Thundercats: The Return

*Spoiler alert: There are spoilers in this review. If you're the kind of person who worries about that, run out and buy the entire Wildstorm run of the Thundercats right now. You won't be disappointed.*

*Graphic content warning: This series gets a bit darker than the first, with discussions of torture, slavery, and even rape. Figure I'd put this here and give you the chance to opt out if you are easily offended by these themes.*

Welcome back to Thundercats week ladies and gentlemen! Last week I reviewed "Thundercats: Reclaiming Thundera." and if you missed it there's a link to it in the sidebar to the right of the page, so definitely make sure to click and read that. Also, if you happens to share it with your friends, that wouldn't break our hearts at all. Anyway, when we left our heroes, Lion-O and the Thundercats had recreated Thundera, and built beacons to call back the remaining Thunderians scattered through the galaxy. Confident that Mumm-Ra was no longer a threat, he entered the book of Omens, where time would slow to a crawl for him as he learned the history and fighting techniques of the great Thundercat leaders before him. Now that you're all caught up, on with the show!

 Issue 1

This issue starts with three pages of Snarf! If you know my feelings on the character, that's usually a bad sign, but here we have a much darker, edgier version of Snarf. This snarf has been waiting for five long years for Lion-O to return from the book of omens. Something that should have taken no more than a day. Snarf argues with the book, and says he's going to unlock it, and call Lion-O back home, because apparently Thundera is in some sort of peril. We don't hear the book speak, so it's left up to us to decide if it can really talk, or if Snarf is just losing his mind. I choose option B. 

Eventually Snarf decides enough is enough and unlocks the book. Immediately Lion-O springs forth and beats the ever loving crap out of the dungeon guards, because he's fucking Lion-O. Once they are dispatched he has his reunion with Snarf, which is quickly tarnished by the news that time did not stand still as it should have while he was in the book. They assume Mumm-Ra put a spell on it, because who else? 

Snarf then lets Lion-O in on the situation. After he left things were going fine. Thousands of Thunderians returned and everything was just peachy. Then... Mumm-Ra attacked. There was a huge war, and the Thundercats fought valiantly, but ultimately lost. Mumm-Ra then enslaved the Thunderians that remained, promising to make the stubborn and proud Panthro bow at his feet as an example. We then get a pretty cool two page spread of the new Thundera, remade with Mumm-Ra's face on a giant statue, and his dark pyramid in the center. 

This apparently sends Lion-O over the edge. He decides it's time to kick some ass, but Snarf reminds him that things are different now. Before, Mumm-Ra was the small rebel group with no power. Now Lion-O is in that same position. He tells Snarf that he's not the same either. He spent five years training, and now he's a different Lion-O. He promises not to show his usual mercy to Mumm-Ra this time. He looks through the eye and sees Panthro working in the mines. He demands Snarf take him there.

The last scene in the book is Mumm-Ra on his throne, seemingly excited that Lion-O is back to present a challenge to him, as he has now grown bored with breaking the rest of the Thunderians. The last shot is of his beckoned slaves, a scantily clad Wilykit and Wilykat, and I mean scantily clad. I swear to god slave Leia had more on than Wilykit. They also refer to him as Lord Mumm-Ra, to kick the whole thing a little extra emotional kick.

Issue 2

Issue 2 begins with Lion-O and Snarf sneaking around outside of the mines. Lion-O takes a brief moment to assess the situation before doing some awesome flips, and beating the shit out of the guards in front. Gone is the old Lion-O who fought with honor until his opponents would submit. This new Lion-O is a snarling hell beast, choking enemies with their own whips and demanding answers like mother fucking Batman. I've always been a fan of Lion-O, but he is even more awesome here.

Cut to Mumm-Ra watching Lion-O through his magical goo with Wilykit and Wilykat sitting next to him. I don't know if this is possible, but I think Wilykit is wearing even less clothes than at the end of the last issue. Of course it could just be the gratuitous angle we're seeing her from in some of these panels. Fan service ahoy! Anyway, Mumm-Ra drones on about how he's just toying with Lion-O, letting him see what's become of his city and his friends before killing him. He then demands that Wilykit go fetch his dog, and when she is slow about it, he zaps the shit out of her.

Cut back to the mines where Panthro is being whipped, and we're all pretending Lion-O didn't draw a shit ton of attention when he took out those first guards. He's hiding with Snarf, watching Panthro get beaten. Snarf acts as bait to lure a guard back to Lion-O and mayhem ensues. He wails on a bunch of mutants before chopping off some shackles and freeing the slaves. He gives Panthro his cool ass nunchucks back, while one of the slaves says they will stay back and fight so that Mumm-Ra doesn't just send his guards out and kill everyone. Lion-O, Panthro and Snarf fight their way out of the caves as we get our last panel, a close up shot of Panthro vowing to kill Mumm-Ra once and for all.

Issue 3

Our opening scene in this issue is of Mumm-Ra in a hot bath, with Wilykit helping scrub him down, while wearing a gold bikini that is somehow more revealing than her slave rags. Mumm-Ra wonders out loud what Lion-O would think seeing Wilykit washing him, even referring to her as his concubine. He asks her what he would think if Lion-O knew how easily she gave in. This is a scene that actually gets a visceral reaction out of me, but I'll talk more about that later. 

He calls Wilykat in to help bandage him so he can watch Lion-O some more. He monologues about what Lion-O will think when he finds Cheetara, and sees what's become of her. He says he wonders how Lion-O will react when he finds out she blames him for the whole thing.

Cut to the guard's housing unit, where two mutants are demanding that Tygra tell them how his magical whip works so they can overthrow Mumm-Ra. Tygra tells them that only a Thundercat can make it work, and they reply by hitting him with a regular whip. Slithe enters the room, mad at the mutants for having heard talk of overthrowing Mumm-Ra. He says they need to deal with the fact that they are stuck there. 

One of his compatriots agrees, and says they should enjoy themselves as much as possible, before motioning to Cheetara, who is chained up with her costume torn almost completely off of her. They close in on her in a threatening manner, but Vultureman pushes them back, demanding she tell them how Tygra's whip works. She spits in his face. He goes to attack her, but Slithe stops him, telling Cheetara he respects her strength, and wishes his own men could be more like her. He then lets her know that Panthro has escaped, which gives her eyes the first glimmer of hope we see.

Snarf then barges in and gets the guards to chase him so that Lion-O can free Tygra. A fight ensues between the guards and the Thundercats, with the Thundercats obviously coming out on top. They free Cheetara who gleefully hugs Panthro before slapping Lion-O and walking away. Our final scene is of Mumm-Ra telling Wilykat that if he helps lead Lion-O into his trap, he'll let him and his sister go free. Of course Wilykat believes him, because he's never been the brightest bulb.

Issue 4

The first scene of issue 4 is of Wilykat riding his jetboard to the Thundercats' hideout, rationalizing his decision the entire way. He scratches himself up so they'll believe that he fought his way out, and we cut to Mumm-Ra sitting over Wilykit, telling her all about how easy it was to turn her brother.  At one point this pushes her to her breaking point and she takes a swipe across Mumm-Ra's face. This gets her zapped some more, as he explains that he didn't make her brother evil, he merely nurtured the evil  that was already inside of him.

Cut back to the Thundercats' hideout, where Cheetara is reeming Lion-O about being gone so long, telling him he was supposed to be their king, and even going so far as punching him across the jaw before Snarf and Panthro step in. Lion-O promises to make things right as Wilykat stumbles into the hideout. He convinces them to follow him to Mumm-Ra's trap, as we get a scene of Mumm-Ra summoning some new evil henchman to take on the Thundercats.

We see our heroes entering through the sewers where they meet Mumm-Ra's new brutes. They dispatch of them relatively quickly, and Wilykat leads them the rest of the way to Mumm-Ra's throne room. Wilykat reveals his betrayal end demands that Mumm-Ra release him and his sister. Mumm-Ra says he was never going to release them, because fucking Mumm-Ra, and tosses Wilykat into his evil cauldron of death. Our last shot is of Mumm-Ra reintroducing the Thundercats to their old mutant foes.

Issue 5

We open with a shot of Wilykit trying to wrench herself from Mumm-Ra's grasp. He drags her into a back room, insisting she doesn't need to witness the carnage that is about to ensue. What follows is one of the awesome Thundercats group fight scenes we all know and love, after which we cut to Mumm-Ra's side room where he asks Wilykit what it felt like to watch her brother betray her people, and then die right in front of her. She calls him a bastard and he slaps her. He then goes on to say he wanted to save her from her friends fate, even implying that he loves her. He says if she wants to die like them she can, and sets her free. He then transforms to his awesome super mega ultra battle mode, and waits for the Thundercats to inevitably defeat his guards.

 We cut back to the battle where Wilykit has now arrived and is showing some of the ass kicking attitude I wanted from her the whole time. Lion-O instructs the Thundercats to finish off the guards while he goes to battle Mumm-Ra alone, which seems like a stupid move, but Lion-O's just a badass mother fucker who needs to handle business with his own two hands.

Lion-O meets Mumm-Ra who monologues about taking over Thundera and enslaving his friends, before telling Lion-O that he never really cared about that. The whole thing was a ploy to lure Lion-O here so he could have the sword of omens. Lion-O basically says "You're a bitch for being obsessed with the sword. I don't even need it to kick your ass." and sets it on the ground. This leads to an awesome hand to hand combat scene with him and Mumm-Ra. It ends when Panthro barges in, grabs Mumm-Ra, Lion-O... punches the symbol in the middle of Mumm-Ra's chest and he turns to dust. That's a little disappointing, I'm not going to lie.

Lion-O lets everyone know that Mumm-Ra isn't gone for good. Wilykit don't give no shits. She responds by uttering possibly the most badass line in the whole series. "Now let's get out of here. "We've got a planet to liberate." The final scene is of Mumm-Ra regrouping, talking about how he needs a proper general to serve at his right hand, someone the Thundercats would never expect... because they think he's dead. He then looks into the cauldron and sees Wilykat's face, giving us a hint as to what we might see in the next series, Dogs of War. 

So... how was it? Let's start with the art.

Art

 The art in this series is fantastic. They don't stray too much from the original Thundercats designs, but the shading and style of coloring gives it a more gritty, realistic feel. The other thing they do differently is they make the Thundercats seem more animalistic. Their faces look as human as ever, but their expressions and movements during battle give them a more more vicious, animalistic feel than we're used to. 

 The action is well organized, and unlike the last series, does not overwhelm the format. You get to see some beautiful landscapes, gorgeous body designs, and enthralling action sequences. Unlike the original run, every time Mumm-Ra is seen it is incredibly foreboding and dark. The art in this one creates a mood that was lacking in the original run, and even the first Wildstorm series (as much as I loved both of them). The art contributes to the story a great deal, and the covers are some of the most beautiful and interesting I have ever seen. Each one got me excited for what would be inside (especially the Cheetara cover, but we'll go over that in a minute.)  The art worked perfectly with the story in this series, and I can not give it high enough praise.

Fan Service/Sexualization

This category was almost a part of the art category, but I have so much to say that I figured it needed it's own space. Being a more adult oriented series than the last one, you will find a lot of sexualized, scantily clad drawings of the two main female characters Wilykit and Cheetara. Wilykit is in her slave attire the entire time, and Cheetara appears in issue 3 in a barely there version of her costume. This in and of itself is not that bad, as there is a story context to it. Wilykit is dressed like that to stir emotions in you. It's demeaning. Mumm-Ra is treating her like a sex toy, belittling and humiliating her by making her wear these clothes. With Cheetara it's sort of the same thing. You see this once strong warrior woman chained up and assaulted, nearly naked and helpless. It stirs emotions of pain and anger in you, which is exactly what they were going for. That being said, there are definitely gratuitous angles of them in several panels. 

 "No guys, she has to be in that position... because she's sad n' stuff."

I didn't personally find it distracting, because the emotional intent worked on me. I was more mad that Mumm-Ra was putting his filthy hands on Wilykit, and had stolen her innocence. I was furious that they had harmed Cheetara, and was too consumed with wanting her to get revenge to even think about the sexual aspects of it. So I understand it. The bottom line is that there was a purpose to it, but if you find it upsetting it might throw you off a little.The other thing I will say is that once Wilykit escapes, she ends up being the most bad ass character in the comic. We even get a shot of her standing tall in her slave clothes, now seeming less like a sex slave, and more like a strong greek goddess who has embraced her sexuality as well as her setbacks and is ready to be awesome. If you didn't know any better and just read the last half of issue 5, you would think Wilykit was the fearless, kick ass leader. I was ready to say fuck Lion-O and elect her leader by the end of the last issue. Of course this is coming from a heterosexual male who doesn't mind a little cartoon side boob every once in a while, so take it for what you will.

Fun Factor

The fun factor for this series all depends on your definition of fun. There is certainly less 80's action beat 'em up moments than the originals, or even "Reclaiming Thundera" did. These issues are far more based in character development and emotion, which is something I found a lot more fun than I would have if it were just another set of kick ass Thundercats comics. I loved it, but people who are really stuck on the old school style of Thundercats action comics might be a tad disappointed.

The Story

I don't know how to start this section, other than to tell you this is exactly what I wanted out of a Wildstorm reboot of the Thundercats. The series before this lulled you in. It gave you the typical Thundercats comics where they fight and win every issue and all is well. This plunges you into the depths of emotion. It destroys Thundera right in front of you, literally rapes two of your favorite characters, enslaves the rest, and makes you thirst for Mumm-Ra's blood as much as Lion-O must have.  You spend the whole series finding out more and more of what this disgusting, evil piece of garbage is doing, and it just makes you madder and madder, hungrier and hungrier for revenge. That's where we have our one major flaw. The conclusion of this series is incredibly underwhelming. It's not the same Lion-O, no more mercy, we're gonna kill mother fuckers this time... and it ends like every other Thundercat's comic. Mumm-Ra is weaker but fine, and the Thundercats walk off. For all the revenge build up, it's a truly disappointing ending.

Another aspect of the story I really loved was the character development. We don't often see a lot of personality from the other Thundercats, so to see Cheetara acting mad and defiant towards Lion-O, or to see Wilykit have to go through what she does and come out stronger on the other side is refreshing to say the least. This sort of darker, character driven storyline is exactly what I wanted out of Wildstorm and Thundercats, and I am glad I got it.

That's it for me. Thundercats month continues though! Keep an eye out for the next installment, Thundercats: Dogs of War. Thanks for reading, and if you noticed any mistakes, have any comments, or just flat out hate me, make sure to leave a comment.