Classic Steve Ditko art (pencils and inks), from a story completed just two years after the iconic (and somewhat iconoclastic) artist left Spider-Man and Marvel for… reasons.
No “superheroes” here, just a supervillain who looks like he came from Spidey central casting. The energy and whimsy on this page are terrific, and Steve clearly is enjoying himself in his storytelling. (Ralph Reese is the credited writer, but my guess is that he gave Ditko a plot/treatment and told him to run with it.)
Despite a hefty price tag (even with a trade), this outstanding artwork definitely spoke to me. Of course, if it actually was a Spidey page, It would have been marked about 10-15 times higher, so there’s some consolation for my wallet.
Death in superhero comic books had always been a gimmick. “Robin
Dies at Dawn” likely meant he would be back by dinnertime. (In fairness, it’s a
pretty good story.)
So back in the 60s, legitimately killing a character was in
fact, a groundbreaking novelty. And this T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents story is one of
the first. Ditko, Wood and company had spent 6 issues developing the character
of Menthor (John Janus), and they shot him to death on this page in Issue #7.
This historic page captures that collaborative methodology
of Woody and the Tower artistic team on T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents. Dan Adkins scripted
and provided layouts, Ditko penciled the story, and Wood inked it, with assists
by Adkins.
The original T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents lasted only last 20
issues, and perhaps, had it survived, John would have been resurrected at some
point. But it certainly did not appear that way.
Unlike, say, modern times where killing a lead character is a
gimmick once again.
Superman. Dead. Then alive.
Batman. Dead? Nope, he’s back.
Captain America? Reborn. Bucky? Not dead, just hiding in
Russia for a few decades.
Etc.
A few months after the death of Menthor, teenaged writerJim Shooter kills off (spoiler alert) Ferro Lad in the Legion of Super-Heroes.
Menthor’s powers derived from a “cybernetic” helmet, so t was no surprise that another character would don the helmet and ultimately become a new Menthor when T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents was resurrected by other publishers. John Janus? Still dead, I believe.
The frustrated artist, working “Marvel style” on Daredevil — plotting AND drawing — but only paid for the art, heard about a new opportunity. Tower, primarily a book publisher, had decided to take a leap of faith into the comics biz, and Woody was ready to help them.
It was the perfect role for Woody, who had carte blanche to
develop the comics as hew saw fit. He was artist, storyteller, art director and
defacto editor — all rolled into one.
And with the help of friends/colleagues Len Brown (Topps
Mars Attacks) and Dan Adkins, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents was born.
Combining a super powered team (think Justice League) with a
secret spy organization (ala S.H.I.E.L.D., which had just launched a few months
prior) T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents was an effort to capitalize on the secret agent pop
culture craze. (James Bond, Man from U.N.C.LE., et al.).
This page is a great example Wood’s crystal clear storytelling
and trademark inks. Adkins is credited in
some instances on this story as the penciller, with Wood on inks, and due to
the collaborative nature of the creative teams on these stories, it’s often
easy to lose the thread of who did what.
But this looks like pure Wood here, as Dynamo and his
“duplicate” (there are actually three Dynamos in this story — don’t ask) are
mowed down in a hail of bullets.
I’ve I always wanted to use that phrase.
Who are you going to call?:
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves.
U.N.C.LE. United Network Command for Law and Enforcement.
S.H.I.E.L.D: Originally Supreme Headquarters,
International Espionage and Law-Enforcement Division and
later Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate. In the
MCU film and TV Universe, it means Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement
and Logistics Division.
By 1965, the super-spy craze (and acronym obsession) was in full bore in pop culture.
By the time of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents launch, Wood had created two bonafide superhero masterpieces. The Superman parody in Mad Comics and the Daredevil and Sub-Mariner crossover in DD#7 are still considered classics today.
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents 50th Anniversary Special (IDW), July 2015
No one today pulls off a tribute to the great Wally Wood quite like the very talented Andrew Pepoy.
To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents, IDW Publishing asked Andrew to illustrate a cover variant – an homage to the iconic Wood EC cover, Incredible Science Fiction #29. For our version, we substituted Wood’s astronaut with the sexy and villainous Iron Maiden, one of the main adversaries in Wood’s original T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents.
The detail is terrific (especially noticeable in its original B&W form), and while no one can actually replicate Wally Wood, this might be as close as it gets. Home run!
