It's January, and you know what that means! Ok, maybe you don't. That means that for this writer it's Thundercats month! Over the next month, in between my "Did Raw Suck This Week?" column, I will be reviewing the entire run of the Thundercats under the Wildstorm banner. Luckily, they have been divided up into five issue series, which makes it far more convenient.
Let me start off by saying that I am by no means a comic book historian. I am not Linkara, I am not a fount of knowledge. In fact, I was never much into comic books as a child. I only started getting into them as an adult, and I'm still not the kind of person who needs to look up all the information on a comic to enjoy it, so these reviews will be coming strictly from the view of an observer, a fan telling other fans what he thinks. I do love me some Thundercats though, so comic review, comic review, COMIC REVIEW HOOOOOO!
Issue 1
We begin issue one right where the 80's cartoon left off. The evil forces have been defeated, and Thundera has been reborn. It's time for Lion-O to summon surviving Thundercats throughout the galaxy to return to their newly rebuilt homeland. The joy of victory does not last long however. Deep in the dark tombs, the spirits still thirst for the demise of the Thundercats. After the failure of Mumm-ra, they have decided to summon a new, more powerful warrior... the Shadowmaster, who brings forth an unscheduled eclipse. This causes the team to send Cheetara out to see what might be going on. No one else, just Cheetara. Way to look out for your team there guys.
With her enhanced speed, it isn't long before she runs into the Shadowmaster. You know, exactly what you thought would happen the second you knew Cheetara was going out on her own. Luckily he decides not to make chop suey out of her, and sends her back to the other Thundercats with a warning that the Shadowmaster is about to lay the smacketh down. She does so after surveying the area and figuring out that the Shadowmaster is building himself a freaky looking army of shadow minions.
She sprints back to the team and tells them what's happening. Lion-O, in true Lion-O fashion, decides it's time to fuck some shit up. Seriously. He doesn't say anything. Cheetara tells him what's happening, and then immediately on the next page he's doing his Thundercats, Thundercats, Thundercats Ho routine, and they're off running toward the Shadowmaster's base. I love it.
They quickly find their conventional weapons don't work well against the shadow minions, because only light can destroy darkness. This is where Wilykit and Wilykat become useful and start chucking out flashbombs. The Thundercats realize even this won't work permanently, and Lion-O does the only thing he can do, charges head on for the Shadowmaster like the bad ass he is. They have an epic battle sequence, but Lion-O gets the better of him and banishes him back to the shadow realm. All is well, or so they think. They head back to set up the signal beacon to bring back the Thunderians, but in the dark tomb the spirits have decided that it's time to bring back the villain you all know and love, mother fucking Mumm-ra!
Issue 2
We start issue 2 with a monologue from a samurai named Hachiman about a time when he defeated Mumm-Ra and freed Lion-O and Cheetara from his grasp. It turns out he is talking to Tygra, explaining that he needs help from Lion-O. Tygra offers to take him to Thundera, and we cut back to the dark tomb, where Mumm-Ra has resurrected his mutants generals to help him fight the Thundercats. He does inform us that Slithe will no longer be in command, due to his numerous fuck ups. He gives command to Vultureman instead. Good move I say. Slithe blows. Vultureman promises not to fail his master, which he undoubtedly will, and we cut to Tygra and Hachiman arriving at the lair of the Thundercats.
Hachiman explains to Lion-O that his father is sick, and he needs healing water from the garden of Thundera to save him. Lion-O says of course he can help, because that's what the king of the Thundercats does. While on their way, their ship gets attacked by the mutant generals. They shoot it down, and we cut to Panthro back at the base setting up the beacon. In a rather touching scene, he has to tell Wilykit and Wilykat that he doesn't know how many other Thundercats will return, or even how many survived.
We cut back to the Lion-O and the other Thundercats, who are now engaged in an all out battle with the mutants. Tygra takes out two, Hachiman takes out one, leaving Vultureman for Lion-O. He slices the mutant's jet board in half, but rather than kill him, Lion-O and Hachiman interrogate him to find out that Mumm-Ra is behind the attack. They send him back with a warning, and we end the issue with a shot of the brand new Thundertank that Panthro designed.
Issue 3
We open issue 3 with a character named Mandora riding her space cycle through an asteroid field made of obliterated moon chunks. Turns out she was responding to a fake distress call, when she was ambushed and had her ship stolen. She is now being pursued by these criminals. They eventually catch her, and keep her alive, and we find out they refer to themselves as the Lunatics. They explain that they want revenge on Mandora and the Thundercats for foiling an earlier plan of theirs. They eventually find the Thundercats who are enjoying a beautiful day testing out the new Thundertank.
The Lunatics attack the base, but luckily Lion-O, Panthro and Bengali aren't far away in the Thundertank. In possibly the most bad ass move of the series so far, Lion-O instructs Panthro to jump over the Lunatics' ship in the tank. He jumps out, along with Bengali, and they land on either wing, taking out the blast cannons. They try to force them down, but the Lunatics don't take kindly to that, and a battle ensues. Just when it looks like all is lost, Mandora escapes from her shackles and helps the Thundercats save the day. We end the issue with a scene of Mumm-Ra sitting in his lair, monologing, and commanding his hound to kidnap "the littlest Thundercat".
Issue 4
We begin issue 4 with Wilykit and Wilykat racing through the forest on their jet boards. Wilykit eventually loses her brother, only to look up and see Mumm-Ra's hound beast carrying him off. She races back to HQ where the other Thundercats are busy putting up the beacon. She explains what happens, and Lion-O vows to her that they will find Wilykat and punish Mumm-Ra. Here you get a greater sense of Lion-O's anger and protectiveness. He says that Mumm-Ra has declared war, and that's what he will get.
Cut to Mumm-Ra's lair, where the villain has Wilykat in a cage, dangling over a vat of unspecified super villain liquid of some kind. The Thundercats bust in and surprise surprise, that's exactly what Mumm-Ra wanted. He transforms into the super big monster version of himself, and prepares for battle. Lion-O throws out his catchphrase, before telling Panthro and Cheetara to go rescue Wilykat. Cheetara does so, but Panthro goes off to find Mumm-Ra's sarcophagus, the source of his power.
Cheetara saves Wilykat just as Panthro drops Mumm-Ra's sarcophagus into the super villain liquid, making it much easier for Lion-O to defeat him. The Thundercats walk off, celebrating their victory. However, deep within the dark tomb we see that Mumm-Ra merely retreated. He decides it's time to summon a new warrior to help him... Grune the Destroyer.
Issue 5
We start issue 5 with Mumm-Ra talking to Grune the Destroyer, who is initially uninterested in helping Mumm-Ra. Even the though of reclaiming his "rightful" place as leader of the Thundercats doesn't seem to intrigue him. His mind is changed when Mumm-Ra produces a mace made of Thundranium, a material that weakens Thunderians. Grune submits, and Mumm-Ra bestows upon him his original weapons, the sword and mace of Plundarr.
We cut to Lion-O talking to the Jedi style ghost projection of his old mentor, Jaga. He warns him that Grune the Destroyer has been brought back, and that he will have to face this challenge alone, as it is time for Jaga to finally go to that great litterbox in the sky. Lion-O protests, but Jaga insists that he is more than ready to lead on his own. They say their goodbyes, and the writers found a way to write Jaga out of their universe without ignoring him. Well done.
Lion-O is summoned to the big giant screen, where Grune has a message for him. He tells Lion-O of his plan to reclaim his throne, and demands that he meet him for a battle. Lion-O says that he must go, and what follows is the coolest looking fight sequence in the series. At the end, Lion-O doesn't want to kill Grune, but he finds he must kick him off of a cliff in self defense.
With the threat eliminated, we go back to HQ, where Lion-O tells the others that he must journey into the Book of Omens to gain the knowledge of the book, so that he may effectively govern Thundera when the surviving Thundercats arrive. He evaporates into the book, and we end on a scene of Mumm-Ra laughing at the Thundercats, saying that he let them win a few easy battle so they would forget about the war. We get a teaser for the second series to end the issue.
So how was it?
Overall I was quite entertained by this series, but let's break it down into its parts and take a look.
Story:
The story for this series, written by Ford Lytle Gilmore, is a well done introduction for the Thundercats. We get several epic battles, and we get to see them trying to rebuild Thundera. It is simple, but Thundercats has always been meant for a younger age bracket. That's not to say it's bad, however you won't find a lot of intricate, complicated themes or ideas here. It's mostly just awesome good guy versus evil bad guy stuff, but that's exactly what I want out of the Thundercats. If you're coming into it as a fan, you're going to enjoy it. If this is your first Thundercats experience, you might find yourself only a little disappointed. You really don't learn much about any characters except Lion-O and Mumm-Ra. The other Thundercats are always there, but rarely do they get and semblance of their own story or character development. Plenty of bad ass Lion-O moments though.
Art:
The art for this series is strange to talk about, because for issues 1,2,4, and 5 the books are drawn by Ed McGuinness, and inked by Jason Martin, and they do a fantastic job. The character designs are very close to the original comics, while adding more charm and character to them. The shading is understated and beautiful, and the action is fantastic. The panels are kinetic, and something exciting always seems to be happening, unless you're getting a beautiful shot of the Thunderian landscape. Another thing I should mention is that in each of these issues, at some point during the battle you are treated to a two page, single panel action shot that is usually so interesting to look at, you could easily spend as much time admiring that one panel as you do reading the rest of the book.
Issue number three is a completely different story. For some reason this issue was drawn by Fransisco Herrera and inked by Carlos Lobo Cuevas, who seemed to be more interested in showing off their hyper-stylized drawings than drawing a good Thundercats comic. The action is still there, sort of. With this style the panels can be a tad confusing, and far too many of them are close up face shots, even during battle. That of course brings me to the biggest problem, they completely botch the character models in this issue. The faces end up looking like something out of Looney Tunes, completely abandoning the subtle charm of the other issues. Even the shadows are over stylized in this issue, and it ended up distracting me more than helping me enjoy the experience.
For instance, here is what Panthro is supposed to look like like.
And here is how they drew him.
Fun Factor:
This is a no brainer. Thundercats has never been anything but awesome fun. Sinister, intimidating villains. An awesome team of cat humans using ancient, mystical powers and weapons to stop them. Well drawn action sequences, fast pacing, great colors, if you're looking for a fun comic, these are the ones to pick up. Plus, they're made to be appropriate for a younger audience, so unlike a lot of Wildstorm titles, you can feel comfortable sharing this experience with your children.
Overall I was a big fan of this series, and I absolutely can not wait for what we're going to see in the next series, Thundercats: The Return.
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