Wally Wood's cover for the first T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents issue

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is a team of comic book superheroes 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 people whose heroic careers were merely their day jobs, as well as featuring some of the better artists of the day, notably Wally Wood. They first appeared in T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1 (November 1965). The name is an acronym for "The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves". Image File history File links Download high resolution version (439x630, 78 KB)Template:Fairusein/T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents This image is of a magazine cover, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the magazine or the individual contributors who... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (439x630, 78 KB)Template:Fairusein/T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents This image is of a magazine cover, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the magazine or the individual contributors who... Wallace Wally Wood (born June 17, 1927, Menahga, Minnesota, United States; died November 2, 1981), was an American writer-artist best known for his work in EC Comics and Mad. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... Superman and Batman, two of the most recognizable and iconic superheroes. ... Tower Comics was an American comic book publishing company best known for The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents by Wally Wood. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1961 to 1970, inclusive. ... United Nations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Wallace Wally Wood (born June 17, 1927, Menahga, Minnesota, United States; died November 2, 1981), was an American writer-artist best known for his work in EC Comics and Mad. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ...

Tower Comics were unusual for the time, being 25 cents when most comics were 12 cents, but they were thicker comics, usually featuring five or six independent stories, with all the main characters coming together for the final story of the issue.

Publication history

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents was a bimonthly comic book published by Tower Comics. It ran 20 issues, from November 1965 to November 1969, plus several short-lived spin-off series starring several of the more popular super agents (Dynamo and NoMan). In the first volume of DC's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archives, Robert Klein and Michael Uslan wrote that Tower publisher Harry Shorten "cut a dream deal with Wally Wood" in which Shorten would be the managing editor and "Wood would be granted a wide latitude of creative and business freedom devoid of a 9 to 5 office job or hefty administrative duties and be allowed to concentrate on creating characters and concepts for an expanding line of superhero comics." When it became obvious Wood could not handle the volume of material Shorten wanted to publish, he hired Samm Schwartz (1922-1997), who had worked for many years as an Archie Comics artist. Schwartz handled the scheduling of all the material and assignments of scripts and art other than Wood's own. 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle, and Forsythe Jughead Jones. ...

To launch the project, Wood huddled with scripter Len Brown 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 TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E., the series got underway. Rare childrens storybook based upon Left to right: David McCallum, Robert Vaughn, and the late Leo G. Carroll. ...

Scripts were written by Wood, Dan Adkins, Len Brown, Bill Pearson, Larry Ivie, Steve Skeates and Manny Stallman. In addition to Wood, the large team of contributing artists included Dan Adkins, Dick Ayers, Richard Bassford, Tony Coleman, Reed Crandall, Steve Ditko, Mike Esposito, Frank Giacoia, Joe Giella, John Giunta, Gil Kane, Joe Orlando, Ralph Reese, Paul Reinman, Mike Sekowsky, Chic Stone, Sal Trapani, George Tuska, Ogden Whitney and Al Williamson. Dan Adkins, born 1937 in East Liverpool, Ohio, United States, is a prolific American illustrator who worked mainly for comic books and science fiction magazines. ... Bill Pearson (born 1938 in Belle Fourche, South Dakota) is an American comic book writer, artist, editor and letterer. ... Steve Skeates is a writer who has worked in the comics industry. ... Dan Adkins, born 1937 in East Liverpool, Ohio, United States, is a prolific American illustrator who worked mainly for comic books and science fiction magazines. ... Richard Dick Ayers is a comic book artist and cartoonist, born April 28th, 1924, in Ossining, New York. ... Airbrush illustration by Richard Bassford Richard Bassford is an American illustrator who has worked in both advertising and comic books. ... Reed Crandall (February 22, 1917 - September 13, 1982) was an American illustrator and penciller of comic books and magazines. ... The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (1964): Cover art by Ditko. ... Frank Giacoia (1925-1989) is an American comic book artist who sometimes worked under the name Frank Ray and to a lesser extent Phil Zupa and the single moniker Espoia. ... Joe Giella (born 27 June 1928, Manhattan, New York City) is an American comic book artist best known as a DC Comics inker during the Silver Age of comic books. ... Eli Katz (April 6, 1926–January 31, 2000), who worked under the name Gil Kane and in a few instances Scott Edwards, was a comic book illustrator whose career spanned the 1940s to 1990s. ... Joe Orlando was an illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist who was born April 4, 1927, in Bari, Italy, and died December 23, 1998, in Manhattan. ... Ralph Reese is an American artist who attended the High School of Art and Design before beginning his art career as an assistant to Wally Wood during the mid-1960s. ... Paul Reinman is an American comic book artist (born 1910, Germany) best known as one of Jack Kirbys Silver Age inkers, including on the first issues of The Incredible Hulk and The Uncanny X-Men. ... Mike Sekowsky (1923-1989) was an American comic book artist best known as the exclusive penciler for DC Comics Justice League of America during most of the 1960s, and as the regular artist on Wonder Woman during the late 1960s and early 1970s. ... Chic Stone was an American comic book artist (born Jan. ... George Tuska (born April 26, 1916, Hartford, Connecticut) a. ... Al Williamson Al Williamson (March 21, 1931 - ) is an American cartoonist of partly Colombian descent. ...

Following Tower Comics' demise, the rights to T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents were bought by John Carbonaro, who published several issues of a new series in 1983 under his JC Comics line, the last of which was published through Archie Comics' Red Circle Comics line. In 1984, Deluxe Comics published five issues of a new series, Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, featuring some of the best artists of the era, including George Pérez, Dave Cockrum, Keith Giffen, Murphy Anderson and Jerry Ordway. David Singer, owner/publisher of Deluxe (and a former associate of Carbonaro), thought he could claim the group was in the public domain, but a lawsuit by Carbonaro determined otherwise, ending with Deluxe Comics' demise in 1986. Image File history File links Tacompanion. ... Image File history File links Tacompanion. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... JC Comics (also known as JC Productions), was a very short-lived comic book company owned by John Carbonaro that published a few titles in the early 1980s. ... Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle, and Forsythe Jughead Jones. ... Red Circle Comics was an imprint used by Archie Comics to publish non-Archie characters, especially their superheroes, in the 70s and 80s. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Wallace Wally Wood (born June 17, 1927, Menahga, Minnesota, United States; died November 2, 1981), was an American writer-artist best known for his work in EC Comics and Mad. ... New Teen Titans #1. ... The cover of Giant-Size X-Men #1 by Gil Kane & Cockrum, featuring characters he (Cockrum) designed. ... Keith Iath Giffen (November 30, 1952 - ) is an American writer, artist and penciller of comic books. ... Murphy Anderson (born 1926) is an American comic book penciller and inker who has worked for companies such as DC Comics for over 50 years, starting in the 1930s-40s Golden Age of Comic Books. ... The covers of both the hardcover and the softcover versions of the Power of Shazam! graphic novel by Ordway. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In the later 1980s, Solson Comics produced one issue of T.H.U.N.D.E.R., a planned four-issue series which was never completed. A second issue was almost done. This series was not quite set in the same universe as the original series and took the characters in a different direction.

Another revival was attempted by Carbonaro in OMNI Comics #3 (1995) but was never continued beyond that issue, though more work was completed. In the early 2000s, DC Comics 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 alternations to the characters. DC failed to create a series keeping in line with the original series and tone, but DC did begin publishing reprints of the original Tower series in their hardcover DC Archives format in a total of six volumes. 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... DC Comics (originally called National Periodical Publications or National Periodicals) is one of the largest American companies in comic book and related media publishing. ...

• T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archives, Volume 1 ISBN 1563899035 (reprints T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1-4)
• T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archives, Volume 2 ISBN 1563899701 (reprints T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #5-7 and Dynamo #1)
• T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archives, Volume 3 ISBN 140120015X (reprints T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #8-10 and Dynomo #2)
• T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archives, Volume 4 ISBN 1401201520 (reprints T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #11, NoMan #1-2 and Dynamo #3)
• T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archives, Volume 5 ISBN 1401201644 (reprints T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #12-14 and Dynamo #4)
• T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archives, Volume 6 ISBN 1401204163 (reprints T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #15-20, plus covers of four UNDERSEA Agent books)

The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Companion (2005), edited by Jon B. Cooke for TwoMorrows Publishing, is a book-length history of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, combining material from Comic Book Artist with printed previously unpublished work. [ISBN 1893905438]. TwoMorrows Publishing is a publisher of magazines about comic books. ... Comic Book Artist is an American magazine primarily devoted to anecdotal histories of American comic books, with emphasis on comics published between the 1960s and the present-day. ...

Fictional history

The first issue introduced the first three T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents: Dynamo, NoMan and Menthor. UN soldiers storm a mountain laboratory of a UN scientist, Professor Emil Jennings, driving off the forces of the Warlord. The scientist is dead, but he left behind several of his inventions- super weapons to combat the Warlord's worldwide attacks. These inventions provide superpowers: 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 these identical bodies, he can transfer his mind to any of them should something happen to the one he's in. He is given an invisibility cloak and becomes NoMan. 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 to good. Joining these super agents is the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad, a special team of agents who fight the worldwide threat of the Warlord.

In subsequent issues, additional agents were added:

Virgil 'Guy' Gilbert of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad is given the Lightning suit and becomes a super agent in the fourth issue. More importantly, in the second issue, we learn that the Warlord is actually a Subterranean, and his forces are humanoids who live under the surface and have engaged in a war with the surface world to reclaim it from humans. In issue 7, Menthor is killed. In issue 8, Craig Lawson is given an experimental rocket pack and becomes the Raven and more importantly, the Subterraneans are defeated in that same issue.

Later Post Tower Additions Included Vulcan,and TWO Undersea Agents (father and Daughter), it also seems that the 'Menthor' Helmet was worn by at least two later agents.

With the threat of the Subterraneans ended, new villains are needed. 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 (introduced in the first issue, who worked for the Subterreans, and was a possible love interest in Dynamo), Andor (a superhuman created by the Subterraneans who was introduced in #9), Red Star (Communist menace) and others.

Members

Super agents

• Dynamo
• NoMan
• Menthor
• Lightning
• Raven
• Vulcan
• Undersea Agent

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

• GUY (Virgil Gilbert)-becomes Lightning in TA_004
• DYNAMITE (Daniel John Adkins)
• WEED (William Wylie)
• KITTEN (Kathryn Kane)
• EGGHEAD (James Andor)- killed in Action TA_002

External links

• International Catalogue of Superheroes entry for THUNDER Agents
• Official THUNDER Agents site