Tuesday 29 January 2013

'UNSEEN' T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS...


Copyright relevant owner

Well, more-than-likely unseen if you're an American reader, probably unseen if you're a British one younger than 30.  Back in 1986, a new comics periodical hit the shelves of U.K. newsagents - T.H.U.N.D.E.R. ACTION.  'Limited Edition' screamed the cover, and it was limited - it only lasted a mere four issues - but I don't think that's what the claim was intended to refer to.


The comic presented reprints of WALLY WOOD's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS, which I assume were unauthorised as they were printed direct from scans of the original comics, in a style similar to The TITANS and SUPER SPIDER-MAN from MARVEL U.K.  (This consisted of printing two U.S. pages side-by-side on one U.K. page.)  Other material was presented in the traditional way however, so it was published as an 'upright' mag, not an actual 'landscape' one.


Amongst the new material over the four-issue run were two stories featuring DYNAMO and one with NOMAN.  The first one was in black and white, so I've posted them out of sequence as I wanted to grab your attention with a colour page. Anyway, if you're a T.H.U.N.D.E.R. fan, you might enjoy seeing these little-known adventures from 1986.  So, without any further ado, let's return to a time when I was exactly half the age I am now.  (And believe me, that makes me feel very old ancient indeed.)

For further info on this short-lived series, click here.






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14 comments:

  1. DeadSpiderEye29 January 2013 at 14:59

    Interesting episode from the history of British comics. I've not seen this publication before, print outlets are thin on the ground where I live and it probably didn't make it into our branch of Smiths.

    It's interesting to note the original material has that layout artist look, the sort of thing that seemed to be prevalent amongst British illustrators without a comic background. Still he does a reasonable job, I'm sure he'd've developed given a decent chance.

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  2. Kid29 January 2013 at 15:07

    I'm sure it would have looked even better had it been lettered by a good professional calligrapher. The typeset ltg does it no favours.

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  3. DeadSpiderEye29 January 2013 at 16:45

    Good lettering can make a significant difference to a comic. They've used those square speech bubbles to accommodate the typesetting, I would imagine they had it all galley set before hand, does nothing for the look. To be honest I don't like typography in comics at all, even with the captions set below the panels, I think hand lettering enhances the look.

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  4. Kid29 January 2013 at 17:52

    As do I (but I would think that). What I dislike about modern computer lettering is all those perfectly elliptical speech balloon shapes. No matter how good the font might be, the balloons tend to look as if they're floating over the page, rather than being part of the actual art.

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  5. baab29 January 2013 at 23:34

    A wee likeness of Samantha Fox in the first strip.

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  6. Kid30 January 2013 at 00:04

    Hi Baab - more than a 'wee' likeness. It refers to the fact in the strip itself.

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  7. Anonymous30 January 2013 at 05:24

    Without actually naming her, one notices :-)

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  8. Kid30 January 2013 at 07:50

    No need to name her, the resemblance is obvious. There can't have been many (if any) readers who didn't spot it, as Sam Fox was everywhere at the time. But at least we know from the text that the likeness is a deliberate one. So, no name mentioned, but likeness referred to.

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  9. baab30 January 2013 at 07:51

    I obviously did not read it-I just looked at the piktchers!

    Nothing about it grabbed me enough to actually read the damn thing!
    Ah well.

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  10. Kid30 January 2013 at 07:55

    Well, we're going to have to deal with you very seriously, Baab. No custard creams for a week. There, that'll teach you.

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  11. moonmando30 January 2013 at 21:38

    Guess i must deserve a custard cream ban also,as the picktchers were the first things that jumped out of the page for me!..Ahem,so to speak! Here is after all,a guy that still gets a mild stirring in the loins,merely recalling a certain,Jessica Rabbit....Oh,dear!

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  12. Kid30 January 2013 at 22:45

    Ah, Jessica - now there was a rabbit - er, I mean a woman. (Kathleen Turner was the model for her, apparently.)

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  13. John Pitt5 February 2013 at 20:33

    I had COMPLETELY forgotten about this UK comic. U wonder how many other titles I can't remember? Do you know where there's a complete list of UK titles on line?

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  14. Kid5 February 2013 at 20:56

    I'm not sure, but I suspect there will be. Not sure where you'd find it 'though.

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