T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents # 8 (September, 1966)
Not since the first two issues of this run have we seen a book as tightly coordinated as this one. Truly, every chapter in the book is another step towards the eventual overthrow of Overlord -- T.H.U.N.D.E.R.'s number one enemy. It's a flawed issue in many respects, but that unifying concept and building plot structure is, in itself, darned impressive.
The story is somewhat derailed for the last minute introduction of our newest costumed T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent, Raven. His story works a little more desperately to fit the theme and flow of the book, and he neither appears on the cover nor in the final, climactic story. Still, the developing plan against Overlord manages to work it's way in.
Dynamo: "Thunder in the Dark"
Script: ?
Pencils: Wally Wood
Inks: Wally Wood
Colors: ?
Letters: ?
grade: B-
The first story of the bunch sets the tone for much of this issue -- great action and settings, totally non-sensical plot. Essentially, the author attempts to connect the Warlords to
The Northeast Blackout of 1965, having them blackout the entire Northeast once again just to create a minor diversion against T.H.U.N.D.E.R. (which makes no sense), resulting in them capturing Dynamo, demanding that he join them, being surprised when he doesn't, throwing him into an overly dramatic death chamber with an opportunity for escape, and ultimately having a throwdown in a Warlord fortress designed, for some inexplicable reason, to look like a European medieval castle only with ultra modern weapons and equipment.
Again, none of this makes any damn sense.
Fortunately, Wood's art is strong, as usual, and that vibrant colorist at Tower (who may or may not have been Victor Gorelick), turns in some phenomenal stuff that just doesn't translate properly in a scanned image:
The original is far more breath-taking.
One truly disturbing moment in the story, which isn't really given any attention, is this incredibly brutal panel in which the Warlords that have infiltrated T.H.U.N.D.E.R. during the blackout make their move:
No-Man then rushes over to make sure Weed is okay, and he explains that he was only winged (which is not how it looks in that panel above), but...no one checks on any of the others???
Sure, No-Man has other bodies, but what about that T.H.U.N.D.E.R. director, and wasn't the guy all the way on the left Dynamite -- the one forgotten member of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad who hasn't been mentioned since issue #3? He'd been showing up off to the side since that time, but I guess Tower is finally done with him.
An example of poor Dynamite's treatment since issue #3. That's him hiding in the back (taken from issue #4).
No-Man: "The Pyramid of the Warlords"
Script: Bill Pearson
Pencils: John Giunta
Inks: Joe Giella
Colors: ?
Letters: ?
grade: C-
Another story with a cool visual idea that makes absolutely no sense. This one has all the Warlords congregating in a mysterious pyramid, each Warlord controlling a specific stone that unlocks one of the many doors they must all pass through in order to meet. So all Warlords must be present for any Warlord to get in. Sounds overly complex, and I wonder how big that meeting space must be if two third of the Pyramid is made up of heavy reinforced doors they have to pass through. Anyway, the Warlords are getting taken out, one after another, either by the Overlord ordering them executed or T.H.U.N.D.E.R. inexplicably showing up inside of the pyramid to take them out. It turns out that No-Man has been posing as The Overlord and duping them. Fine, okay, I can buy that, but then we get this explanation:
Now you have to understand here that T.H.U.N.D.E.R.'s only goal in this mission was to capture one live Warlord so that they could interrogate him in order to learn how to stop The Overlord. So, as a means to that end, No-Man sneaks up behind Overlord, is actually able to touch him, and then just misdirects him to be somewhere else at the time? Shows you just how much regard this writer had for kids' intelligence.
And, just when everything else in this story was going oh so well, we get this completely random ending that came out of nowhere and with absolutely no prior warning:
Eh, that's not how you develop characterization.
Lightening: "The Blue Alien"
Script: Steve Skeates
Pencils: Mike Sekowsky
Inks: Frank Giacoia
Colors: ?
Letters: ?
grade: D+
The Lightening feature always manages to feel like the red-headed step-child of the book. I get the sense that this story began as something entirely unrelated to the Warlord/Overlord arc, with only the last page changed to make it fit, in which the blue alien Lightening has been pursuing is revealed to be an Overlord in disguise. Otherwise, this was Skeates' go-to plot about a super criminal stealing plans from research facilities across the world again. The only important contribution (and also the only surprisingly funny moment in this story) is when we learn that the Overlords have mastered anti-gravity
which sets up the Raven story that follows.
But really, if Skeates' generic and non-sensical plotting wasn't enough of a turn-off already, I think I'm growing allergic to Sekowsky's awkard style of art. Just a few of many examples I could have pulled from this issue:
This dude is not up to anything. That's just a random, awkward after-glance
Excessive zip lines do not compensate for bad drawing
Raven: "Enter...The Raven"
Script: Steve Skeates
Pencils: George Tuska
Inks: George Tuska
Colors: ?
Letters: ?
grade: D-
The tacked on introduction of our new hero. Tower has finally decided that it needs a flying costumed hero after seeming to deliberately hold off for so long. As ridiculous as so much of the Tower writing is, it does seem that serious effort has been made to introduce powers that are believable and can be easily explained. They went overboard trying to explain how Lightning can move super-fast, for example. So, with our new character, it's less that he flies and more that he is propelled by rocket power and must carefully balance/steer himself. Still, flight alone isn't much of a power, so we're also told he has super senses.
And yet, even with a decent concept and a decent visual look, they left Steve Skeates in charge of writing this thing, so it makes no sense and is derivative, this time borrowing pretty closely from Menthor's introduction in issue #1:
Wait...explain to me again why this job had to go to a total outsider who has never been trained nor vetted by T.H.U.N.D.E.R.? Don't they have like dozens of competent agents waiting in the wing somewhere? I mean, first they try the suit out on Weed for bad comic effect:
(I still hate the idea of treating him like comic relief)
but then they go straight from that to the creepy/shady unnamed Eastern European scientist dude who designed this thing telling them the suit MUST go to this ex-trapeze artist he knows. Now that certainly doesn't sound shady!
So just who is this scientist guy anyway?
Anyway, just as with the Menthor story, all it takes is one quick rescue and suddenly Raven's deceitful days are over...just like that.
Oh, and Tuska totally missed the memo on what the Warlord anti-grav devices look like.
The entire point was supposed to be that when T.H.U.N.D.E.R. tried the kinds of devices depicted above, they didn't have enough maneuverability to keep up with The Warlords, thus necessitating the Raven costume.
Finally, we get this little detail:
Ummm, no one explained what this means?
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent: "Final Encounter"
Script: Dan Adkins
Pencils: Dan Adkins
Inks: Wally Wood
Colors: ?
Letters: ?
grade: B+
The culminating story in this key issue is the pinnacle of everything Tower strove for in its storytelling -- brilliant Wally Wood visuals,
exciting backdrops and action,
and absolutely no regard for a coherent story.
Really, none of it makes any sense, but the art really does help to make up for it. Here, for example, is The Overlord's ultimate plan:
Yeah, there's no science in that science.
But even beyond that, I still can't wrap my head around how infiltrating the Overlord's hideout (and hey, what happened to the Pyramid, or the Medieval castle??) led to all the agents and The Overlord ending up on a rocket that was apparently already prepped for take-off into orbit around the Earth, nor really anything that followed from there. Had The Overlord been planning to use his little space magnifying glass plan all along, or did he actually construct a plan for how to still destroy humanity IF T.H.U.N.D.E.R. managed to infiltrate his super secret base whose entire security system consisted of one robot answering a door? Seriously.
It was kind of cool to learn the history of the Warlords:
But any sympathy we begin to develop is abruptly cut short after that single panel by the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. director yelling "Never mind all that...tell us where the Overlord's headquarters is located..."
Geez man, you
did ask.
Beyond that, I did find this little detail both amusing and highly unnecessary after the captured Warlord (abducted in the second story of this issue) took mental control over Dynamo:
Ouch.
In the end, The Overlord is killed, but plenty of Warlords are left on Earth, so while this issue's massive build-up did pay off, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. isn't left without an enemy in case the writers struggle to find a better one in the future.
One final detail in this issue that I found interesting is this advertisement:
How much, exactly, is Dynamo's "Guarantee" worth? In nine more issues, after Tower has begun to experience significant difficulties, the book will start incorporating reprints, and the issue after that will only be published after a year long hiatus, also containing reprint material.
