Issue 1
Our first scene is of a scruffy looking Thunderian outside the city walls trying to cook a recently killed meal. He spots a comet that comes crashing down, and watches as we are introduced to our villains for this series: the War Dogs. The scruffy outsider watches them, quietly doing a monologue about how the Thundercats won't let them take Thundera. He changes his tune when he sees that the War Dogs have brought a giant army and massive tanks with them.
Cut to two young Thundercubs named Wilycub and Wilycat who looks suspiciously like Wilykit and Wilykat. They are trying to get one of the old jet boards to work. They eventually do, but find they can't control it, and they end up crashing into the throne room. This is where Wilykit finds them and begins to yell at them. We're told she is their babysitter, but we're never told who their parents are. Anyway, she admonishes them for disturbing the King's sleep, but Lion-O tells her there is no need, he'll sleep when he's dead. Even this more mature version of Lion-O is a badass.
Lion-O tells the young cubs to go off and play before telling the other Thundercats that he plans to step down from the throne soon. There is some argument from the others, but he won't hear of it, and goes off to bed. It is now that Snarf informs Panthro (and us for that matter) that because of Lion-O's trip into the book of omens, he is now aging five times as fast as everyone else.
The next scene is of the scruffy looking outsider from before begging a Thunderian guard to let him in to see the king. The guard tells him that's not happening before they're interrupted by the sound of Wilykit running through the garden chasing after Wilycat. The guard starts opining about his unrequited love for Wilykit, which is enough of a distraction for the scruffy outsider to climb the wall and get out of the guard's sight.
He sneaks into the palace, where he is immediately caught by Cheetara and Tygra. They fight as the outsider tries to explain himself. They refuse to believe him until Tygra recognizes him as Wilykat. He explains that after betraying them in the last series, he escaped from Mumm-Ra and ran off to hide, because he was ashamed of himself. He's back to warn them now. They ask what they need warning about, but he doesn't have time to answer before explosions rock the building. Outside they see the War Dog armies closing in on them, and that's where we leave off.
Issue 2
We start issue 2 with a montage of the Dogs' attack. They brutally attack Thundera at every point, bringing a good chunk of it crumbling to the ground. We meet the leader of this army, a War Dog by the name of Doberlord. He is standing on the deck of his ship when he receives a transmission from New Thundera which only says "We Surrender" Of course it's not from the Thundercats, it's from a race known as Berbils, who look like cyborg Ewoks. Doberlord finds them too weak to enslave, and too metallic to eat, so he order the guards to unleash the Lizaurians, a race they enslaved earlier in their conquest of the universe. The Berbils want peace, but the Lizaurians are having none of it, and start beheading mother fuckers left and right.
We cut to a scene of Wilykit and the Thundercubs trying to hide from one of the Dogs, but he sniffs them out. This is when Wilykit decides it's time to start kicking some ass. She starts by trying to take on the entire squad by herself, and is only annoyed when a new character known as Bobcat comes in and begins fighting beside her. Even the cubs get in on it, and they're doing well until the Dogs call for reinforcements. That's when they retreat into the castle, where the Dogs have been instructed not to go yet.
Once inside they reunite with Tygra, and we have a moment between Wilykit and Bobcat that lets us know they'll probably be getting together by the end of this series. Cheetara breaks it up with some good news, but first we cut to Lion-O receiving a transmission from one of the outlying cities of New Thundera. Things aren't looking good, and that's before Lion-O gets the transmission from Doberlord, letting him know that the War Dogs are taking control of New Thundera. Wilykit then calls Lion-O over so he can see that Wilykat is alive and well. They have a heartfelt reunion, and Lion-O welcomes him back with open arms, before informing the Thundercats that he has to take drastic measures to defeat this new menace. They end the issue with him introducing them to their new ally, Mumm-Ra.
Issue 3
We open the issue with Lion-O and Mumm-Ra shaking hands, and nobody likes it one bit. The Thundercats aren't happy, and neither are Mumm-Ra's mutant generals, but both Lion-O and Mumm-Ra insist it must be done for the good of the planet. A fight almost breaks out, but Lion-O stops it, saying that he will fight Vultureman, and if Vultureman wins he gets to lead the Thundercats, but if Lion-O wins the mutants will follow him. Vultureman agrees before getting in a quick cheap shot. The other mutants join in, but prove to be no match for Lion-O, because as we've covered he's the king of all badasses.
When Lion-O is victorious, the mutnats have no choice but to yield to him as king. This doesn't stop the fighting however, as moments later Wilykat is fighting with Mumm-Ra. Lion-O quickly breaks it up, demanding that there be a fresh start for everyone. We cut to a short scene where Doberlord is overlooking New Thundera. One of his men asks him if the Thundercats have surrendered yet, and Doberlord tells him they probably won't. No mater though, because he has placed a couple of traitors among the Thundercats.
Back to Thundercats HQ where the Cats and the Mutants are discussing battle strategies, and bickering among themselves. That all stops when Lion-O and Mumm-Ra announce that they have a plan. Mumm-Ra will disguise them as War Dogs, and they will sneak inside of their defenses and take Doberlord as a hostage. Cheetara doesn't like the sound of that, and accuses Lion-O of going with a plan from Mumm-Ra. He gives her a death glare and insists that it's a good plan, and that's all that matters.
The next scene starts with Bobcat and Mumm-Ra disabling a group of guards and stealing their uniforms. They then shackle Lion-O before Mumm-Ra does the cloaking spell. They walk for a while before Jackalman punts Snarf like I've always wanted to do, and reveals that he has lead the Thundercats right into the waiting arms of Doberlord.
Issue 4
We open Issue 4 with a shot of Mumm-Ra missing an arm, and laying unconscious somewhere outside of the Thundercats' compound, which is odd because he's supposed to be with the Thundercats who have just been betrayed. What sort of comic book trickery is this? Anyway, the Thundercubs poke at him a bit before he wakes up and scares the living bejesus out of them. They wonder what the hell they should do, before we cut to a shot of the Thunderians being enslaved by the Dogs.
Inside of the "Doberliner" Lion-O is shackled and being tortured. Doberlord demands that he give him control of New Thundera, but Lion-O refuses, and gets electrocuted for his troubles. Mum-Ra then walks into the scene, but we quickly find out it wasn't Mumm-Ra at all. It was a War Dog known as General Lupus. Cut to a scene of the Thundercats and the mutnats in the War Dogs' jail. They start fighting, but stop when Jacklman walks in. They all try to attack him, but their cell prevents that. He reveals that Ma-Mutt was a part of it as well before leaving.
The next scene is of Lion-O and the king of the Lizaurians having a conversation, both chained to the wall. The Lizaurian begs Lion-O's forgiveness for his people's actions. He explains that they were once a peaceful people, but the War Dogs attacked and enslaved them, forcing them to slaughter species ranging across the galaxy.
Our final scene is of Mumm-Ra and the cubs. Mumm-Ra is despondent over the fact that his best friend, Ma-Mutt betrayed him. He says he has no troops, no dog, and they're surrounded by guards. He tells the Thundercubs they're fucked, but Wilycat says he has a plan.
Issue 5
We open with a scene of Mumm-Ra disguised as Doberlord, leading the Thundercubs into the jail with the other Thundercats. When he reveals himself, Cheetara attacked him, but the cubs explain that he had nothing to do with the betrayal. He then transforms into his super mega awesome version, and it's time to kick some War Dog ass. They fight their way to where Lion-O is locked up, quickly freeing him and the king of the Lizaurdians. They make their way to where the slaves are, and when the other lizard creatures see their leader fighting, they see that as a sign to rise up and fight with them.
With the slaves doing battle now, the Thundercats and Mumm-Ra quickly make their way to Doberlord to begin the ultimate final showdown. It is a vicious fight, during which Wilykat is seriously injured protecting Lion-O. The Thundercats eventually get the upperhand, and Lion-O starts telling Doberlord how he won't kill him because he's better than that. He is interrupted when Mumm-Ra stabs Doberlord in the back, and remarks that it's a good thing he's a bad guy.
Once the Dogs are run off, Lion-O offers the Lizaurdians a spot on New Thundera, but they tell him that they have an obligation to undo some of the damage they've caused across the galaxy. Lion-O then tells the mutants he has arranged to transport them back to Plunn-darr. They thank him and take off. Lion-O then says maybe it's time for Mumm-Ra to get a second chance, but Mumm-Ra refuses, informing him that he will still be trying to kill him and destroy the Thundercats. He then informs us that it wasn't the book of omens that sped up Lion-O's aging. It was a curse Mumm-Ra placed on the fountain of youth from their old planet. He says he's begun to enjoy fighting with Lion-O however, and tosses him a bottle he saved from before the fountain was tainted, reversing the aging spell.
So... how was it? Well, let's start with the art.
Art
The art in this series is some of my favorite so far. The line work and shading is unique and interesting, without being too cartoony. Some of my favorite work comes from the fact that they actually get to experiment with some of the character models, specifically aging Lion-O, Wilykit, and Wilykat. That's just the art inside. The cover art for this series is my favorite so far. It's dynamic and interesting while never being too busy. I think the cover for issue 4 is my favorite of any Thundercats cover I've seen so far, even though we don't get to see Lion-O use whatever machine it looks like he's strapped into.
Story
This is where I found the series to be a little lacking, especially after the fantastic writing in Thundercats: The Return. They have a great intimidating villain in the War Dogs, but we don't see a lot of them. The team up with Mumm-Ra is cool and unexpected, and doesn't lead to the cliche "Mumm-Ra betrayal" ending I was expecting. I guess my main problem with the whole thing is what Wilykat points out int he very beginning of issue 1, it's just another enemy force invading Thundera story. I love it, and it's fun, but it ends up being a bit of a let down after the dark, tension packed story in the last series. Especially when in this one we have to suffer through jokes like this.
No! Bad Wildstorm! Bad!
They're few and far between, but they are jarring and certainly hurt the flow of the story. The other complaint I have is that the romance between Wilykit and Bobcat is forced into roughly two scenes in the entire series, and has zero point. It's like the writers wanted nothing to do with it, but the company demanded there be some sort of romantic angle. Otherwise it's a good Thundercats comic, and unlike The Return, it's one you can probably share with your children.
Fun Factor
Here's where I think this series really excels. The Thundercats teaming up with Mumm-Ra is fun, not knowing who the traitors are is fun, the build up for the villain is fun. The ending battle doesn't disappoint either, taking up most of the final issue. You also feel a sense of satisfaction when the slaves rebel and start wiping out the War Dogs. Watching Mumm-Ra kill their leader is kind of cool too, without being overly bloody.
The bottom line on this one is that it is a fantastic series, especially if you're someone who reads comics for the artwork and fun factor. If you're expecting another dark, high stakes series like The return, you might be disappointed, but otherwise it's a great read that I highly recommend. That's all for this time readers, join me next time when Thundercats month continues with Thundercats: Hammerhand's Revenge.
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