studios and Maximum Press books cover-dated February 1996, indicating that the series would feature "stories by Rob Liefeld, Jim Valentino, Stephen Platt, Chap Yaep and Dan Fraga". Another revival was attempted by John Carbonaro in Penthouse Comix's '' Omni Comix'' #3 (1995).

21st century

In the early 2000s,

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

planned to release a new ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' series under license from Carbonaro. Work for about two issues of a new series was completed, but Carbonaro put a stop to it as it made radical alterations to the characters. DC failed to create a series in line with the original series and tone, but began publishing reprints of the original Tower series in their hardcover ''

DC Archive Editions ''DC Archive Editions'' is a line of hardcovers that was published from 1989–2014, reprinting early, often rare comic book series, titles, and stories. They include more than 160 Golden Age and Silver Age comic properties currently owned by DC ...

'' format in a total of six volumes. After Carbonaro died in early 2009, DC acquired the rights from his estate the same year. At that point, ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' was planned to be brought into the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC Continuity (fiction), continuity. It contains v ...

, as DC had recently done with the

Milestone Media Milestone Media Company LLC is the media company which created the Milestone Comics line, which were published and distributed by DC Comics. Milestone Media created the source material that was adapted as the '' Static Shock'' animated series. T ...

and

MLJ Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc. (often referred to simply as Archie Comics) is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the village of Pelham, New York. The company's many titles feature the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Jugh ...

heroes. A new series began publishing in November 2010 with a creative team of writer Nick Spencer and artist CAFU. The team consists of the original NoMan and a team of new heroes wearing the classic T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents costumes. In a departure from the classic series, the new Lightning is African. The series lasted 10 issues. In late 2011, DC published a six-issue miniseries. In 2012, the rights to T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents were transferred to

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) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...

. This publication lasted eight issues.

Fictional team history

The first issue introduced the first three T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents: Dynamo, No-Man and Menthor. United Nations soldiers storm a mountain laboratory of a UN scientist, Professor Emil Jennings, driving off the forces of the Warlord. The scientist dies, but leaves behind several inventions — super weapons to combat the Warlord's worldwide attacks. Leonard Brown is given the Thunder Belt, which makes him super strong and invulnerable for a short amount of time, and is code-named Dynamo. Dying scientist Anthony Dunn transfers his mind into an android body of his own design. With a wide number of identical bodies, he can transfer his mind to any of them should something happen to his current one. He is given an invisibility cloak and becomes No-Man. John Janus gains mental powers from the Menthor Helmet. He is a double agent for the Warlord, but when he wears the helmet, he turns good. Joining these super agents is the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad, a special team of agents who fight the Warlord. This team included Virgil "Guy" Gilbert, Dynamite (Daniel John Adkins), William "Weed" Wylie, Kathryn "Kitten" Kane, and James "Egghead" Andor. In subsequent issues, additional agents were added. Gilbert of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad is given the Lightning Suit and becomes a super agent in issue #4. In issue #2, the Warlord is revealed as a Subterranean, and his forces are humanoids who live under the surface and have engaged in a war to reclaim the surface world from humans. Also in this issue, "Egghead" is killed in action but later reappears as a villain in an issue of ''Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents''. In issue #7, Menthor is killed. In issue #8, Craig Lawson is given an experimental rocket pack and becomes the Raven, and the Subterraneans are defeated. Later post-Tower additions included sonic-powered agent Vulcan (Travis F. Riley), two different Undersea Agents (Lt. David "Davy" Jones and his daughter, Theresa) and two later versions of "new" agents who wore the Menthor helmet. With the threat of the Subterraneans ended, new villains appeared in the original series. Issue #9 introduced S.P.I.D.E.R. (Secret People's International Directorate for Extralegal Revenue), the main villains for the rest of the series. Other menaces included the Iron Maiden, an armored mastermind (introduced in issue #1 as a possible love interest for Dynamo) who worked for the Subterraneans; Andor, a fast-healing telekinetic superhuman created by the Subterraneans who was introduced in ''Dynamo'' #1; along with Red Star (a Communist menace) and others. In the 2010 DC Comics series, S.P.I.D.E.R. kidnaps the Raven and kills Dynamo and Lightning. New versions of Lightning and Dynamo are recruited, and the original No-Man, who had left the team because he was losing his humanity, was replaced. By this time, a number of people had been behind the costume of each T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent, since the devices that gave them their powers are eventually fatal. Also introduced are T.H.U.N.D.E.R.'s recruiters, field agent Colleen Franklin and salesman Toby Heston. In the assault on S.P.I.D.E.R. to rescue the Raven, Toby is revealed as the brother of S.P.I.D.E.R.'s new leader, given a false personality to infiltrate T.H.U.N.D.E.R. When he attempts to use the Menthor helmet to gain the Raven's secrets however, he regains the "Toby" personality, similar to the effect that it had on Janus. Colleen is revealed to be the daughter of Len Brown, the original Dynamo and the Iron Maiden. They live quietly in

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

, but the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad raid their home and capture the family. Brown wears the Dynamo belt one last time in exchange for his daughter and the Iron Maiden's life and apparently dies during the mission. The Iron Maiden escapes T.H.U.N.D.E.R.'s custody, leaving Colleen to be raised by T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Years later, Colleen tracks down the Iron Maiden and after extracting information from her with the help of Toby Heston, leaves her to be killed by the daughter of one of her former victims. Soon the Subterraneans, who were defeated back in the early 1970s, start an uprising led by Demo. It was the existence of the Subterraneans that led to the establishment of the Higher United Nations and T.H.U.N.D.E.R. The new Dynamo is killed and a new Raven is introduced. In a backup series, a new UNDERSEA Agent is introduced.

Members

Agents

* Dynamo – Leonard Brown wears the Thunder Belt, which makes him super-strong and invulnerable for 30 minutes. Going past the time limit puts a great strain on his body. Due to this, a safety measure was implemented in the belt that causes it to automatically turn off after 30 minutes. * Menthor – John Janus gains mental powers from the Menthor Helmet. Actually a double agent for the Warlord, when he wears the helmet, he turns good. After Janus dies in issue #7, two later agents wear the Menthor Helmet. * No-Man – dying scientist Anthony Dunn transfers his mind into an android body of his own design. With a wide number of these identical bodies, he can transfer his mind to any of them should something happen to the one that he is in. The addition of an Invisibility Cloak completes the transformation into No-Man. However, he can only use the cloak for 10 minutes, as it drains his body's batteries. * Lightning – Virgil "Guy" Gilbert wears the Lightning Suit, which gives him super-speed but also ages him at an accelerated rate. * Raven – Craig Lawson wears an experimental rocket pack, and possesses superhuman vision and hearing. * Undersea Agent – Lt. David "Davy" Jones and his daughter Theresa both wear the suit. * Vulcan – Travis F. Riley is a sonic-powered agent.

The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad

* James "Egghead" Andor – a brilliant strategist. Andor dies in issue #2, reappearing as a villain in later issues. * Dynamite – Daniel John Adkins is the "weapons man". * Kathryn "Kitten" Kane – technical device expert. * William "Weed" Wylie –

locksmith Locksmithing is the work of creating and bypassing locks. Locksmithing is a traditional trade and in many countries requires completion of an apprenticeship. The level of formal education legally required varies by country, ranging from no formal ...

and

safecracker Safe-cracking is the process of opening a safe without either the combination or the key. Physical methods Safes have widely different designs, construction methods, and locking mechanisms. A safe cracker needs to know the specifics of whicheve ...

. * Colleen Franklin – T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent recruiter, later revealed to be the daughter of Len Brown (a.k.a. Dynamo). * Toby Heston – salesman and T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent recruiter, he is actually the brother of S.P.I.D.E.R.'s new leader.

Film adaptation

In 2015, the film adaptation was announced to be produced by China's

Huayi Brothers Huayi Brothers Media Corp. () is a Chinese multinational entertainment company that owns a film studio, a television production company, a talent agency, a record label, entertainment theme parks, and a movie theater chain founded in Beijing ...

Media, with

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

producer Michael Uslan to launch a franchise based on the comic book series.

Collected editions

''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' original series reprints

''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archives'', Vol. 1–7, DC Comics, 2002–2011: * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archives Vol. 1'' (reprints ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' #1–4), December 2002, * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archives Vol. 2'' (reprints ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' #5–7; ''Dynamo'' #1), June 2003, * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archives Vol. 3'' (reprints ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' #8–10; ''Dynamo'' #2), March 2004, * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archives Vol. 4'' (reprints ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' #11; ''No-Man'' #1–2; ''Dynamo'' #3), June 2005, * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archives Vol. 5'' (reprints ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' #12–14; ''Dynamo'' #4), 2005, * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archives Vol. 6'' (reprints ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' #15–20; plus covers of four ''Undersea Agent'' issues), February 2006, * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archives Vol. 7'' (reprints Deluxe Comics' ''Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' #1–5 and a story from ''Omni Comix'' #3), July 2011, ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Classics Vol. 1''–''6'', IDW Publishing, 2013–2015: * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Classics Vol. 1'' (reprints ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' # 1–4), August 2013 * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Classics Vol. 2'' (reprints ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' # 5–7; ''Dynamo'' #1), December 2013 * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Classics Vol. 3'' (reprints ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' #8–10; ''Dynamo'' #2), April 2014 * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Classics Vol. 4'' (reprints ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' #11; ''No-Man'' #1–2; ''Dynamo'' #3), August 2014 * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Classics Vol. 5'' (reprints ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' #12–14; ''Dynamo'' #4), March 2015 * ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Classics Vol. 6'' (reprints ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' #15–19), November 2015

''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' anthologies

* ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents: The Best of Wally Wood'', IDW Publishing, Oct 2014 (hardcover; 148 pages) * ''Wally Wood’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents: Artist’s Edition Portfolio'', IDW Publishing, April 2016 (a selection of Wood's art, all scanned from the originals and printed at full size)

New series

* ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Vol. 1'' (reprints DC's ''T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents'' #1–10), November 2011,

References

External links

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents
at the International Catalogue of Superheroes
Official T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents site

A Hero History of Dynamo
{{DEFAULTSORT:T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents 1965 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 1965 Characters created by Wally Wood DC Comics teams Fictional intelligence agencies Superhero teams American comics characters