The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1901: Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #5, October 1986

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T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, like it's most famous creator Wally Wood, has sort of lurked at the edges of my comic book consciousness. I really didn't know much about the team, so I did a bit of research before reading today's issue, and got an idea of the weird publication history of the characters. I actually seem to recall a bit of the kerfuffle around the team and its ownership, and I'm not even remotely surprised to see that Rob Liefeld was involved somehow. That guy and his business decisions!

The comic itself is nicely put together. It features a lead story about the team and then a few short pieces focussing on members of the team. Though each story (there are 4) is short, the comic doesn't feel like it's cheated us of content - the lead feature is intriguing and action-packed, and the solo features do a nice job of advancing stories for their respective characters outside of the job of being a T.H.U.N.D.E.R. agent. Plus each story is written and drawn by stellar creators.

This series, I think, would make a very interesting comparison to Jim Lee's Stormwatch, as both are about teams of super-powered individuals working for the U.N. The idea of superhero as day job is cool - are their identities still secret? And if not (as one of today's stories seems to imply), how does anyone protect their loved ones?

D is for Deluxe

And a battle on the moon

But with this final issue 

The story ends too soon.

More to follow.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 763: Tales of the Sun Runners v.2 #2, September 1986

Yep, whatever it was that caught my attention with these characters last time I read them has sucked me right back in. It turns out it wasn't an FCBD issue I read them in, but actually the first issue of the series, published by Pacific Comics. And just as with that issue, I'm thoroughly intrigued by the story, the characters, and the universe. Remarkably epic things seem to be happening, and I'm curious to see where it all goes.

Well, where it all goes is 2 more issues through Amazing Comics, which means the likelihood of my finding them is fairly low, as is the likelihood of the story concluding in a satisfactory manner. Nature of the beast, I suppose.

I don't know what it is about elephant-based anthropomorphized characters. The lead character in these last two issues, Doc Gibraltar, comes from a line of such creatures. I think I like how the trunks, short though they are, are used as expressive tools on the faces of the characters. It's like having a prehensile nose that reacted to your state of mind (which, for us, would be really distracting, I'm thinking). Regardless, I find them fascinating. Glen Johnson's artwork is especially expressive in the facial features, and oftentimes we can forget just how much difference this makes for us identifying with the characters, regardless of how alien they are. Perhaps this is a nice shortcut for comics that feature non-human main characters. Even if they don't look like us, if we can recognize their emotions through their facial expression, we can understand that they at least feel like us. Affect theory as applied to non-human facial features. Probably a paper in there somewhere.

To be continued.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 762: Tales of the Sun Runners v.2 #1, July 1986

Somewhere in my collection, I have another issue of a Sun Runners title that I'm sure I got at a Free Comic Book Day some time ago. I can't, for the life of me, find it in my database, though. I do remember, however, really quite enjoying it. I enjoyed today's comic too.

It's tough to combine the genres of fantasy and science fiction in a way that doesn't simply take all of the stereotypical tropes of both and mash them together. Sun Runners does a very interesting job, similar in many ways to how The Force is treated in Star Wars, incorporating magic into a soft sci-fi setting and story. I know we're all familiar with the all-too often used idea that magic is simply technology that we don't understand, and that works in many ways, but with magic there's oftentimes an element of belief or will that's involved, something intrinsic to the caster, not to the machinery, physical or spiritual, that's being used. Magic comes from consciousness. Though I suppose it's a technology for manipulating reality through the application of directed consciousness. Or something.

Anyway, the comic was pretty cool, though I do feel like I'm well behind. It seems the the title bounced between a number of different publishers in the 80s, so while I didn't feel completely lost while reading this issue, I didn't feel completely found, so to speak, either. But I'll read the follow-up tomorrow - there was definitely enough in this issue to pull me back in for more.

To be continued.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 691: Battlestar Galactica #1, March 1979

We really should all thank our lucky stars for Ronald D. Moore. Though he starts out with a good idea, the original execution of Battlestar Galactica was just bad. Even here, in the comics adaptation, it's bad. Galactica tried too hard to be the next Star Wars when it was so much better suited to the kind of intelligent social commentary the reimagined series gave us in the early 2000s.

But televisual execution isn't all that's damaging this comic. Though drawn by Ernie Colon, an excellent illustrator, the arrangement of panels and speech bubbles, the indistinguishability of some of the main characters, even the colour palate, all work together to make a really uninspiring comic. There are some fine moments. The destruction of the Battlestar Atlantia is well-depicted. But a few nice panels can't save this comic from being confusing and disappointing.

Now, this is not to say that the comics adaptations of the 2000s series were much better. I was never able to get into them, despite loving the show. Perhaps some stories are simply better suited to the medium of their creation.

Onward.