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Review: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #3

By | January 13th, 2011
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Written by Nick Spencer
Illustrated by Cafu and Howard Chaykin

The new hit series by Nick Spencer (ACTION COMICS, Morning Glories) and CAFU continues! Think the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents are a messed-up team? Wait until you learn the secrets of the evil organization known as Spider! This issue promises twists, turns and a sequence illustrated by the legendary
Howard Chaykin!

Nick Spencer and CAFU are back with the latest installment of the surprise hit nobody saw coming, and with two issues so far that were smash hits with us, does the trend continue?

Find out after the cut.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is the single best new comic DC has in their line-up right now. Three issues in, and already this book is leaps and bounds above some of their longest running titles and heroes in quality. This isn’t to thumb a nose at any particular DC title or franchise, but the fact of the matter is that no book is even attempting to do what T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is trying to do, and this title is already a legendary comic in the making.

With each issue of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents we are given a very simple premise: a very old team that hasn’t been relevant since the 80’s, with the characters bouncing around from publisher to publisher. This team is not only aware of it’s irrelevance in the comic now, but is attempting to be reformed in a new world with new superheroes in order to fight old villains. In other words, this is the most classic of comic book stories in that a group of young heroes are given a shot at redemption in this scenario. Right off the bat in the synopsis of ideas alone, you have a book that will work on multiple levels, and with a talent like Spencer in the writer’s chair you can be sure to see a multi-layered plot run extremely well.

Now, with issue 2, Spencer revealed his initial arc game plan, which was to give us issue by issue stories that revealed the team to us while also pushing the plot along. The first issue told us of Lightning, with additional art by CrissCross, and the third issue gives us the story of NoMan, with additional art by the always awesome Howard Chaykin. This issue gives us the story of the one team member who was on the old team as well, as NoMan is a character who simply can not die. What the issue does so well is give us the key moments of NoMan’s life in such a short amount of time that NoMan honestly begins to feel like a character we’ve always known. All of the extra sequences, keenly inserted in a parallel nature to the main story, break down NoMan’s past to glimpses to when he was “created,” to some of his time on the original team, as well as big moments (plural on purpose) that have fueled the characters motivation to the current day. Spencer leaves out one key detail on purpose to help push the plot along further, and by the time the issue ends you’re not only familiar with NoMan, but you’re concerned for his well being as well as intrigued as to what is yet to come. What Spencer has done here with the story is pretty much every single thing a writer is supposed to do to make a story excellent – and I’m not just saying that. And if the final page of this issue doesn’t make you add this to your pull, then I don’t even know what else I can say to convince you otherwise because that is how you end a comic and make the reader want to come back for more!

The book is simply a beautiful thing to behold. The mix of Cafu and Chaykin here is extraordinary. Chaykin is obviously a well known talent, and his handling of the past sequences serve to invoke the days gone by era, but what it does beyond that is give the book a real “super” feel. The comic moves far beyond just being a super hero story, but all of the back-up historical sequences deal specifically with NoMan when he truly cared to be a hero. Letting Chaykin do the art sequences for that really gives it a super vibe with Chaykin’s powerful characters giving a true sense of might to the story. Meanwhile, Cafu handles the modern day story in an incredibly sleek and smooth way that makes this one of the best books DC has visually. The art in this title is absolutely phenomenal, and Cafu is a fantastic choice for ongoing artist. Three issues in and while I’m certainly loving the additional artwork, I can’t help but get excited to see Cafu’s portions as much as I am to see Chaykin – and that’s certainly saying something.

Continued below

Not to sing the praises too highly, but honestly T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents could be looked at some day in the same way that we look at Watchmen. While Watchmen is obviously one of the most perfect comics in existence, Nick Spencer is essentially doing exactly what Alan Moore did – looking at has-been superheroes that no one even thinks about anymore, reinventing them, and pushing them forward in a superhero plot where the one thing that doesn’t matter is the superheroes. This isn’t about punching Spider Agents – this is about the very real lives that our heroes have. We’ve been given two issues showing us this point so far, with the previous issue about Lightning being somewhat indescribably amazing and this issue’s NoMan issue being equally so. Spencer is giving us an absolutely delightful super-story here, and with obvious talent like this so early on in his career, it’s safe to say that Spencer is going to have an incredible career in comics if he keeps writing books like this.

This book is hands down one of the few comics that I see no excuse for anyone who is a fan of comic books to ignore. The fact that people aren’t shouting up a storm about how awesome this comic is extremely odd, and the book definitely deserves a lot of attention. DC has dropped all of their comics to $2.99 to make them more affordable, and if there was ever a time when you didn’t have ANY excuse not to get this comic, it’d be now. Do yourself a favor and go back to your LCBS and get this if you haven’t already, and if you haven’t gone yet be sure not to leave without a copy of this comic. It is quite literally a classic in the making.

Final Verdict: 9.8 – Buy


Matthew Meylikhov

Once upon a time, Matthew Meylikhov became the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Multiversity Comics, where he was known for his beard and fondness for cats. Then he became only one of those things. Now, if you listen really carefully at night, you may still hear from whispers on the wind a faint voice saying, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not as bad as everyone says it issss."

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