THUNDER Agents Companion by TwoMorrows Publishing

™

1984-86: THE DELUXE COMICS YEARS Dave Cockrum, Steve Englehart, Keith Giffen, Jerry Ordway, George Pérez, David M. Singer, Dann Thomas and John Workman ..................125 Jim Shooter on T-Agents Ownership ................147

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS: CONTEXT & CHARACTERS T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Road!: Those Timeless, Titanic Agents of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. ..................7 Distant Thunder: James Bond 007 & Marvel Comics Setting the Stage for T-Agents ............................................8

1987: THE SOLSON INTERLUDE John Carbonaro, James E. Lyle and Michael Sawyer ....................................148

Those Halcyon Days of the 1960s’ High Camp Heroes ........12 T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents 101: In-Depth History of the Heroes of Tower..............................14

1987: BLUNDERS OVER T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Boris the Bear & Thunder Bunny....................156

Death of a Hero: Demise of the Man Called Menthor............24

1995: PENTHOUSE COMIX “T&A”GENTS Terry Austin, Paul Gulacy, John Carbonaro and Jordan Raskin ................158

Days of Blunder: Mocking the Men from T.H.U.N.D.E.R.........26 THE T.H.U.N.D.E.R. FILES The Curious Background of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents ................30

1995: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS ANIMATED? Dan DiDio and Marv Wolfman........................162

The Ultimate T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Checklist ......................31

2003: THE “ALMOST” NEW T-AGENTS: Marc Andreyko & J.G. Jones ........................164 DC’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Hype..............................165 Death of the DC New T-Agents’ Deal ..............167

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. ARTISTS SECTION T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents by Dave Gibbons..............................41 1965-69: THE TOWER COMICS YEARS A Man Called Wood: The Masterful Artist Behind T.H.U.N.D.E.R. ........42

2005: JOHN CARBONARO’S T-AGENTS ........168 Elvira and The W.I.N.D.Y. Agents ....................171

Witzend and Mr. Wallace Allan Wood ..............45

John A. Carbonaro v. David M. Singer A Look at Their Thunderous Legal Battle ..........................174

Jack Abel, Dan Adkins, Dick Ayers, Len Brown, Reed Crandall, Steve Ditko, Mike Esposito, Frank Giacoia, John Giunta, Larry Ivie, Gil Kane, Sheldon Moldoff, Joe Orlando, Bill Pearson, Paul Reinman, Samm Schwartz, Mike Sekowsky,Harry Shorten, Lou Silverstone, Steve Skeates, Manny Stallman, Chic Stone, Sal Trapani, George Tuska, Ogden Whitney and Al Williamson....................46

The Curse of T.H.U.N.D.E.R.? The Helter Skelter Ride of Wood’s Heroes ........................176 ADVENTURES IN THE THUNDERVERSE Iron Maiden by Garry Leach ..........................................178 T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents by Alan Davis ................................179 Post-Modern T-Agents Art by Jay Stephens, John Backderf, James Kochalka, and Dean Haspiel..................................180

The Secret Origin of Tower Comics....................85

“Dreams Past” Art by Garry Leach ..................................182

1981-84: THE JC COMICS YEARS Will Blyberg, Charlie Boatner, Paul Bonanno, John Carbonaro, Lou Manna, John Workman ..109

“Cold Warriors Never Die!” Art by Paul Gulacy & Terry Austin Script by George Caragonne & Tom Thornton ....................189 “Prologue to Zero” Art by Paul Gulacy & Terry Austin Script by George Caragonne & Tom Thornton ....................216

1983: A NOBLE EXPERIMENT Justice Machine Annual #1 and T.H.U.N.D.E.R. John Carbonaro and Bill Reinhold ..................124

Gratitude: For the Love of T.H.U.N.D.E.R.! ........................224

Upper right: Cover detail from T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #12. Art by Wallace Wood. Right: Altered panel from “Superdupermann,” Mad #4. Layouts by Harvey Kurtzman, inks by Wallace Wood. ©2005 the Estate of William M. Gaines.

Introduction by Jon B. Cooke C’mon, admit it! Never mind the Marvel Age or DC’s era of the daring and the different! The comic book exploits of Dynamo, NoMan, Lightning, Raven, Menthor, Weed, Kitten, and all the other operatives of The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves—that’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, natch!—were the kinchiest group of super-heroes to ever grace a four-color page in the funny books of the 1960s, and, for that matter, they just might be the most fab gathering of costumed spies of that swingin’ decade or any period since! And ya gotta confess that what made those characters so bitchin’ was not only the clever melding of the spy and super-hero genres, but also the high quality of the art and writing, right? Hey, if that wasn’t true, why, pray tell, are you standing there in the bookstore, checking out this definitive guide to those swell comics? (Nope, don’t even think of blaming it on Menthor mind-control!) But if, by odd circumstance, this volume does find its way into the hands of the uninitiated, we promise to all lucky neophytes that you’re in for a treat. And, fear not, longtime Dynamo aficionados and lovers of Wallace Wood’s art out there! This tome is guaranteed to knocken your sockens off, as well! While those true fans of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. may detect that some portions of the enclosed first appeared in the July 2001 issue of Comic Book Artist magazine (Vol. 1, #14), edited by yours truly, rest assured there’s lots new stuff herein, including previously unpublished T-Agents tales, chats with creators of the post-1960s resurrections, a significantly expanded checklist (now with listings of the post-Tower books), exclusive features a’plenty (including looks at aborted T-Agents comics and the never-produced animated series, as well as sidebars on T.H.U.N.D.E.R.-related stuff!), not to mention scads of rarely-seen artwork. Relax… this is THUNDER? The the ultimate compendium, fully authorized by owner VAS IST DAS HIGHER of the T-Agents franchise, Mr. John Carbonaro (who THUNDER? United helped out us out immeasurably, not only by generNations ously giving permission to present this book-length Defense examination, but also in opening up his extensive Enforcement Reserves files of T-Agent curiosities!). Thanks, J.C.! So whether a newbie to the super-spy mythos or a veteran fan of Woody and his crew of brilliant artists and writers, be warned and be quick, brave reader: Find a safe spot, strap yourself in, and stay alert for a maelstrom of adventure, the culmination of four decades-worth of breathless excitement!… Wait! Can you sense it? The gathering storm clouds approaching on the horizon, that electricity coming ever closer? The advancing tempest is your cue, brave reader, to summon courage, turn the page, and partake in a cataclysmic ride, one that spans four decades, taking you from the subterranean depths of planet Earth and up into the intergalactic void of space! Prepare, fellow armchair adventurer, for the onslaught of… T.H.U.N.D.E.R.! 7

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Road!

Those Timeless, Titanic Agents of T.H.U.N.D.E.R.

In examining the appeal of Wallace Wood’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, we need to not only look back at the man and his team of exceptional co-creators (as well as those artists and writers who helmed the subsequent revivals) but also to give consideration to that long-gone era which gave birth to the unforgettable heroes in question. We need to remember that Dynamo and his crew came from the Super-Decade, those years of promise tinged with despair. The iconic super-President, John F. Kennedy, opened the 1960s with an invigorating hope (however real or delusional), one shared by much of the country, to grow beyond the fears of the Atomic Age and aspire to better the nation. Super-spies, super-rock ’n’ roll groups, super-cars, super-drugs, and— of course—super-heroes, all became crazes with kiddie consumers in those days, each category cultivating the same pattern of emerging as hot trends, followed by frenzied Baby Boomer consumption, and just as quickly boring artifacts of last week’s mania. Hot today, not tomorrow. Try as they might, comics publishers often could not recognize trends fast enough to entice America’s increasing fickle youngsters in the ’60s. Given the considerable lagtime between a title’s conceptualization and its final appearance on the newsstand, hot genres were increasingly difficult to anticipate. Still, history shows, once the “Next Big Thing” was correctly identified, the entire industry scrambled to jump on board, flooding the racks with knock-offs— whether in the ’30s (comic strip reprints and costumed characters), ’40s (kid groups, teenage humor, crime, and romance), or ’50s (Westerns, space opera, horror, and satire)—and thus everyone (in theory) would share in the profits, though just as quickly cooling off whatever novelty du jour by over-saturation. And that thinking—”Who needs originality when one could more easily just rip something off?”—remained a mantra among all comics publishers going into the turbulent ’60s. But, as Bob Dylan warned, the times they were a’changin’. For all the hoopla given by fans over the rise of Marvel’s self-conscious super-heroes of the ’60s, the entire comics industry was in desperate shape during those years, severely wounded by the notoriety heaped on by Dr. Fredric Wertham and his fellow anti-comics crusaders in the previous decade. Readership continued to plummet as TV and film offered increasingly fantastic entertainment (once the exclusive purview of funny books). Entrepreneurs and savvy manufacturers competed wildly, vying for the pocket money of every American kid. And, as was their modus operandi, instead of innovating—trying something new and refreshing to salvage the ailing business—the comics people did what they did best: They copied one of their rivals. It would be a mistake to assume that the Great Super-Hero 8

Distant Thunder!

James Bond 007 and Setting the Stage for

the Marvel Age of Comics: the Agents of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Revival of the 1960s was singularly a result of the Batmania craze of ’66, though the William Dozier-produced, twice-a-week TV sensation was a huge factor in the onslaughting barrage of “high-camp heroes” that flooded the marketplace. More properly, credit—or blame, if you prefer—needs to be given to Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and all the Marvel Bullpenners who perhaps brought comic book entertainment to a new level of self-awareness and pure joie de vive. As beautifully delineated as DC’s super-hero and war books were, they were humdrum compared to the sheer exuberance of the Marvel Age of Comics. And the kids responded by paying their 12¢ to Martin Goodman’s House of Ideas. But—funny thing this—Marvel’s revolutionary approach to super-heroes, as envied and copied as it would become by the mid-’60s, was itself the result of a Goodman directive to duplicate their main competitor’s hot new title. Oft-told legend has it that during a golf game with DC Comics publisher Harry Donenfeld, Goodman took note of his rival’s boasting. Seems DC’s latest book, one teaming up Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and other DC super-characters, is getting some action on the newsstand… how ’bout that, eh? Well, Goodman, whose own company had a considerable cast of once formidable, now dormant costumed-characters, went back to the office, hung up his golf cap, and gave cousin-in-law and editor-in-chief Stan Lee instructions to put together a Marvel Comics super-hero team to compete with Harry’s Justice League of America. But, instead of raiding the house inventory and forming a super-squad with Captain America, the Sub-Mariner, and Marvel Boy, Stan—with the essential input of his frequent collaborator, the genius artist also known as “The King,” Jack Kirby—decided on a quartet of new characters… sorta. Throwing in a twist that this crime-fighting group was actually an extended family, Lee and Kirby ushered in The Fantastic Four, the first title of the publisher’s great second act, the Marvel Age of Comics. Still, as cool as Stan and Jack’s team of Mr. Fantastic, the Thing, Invisible Girl, and the Human Torch were, the new Marvel hero that most effectively captivated comic book readers was Stan and artist/co-creator Steve Ditko’s friendly neighborhood web-slinger, the Amazing Spider-Man. It was Peter Parker, the angstridden teen riddled with self-doubt, burdened with too much power and too much responsibility for such a tender age, who resonated with fans. In comparison, Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne were, well, corny with a capital “K” compared to the emerging relevance of Marvel’s anti-heroes. But we all know how DC cashed in on corny, right? The all-encompassing success of the Batman TV show, as over-the-top and hokey as all get-out, proved that there was plenty of money to be made in camp, and so with the Dynamic Duo and Spidey showing the way, a flood of costumed tights paraded across the stands, much of it pure drek (remember the short-lived Captain (“Let’s Split!”) Marvel?), but some titles held more than a hint of inspiration. (Interestingly, 1965’s most important innovator, publisher James Warren, of Famous Monsters of Filmland and Creepy fame, resisted the temptation to exploit the trend—at least in sequential form, if not in merchandising!) It was an ex-Bullpenner (albeit a member of Stan’s team for mere months) who gave Marvel real competition in the creativity department. 9

by Lou Mougin [This fine overview of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and the Tower comics line appeared in slightly different form in The Comic Reader #197 back in 1982. Please note it contains some personal opinions some may not agree with—Ye Ed takes exception to Lou’s characterization of Manny Stallman’s delightfully bizarre artwork—but it is a clear and thoughtful retrospective of the high points (and low) of Wally Wood’s glorious super-hero comic books.—JBC] Let us turn back the clock to that Wonderful Year, 1965. A new comics company was about to be born. DC had, for the past nine years, shown that super-heroes were once again a viable market. Marvel Comics had sparked a revolution that made their books prime college-age reading fodder. Archie had retooled its Adventures of the Fly title to feature an Avengers-like team of revived heroes. Best of all, news had leaked about a new TV show to debut in early ’66 featuring Batman. Nobody knew if it’d be a hit yet, but the fact of its existence proved that attention, favorable attention, was finally being paid to comic books. Considering the fact that the industry had almost gone belly-up ten years earlier and were only saved by the advent of the Comics Code, that wasn’t bad news at all. So, in this era of The Beatles, Sean Connery’s James Bond, Lyndon Johnson, and early renewed commitment to the Vietnam War, a paperback publisher named Tower Books decided to hit the racks with a new comic series. Its publisher was Harry Shorten and its editor was Samm Schwartz, both veterans of the Archie comics group. For a chief artist, they hired away a mainstay of the EC/Mad bullpen from Marvel, where he was winding up a short but acclaimed run of Daredevil. Given the freedom to write and design characters, Wallace Wood came over, and brought others with him. And the product of their labors soon became available on spinner racks across the country, in a hope of challenging Marvel, DC, and the competitors who were shortly to flood the market with new super-hero books as soon as the debut of the Batman television show. Its title was T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents # 1, dated November 1965, hit the ground running. With a 25¢, 64-page package of six superbly-drawn tightly-plotted stories, the book packed in three new super-heroes, a horde of secret agents, mystery men, super-villains, monsters and action, action, action! One look at the book and the reader could tell that here, indeed, was the king of the backseat comics; it was the only mid-’60s title to successfully compete with Marvel and DC super-hero fare. It set the pace for two years of giant-sized comics that most fans of that period recall as fondly as anything from the two major publishers. 14

This page: Detail from Dynamo pin-up, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #3. Art by Wallace Wood & Dan Adkins.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents 101

In-Depth History of the Heroes of Tower

This page: Panel detail, “A Day in the Life of Dynamo,” Dynamo #1. Art by Mike Sekowsky & Frank Giacoia.

Basically, Tower Comics, which published T.H.U.N.D.E.R. and the several spin-offs, boiled down to one person: Wallace Wood. As creator of the series, major artist and writer and self-admitted freelance editor, Wood produced his best commercial comics work of the ’60s while at Tower. The nearly two-dozen books he worked on during the 1966-68 period showcase some of the finest super-hero art of the “Second Heroic Age,” particularly his numerous Dynamo stories. As a result, Tower became the only third-force publisher to equal, and at times, surpass Marvel and DC in art quality. Others who wielded the pencil and brush at Tower were equally renowned. Gil Kane, Reed Crandall, Steve Ditko, Dan Adkins, John Giunta, Al Williamson. Few super-hero books would ever boast such a distinguished crew. “I was not only Tower’s top artist, I created the characters, and wrote most of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents stories,” admitted Wood. “As to why Harry Shorten (head of Tower Books) decided to publish comics, I don’t know. But he came to me and asked me to work up a super-hero book. I then functioned as a freelance editor and did as much of the art as I could.” The concept of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. was a skillful blending of two separate genres that had each, in 1965, been proven sure-fire successes. Secret agents had ridden a wave of popularity since the first James Bond films of the early ’60s, and the Bond/Flint/Solo cult was never bigger. (The popularity of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in particular seemed to have the greatest impact on this book.) And super-heroes were the rage in comic books; that went without saying. Well, then, why not a cloak-&-dagger type who wore a costume beneath the cloak? That line of thinking resulted in T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1. The cover, drawn by Wood, introduced a triad of new arrivals to the super-hero biz: a blue-clad Superman-type lifted an armored villain overhead, surrounded by a complex of machinery. He was flanked by a cloaked, transparent man on his left, and on the right was a late-comer who apparently had ripped off the Atom’s uniform. The cover, colored only in various shades of red, blue, and yellow, and devoid of any blurbs, was perhaps less flashy than it should have been. Compared to Marvel’s slam-bang broadsides of the period, it looked positively static. But it served to showcase Dynamo, NoMan, and Menthor for their first public appearance. And the greatest back-seat heroes of the mid-’60s were born!

Page one opened with a battlefield scene as we glimpsed a squad of landing UN paratroopers through shattered glass. A caption informed us: “A team of special U.N. agents lands at a remote mountain lab…” In the space of two pages we learned that the unit was on a rescue mission, intent on saving the life of Dr. Emil Jennings, the greatest scientist of the Western world. As fate would have it, the bad guys escaped unharmed in a helicopter, and Jennings was cold meat on his laboratory floor. “This has to be the work of the Warlord!” muttered a squad leader. “Just who is this Warlord, sir?” asked a soldier, thus allowing us to be introduced to the villain of the piece. The Warlord proves to be the mysterious leader of a SPECTRE or T.H.R.U.S.H.-like organization, with every available criminal and spy at his beck and call. His objective: The theft of every scientific development on Earth. Masked by a purple hood, the weird spy-chief held congress only with his top lieutenants, and not even they had seen his true features. “Now he’s gotten to this experimental station and our most advanced research, and since the professor never kept notes, all these devices will be his sole property… we can never duplicate them!” finishes the officer. “They didn’t have time to get everything, sir,” says another crewman. “Look at these!” The scene immediately shifts to a high-level conference room in New York. A wall is decorated with a figure of the Western Hemisphere and the words, “The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves.” T.H.U.N.D.E.R.’s Inner Council stands assembled, considering the three recovered devices from Jennings’ laboratory… a metallic belt, a blue-black cloak, and a rigid helmet in the form of a headmask. “The first is an electron molecular intensifier belt which will make the wearer’s body structure change to the consistency of steel!” says a speaker, holding up the belt. Next, he gestures to the cape, and explains its ability of becoming absolutely black, reflecting no light and rendering the wearer invisible. “And this one we’re not sure of,” he says, fondling the strange helmet. “It seems to be a cybernetic helmet… it could be dangerous, but it could amplify a man’s brain power many times over…” Quickly, the heads of the free world’s greatest 15

The Curious Background of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Wallace Wood has been frequently credited as being the creator of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (abbreviated throughout this volume as “T-Agents,” in deference to the typesetter, who would otherwise wear out the period key!) and this same tome is no exception. But, in truth, creative minds other than just Woody were involved in formulating concepts and characters within the series. In addition, there have been other influences—some from outside comics— which have made their ways into the respective origins of our heroes, a few revealed many years after the initial appearances. Longtime pop-culture fans can immediately recognize the archetypical basis for numerous characters in T-Agents: • Though sans cape and flying ability, Dynamo is reminiscent of the Man of Steel, Superman, by way of a Hourman-like story device—albeit Thunderbelt in place of a pill—granting super-powers only for a limited period • With cloak, invisibility, capability to possess other humanoid vessels, and otherworldly skin color, NoMan has The Spectre written all over him, with a nod to Robotman • Menthor, a bad guy forced to be good by a cybernetic mask, is an inverse of the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tale, with a mind-controlling helmet in the Doctor Fate mold • Who else but The Flash provided a template for super-speedster, Lightning, although the agent has his own disability of dying a little every time he uses his powers • A modern-day Dragon Lady best describes Iron Maiden

• The Raven is a generic soaring hero, à là Hawkman, though one with a hidden jet-pack • T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad, minus Kitten, might be mistaken for a red-clad version of the Blackhawks (only without one airplane per member)… or the cliché characters of virtually every single World War II movie made up to that time • Andor, the tragic anti-hero who sojourned through the titles, perhaps can be described as a Tarzan knock-off (only raised by malevolent Subterraneans, not affectionate apes), by way of Doc Savage, if one plagued with Job-like tribulations As for actual development of the characters, memories of some Wood associates differ. “Dynamo was a mutual creation,” Len Brown told Christopher Irving in CBA V.1, #14. “I named the character because of the belt. I was going to call him Thunderbolt, and have him wear a ‘Thunderbelt.’… I remember maybe even suggesting Thunder Riders, and Wally suggested T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. My hero’s name was Thunderbolt, and Wally changed it to Dynamo… originally the name of the villain).” (Irving added, “Interestingly, Dynamo is mistakenly referred to as ‘Thunderbolt’ in one panel of the character’s debut story.”) As homage to his young friend, Woody gave the civilian name of T-Agents leader Dynamo, Leonard Brown. Larry Ivie, sometime Wood assistant, remembers being the one —simultaneously but separate from Brown—to come up with “The Thunderbolt“ (as well as compatriots “The Thunderbird” and “The Thundervision”), as well as quite a few other aspects of the series, including the name of the group and being the one to define the acronym. The name Dynamo was substituted because, Ivie says, Wood was concerned with DC’s Western hero, Johnny Thunder. (Ivie’s extensive comments are in the “T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Artists” section.) While he says the name NoMan, chosen by Wood, was taken from the stories of Homer, the character’s ability to transfer consciousness from one body to another was Ivie’s concept. But Russ Jones, another Wood assistant from the ’60s, recalls, “Wood’s love for [science-fiction author] A.E. Van Vogt gave birth to NoMan; [Vogt’s novel] The World of Null-A. Woody loved ol’ A.E., [and] the Null-A books were his very favorites. The hero [of Null-A] switched bodies; the origin of NoMan.” Disagreements over who specifically originated what will doubtless go on, as new details may also emerge, but regardless, few of his associates would argue that the one, truly creative powerhouse behind T-Agents was no one less than the late, great Wallace Wood.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS (TOWER) #1 NOVEMBER 1965 COVER: Wallace Wood THUNDER: “First Encounter” 4 PGS. ART: Wallace Wood SCRIPT: Larry Ivie Dynamo: “Menace of the Iron Fog” 12 PGS. ART: Wallace Wood SCRIPT: Len Brown & Larry Ivie NoMan: “THUNDER Agent NoMan” 10 PGS. ART: Reed Crandall (with Wallace Wood) SCRIPT: Larry Ivie NoMan: “Face to Face” (text) 2 pgs. WRITTEN BY Larry Ivie Menthor: “The Enemy Within” 12 PGS. ART: Gil Kane, George Tuska & Mike Esposito SCRIPT: Lou Silverstone THUNDER Squad: “THUNDER Squad” 10 PGS. ART: Mike Sekowsky & Frank Giacoia SCRIPT: Larry Ivie T-Agents: “At the Mercy of Iron Maiden”10 PGS. ART: Wallace Wood & Dan Adkins SCRIPT: Wallace Wood & Dan Adkins

#2 JAN. 1966 COVER: W. Wood & D. Adkins Dynamo: “Dynamo Battles Dynavac”13 PGS. ART: W. Wood & Richard Bassford/W. Wood SCRIPT: Len Brown NoMan: “In the Warlord’s Power” 10 PGS. ART: Dick Ayers/Wallace Wood & Joe Orlando Menthor: “Menthor” 10 PGS. ART: Sekowsky/Giacoia SCRIPT: Lou Silverstone Dynamo: “D-Day for Dynamo” 13 PGS. ART: W. Wood & D. Adkins/Wood & Coleman THUNDER Squad: “On the Double” 10 PGS. ART: Mike Sekowsky/Frank Giacoia SCRIPT: Lou Silverstone Junior THUNDER Agents: (text) 2 PGS. ART: Mike Sekowsky TEXT: Lou Silverstone #3 MARCH 1966 COVER: Wallace Wood Dynamo: “…Battles the Subterraneans” 10 PGS. ART: W. Wood & D. Adkins/Wood & Coleman NoMan: “…Faces the Threat of the Amazing Vibraman” 10 PGS. Art: John Giunta/W. Wood & Tony Coleman

SCRIPT: Bill Pearson Dynamo: “The Red Dragon” 10 PGS. ART: W. Wood & D. Adkins/Wood & Coleman THUNDER Squad: “Invaders from the Deep” 10 PGS. ART: Sekowsky/Giacoia SCRIPT: Lou Silverstone Dynamo/Menthor: “Dynamo vs. Menthor” 10 PGS. ART: W. Wood & D. Adkins/Wood & Coleman SCRIPT: Lou Silverstone (?) Dynamo: PIN-UP 1 PG. ART: Wallace Wood & Dan Adkins/W. Wood NoMan: PIN-UP 1 PG. ART: Wallace Wood & Dan Adkins/W. Wood The Thunderbelt: PIN-UP 1 PG. ART: Wood & Adkins (or Ayers?)/W. Wood Menthor: PIN-UP 1 PG. ART: Wallace Wood & Dan Adkins/W. Wood THUNDER Squad: PIN-UP 1 PG. ART: Wood & Adkins (or Sekowsky?)/Wood LETTERS 2 PGS.

A Man Called Wood

Wallace Allan Wood was born into a creative and talented family, on June 17, 1927, in Menahga, Minnesota, and he later told interviewer Shel Dorf, “I was born in Minnesota, but I grew up in Wisconsin and Michigan.” In these rural environs, the boy and his older brother, Glenn, reveled in the newspaper adventure comic strips of the Depression-era—Flash Gordon, Prince Valiant, Captain Easy, and Terry and the Pirates—and the siblings would while away the hours endlessly drawing. (Tellingly, by 1942, Wallace would study the increasingly innovative storytelling of Will Eisner in The Spirit newspaper supplements.)To quote EC’s “Artist of the Issue” feature in Weird Science #12 [Mar. 1952], “[Wood] has worked as pin-boy, bus-boy, usher, dental lab assistant, printing plant apprentice, factory worker, lumber-jack, stevedore, and truck loader!” During World War II, Woody—who despised being called “Wally”—became a widely-traveled Merchant Marine and later a paratrooper in the 11th Airborne. Returning to the states after completing his service, the fledgling artist began making rounds of New York City’s comic book publishers, where in a lobby waiting a portfolio review, Woody had a chance—and fateful—meeting with fellow young artist, John Severin. The future EC contributors discovered mutual interests and John invited the newcomer to visit the studio he shared with Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder. There the trio put Woody in contact with none other than Will Eisner, one of the young artist’s idols, which led to a short first stint on The Spirit, as letterer and eventually background inker. In 1948, Wallace enrolled in New York’s Cartoonists & Illustrators School, a veritable factory that pumped out innumerable comic book artists, courtesy of luminary instructors Burne Hogarth, Roy Krenkel, Jerry Robinson, and Paul Reinman. Attending the art school was a seminal event not only in his artistic development, but also in meeting an astounding array of talented fellow students. At C&I (later to be renamed the School of Visual Arts, which still thrives today), the young artist’s classmates included Al Williamson, Jack Abel, Dick Ayers, Marie Severin, Ross Andru, Mike Esposito, and future partner (and later science-fiction author) Harry Harrison. During the early Wood era, the artist contributed to a number of comics for various publishers (sometimes with Harrison or oft-partner Joe Orlando), among them Avon, Fox Comics, American Comics Group, Magazine Village, as well as perhaps his highest profile work at that time, returning to work for Eisner—this time as full-fledged artist—on three weeks worth of The Spirit (for the story-arc, one of the long-running series’ final storylines, “The Outer Space Spirit,” as referred to today). But in what would prove to be a most important event, it was during this time when young Wallace Wood began freelancing (initially with cohort Harrison) for Entertaining Comics, the struggling outfit run by publisher William Gaines and editor Al Feldstein. It was at EC Comics where the Wood legend was born. Proving versatile in virtually every genre, the artist particularly excelled at drawing the quintessential science-fiction comic book story, as well as becoming one of 42

Left: Prior to the character’s name change to Dynamo, original splash page intended for T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1. Art by Wallace Wood.

The Masterful Artist Behind T.H.U.N.D.E.R.

Harvey Kurtzman’s finest “finishers” on many of the best beloved Mad satires during its comic-book beginnings. The artist’s EC material (subsequently called by snooty fans—shades of Stardust Memories!— “Wally’s better, early stuff”) gave truth to the (albeit misspelled) phrase, one intended as a self-deprecating joke, “When better drawrings are drawrn… they’ll be drawrn by Wood. He’s real gone.” With his exceptional work at Gaines’ imprint, Wallace Wood would become one of the most significant influences on every stripe of cartoonist, and inspiring comics work in so many genres, whether humor, sci-fi, war, historical, or superhero. At EC, Wood became an American icon, or as close as a comic book artist could get in the Eisenhower years. After the mid-’50s Wertham/Kefauver/Comics Code debacle, which forced the closing of dozens of comics publishers (including the oppressors’ most sought-after target, horror/crime comics publisher EC Comics, which switched to producing Mad magazine), Woody would toil in just about every available venue then open to someone of his considerable talent: newspaper comic strips, magazine illustration, advertising work, trading-card design, pulp mag illos, and whatever scarce four-color funnybook work available during those lean years. No doubt, Woody’s frustrations over the inequities between struggling creative freelancers and comfortable “fat-cat” publishers started to emerge during the Mad magazine years. The humor publication was attaining unheard of circulation numbers, even with the departure of its genius creator, Harvey Kurtzman, and with those phenomenal sales, scads of wealth for the suits (and endless knockoffs by rivals), who reprinted the material in every conceivable form— over and over and over—and sold rights to innumerable foreign markets, all the while hogging growing media attention, profiting alone from the publicity. And what did the powers-that-be give in return to those artists and writers who produced such wildly popular content, work that was recycled into countless paperbacks, specials, hardcover books, and foreign editions? A one-time page rate, however “generous” for the time, plus the indignity of not having the original art pages returned to the artist. Surely, Wallace Wood began to realize the exploitation he and his peers suffered.

Another frustrated and brilliant cartoonist, who would continue to be bitter about the injustice ’til his death, Kurtzman did attempt quasi-creator-owned magazines after departing Mad, hoping to repeat his earlier success with the superbly over-produced Trump (published for a mere two issues by Hugh Hefner, a Kurtzman admirer awash with Playboy riches) and the tragically underproduced Humbug (financed by Harvey and his collaborative team of artists, in an early effort at independence), 1950s efforts to which Woody contributed. But the artist must have become increasingly cynical by witnessing former editor Kurtzman’s failure at achieving independence. Into the ’60s, Woody would work for Topps Bubble Gum (where he first met a young Leonard Brown, another future T-Agents cohort), as well as Galaxy magazine, as well as continuing as one of the “usual gang of idiots” at Mad. During that time, costumed super-heroes began to grow in popularity, reemerging as a profitable genre in the comic book business long after their 1940s’ heyday. And yet with the masked characters’ return, it is interesting to note how little of Woody’s work appears in the milieu until his work in the mid-’60s for Stan Lee. The artist’s masterful grasp of adventure was breathtaking, his anatomy spot-on (not to mention sensual), and combined with his commanding sense of storytelling, he was obviously a natural choice to delineate the exploits of DC and Marvel’s

I did as much of the art as I could. But by the time we had a Dynamo book, and a NoMan book, I was spread pretty thin. But it was fun.” He also told interviewer Shelf Dorf in The Buyer’s Guide #403 [Aug. 1, ’81], in response to a question whether the Tower deal was profitable, “It wasn’t that great, but I had a lot of freedom.” And why did the Tower Comics line close up shop? Woody told Pearson, “I ran into Harry Shorten years later, and asked him. He told me the books always made money. [But] he was forced out by his distributor, who also handled comics for a big company. I was glad to hear that my books weren’t a failure.” During the Tower years and for the remainder of his life, Woody would be assisted by an astonishing talented crew endlessly arriving and departing his studio. Bhob Stewart—himself a one-time assistant and editor of Against the Grain: Mad Artist Wallace Wood—attempted a list of Wood workers, including associates and those who shared space in his various studios, in Bhob’s book (which is slightly modified here by omitting his added references): “Jack Abel, Dan Adkins, Steve Austin, Richard Bassford, Michelle Brand, Roger Brand, Tim Battersby-Brent, Len Brown, Howard Chaykin, Sid Check, Tony Coleman, Nicola Cuti, Leo and Diane Dillon, Steve Ditko, Randy Elliott, Larry Hama, Harry Harrison, Wayne Howard, Peter Hsu, Larry Ivie, Russ Jones, Paul Kirchner, Bob Layton, Joe Orlando, Bill Pearson, Ralph Reese, Jack Robinson, Marty Rosenthal, Joe Rubinstein, Augie Scotto, Syd Shores, Dom Sileo, A.L. Sorois, John Stevens, Bhob Stewart, Muriel Wood, Tatjana Wood, and Mike Zeck.” The 1970s were a decade of steady decline for the artist (a chronic smoker and sometime speed freak) as his periodic struggles with alcoholism and depression—and eventual dire health condition—began to have an impact. His inability to support his family left his second marriage in shambles, as Woody found less and less work at the major publishers, and he even delved into pornography in attempting to make ends meet. But, ever the dreamer, the creator still retained his best concepts for his own benefit and continued to work diligently on creator-owned projects, including the graphic novel, The World of the Wizard King, the first of a projected series, and FOO, the Friends of Odkin, a Wood fan club established by the artist to subsidize living expenses while he devoted attention to Wizard King, but there just never seemed to be enough money. Still, Woody would

characters. (Of course, Woody may surely have resisted slaving for the industry’s paltry page rates, perhaps until lack of work or promise of increased pay lured him to the House of Ideas.) Wallace Wood’s full-fledged debut as a super-hero artist came in 1964, with a well-ballyhooed arrival as artist on Daredevil, and he also found additional jobs inking The Avengers, Tales of Suspense, and spot work on Fantastic Four. But in short order, after only seven issues as artist of “The Man Without Fear,” Woody would depart the Marvel Comics Group in ’65. Perhaps it was because the often-obstinate artist butted heads with demanding editor/art director/writer Stan Lee, or maybe it was an irresistible offer made by Tower Publishing’s Harry Shorten and Samm Schwartz (eager to jump into the super-hero game), enabling him to scratch an itch to form his own comic-book line-up, bringing in longtime pals to finally do super-heroes right. Whatever his reasons, Woody took on the Tower assignment as creator, writer, artist, art director, recruiter, and de facto editor of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents with obvious gusto and determination. Though a Hall of Fame’s worth of talent contributed mightily to the comic books, it will always be the name Wallace Wood most associated with Dynamo and company, given the overwhelming percentage of the ’60s T-Agents comics were produced by him and his army of assistants. T-Agents and its related titles would only last a few short years after the line’s introduction in late ’65, but the quality of art, playful writing, dramatic interludes, and the overall coolness of the characters obviously made for a lasting impact. Still, a lack of sales caused by Tower’s inability to be distributed adequately, and burdened by a market glut of costumed characters, must have dulled Woody’s enthusiasm, as he would soon be doing work for Harvey Comics, Warren Publications, King, Wham-O, DC, the Armed Services’ Overseas Weekly, and even (by the early ’70s) another stint at Marvel, as well as developing his ambitious, self-published effort, witzend. Of his Tower Comics experience, which occurred smack-dab in the middle of his professional career, Woody said very little for the record (as well as on any other subject, as the artist was a reluctant interview subject), but some comments do exist. When asked about the series, Woody said to Bill Pearson, “Harry Shorten called me when he started to publish comics, and I had a dream set-up. I created all the characters, wrote most of the stories, and drew most of the covers.

entertain company, sometimes shooting firearms for amusement by day, and playing folk songs for them on his guitar at night, proving himself a character more colorful than he ever created. (In later years, on a wall in his studio, the artist tacked up a sign with the legend: “There is only one Wally Wood and I’m him!”) Suffering a serious kidney ailment, despondent over the fact that his talent had evaporated, and refusing to be a burden to anyone, Wallace Allan Wood took his own life on Nov. 2, 1981. Though it was assuredly a tragic end of a brilliant artist, Woody did not live an entirely tragic life, and the legacy he left behind—the work—will be

remembered for eons to come. Wood’s tale is a cautionary one perhaps—on how not to physically drain oneself to exhaustion; how not to be dependent on drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes to get through endless all-nighters; how not to focus on work ahead of family; and on and on—but his love for and devotion to comic book art, so clearly evident in T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, as well his sense of deep camaraderie held for his artist brethren, will continue to live and breathe on the pages of those Tower comics, a continual testament to the life and art of a man called Wood.

Witzend and Mr. Wallace Allan Wood Imagine: The man at Tower who created and designed their entire T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents super-hero comic book line, and was also responsible for assigning all of the art jobs, supervising scripts, trafficking all production work—the lettering, coloring, corrections, etc.—never mind drawing and/or inking (albeit with a crew of assistants) an ungodly amount of the publisher’s output, this overworked, over-burdened, under-paid and super-duper artist, Wallace Wood, was working nights on his ambitious, self-owned project, a new magazine he dubbed et cetera (though changing at the last minute to witzend). Upon the release of its first issue in 1966, the prototypical “prozine,” witzend, was certainly a notable event in the history of sequential art. Outside of the amateur-produced comic book fanzines so prevalent in the 1960s, the irregularly produced black-&-white anthology was an early example of a seasoned comics professional self-publishing his own material (as well as showcasing idiosyncratic and non-mainstream work of peers and newcomers), thereby making a brave move towards artistic and (hopefully) financial independence. (Gil Kane, a friend of Wood and another longtime veteran weary of treatment received by the established comic book publishers, would also release a self-published effort, His Name Is… Savage, in 1968, though it contained a single character’s exploits set in the crime genre, all drawn by Kane.)

Witzend is clearly a link between mainstream comics and the groundbreaking underground comix that was beginning to take hold in the mid-’60s, and its editorial page in the inaugural issue was an early battlecry in the upcoming struggle for creator rights. “There is a matter of copyrights,” Woody’s editorial declared, “and this was a prime factor [in conceptualizing witzend]. Everyone in this busi-

ness has given away characters and ideas [in exchange] for pages rates, which then belong to the publishers. This will be a place to print, and therefore protect, an idea… It is a comic book — and it is not… It is a platform, a vehicle, for any idea in any form.” Though witzend’s page rate was zilch, Woody’s widespread reputation and promises of editorial freedom, plus the fact that contributors 45

retained ownership of their material, the prozine attracted the best artists in the field, including many freelancers who had worked with him on T-Agents, including Al Williamson, Steve Ditko, Reed Crandall, Ralph Reese, Richard Bassford, Roger Brand, and Bill Pearson. Other luminaries signed up: Frank Frazetta, Archie Goodwin, Roy Krenkel, Steranko, Dan Adkins, Gray Morrow; as well as young cartoonists, including Art Spiegelman, Vaughn Bodé, Bernie Wrightson, and Jeff Jones. Though the majority of material in the Wood-produced issues of witzend was genre work, there were some notable exceptions, including a parable on religious intolerance by Goodwin, “Sinner,” and Ditko’s “Mr. A” is not only an example of the creator’s finest artwork, but his strongest and most courageous philosophical endeavor to date, showcasing his espousal of Ayn Rand’s Objectivist creed—”black is black; white is white”—as never before, its appearance fitting in a b-&-w mag. Wood helmed the publication until its fourth issue, selling witzend to its current owner (and executor of the Wallace Wood estate), Bill Pearson, but the artist/writer would continue to contribute. Was witzend a ground-breaking prozine essential to the development of comix and the alternative comics? Probably not, but it does remain a milestone in the artistic growth, at the very least, of a good number of the creative crew responsible for T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.

Iron Maiden by Garry Leach. Pin-up originally intended for Penthouse Comix’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #0.

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Iron Maiden by Alan Davis (pencils) & Paul Neary (inks). Pin-up commission, presented here with the kind permission of Mr. Davis and Mr. Neary.

adventures in the thunderverse

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