CRIVENS! COMICS & STUFF!: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS REVISITED...

Sunday, 27 April 2014

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS REVISITED...

Images copyright relevant owner

Many moons back, long before the actual event came about, I was firmly of the opinion that JERRY ORDWAY would be the most obvious choice of artist on WALLY WOOD's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS should the characters ever be revived. His style had always reminded me of Wally's so it was a natural conclusion to make as far as I was concerned - and, luckily, DAVID M. SINGER was of the same opinion.

In 1984, DELUXE COMICS secured the superlative services of Jerry (as well as those of GEORGE PEREZ, MURPHY ANDERSON, DAVE COCKRUM, STEVE DITKO and others) for their new series of the TOWER COMICS classic characters, before the title fell foul of copyright problems and suspended publication. As far as I can discern, there were only five issues, so here is a selection of covers and interior pages by various artists to whet your appetite.

Click here for Part Two!

6 comments:

Unknown said...: That was a really good series of comics and I think I still have 4 of these in my loft (missing issue 2) some great artwork in them as you say - just a pity about the law suit from John Carbonaro which sunk the title I think IDW are doing these books now after DC dropped it - Jerry Ordway is an exceptional artist and I would love to see more of his work,I cant recall seeing him doing anything since Lobo in DC revamped Weird Worlds comic and a few one shots a few years ago.; 27 April 2014 at 21:31
Kid said...: I never followed Lobo, but I liked Jerry Ordway's art in the SHAZAM series he did, McScotty. His website is in my blog list - why not give it a visit? Also, I think there was a collected edition of those Deluxe tales by DC Comics - I'm sure I saw the cover somewhere.; 27 April 2014 at 22:11
John Pitt said...: Continuing fromy comments in "Burn, Subby, Burn!" - THUNDER Agents ( Tower ) was one of those bought on holiday, so I do remember reading an ish in a caravan in Skeggie, which I got along with Fantasy Masterpieces, MCIC, Marvel Tales and M.F. Enterprise's Captain Marvel - all giant sized for maximum ammount of pages to read! -May '68.; 27 April 2014 at 22:53
Kid said...: Isn't it great, JP, to sit down with some old comics and let the memories come flooding back? I can almost hear the gulls and smell the sand when I look again at a comic I got on holiday.; 27 April 2014 at 23:13
Unknown said...: Strangely enough I have similar memories to John re Thunder Agents and holidays, except mine were reading the strips in the Alan Class reprints usually picked up on a Glasgow Fair holiday weekend to Blackpool, I know what you mean I can sometimes recall the smell of candy floss and burgers when I see those Alan Class , Uncanny Tales etc books.; 28 April 2014 at 00:25
Kid said...: Comics - a window into the fondly-remembered past, McScotty. May it ever be so.; 28 April 2014 at 00:57

About the artist:

From 1985 to 2000 A.D. (little joke there), I contributed to a variety of high profile comics and magazines for various companies.

For IPC/FLEETWAY/EGMONT, I freelanced as a lettering and logo artist on various weekly comics and monthly magazines, and also as a resize comic artist and spot illustrator on pocket books, summer specials and annuals.

For MARVEL U.K., BLACK LIBRARY, REDAN and USBORNE BOOKS, I again freelanced as a lettering artist, also working as a restoration artist for MARVEL U.S., restoring and re-creating certain pages of JACK KIRBY art for their MARVEL MASTERWORKS editions.

I also lettered the MARVELMAN sample pages submitted to MARVEL U.S. when they were considering acquiring the character, which - as we all now know - they DID.

Supplied comic strips, cartoons and illustrated advertisements for local business campaigns and newspaper publication on a professional basis since the age of 16. Did my first paid art job for publication at 14 or 15 for Lanarkshire Education Board.

Have also made TV appearances as a collector of memorabilia.

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Just some of the titles I worked on are:

2000 A.D. * JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE * DICEMAN * SONIC The COMIC * JUDGE DREDD, LAWMAN Of The FUTURE * CRISIS * REVOLVER * EAGLE * TIGER * BATTLE ACTION-FORCE * BUSTER * WHIZZER & CHIPS * WHOOPEE * NIPPER * SCHOOL FUN * ACE VENTURA, PET DETECTIVE * The REAL GHOSTBUSTERS * DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE * COUNT DUCKULA * RUGRATS * The TRANSFORMERS * DEATH'S HEAD * THUNDERCATS * GALAXY RANGERS * DRAGON'S CLAWS * SINDY * MARVEL MASTERWORKS * The TROLLS * LOADED * INFERNO * WARHAMMER * ROSE BLACK.

Copyright Notice:

Images remain the property of their respective copyright owners and are used here only for the purpose of review, promotion, and nostalgia.

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In the case of images culled from my own collection where copyright of an item isn't mine, I impose no copying restrictions on fellow bloggers.

(Although, if you don't allow copying on your own site, then you really shouldn't be copying from others, should you?)

And while you can credit this blog if you like, it's not mandatory. Who has time to make notes of every casually visited site during an idle browse of the internet?

In the case of anyone copying images of my own artwork and calligraphy, I affirm my right to be identified as the creator, and any such copying should not be for the purpose of monetary or material gain. (Unless it's mine.)

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Please also note that this blog is not sponsored by, affiliated with, or connected to, any organisation, business, or group, and is wholly independent.