Open Mike Night: THUNDER Agents (2013) #1 & Doctor Who Casting News

THUNDER Agents (2013) #1

Written by: Phil Hester
Art by: Alex Ross
Colored by: Rom Fajarod
Lettered by: Chris Mowry
Published by: IDW

Weaver: Let’s start off with THUNDER Agents, a title with a new series and almost as awkwardly forced of an acronym as SHIELD, which it bears some resemblance to. This is the story of THUNDER’s new recruit, a former hockey enforcer and former mob enforcer who gains the ability of super strength via technology. THUNDER pulls him in because the rest of their team is basically dead or incapacitated.

I think this story gave me enough to understand THUNDER while not being information overload, which is a rare feat. One thing I’m not sure how I feel about is the transition at the end, where it’s suddenly narrated by the main character. I liked it, but it was kind of jarring and broke the rhythm of the book.

Maillaro: I will admit, I had never even really heard of THUNDER Agents until my brother in law bought me the first several issues of the 2010 series that DC put out. Nick Spencer wrote that series (and the 2011 follow up mini). I was immediately hooked. Spencer (much like he does in Morning Glories) laid down a huge complex story that needed to be read several times to put it all together, but at its heart it had strong characters and a great concept: a group of government trained agents using technology they don’t quite understand to get superpowers. These powers are killing them, but in the short time they are alive, they are able to do great feats of heroism.

I have been trying to get some of the older THUNDER Agents books to see how they compare, but the hardcovers were pretty expensive. IDW is finally collecting some of those older issues, so hopefully I can finally check them out.

While DC basically tried to update the older series while still continuing it, IDW went with a complete reboot. To me, this was probably a much better route. The IDW was far more accessible much quicker. The characters weren’t all that deep, but the reader could immediately get a grip on how everything fits together.

Weaver: That, to me, kind of speaks to what each company’s plan tends to be. The monolithic DC and Marvel are slaves to their own continuity, for better or for worse. An independent like IDW has much more latitude to do a hard or soft reboot and move forward. It’s a shame that a lot of old good independent series are so difficult to get in reprint, but reprint itself is a relatively new idea. I mean…reprint for the sake of reprint, rather than how Marvel, DC, and everyone else will stick old stories as filler in order to pad out issues or to have an additional monthly comic (like the old Marvel Tales).

It’s strange that this was a reboot, because to me it felt like the last series must have ended with a teamwipe. Was this an off-panel teamwipe? If so, that’s brilliant.

One more thing I wanted to mention…do we really need to bold “chrome plated buttcheeks”? It made me giggle that the letterer went with bolding that.

Maillaro: As far as I know, this is a complete reboot with no direct connection to the earlier books, but I could definitely be wrong. Don’t forget, the way the THUNDER Agents are set up, there is opportunity for a lot of character churn. But like you said, it was written loosely enough that it is very easy to just treat it as a new generation of the older books.

I thought there was quite a few unexpectedly funny moments in this book, like Dynamo freaking out while parachuting and “chromed butt cheeks”. I love gallows humor, and I think it worked really well here. I actually don’t know if I have ever read any comics written by Phil Hester, I typically think of him more as an artist, but he was a great fit here.

I did think they they might have spent a little too much time establishing the new Dynamo’s back story, but that is mostly just personal preference. I really like TEAM in my team books. It was really ALL DYNAMO for too much of this comic…which made that narration at the end kind of strange. If they had done it throughout, it probably would have felt less jarring.

Weaver: So wait…Noman isn’t from earlier THUNDER Agents either? I thought for sure he was an established guy. What about Iron Maiden, is she carryover?

I’m really astonished because I thought for sure that this was picking up from a teamwipe style cancellation. It really felt like it.

I thought a lot of the humor was forced, but I didn’t mind the focus on Dynamo…after all, he’s the “new guy.” I think it was a solid first issue, but maybe not an exemplary one. I’ll give it a 3.5/5 for writing

Maillaro: Yes, Noman is from the original…and Iron Maiden was a major villain too. But that is why I keep calling it a reboot. It’s not like Superman changed his name after Crisis…

Weaver: Are you sure? I thought I remember him going by Super Duper Man for a while.

Maillaro: Well he did go by Gangbuster for a little while…but I guess that is neither here nor there.

I am approaching this book like a complete fresh start, though I can definitely see the argument on whether or not that makes sense. I am going to go a little higher on the writing. 4/5. THUNDER Agents has failed so many times in the past, and I think Phil Hester did a great job making it fresh but true to the history at the same time. That is no small feat to achieve all of that in one issue.

The art didn’t particular stand out for me. I actually had to go grab the issue, I couldn’t remember if I liked or hated it. Andrea Di Vito used to draw Brath for Crossgen.Brath had a really cool style to it. THUNDER Agents  was sort of retro styled and didn’t stand out all that much. There was nothing bad about it, just not all that memorable. 3.5/5 seems fair.

Weaver: A straight three for the art for me. I’m going to have to delay JLA/Avengers a week, it was denser than I remember.

Maillaro: Well, if we are ending early this week, I guess it’s time….

THE NOT QUITE WEEKLY CHECKUP HAS RETURNED!

Last time I did one of these was when Jenna Louise Coleman was announced as the Doctor’s newest companion. While JLC is sticking around, BBC announced a few months ago that Matt Smith was headed out the door after this year’s Christmas Special. After some speculation, BBC had a big special two weeks ago to announced the new Doctor…and the winner was…Peter Capaldi!

Most people (myself included) have been very positive about this. Everything I’ve seen about Capaldi says he has a great love for Doctor Who, and he seems to be a great actor.

The biggest gripes against it have been his age (he’s 55), which is kind of ridiculous. Personally, I thought Matt Smith was WAY too young when they announced him for the role, though he was great in it. They really are far better off going back to the Doctor’s roots and going with an older actor. In fact, Capaldi is probably the most experienced and well regarded actor to have been cast in the role. He even has an Oscar for writing and directing!!!

The other major gripe has been that he has appeared in both Doctor Who and Torchwood before…which is kind of ridiculous. MANY actors have appeared in minor roles in Doctor Who before coming back for major roles in Doctor Who or Torchwood, including Karen Gillan, Colin Baker, Freema Agyeman, Lalla Ward, Jacqueline Hill (she is the opposite. Major role in early Doctor Who, came back to play a different minor role later on), Eve Myles, Naoko Mori, and Nicholas Courtney.

Besides Doctor Who, many TV shows do this. An actor does well in a guest role, and the show runner decides to bring him or her back later on as a bigger role.

Weaver: Star Trek did that a ton. A guy would show as a random crewmember or enemy of the week flunky, then come back in another role. Majel Barrett was simultaneously Nurse Chapel and the computer, later Luxwana Troi and the computer, but that was more nepotism than meritocracy. Jeffrey Combs may be a better example.

Maillaro: JG Hertzler is another one who appeared in many, many different roles in the various Star Trek’s. Memory-Alpha says that five different actors played more than seven different characters in the Star Trek franchise, the others being Randy Oglesby, Vaughn Armstrong and Thomas Kopache.

Weaver: Ah yes, I loved JG Hertzler as a Klingon. Forgot about him.

Anyway, glad to have the Dr. Who column back!

Maillaro: Sadly, it probably won’t be a regular thing. My time is on a tight budget…but I will try to sneak it in when I can!

Maillaro: All right, so next week, we can tentative pencil in JLA/Avengers again…IF you can’t find the time, how about GI Joe Classic #1? Don’t know why, but I decided to randomly read it again last night.

For this week…actually, there are quite a few interesting titles on my shopping list: Daredevil, Morbius, Nova, Superior Spider-Man, KISS Kids #1, Bloodshot 0…

Weaver: GI Joe is fine. And…of those…is this Morbius’ final issue? If not, Daredevil.

Maillaro: Morbius 8 comes out this week. Last issue (9) comes out in October.

Weaver: I fail at comixing. Okay, Daredevil it is! I’ve only ever bought one new issue of that ever, and only beyond that read a trade.

Maillaro: Oddly enough, I have read just about NONE of Daredevil vol. 1…but I own most of Vol. 2 as trade, and all of Vol. 3 as digital.