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T A B L E O F C O N T E N T ST.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 ComicsSetting the Stage for T-Agents ............................................8

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

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

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

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

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 YEARSA Man Called Wood: The Masterful Artist Behind T.H.U.N.D.E.R. ........42

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Cold Warriors Never Die!” Art by Paul Gulacy & Terry AustinScript by George Caragonne & Tom Thornton ....................189

“Prologue to Zero” Art by Paul Gulacy & Terry AustinScript by George Caragonne & Tom Thornton ....................216

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

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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 floodedthe 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 ofself-awareness and pure joie de vive. As beautifully delineated as DC’s super-hero and war books were, theywere humdrum compared to the sheer exuberance of the Marvel Age of Comics. And the kids responded bypaying their 12¢ to Martin Goodman’s House of Ideas.

But—funny thing this—Marvel’s revolutionary approach to super-heroes, as envied and copied asit would become by the mid-’60s, was itself the result of a Goodman directive to duplicate theirmain 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 gettingsome action on the newsstand… how ’bout that, eh? Well, Goodman, whose own companyhad a considerable cast of once formidable, now dormant costumed-characters, went back to theoffice, hung up his golf cap, and gave cousin-in-law and editor-in-chief Stan Lee instructions toput together a Marvel Comics super-hero team to compete with Harry’s Justice League ofAmerica. But, instead of raiding the house inventory and forming a super-squad with CaptainAmerica, 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 quartetof new characters… sorta. Throwing in a twist that this crime-fighting group was actuallyan 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 AmazingSpider-Man. It was Peter Parker, the angst-ridden teen riddled with self-doubt, burdenedwith too much power and too much responsibilityfor such a tender age, who resonated with fans.In comparison, Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne were,well, corny with a capital “K” compared to theemerging relevance of Marvel’s anti-heroes.

But we all know how DC cashed in on corny,right? The all-encompassing success of the BatmanTV show, as over-the-top and hokey as all get-out,proved that there was plenty of money to be madein camp, and so with the Dynamic Duo and Spideyshowing the way, a flood of costumed tights parad-

ed 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 mostimportant innovator, publisher James Warren, of Famous Monsters of Filmland and Creepyfame, resisted the temptation to exploit the trend—at least in sequential form, if not inmerchandising!) It was an ex-Bullpenner (albeit a member of Stan’s team formere months) who gave Marvel real competition in the creativity department.

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Regardless of the legendary artist’s professed disdain for costumed characters,Wallace Wood, fresh from a brief but exception-ally memorable stint as artist and re-designer onMarvel’s Daredevil, accepted Tower Comics publisher Harry Shorten’s directive to create a totally-new super hero comics line with vigor andobvious enthusiasm. Melding the then-au currantJames Bond 007 spy craze with the MarvelMethod, Tower’s art director—and, importantly,the line’s de facto editor—gathered the best avail-able artists (Reed Crandall, Gil Kane, George Tuska,Mike Sekowsky, neophyte Dan Adkins, Chic Stone,later Steve Ditko and Al Williamson, among others)to create the unforgettable T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.Woody’s comics could be grim (featuring the first-everdeath of a leading super-hero!), funny (the antics ofheadliner Dynamo’s alter-ego, Len (ahem) Brown, stillevoke a chuckle today), sexy (sometimes decidedlyon this side of S&M, judging by the femme fatale tobeat them all, the Iron Maiden), angst-ridden (everytime Lightning ran at super-speed, he shaved minutesoff his life), wonky (as we shouldn’t neglect MannyStallman’s gloriously strange “Raven” strips), and justplain fun! All in all, they were a superb part ofAmerican comics in the ’60s and, for those willing togamble an entire 25¢ for each bi-monthly issue (a heftyprice, one usually reserved for the annuals of Marvel andDC!), Woody’s heroes would leave invaluable and lastingmemories in many an American kid.

Let’s delve for a moment on the other significant cultural influence, one outside of comics, that resultedin the development of the colorful team of super-spies in question, the spy craze if the 1960s:

If the youth culture of the mid-1960s wasabout anything, it was about manic obsession.Whether Bridget Bardo, The Beatles, bossrides, or bitchin’ waves, kids consumed fadsin a big way. And few trends were as big asBond… James Bond. Ian Fleming’s series ofBritish spy novels depicting the violentexploits of espionage agent 007 (licensed tokill, natch), would lead to a killer cinematic and merchandising phenomenon that has been rarelymatched in retail history. Spurred on by the incredible success of the third Bond film, Goldfinger, dozens of suave,

gun-toting playboy spies suddenly invaded nearly every aspect of culture.

Celluloid knock-offs included a pair of OurMan Flint flicks, a Matt Helm movie trilogy,

two Dr. Goldfoot comedies (melding espionagewith the beach party genre), and even the

animated feature, The Man Called Flintstone. But it was on television where the fad had the biggest

impact. Shows sporting the Bond influence included ISpy, Secret Agent, Mission: Impossible, The Saint, Wild

Wild West, Get Smart, and Saturday morning fare, suchas Jonny Quest, Secret Squirrel, and Lancelot Link: Secret

Chimp. And the most significant TV spy show of all was TheMan from U.N.C.L.E. (a series that spawned The Girl from…spin-off), which popularized the novelty of adding clever

acronyms to the fad. Sure, Bond fought agents of SPECTRE (the SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence

Terrorism Revenge and Extortion), but it was theheroes of the United Network Command of Law andEnforcement, in their battle against the villains ofT.H.R.U.S.H. (the Technological Hierarchy for theRemoval of Undesirables and Subjugation ofHumanity) which inspired a plethora of lettercombinations, including Derek Flint’s agency,ZOWIE (Zonal Organization for World Intelligenceand Espionage). And, of course, comics jumped

on the same aspect when cashing in. Marvelupdated its howling sergeant of WWII with Nick

Fury fighting baddies as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.(the Supreme Headquarters International Espionage

Law-Enforcement Division).And so the joining of such trappings

of the spy sensation—nifty acronyms,gadgets galore, sexy bad girls, and

ruthless and shadowy worldwideconspiracies to combat—with thenewly-invigorated costume crime-fighter genre was a naturalapproach for the funny books toadopt, and the best of the lotwere those adventures of the

agents of The Higher United NationsDefense Enforcement Reserves.

Now, let’s discuss the brilliant comicbook creator responsible for Dynamo and Co.,

the head artist behind the artifacts, Mr. Wallace Wood:

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Top left:Panel detail from Daredevil#7. Art by Wallace Wood. ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Middle & bottom

left:Cover blurb and splash page caption, respectively, from Daredevil#5. ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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Those Halcyon Days of the

camp (kãmp) n. 1. An affectation or appreciation of manners and tastescommonly thought to be outlandish, vulgar, or banal. 2. Banality or arti-ficiality, when appreciated for its humor. — adj. Having the qualities orstyle of camp. To act in an outlandishly or effeminate manner. [Originobscure.] — camp’y adj. —American Heritage Dictionary.

The Great Super-Hero Revival of mid-1960s American comicbooks was an era when the exploits of costumed adventurers floodedU.S. magazine shelves, a period rivaled only by the “Golden-Age”years following the 1938 debut of the character who single-handedly created the genre, Superman. Publishers, some old, some brand-new,were suddenly eager to catch the wave of renewed interest in maskedcrimefighters that swept the nation, a fad generated (perhaps ironical-ly) by an instantaneous—and idiotic—smash-hit TV show, Batman.

And while Stan Lee and his Bullpen were achieving no small degree ofsuccess with the college crowd through Marvel’s unique take on capes,cowls ‘n’ secret identities, the camp-saturated approach of ABC’s twice-weekly, corny-as-all-get-out series starring the Dynamic Duo proved theone more usually imitated.

Thus silly super-heroes prevailed on the airwaves and in thefunny books between 1966 and ’67, albeit with some notable comic-book exceptions (though the—thankfully!—shortlived sit-comsCaptain Nice and Mr. Terrific prove that broadcasters were apparentlyinvulnerable to even the most moderately intelligent presentation).There were some well-intended and handsome titles: Former chroniclers of Captain Marvel—the “Shazam!” version—includinglegendary artist C.C. Beck, produced two issues of the charming andquaint Fatman, The Human Flying Saucer; his salad days as top

This page:Covers from various ’60s comics (plus a paperback book cover). All are ©2005 their respective copyright holders.

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 ComicReader #197 back in 1982. Please note it contains some personal opinions some may not agree with—Ye Ed takesexception to Lou’s characterization of Manny Stallman’s delightfully bizarre artwork—but it is a clear and thoughtfulretrospective 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 theFly title to feature an Avengers-like team of revived heroes. Best of all, news had leaked about a new TV show todebut 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 JamesBond, Lyndon Johnson, and early renewed commitment tothe Vietnam War, a paperback publisher named Tower Booksdecided to hit the racks with a new comic series. Its publisherwas Harry Shorten and its editor was Samm Schwartz, bothveterans of the Archie comics group. For a chief artist, theyhired 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 Woodcame 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 challengingMarvel, 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 ofsix superbly-drawn tightly-plotted stories, the book packedin three new super-heroes, a horde of secret agents,mystery men, super-villains, monsters and action,action, action! One look at the book and thereader could tell that here, indeed, was theking of the backseat comics; it was theonly mid-’60s title to successfully compete with Marvel and DC super-herofare. It set the pace for two years ofgiant-sized comics that most fans ofthat period recall as fondly as anythingfrom the two major publishers.T

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1 In-Depth History ofthe Heroes of Tower

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

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 freelanceeditor, Wood produced his best commercial comics work of the ’60swhile at Tower. The nearly two-dozen books he worked on during the1966-68 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 wieldedthe 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, andwrote 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 publishcomics, 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 blendingof two separate genres that had each, in 1965, been provensure-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 fromU.N.C.L.E. in particular seemed to havethe greatest impact on this book.)And super-heroes were the rage in comic books; that wentwithout saying. Well, then,why not a cloak-&-daggertype who wore a costumebeneath the cloak?

That line of thinking resultedin T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1. The cover, drawnby Wood, introduced a triad of new arrivals to the super-hero biz: a blue-clad Superman-type lifted an armored villain overhead, surrounded bya complex of machinery. He was flanked by acloaked, transparent man on his left, and on theright was a late-comer who apparently hadripped off the Atom’s uniform. The cover, colored only in various shades of red, blue,and yellow, and devoid of any blurbs, wasperhaps less flashy than it should havebeen. Compared to Marvel’s slam-bangbroadsides of the period, it looked posi-tively static. But it served to showcaseDynamo, 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 asquad of landing UN paratroopers through shattered glass. A captioninformed us: “A team of special U.N. agents lands at a remote mountain lab…” In the space of two pages we learned that the unitwas 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, thebad guys escaped unharmed in a helicopter, and Jennings was coldmeat 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 usto be introduced to the villain of the piece. The Warlord proves to be themysterious leader of a SPECTRE or T.H.R.U.S.H.-like organization, withevery available criminal and spy at his beck and call. His objective: The theft of every scientific development on Earth. Masked by a purplehood, 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 sincethe professor never kept notes, all these devices will be his soleproperty… we can never duplicate them!” finishes the officer.

“They didn’t have time to get everything, sir,” saysanother crewman. “Look at these!”

The scene immediately shifts to a high-levelconference room in New York. A wall is

decorated with a figure of the WesternHemisphere and the words, “The

Higher United Nations DefenseEnforcement Reserves.”

T.H.U.N.D.E.R.’sInner Council stands assembled, considering

the three recovered devicesfrom 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 whichwill make the wearer’s body structure changeto the consistency of steel!” says a speaker,holding up the belt. Next, he gestures to

the cape, and explains its ability ofbecoming absolutely black, reflecting

no light and rendering the wearerinvisible. “And this one we’re not

sure of,” he says, fondling thestrange helmet. “It seems to

be a cybernetic helmet… it could be dangerous, but it

could amplify a man’s brainpower many times over…”

Quickly, the heads ofthe free world’s greatest

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semi-secret defensive organization come to an agreement. A full-scaleassault must be led against the Warlord, spearheaded by three agents who will employ the inventions of Dr. Jennings against the man who ordered his murder. “…And so the search begins,” reads the final caption.

The four-page introductory sequence fairly breathed clichés, from the doomed scientist who creates super-heroes to the opposedagencies locked in global Cold War conflict. But the plot was solid, theconcepts didn’t stretch reality to the breaking point, and, of course,Wood’s art pulled the entire thing together. It set several concepts thatT.H.U.N.D.E.R. would follow to their final issue: Tight, pulp-like plotting,an economy of dialogue (word balloons were kept to two per panelmost of the time) and believability. The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, rather than gaining power from radioactive spiders or gamma bombexplosions, were human beings whose abilities were augmented bymechanical devices. It was a welcome touch of conservatism in acomics universe already top-heavy with sorcerers, omnipotent entities,parallel dimensions and heroes with every super-power conceivable.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R.’s biggest blockbuster was introduced two pageslater with a one-page Wood splash panel. The blue-&-white-clad figurefrom the front cover grimly towered over a pile of rubble, hands onhips. Behind him was a hole he had made in a brick wall atleast two feet thick. Dynamo was unleashed!

Tower’s steely superman was originally dubbed“Thunderbolt,” but a last-minute change substituted the name“Dynamo” instead and his new name was lettered over theold one. [Cf. the reprint ofpage 10, panel 2 in theDynamo paperback, wherethe caption reads, “EvenThunderbolt’s iron frame is shakenby the concussion…”]Undoubtedly Charlton, whoseThunderbolt debuted a short time later, was grateful for the change.

The 12-page origin story was scripted byLen Brown and drawn by Wood and openedwith a waist-shot of our hero as a desk-boundadministration official in T.H.U.N.D.E.R. H.Q. An obvious secret identity type you could recognize at 20 paces. “This paperwork isn’tfor me!” he muses. “I’m afraid I made amistake when I accepted this job!”

Suddenly, his superior enters the room.“Leonard Brown, will you come with me, please?”

(How’s about them apples? The above is the only case I can find in comics history in which a scripternamed a major super-hero himself! But, after all,Leonard Brown is at least as believable a monikeras Clark Kent or Peter Parker, so it was allowedto stand.)

Unsuspectingly, Len Brown follows his guide through severalcheckpoints to Level Seven, the meeting place of T.H.U.N.D.E.R.’s InnerCouncil. Confronted by a semi-circle of the West’s top spy-chiefs, he isoffered a chance at becoming an agent, and, in the best comic bookhero tradition, accepts.

One panel later, Brown is stripped down to blue trunks and bootsand offered Jennings’ blue metal belt with the strange dial in the buckleposition. “Because of your physical stamina, you’ve been selected touse the Thunderbelt,” says one attendant. “It will change your body’satomic structure,” explains another. “Put it on!” (Tower was nevernoted for excess dialogue, as you can tell.)

After allowing the belt time to adopt itself to his metabolism,Brown turns the dial. Abruptly, a surge of electrical discharges bathe him in blue fire as the energy released rends the air with a spectacularCR-RACK! Shades of Captain Marvel! It was obviously derivative of theBig Red Cheese, and just as fun in 1965 as in 1940. With a weight ofover 1,000 pounds, and a density approximating that of titanium steel,Len Brown was setup to become T.H.U.N.D.E.R.’s first super-agent.

The attendants instruct Brown to take a poke at a wall targetwith an impact gauge attached. “Okay… here goes. I’ll probably wind

up breaking my hand… WHA…!?”KRUMF!One panel later, Brown steps into the adjoining

office through the hole he has just made in the wall.Instant super-hero!

In the final steps of the super-hero ritual, Brownis informed of the necessary Achilles Heel: That

prolonged use of the belt can so drain hisphysical energy as to be fatal. (In later

stories, the belt would be outfittedwith a timer to turn itself off after a

half-hour had passed.) The brown-haired Brown is provided with ablue-and-white costume of metallicfabric and dubbed “Dynamo,” forobvious reasons. And none toosoon… for, at the bottom of thepage, the Warlord strikes again!

A pair of armored trucks pro-ceeds to blanket New York City under a

dense fog composed of iron particles (?).Under cover of the mist, teams of armor-clad

raiders stage snatch-and-grab raids of radioactive materials. At this point, the reader first glimpsesDynamo’s longest-lived ally and adversary… the IronMaiden, Tower’s version of the Dragon Lady.

A beautiful redhead who wore a suit of gleaming metal that hugged her curves like a body-suit,

the Iron Maiden played Catwoman to Dynamo’s Batman.In over nine separate clashes with T.H.U.N.D.E.R.’s bigblue blockbuster, she represented the ultimate and

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Left:NoMan illustration, Gosh Wow! #2. Art by Reed Crandall.

It simply was not done… at least not in the “Silver Age” ofAmerican comic books. Sure, Marvel had Captain America’sWorld War Two-era boy sidekick, Bucky Barnes, fall tohis (ahem) untimely—and off-panel—death in a

flash-back when the star-span-gled hero was resurrectedin The Avengers #4 (Mar.’64), but ’60s funny-book

editors just didn’t instructfreelancers to kill off their

super-hero players. And though itseemed every other issue of Superman

depicted the Man o’ Steel as sufferingfrom some fatal Kryptonian malady or insome particular stage of super-rigor mortis(surrounded by the obligatory crowd of mourning pals and girlfriends), it always turned out to bea cheat of some kind (phew!), whether in the form of an “imaginary story” or a ruse to outwitsome murderous scoundrel. Even supporting cast members readers could only dream of seeing

iced (Snapper Carr anyone?) who lived on, never aging, never changing, always annoying.Understand that the Grim Reaper was hardly a stranger in “non-imaginary” costumed hero

exploits—these were the hyperbolic comic books of the overwrought ’60s, after all—as Marvelfounding fathers Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, for instance, crafted a melodramatic gem in Avengers #9(Oct. ’64), a tale that introduced one Simon Garth, a novice good guy known by the sobriquetWonder Man. The Lee & Kirby spin? The newly-born super-hero dies in the very same ish. For good.(At least until second generation writers at the House of Ideas got their hooks into the cadaver, bringing the character back from the dead nearly a dozen years later.) But standard practice assuredthat regular stock characters were assured eternal life (at least until cancellation).

But in the late Spring of 1966, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #7 changed all that. Shocking captivatedfans to no end, Wallace Wood and company did the unthinkable when the Master of Mental Force,

Menthor (“Is he hero? Is he turncoat?”), bites the Big One in the cave lair of the villainous Warlord. Inthat issue’s final story, “A Matter of Life and Death”(written, layed-out and inked by Wood and Adkins,

with tight pencils by Steve Ditko), the valiant wielder of T.H.U.N.D.E.R.’s cybernetic helmet struggles to

Demise of The Man Called Menthor

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!Far left:Cover detail, Adventure Comics#353. Art by Curt Swan & George Klein. ©

2005 DC Comics.Top & bottom

left:Panels from “A Matter of Life and Death,” T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents#7. Art by Wallace Wood, Dan Adkins & Steve Ditko.

Certainly the heroes of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. had an impact on the other comicbook publishers of the mid-1960s. The Tower Comics’ line sported a con-sistent level of quality that not only attracted the fickle attention ofincreasing sophisticated readers, but undoubtedly the concerns of the BigTwo, as well. Wallace Wood’s titles—T-Agents, Dynamo, and NoMan—were among the best-looking comics on the stands, the covers art-directed to perfection, often exquisitely colored, rarely marred by anyhyperbolic blurbs of the Stan Lee sort. And the interior work… well,we all know how extraordinary the level of art in those inside pages.

Yet Tower’s marketshare—or lack thereof—limited due tonewness, lousy distribution, and their gamble to price all titles at25¢ apiece (even if they wereall-new giants, but still twicethe price of DC and

Marvel’s 12¢ books) must have givensome comfort to the more established publishers weary of the

upstart. But any solace didn’t stop them from poking fun at the competition.The first issue of The Inferior Five [Mar.-Apr. ’67] mocks Woody’s

heroes (and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) with “Five Characters in Search ofa Plot!” (written by E. Nelson Bridwell with Mike Sekowsky pencils andMike Esposito inks), as DC’s goofy super-powered team does battle witha crime organization called H.U.R.R.I.C.A.N.E., an acronym for Heinous,Unscrupulous Rats and Rogues Initiating Criminal Anarchy and NefariousEvil. (See if you can guess the source of the parodied agents’ names:Powerhouse, Missing Fink, Mr. Mental, Yellow Streak, Blackbird,“Tabby” Katz, “Nitro” Gleason, and “Crabgrass” Wilde.)

Later that year, in September, Marvel’s Brand Echh #2 givesus writer Gary Friedrich and artist Marie Severin’s take on Dynamo and company with aNick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. caricature—Knock Furious, Agent of S.H.E.E.S.H.—(aided by his howling “cold-bricks”) duking it out with an abbreviated crew ofB.L.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, Dynaschmoe, and NoBody (with mention of agent “Pussycat”). The seven-pager is particularlyeffective in satirizing Tower Comics, especially theWallace Wood clichés, mocking Woody’s rendering of handsome heroes always effortlessly smashingthrough brick walls, as well as his perpetual use of lighting effects. The difference between company writing styles is also tweaked, with Dynaschmoe exclaiming, “Over at B.L.U.N.D.E.R. we just fight… and let the competition talk themselves silly!”

(Oh, and the House of Idea’s takeon the agents’ organization name?Bedraggled League Uv NationsDefenseless EncroachmentReserves. Nuff said?)

Mocking The Men from T.H.U.N.D.E.R.!

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Top left:Cover, Brand Echh#2. Art by Marie Severin. ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Middle left:Cover, The Inferior Five#2. Art by Mike Sekowsky

& Frank Giacoia. ©2005 DCComics.

Middle left:Cover, The Inferior Five#2. Art by Mike Sekowsky

& Frank Giacoia. ©2005 DCComics.

Right: Panel detail, “The B.L.U.N.D.E.R. Agents,” Brand Echh #2. Art by Marie Severin. ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.

The T

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sThe adventures of those colorful and beloved operatives of The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves—the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents to those of us in the know—traverse the decades, beginning in the waning months of 1965with a crowded rebirth in the ’80s, and continuing (sporadically, to be sure) into the mid-1990s. The beleaguered andsupremely talented crew who produced these celebrated sagas of the initial Tower Comics run (of whom you’ll learnquite a bit more about in the sections to follow) were obviously having a blast at their job, as Wallace Wood and teamincluded numerous in-joke references throughout the series’ initial ’60s appearance. For instance, Woody named theheadlining hero code-named Dynamo’s alter-ego after young Topps Bubble Gum copywriter Len Brown with whom theartist had worked on the Mars Attacks! trading card set in the months prior. (And, as the fates would have it, the realLeonard Brown also moonlighted as a scripter on T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, as you’ll later see!)

However much fun the creative folk were having, Wood and company—as well as those to follow: the artists,writers, and editors who were responsible for the ’80s and ’90s revivals of Dynamo and his fellow operatives—workedtheir fannies off to bring the heroes to life on the comic-book page. But though credit lines in the stories themselves(detailing contributions of the various talents involved in producing a comic book) are commonplace today, back in the ’60s, that wasn’t always the case. And so it was at Tower Comics, where many artists and writers aided creator/writer/artist/art director/de facto editor Wood, but often with no acknowledgement. (Please also keep in mind thatWood ran a studio with assistants coming and going, some like Dan Adkins who was able to execute an entire story, but also others who were assigned background work and the like.)

In the following checklist, as exhaustive and comprehensive as it is, there’s no absolute guarantee that every reference is authentic. With the indispensible assistance of many helpful people, some who worked on the material

themselves, others experts in identifying uncredited work, we have done our best to correctly peg the creative personnel behind every issue of T-Agents and its associated titles. Given that the Tower work is nigh-on 40

years old today , there is bound to be some oversight and mistakes found (and if you find some question-able listings, please send any corrections to the editor in care of this publisher), but rest assured

this is the most complete checklist of all T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents appearances to date.

The T

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sA Complete Checklist of T.H.U.N.D.E.R.Agents

29

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 reminiscentof the Man of Steel, Superman, by way of a Hourman-likestory device—albeit Thunderbelt in place of a pill—grantingsuper-powers only for a limited period

• With cloak, invisibility, capability to possess other humanoidvessels, and otherworldly skin color, NoMan has The Spectrewritten 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 amind-controlling helmet in the Doctor Fate mold

• Who else but The Flash provided a template for super-speed-ster, Lightning, although the agent has his own disability ofdying 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, thoughone with a hidden jet-pack

• T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad, minus Kitten, might be mistaken for ared-clad version of the Blackhawks (only without one air-plane per member)… or the cliché characters of virtuallyevery 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 raisedby malevolent Subterraneans, not affectionate apes), by wayof Doc Savage, if one plagued with Job-like tribulations

As for actual development of the characters, memories of someWood associates differ. “Dynamo was a mutual creation,” Len Browntold Christopher Irving in CBA V.1, #14. “I named the characterbecause of the belt. I was going to call him Thunderbolt, and havehim wear a ‘Thunderbelt.’… I remember maybe even suggestingThunder Riders, and Wally suggested T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. Myhero’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 ofthe character’s debut story.”) As homage to his young friend, Woodygave 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 “TheThunderbolt“ (as well as compatriots “The Thunderbird” and “TheThundervision”), as well as quite a few other aspects of the series,including the name of the group and being the one to define theacronym. The name Dynamo was substituted because, Ivie says,Wood was concerned with DC’s Western hero, Johnny Thunder. (Ivie’sextensive comments are in the “T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Artists” section.)

While he says the name NoMan, chosen by Wood, was takenfrom the stories of Homer, the character’s ability to transfer conscious-ness 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’snovel] The World of Null-A. Woody loved ol’ A.E., [and] the Null-Abooks 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, fewof his associates would argue that the one, truly creative powerhousebehind T-Agents was no one less than the late, great

Wallace Wood.

The Curious Background ofT.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents

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

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

SCRIPT: Bill PearsonDynamo: “The Red Dragon” 10 PGS.ART: W. Wood & D. Adkins/Wood & ColemanTHUNDER Squad: “Invaders from the Deep” 10 PGS.ART: Sekowsky/Giacoia SCRIPT: Lou SilverstoneDynamo/Menthor:“Dynamo vs. Menthor” 10 PGS.ART: W. Wood & D. Adkins/Wood & ColemanSCRIPT: Lou Silverstone (?)Dynamo: PIN-UP 1 PG.ART: Wallace Wood & Dan Adkins/W. WoodNoMan: PIN-UP 1 PG.ART: Wallace Wood & Dan Adkins/W. WoodThe Thunderbelt: PIN-UP 1 PG.ART: Wood & Adkins (or Ayers?)/W. WoodMenthor: PIN-UP 1 PG.ART: Wallace Wood & Dan Adkins/W. WoodTHUNDER Squad: PIN-UP 1 PG.ART: Wood & Adkins (or Sekowsky?)/WoodLETTERS 2 PGS.

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 andMichigan.” 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—andthe siblings would while away the hours endlessly drawing. (Tellingly, by 1942, Wallace would study the increas-ingly 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 MerchantMarine and later a paratrooper in the 11th Airborne. Returning to the states after completing his service, the fledgling artist began making rounds of NewYork City’s comic book publishers, where ina lobby waiting a portfolio review, Woodyhad a chance—and fateful—meeting withfellow young artist, John Severin. The futureEC contributors discovered mutual interestsand John invited the newcomer to visit thestudio he shared with Harvey Kurtzman andWill Elder. There the trio put Woody in con-tact with none other than Will Eisner, one of the young artist’s idols, which led to ashort first stint on The Spirit, as letterer andeventually background inker.

In 1948, Wallace enrolled in NewYork’s Cartoonists & Illustrators School,a veritable factory that pumped out innumerable comic book artists, courtesy of luminary instructors Burne Hogarth, RoyKrenkel, Jerry Robinson, and Paul Reinman.Attending the art school was a seminalevent not only in his artistic development,but also in meeting an astounding array oftalented fellow students. At C&I (later to berenamed the School of Visual Arts, whichstill 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 (sometimeswith Harrison or oft-partner Joe Orlando), among them Avon, Fox Comics, American Comics Group, MagazineVillage, 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 EntertainingComics, 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 artistparticularly excelled at drawing the quintessential science-fiction comic book story, as well as becoming one of

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Behind T.H.U.N.D.E.R.

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.

Harvey Kurtzman’sfinest “finishers” onmany of the bestbeloved Mad satiresduring its comic-bookbeginnings. The artist’sEC material (subse-quently called by snootyfans—shades ofStardust Memories!—“Wally’s better, earlystuff”) gave truth to the(albeit misspelled)phrase, one intended asa self-deprecating joke,“When better drawringsare drawrn… they’llbe drawrn by Wood.He’s real gone.” Withhis exceptional work atGaines’ imprint, WallaceWood would becomeone of the most significant influences on every stripe of cartoonist, and inspiring comicswork in so many genres, whether humor, sci-fi, war, historical, or super-hero. At EC, Wood became an American icon, or as close as a comicbook 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 theoppressors’ most sought-after target, horror/crime comics publisher EC Comics, which switched to producing Mad magazine), Woody wouldtoil in just about every available venue then open to someone of hisconsiderable talent: newspaper comic strips, magazine illustration,advertising work, trading-card design, pulp mag illos, and whateverscarce 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” publishersstarted 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 thosephenomenal sales, scads of wealth for the suits (and endless knock-offs 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 alonefrom the publicity. And what did the powers-that-be give in return tothose artists and writers who produced such wildly popular content,work that was recycled into countless paperbacks, specials, hardcoverbooks, and foreign editions? A one-time page rate, however “generous” for the time, plus the indignity of not having theoriginal art pages returned to the artist. Surely, WallaceWood began to realize the exploitation he and his peers suffered.

Another frustratedand brilliant cartoonist,who would continue tobe bitter about the injustice ’til his death,Kurtzman did attemptquasi-creator-ownedmagazines after departing Mad, hopingto repeat his earlier success with thesuperbly over-producedTrump (published for amere two issues byHugh Hefner, aKurtzman admirerawash with Playboyriches) and the tragically under-produced Humbug(financed by Harveyand his collaborativeteam of artists, in

an early effort at independence), 1950s efforts to which Woody contributed. But the artist must have become increasingly cynical bywitnessing former editor Kurtzman’s failure at achieving independence.

Into the ’60s, Woody would work for Topps Bubble Gum (wherehe first met a young Leonard Brown, another future T-Agents cohort),as well as Galaxy magazine, as well as continuing as one of the “usualgang of idiots” at Mad. During that time, costumed super-heroes beganto grow in popularity, reemerging as a profitable genre in the comicbook business long after their 1940s’ heyday. And yet with themasked characters’ return, it is interesting to note how little ofWoody’s work appears in the milieu until hiswork in the mid-’60s for StanLee. The artist’s masterfulgrasp of adventure wasbreathtaking, his anatomy spot-on (not to mention sensual), andcombined with his commanding sense ofstorytelling, he wasobviously a naturalchoice to delineate theexploits of DC and Marvel’s

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know. I guess he stillworks for Topps!Jon: He just finally retired.Dan: [Laughs] Oh, so that’s what happened! He was soyoung when I was upthere, he was in his20s. Anyway, it wasjust me, Ralph andColeman up there for ayear-and-a-half, and hiswife, Tatjana. Jon: This was TonyColeman? He was outof Canada?Dan: Yeah. He wentback to Britain. I didsuch a good job on“The Battle of Britain”[Blazing Combat #3,Apr.’66] because ofthose little digests,British war magazinesthat Tony had. [laughs]I swiped just abouteverything in “Battle of Britain” except the first page, which Wally laidout. But in between, I used most of those British comics.Jon: Coleman was an artist over in England?Dan: Yeah, he was a comic book artist of the type like MikeEsposito would be, you know? Not too flashy a style. But a good journeyman. He worked for Wally for under six months, just to getenough money to get back to England. He lost all his money inCanada or something, and Joe Orlando sent him up from DC to workfor Wally, which means Orlando must’ve been editor down at DC during the Tower time.Jon: So Joe and Woody always maintained their friendship?Dan: Yeah, they were always great buddies.Jon: Did they go out and socialize together?Dan: Wally never went out. [laughter] Wally went out twice a weekto see a psychiatrist. Jon: Did he order everything out?Dan: Yes, we did. We ordered a lot of stuff out. Jon: Did you have a hot plate? Did anyone ever cook?Dan: We had a kitchen right next to us, then down the hall was thebathroom, and then the swipe room, which was filled with about 22cabinets. Wally had made his own swipe machine, it was a great, elaborate affair! [laughs] Like this great big house was coming downon us. Yeah, we turned a crank wheel, and a big wheel at the sidethere, and Wally made the lenses and everything himself. It was a

great thing. I used tosleep in there, and Iwas afraid all the filingcabinets would fall onme or something.Then, I slept in the living room sometimes,on the couch in there. I was up there all the time!Jon: Did you see,there was supposedly a ritual that Woodywould, one day aweek, just do tearsheets, just go throughmagazines and just tear out pictures for reference? Do youremember that?Dan: No, I don’tthink he did that. Ithink most of that happened beforehand.He might’ve had thatritual earlier on orsomething. But I was

up there seven days a week! I lived there! [laughs]Jon: It was just an amazing amount of work you guys put out. Dan: We put out all the Tower stuff, three or four series for Topps, stuff for Harvey, the Total War and Fantastic Voyage stuff forWestern… We even did an eight-page monster story for Western. We did that Alka-Seltzer ad that appeared on TV. We did Argosy ads,we did those six record album covers.Jon: How long were you with Woody?Dan: 16 months.Jon: [Laughs] Wow!Dan: Yeah! I know I did 60 different assignments. It was great fun;I had nothing but fun all the time.Jon: Did you do some writing?Dan: Yeah, I killed Menthor.Jon: [Laughs] So that was your idea?Dan: Yeah, yeah.Jon: What was your thinking behind that?Dan: I guess it was because my parents and everybody treated mebad. [laughter] I used to have dreams of everybody coming to myfuneral, and they were all weeping and sorry they treated me so bad. Jon: You’ll show them! [laughs]Dan: So, this came out in my “Death of Menthor” story. Instead ofwriting it Wally’s way, with a happy ending, I wanted to show the people that characters can die. [laughter] It just wrote itself. I sat

50

Left:Back cover line art, Comic Book Artist V.1, #14. Art by Dan Adkins.

bought them out. Esso (later Exxon) saw them as something of athreat. The brothers now had all this money to go into another business, so they hired some market research people to find out whatkind of business to start. The war was just getting over and the marketresearch people predicted that there would be a baby boom and chew-ing gum would be a great thing to get into. Trading cards wasn’t thefirst thing Topps got into. It was chewing gum and then later it becamebubble gum. The first gum that they put out was just called Topps andit was like Chicklets (which was very popular around that time). Jon: You got into the company in 1960?Len: I actually started in 1959.Jon: You worked on a Civil War set?Len: The Civil War set was a couple of years later. Let’s see, I started in ’59 so this would have been about ’61, I guess. I was very

involved in that. I wrote the backs of all those cards and, together with Stan Hart and Woody, we would plan the scenes. We would actually describe very dramatic battle scenes. We wanted picture cardsthat looked like a pulp magazine cover. High drama! Woody, who wasvery instrumental in the look of the set, brought in some of the oldgum cards that he had collected over the years and this would havebeen Horrors of War and some of the Gum, Inc. cards from the 1930swhich used illustration and blood ’n’ guts and all the things that kids liked.Jon: [Laughs] Kids still do!Len: A lot of gore, yeah. They were very much inspiration to theCivil War set.Jon: Were they explicit cards in the 1930s?Len: Oh, Horrors of War was a very explicit set that was publishedin the 1930s, depicting the Japanese-Chinese war of that decade… itshowed incredible gore. It outdid Mars Attacks!, let me put it that way.One card depicted a scene of a bombed city, and there would just besevered hands holding the steering wheel of an automobile. Just thehands and nothing else left of it! That was one particular image whichstuck in my mind. That was about as bad as it got. I remember thatWoody told me that the Japanese embassy complained to theRoosevelt administration, just before they bombed Pearl Harbor.[laughs] They actually complained that this was an awful thing thatthis American company was doing, depicting the Japanese as thesebarbaric soldiers, that they were being shown as the bad guys in thiswar with the Chinese. Anyway, it was one of the most graphic sets andit’s highly collectible. If you look in any of the non-sports guides, acomplete set is worth thousands of dollars.Jon: When did you first meet Wally Wood?Len: I was telling Woody Gelman about EC comics because he wasaware of them but he wasn’t following comics in those days. I’m sureI brought some in and mentioned Wally and Al Williamson. I rememberwe tried to contact Al Williamson but he was living in South America atthe time and we couldn’t reach him. We did locate Jack Davis andhired him to do a funny monster set.Jon: Did you introduce Woody to the work of the EC artists?Len: Oh, yes, very much. Because of my love for EC. WoodyGelman instantly saw that these guys were very talented as soon as Ishowed him these comics. We brought Wally in to do a parody ofRipley’s Believe It or Not which we called Crazy Cards, not a greatname but they were a funny set. Wally would draw the front of thecard in a typical Believe It or Not-type style. On back of the card wasthe punch line and a Mad-style cartoon.Jon: With your generation’s sensitivity to comic books and Woody’s prior generation’s to comic strips, there was a real kind of synergy at Topps?Len: I think so. As for the EC guys, we also had George Woodbridgedo something for us, Bill Elder came in and did an odd item for a littlewhile and then Harvey Kurtzman was even hired as a consultant andbrainstormed a few ideas. So I got to meet Harvey a few times.Jon: What years roughly?

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Left:Pencil roughs for Dynamo#1 cover art. Art by Wallace Wood.

vertical line to see if the formula would work again with the word SILVER—Silver Agents. Again, the first five letters came instantly, butnot the next. After a long pause, trying to think of an “R” word, I wassuddenly writing over a dozen of them, but we began laughing so hard at some, I decided to leave that choice to Wally, who agreed toreplace the word T.H.U.N.D.E.R. throughout to S.I.L.V.E.R.… or something! It was obvious, whether he realized it consciously, or not,that the more in the title he could feel was his, the happier he wouldbe… which was okay with me, as long as I could get enough time to not have to rush the rest ofmy pages.

Then Tower said thatinstead of putting out 32-pageissues for 12¢, it was going tobe 64 pages for 25¢. Theywould need twice as manypages… in the same time!Before even finishing the first, I began work on the second“Sky-Boy” episode, soon realizing the quality I wantedcouldn’t be maintained with 20 instead of 10 pages anissue. Wally suggested bringingin other artists with additionalcharacters. Envisioning a coverwith so many characters noneof them would seem important,I suggested adding a featurecalled “The S.I.L.V.E.R. Squad,”with a blandly-dressed unit containing so many membersnone of them would competewith the three major heroes.Wally’s eyes lit up. “A militaryunit!” he exclaimed with interest and I think he suggested a plot idea,but eventually the task of writing fell to me, along with the issue’stwo-page text story, and I don’t think he got beyond a few sketchesbefore turning the art, also, over to someone else. Eventually, evenmuch of the work seeming to be by Wally was by others who couldimitate his style as well as I could, with most of it being produced inhis studio by under-paid students—using a projector to trace figuresfrom past stories. His wife did lettering, and what resulted was oftengood, but not the format I had envisioned, with three dedicated creators each conceiving, writing, and drawing 10 pages an issue of a character that would be theirs alone. An additional big drain on timecame with a request from Samm to see the first chapter nearing completion in pencil, before it was inked, to see how it was coming.The only one that far ahead was mine, so I took time out to take the first 10 pages (the last page not fully drawn) to the Tower office.Samm now had a small room on the left-hand side of the hall. His

first reaction to the pages was dismay that the title panel took up over half the page and that there was no dialogue balloon in it. “Titlepanels should just use the top third. And you’ve got dinosaurs in thestory. Kids don’t like dinosaurs!” (My friends and I had alwaysreached for issues with dinosaurs first!) I wondered what he wouldthink of the next two title pages he would see. Wally’s first episode,and my second one, both began with full-page scenes! Then he point-ed out something I hadn’t thought of—that the ceiling lamps in thesecond panel would be out of perspective if attached to the slanting

ceiling. For the first time in myexperience in comics, I wasreceiving editorial comment thatwas right! Then, he broughtout a page of art, for my comment, on another title theywere working on. “Archie!” Isaid, not needing to make it a question. Tower was going to be the new publisher ofArchie Andrews? He seemeddisappointed. “It looks a littletoo much like Archie? I guesswe’ll have to change the face a little!”

It wasn’t just the face,the entire style was Archie, and suddenly, I began to under-stand! All of his views, of howa comic book should be, werebased on Archie! (As I laterlearned Shorten had been thefirst editor of Archie, and Sammhad probably spent most of hiscareer at that company!) We were never going to be

in tune on the production of adventure stories!Shorten, however, seemed to like what he saw, and wanted

Wally and me to see him again, for an interesting offer…. The offerfrom Tower, at a time there was a move to give comic book writersand artists a slight degree of creative rights, was an extra $10 a pagefor art or a percentage of the title’s profits. Wally jumped at theincrease for art, already planning his assembly-line of cheap help.“What publisher,” he asked cynically, as we discussed the choices athis studio, “has ever been honest? $10 in the hand is better than thefew cents an issue the account books will probably end up showing.The ones we would be shown!” The decision, however, would not beof benefit to me, as I was soon asking Shorten if I could buy back the Sky-Boy work I had been paid for if I could provide a suitablereplacement material in time for the first issue. Although page count isthe primary factor to most comic book publishers, Shorten took sometime to make a decision with Samm—and Wally after they contacted

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Left:Pencil layout, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #12 cover. Art by Wallace Wood, based on design by Larry Ivie.

Paul drew a few features for the Tower Comics line, working on“Dynamo” and “Undersea Agent,” possibly over Wallace Wood lay-outs. (Paul had worked for Avon for a brief spell in 1948, where hequite possibly first met the young artist Wood.) Paul would move backto Marvel in the latter ’60s, doing uncredited production work and anoccasional ink job. In the ’70s, the artist would show up from time totime drawing mystery stories, as well as fill-in strips for Hero for Hireand Ka-Zar. He also reportedly did somestories for Gold Key. I am uncertain ofexactly when Paul passed away, but hislast comics work was seen in the mid-’70s.—Nicholas CaputoT-Agents work: ART: T-Agents #13,19; Dynamo #3; NoMan #1.

SammSchwartzSam (Samm) Schwartz was born onOct. 12, 1920, and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He attended thePratt School of Design, among other art schools. Though Sam (whoalso worked as a staffer in the Demby shop in the early 1940s), isbest known as the pre-eminent artist on Archie Comics’ “Jughead”strips, his early work for MLJ includes the super-hero strip, “BlackJack.” Of his ’50s work on “Jughead” and “Reggie,” Paul Castigliawrites in Comic Book Marketplace #55 (Jan. ’98), “Looking at hiswork from this period, his comedic flair, graphic design and pacing are

flawless. Schwartz knew the value ofpage layout, and pushed the envelopeperhaps more than any other Archieartist of his time, often experimentingwith unusual or open panels and neverbeing afraid to go beyond exaggerationfor a laugh.”

Starting in 1939, Samm stayedwith Archie Comics for some 50 years(!), even taking into account a leaveof three years to serve as editor of the

shortlived Tower Comics line (between 1965-67). The artist alsoworked for Ace, Fiction House, and DC Comics. Samm, who died of cancer in 1997, was quoted in CBM as saying, “I may not be awealthy man and leave a lot of riches behind, but at least I know Imade a lot of children laugh.”

The following interview was originally published in the fifth issueof Bombshell, a 1960s fanzine, and it features a talk with Tower

Comics’ official comics editor (and resident Archie-type cartoonist)Samm Schwartz, conducted by Angel Marcana and William Bracero.Originally titled “We Face Tower!” the piece included a prologue andepilogue, which are included.Prologue: When we reached 185 Madison Avenue at noon onAugust 19th, we were almost dead on our feet. We had gotten on thewrong train, took the right train to the wrong station, walked dozensof blocks in the wrong direction, and finally gave up and took a taxi to

the place! Oh, how we fans suffer forour cause!

But it was worth it all! Ourfatigue left us as we entered theoffice of Tower’s editor. True, theplace was not the bridal suite, but itwas our goal, and we had reached it.There was the usual conglomerationof paper, ink bottles, T-squares, drawing boards, bulletin boards, finished and unfinished strips and thesmell of ink everywhere; but it all

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Left:Panels from opening page, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #19. Art by Paul Reinman.

head writer. It was fun doing Tower, but then they had a financial problem there so… I guess you could say this is inside information![laughs] We were getting $10 a page, which was horrible, but wewere doing something entirely different. Then Wally called up and saidhe was taking over completely. He said he just wanted, more or less, avery rough script, which he’s going to re-write and edit, and then thewriter would only get half the money, $5 a page! I said, “No way!”Wally said, “Well, the other writers don’t object.” But I did. So I wentto [Tower Comics editor] Samm Schwartz, and he said, “Well, gowrite Tippy Teen,” which was their other comic book title, which wasn’t any fun to write anyway. (I also actually wrote a “Little Archie” one time.)Bob: So what do youthink of The T-AgentsArchives?Lou: Oh, I think it’s beautiful, only now I wish I had used my name![laughter] DC did a beautiful job. Most of what Iwrote for Tower ended up inthe first volume. I can saythat almost every story starring Menthor and T-Squad listed as by “writerunknown” is by me.Bob: Is there any otherinformation about what wasgoing on at the time? Lou: I only worked forWally. I used to go up to hisplace and we’d kick aroundideas. I never met any ofthe other writers or artists.With the exception of theMarvel bullpen, most writersand artists worked at home.We never saw each other.(That’s why the Mad tripswere so great: As a group,we spent time together, going to different places.) I’d write a script,they’d hand it to an artist, and I didn’t see it until it was printed.Bob: The T-Agents have survived to this day because of the legacy of Wally Wood.Lou: To me, Wally was just a former Mad artist who was down onhis luck, more or less, who created a lot of his own problems. He hada lot of demons in him, but when I worked with him, he wasn’t drink-ing anything stronger than Pepsi Cola. He’d just sit there at a drawingtable, sipping Pepsi. I still don’t know why he left Mad, because hewas one of the originators, but there was one story that he didn’t getalong with the editor. The version that I heard was he was jealous that

Don Martin was called “Mad’s Maddest artist.” Whether or not that’strue, I don’t know.

Wally liked to smash his characters through a brick wall. He wassuch a fantastic artist, and it was pure luck that I was able to workwith him. When I went over to Cracked, John Severin was anothergreat artist I got to work with.

I wish I could tell you more about T-Agents, but I was just anindependent worker, so it’s difficult.Bob: In addition to T-Agents and Mad, what else have you done?Lou: I did a lot of writing in animation, including The Jackson 5ive.Michael Eisner, the head of ABC at that time, saw the group perform inLas Vegas, and he thought they would make a good TV series. Jack

Davis, who is also a Madartist, was hired to do thecaricatures. I also didCandid Camera and severalone-hour animated specials,one for King Features,which starred every Kingcharacter there was, fromPopeye to Prince Valiant. Ialso worked with Al Cappon Li’l Abner, which wasfun. I did comedy bits for a stage show called“Freedom Jam” that touredschools and colleges duringthe Bicentennial. I had aradio show. I did a lot ofmen’s magazines and stuff like that.

When I moved overto Cracked, readers saidthat “Cracked sucks andMad kicks ass,” but gradu-ally we got more and moreletters that said, “Crackedrules!” which was fun. Bob: You also have a couple of books out

there: Politically Mad, The Mad Tell-It-Like-It-Is Book, Mad Book ofHorror Stories, Yecchy Creatures and Other Neat Stuff, Mad Book of Mysteries….Lou: Yeah, I did six of those books, which were great. That wasanother thing at Mad: Those books were a great source of income,because we got a big up-front fee. Now that I’m freelancing, it’s notthe same thing. It’s hard to even get someone to look at scripts,because they all want you to have an agent.

I wanted to do a comic book, and sent a five- or six-page detective story to Image, and they e-mailed a reply that said it wouldmake a great comic book and they kept sending me encouraging

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Left:Splash page, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #2. Art by Mike Sekowsky & Frank Giacoia.

Mike Gartland: How did you get the Tower gig, George? George Tuska: I was freelancing work at that time while working on the syndicated Buck Rogers strip, I really don’t rememberwho told me about it.Mike: Did you deal with editor Samm Schwartz at all?George: His name rings a bell, but I don’t believe I ever met him.Mike: Do you know anything about the Tower Publishing backgroundand why it decided to get into comics? Do you remember the types ofpaperbacks the company produced? Did you know of Harry Shorten?Any anecdotes? George: I guess Tower was just jumping on the super-hero band-wagon, along with the other publishing houses that devoted some oftheir space to super-heroes at that same time. Harry Shorten I don’tknow of, sorry.Mike: Did you visit Wally Wood’s studio with any frequency? George: Believe it or not, I never knew Wally Wood nor visitedhim. I knew Bob Wood when I worked at Lev Gleason, but I don’tthink they were related.Mike: Who wrote the stories you drew? Did you write any stories?Were the scripts Marvel-style or fully written? George: I don’t recall who wrote the stories, I may have contributed some stuff, but without having the books to refer to, Icouldn’t tell you. I think the stories were full scripts; I only rememberworking Marvel-method at Marvel. I liked Marvel method because itallowed you more of a free reign to move the plot your own way. I’mreally sorry, but without the books I couldn’t recall any anecdotes ofinterest; at the time it was just fill-in work, you understand.

Mike: Favorite characters? You drew a few “T.H.U.N.D.E.R.Squad” stories, did you enjoy the strip? Was Weed based on

Woody? George: Didn’t really have a favorite character, they did remindme of The X-Men though. If Weed was based on Wally Wood, you’dhave to ask the writer, as I really don’t know.

Mike: Do you recall what your page rate was? How did it compare to Marvel and DC at the time? George: I think it was something like $20 a page, Marvelwas less; I didn’t work for DC at that time so I don’t know what

their rate was; probably higher.Mike: What did you think of the Tower material? George: Same as the Marvel stuff, super-hero stuff, you know.The Tower stuff had a James Bond kind of touch to it, though.Mike: Do you think the Tower comics were developed to capitalizeon Marvel’s success? As far as you recall, was the Batman craze in full-swing when the books were coming out? George: At that time I really wasn’t fully into Marvel; that didn’t happen until the Buck Rogers strip was over. I remember whenBatman was very popular, but I was just freelancing, doing pick-upwork for places like Marvel and Tower at that time. It didn’t occur tome that the TV show had any effect on all of comics. Some said it was bad for comics. Mike: You’re renowned especially for your ’40s crime stories forCrime Does Not Pay. Did you wish genres other than super-heroes werepopular during the ’60s and ’70s? George: I liked the action in super-hero books, but preferred doingthe Crime Does Not Pay material. The stories were more thrilling to mebecause they seemed more based on real life. I would’ve like to haveseen the Crime stories make it to the ’60s and ’70s, but thoseKefauver hearings put an end to them in the ’50s, shame really.Mike: Did you consider Wally Wood a tragic figure? George: Tragic figure? I think that he felt he had to take his ownlife was a tragedy; he was a very talented man.Mike: Did you socialize with other comic book artists in the 1960s?Where did you live in the ’60s and what was your family situation?George: Since I was freelancing, I didn’t really see many artists;sometimes I’d run into someone at the office if I was bringing in ortaking out work. I lived on Long Island (in Hicksville) at the time withmy wife, two daughters, and son. I liked to golf and still do as often as I can. I did golf with Stan Lee on several occasions.Mike: What‘s the story behind your brief Marvel foray—drawing“Captain America,” for one—in the mid-’60s? Why didn’t you staylonger?George: The Buck Rogers strip was very time-consuming, and you always had to be on top of it; it’s like that with many syndicatedstrips. You also had to get and pay for the letterer and inker. Also,Marvel’s rates for a penciled and inked page didn’t give you enoughincentive to stay, although I did prefer doing comic book stories to thesyndicated stuff. Mike: When and why did you return to Marvel?

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George: The Buck Rogers strip finally wasended and Stan was always asking me to comeback, so around 1967 I started doing some ink-ing, then some fill-in stories, then Iron Man.Mike: When did you start working again for DC Comics? Did you primarily work for [DC editor]Murray Boltinoff? George: I got into DC through CarmineInfantino; one day Sol Brodsky told me that theydidn’t have any work for me; so I took some ofmy Marvel samples to Carmine and he said “Thisis what we’re looking for.” So what happens? He puts me on romance stories! Ugh! [laughs]Later on I ran into Stan who asked why wasn’t Iworking for him anymore. So I go up to his officeand explain that I was told I wasn’t neededaround here; and John Verpoorten, who was sitting next to me in Stan’s office said “He’s right,Stan.” [laughs] So I was back at Marvel again. I worked with Carmine and Joe Orlando at DC,although I did know Boltinoff, also. He lived ashort distance from me in Long Island and sometimes I would bring my work to his houserather than go into the city.Mike: Any memories of other Tower contributors?George: I remember Sekowsky from the Eisner-Iger days, but didn’t see him anymore after that. Reed Crandall was there, too, and Iused to watch him draw along with Lou Fine; they were very good.Others like Esposito, Stone, and Adkins I know from their inking stories I drew the others I know only from conventions, while someI’ve never met.T-Agents work: T-Agents #1, 7, 8, 10, 13-17, 19;Dynamo #2, 3.

OgdenWhitneyOutside of the fact that, according to Who’sWho of American Comic Books, Ogden Whitneywas born in 1918, little biographical informationappears to be known about the legendary artist. Thefollowing essay by Ron Frantz, which first appeared inThe Return of Skyman #1 [Sept. ’87] (published byRon’s imprint, Ace Comics), is less about Ogden’s lifeand more on the journey of a fan looking for theman behind the art. The article was originally titled“Searching for Ogden Whitney,” and appears herecourtesy of Ron (who also made some revisions).©2005 Ron Frantz.

“Let us consider just what an educatedman knows of the past. First of all he has therealest of all knowledge—the knowledge ofhis own personal experiences, his memory.Uneducated people believe their memoriesabsolutely, and most educated people believethem with a few reservations. Some of ustake up a critical attitude even toward ourown memories; we know that they not onlysometimes drop things out, but that some-times a sort of dreaming or a strong sug-gestion will put things in. But for all that,memory remains vivid and real as no otherknowledge can be, and to have seen andheard and felt is to be nearest to absolute conviction.”—Herbert George Wells,

Discovery of the Future

This particular story is almost autobiographic,as many of the places, people, and events havebeen gleaned from personal memory. Forgive me,if I seem to ramble on just a bit. While attemptingto sort several decades of nostalgic memories into

words, it is disquieting to realize how quickly the years have flashedby. It seems like it was only yesterday, when, at the age of 12, I firstdiscovered an artist named Ogden Whitney.

To be more specific, the year was 1965. As it is with most discoveries, it came quite by accident. It was in the Spring and I wasbed-ridden, suffering from a bout with the flu. As an act of love (orpossibly to quiet my sniveling), my father brought me a couple new

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Left:Splash panel, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #15. Art by George Tuska.Bottom

left:Plate detail from SQP’s The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Series Set One.Art by George Tuska.

the android agent’s name was “NorMan,” so maybe my opinion isn’tall that reliable.) Other memories include being touched by NoMan’sdilemma and soliloquy in his solo story in #7 and bemused byDynamo’s bravado in being shot from a cannon (Dynamo #1?).

On the other hand, the all-powerful Menthor struck me as anobviously bad idea. He had to start losing his helmet regularly, startingwith his second story, just to make for fair fights.

Although there were good stories after #8, I thought the seriesjumped the shark there, after the Subterraneans were beaten.

S.P.I.D.E.R. was a less interesting batch of villains. From there, therewas less Wood art and the stories lost focus.Jon: What do you think of Wally Wood’s work? Did you ever meet Woody?Charlie: I never met Wood. His artwork was the first I could recognize. Not long after my introduction in T-Agents #2, I read a backissue of The Avengers, when Wood was inking Don Heck (#19 or soonafter). I recognized the machinery in the splash panel right away andit was confirmed in the credit box. He is still one my favorite threesuper-hero artists.Jon: How did you hear about the T-Agents revival?Charlie: My friend George Lamboy, from Regal Entertainment, told

me that Archie Comics was reviving their super-hero characters. I called(this being before they moved upstate) and was introduced to JohnCarbonaro soon after. Things moved quickly, so I ended up working on T-Agents instead.

Working with John was very satisfying. There were a lot oflaughs and hanging out with his associates and plotting stories oncocktail napkins. John was full of enthusiasm and wanted his books to be fun.Jon: On some credits, you’re listed as writer and others artist. Are

you a double-threat? [Your imbecilic editor misreadartist B.C. Boerner’s credit as being Charlie.—JBC]Charlie: Any art credit must be mistaken. I am acartoonist, but have never had my art published by themainstream. (You can see my cartooning in the Friendsof Lulu anthologies, Storytime and Broad Appeal.)Jon: Can you give us an overview of Red Circle atthe time?Charlie: Archie’s Red Circle line had three editorialdirections in a period of something like one-and-a-halfyears: John C, Rich Buckler, and Robin Snyder, witheach working their own approach. Any one of themwas legitimate, but I think the constant shifting helped the line to fail.

JC Comics was what it sounds like, just John,with me and a few other associates giving suggestions.Bonanno and Blyberg (and Ditko and I) were all freelancers, some in town, and others through themail. Willie Blyberg was such a skilled inker, he wasrarely hired for full art, as I think he would have liked,although Blue Ribbon Comics #12 shows his ability. Jon: Were you witness at all to the Carbonaro v.Singer controversy?Charlie: No, I was out of the picture by then but, having worked with John, I felt his claim waslegitimate and was glad he was vindicated.Jon: John mentioned a T.H.U.M.P.E.R. Agents story,and also says that you are particularly good humorwriter. Is that so?Charlie: Out of the blue, John suggested the idea

of “Dynamo Duck.” I mulled it over and came up with a silly variationon the origin story: If the Warlord had interrupted Prof. Jenning’s workearlier, the prototype devices would have still been in testing on labanimals. Parodying the format of Marvel’s What If? stories, it wasintroduced by Archie’s janitor Svenson—the Vatcher (of vindows)—“So what if the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents had been cute, cuddly animals?”The plan was to make the parodies a back-up feature in JC’s Hall ofFame with #4. (Of course, there was no #4….)Jon: What happened with JC Comics, and did you have further contact with Carbonaro?Charlie: JC Comics ended when Archie Comics cancelled it.Perhaps it would have done better in today’s environment, when print-

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Left:Pencils intended as JC Comics’ T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agentscover. Inked piece eventually adapted as centerspread pin-up in T-Agents#2. Art by Murphy Anderson.

his art but I guess saw something in my crestfallen face and gavethem to me. Twenty+ years later I still have them.

I have to admit that my marketing skills were weak at thattime, and I was too trustful of people I helped in the beginning. I listened to people and grew a bit as an editor back then. Learning agood many things that hopefully will get this book back on track as anew series. My lumps/failings will help in the future. I met good people along the way as well as the bad ones. The Archie people wereoutstanding no matter how they differed with me on things. (Say, areyou gonna print this? I’dbetter shut up!)

LouMannaLouis Peter Manna wasborn on August 9, 1954,in Staten Island, NewYork, where he was raisedand still resides. A self-taught artist, Lou neverhad a lesson except forone night class at theSchool of Visual Arts. The artist spent five yearssubmitting samples toMarvel and DC beforefinally landing his first proassignment, House ofMystery #305, character-ized as a “great learningexperience.” Lou alsoassisted artist Jim Janes onThe Rook and Legion ofSuper-Heroes, and hadsolo work appear inInfinity, Inc., Young All-Stars, Spider-Man, Rogue, Jaguar, The Phantom (a personal favorite),among others. He has also produced corporate art for Chase Bank andAccenture. Lou is currently working for Layne Morgan Media on theirbook line, and cites his 2000 independent series, Salem St. James, asa career highlight. He was interviewed by phone in June 2005.Jon B. Cooke: When were you first exposed to T.H.U.N.D.E.R.Agents, Lou?Lou Manna: I was a big comic book collector from when I waseight years old. I remember seeing those T-Agents comic books, pickingup a copy, seeing Wally Wood’s work, and saying, “25¢? That’s tooexpensive!” I couldn’t afford it at that time. When you’re a kid andyou have 25¢, you could buy two 12¢ comics. So I remember seeingthem, thinking the art was great, and wishing I could buy those

instead, but didn’t. But I always had an affinity for the characters; Ialways liked them. Wood’s art was always great. When I got a littlebit older I started to buy them and was a fan from that point on.Jon: Did you know John Carbonaro?Lou: I started to work in this business around 1978 or ’79. Ithought of bringing samples around to DC around 1975. The usual twoor three years of redemption, and work on samples of this and that.Then I wound up meeting Jimmy Janes, who was working on black-&-white Warren comics. So I was able to ghost some stuff and assist him

a little bit in his studio. Lateron, Rich Buckler worked inthere, as did Denys Cowanand Mark Texeira. I met PatGabriele there and, throughPat, John Carbonaro.

John and I hit it off,and John just had gotten therights to the characters. Heasked me if I would do thefirst b-&-w story, which wasThe Raven. Mark Texeirainked that. From there Istarted laying out some ofthe other books for him, andthen Pat did some work, andthen Mark did some work.Everybody pitched in, andthen we put out that book,and it was successful. Jon: What was John like?Lou: John was very possessive of the characters.He knew them inside andout, and had tentative ideasabout what he wanted todo. He would bend a bit.When we started working onthe comic book, he trusted

me to do a good job on a color comic, and I remember doing a lot ofthe plotting with him and [editor] Chris Adames. I think, at the time,we all banged around a plot. I know John had some specifics in mind.I remember working on that first splash with NoMan. We seemed towork pretty well together; we were fairly comfortable.

In the beginning, we worked really well together, then he hadsome ideas he wanted to do, I had some ideas I wanted to do, andwe would butt heads on certain things. But overall, I think we respected each other and stayed friends.

I remember he and I sat down, and I was looking for a WallyWood-type inker, and I had seen Willie Blyberg’s stuff in The ComicsJournal. I think he was just semi-pro at the time. I said, “Boy, this guyhas a nice Wally Wood inking style. He’d be good.” John listened to

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Left:Partially inked splash page of unpublished Dynamo story. Art by Lou Manna (pencils) & James E. Lyle (inks).

novel was not in print anywhere in the world for a set period of time,rights returned to me. Later, I asked for it to be reprinted, they said no,and I got the rights back.Jon: Aardwolf Publishing eventually reprinted the complete series?Dave: Right. They finally published the “lost” fourth issue, the onethat Lodestone didn’t publish.Jon: Do you feel that The Futurians suffered by being bouncedbetween publishers and the lapse of time in between?Dave: Probably. I don’t know how well it sold for Lodestone, but I knew that they werehaving money problemsfrom the get-go.Jon: Was there a connection in your mindthat, at first, he was offering these excessiverates—as much as twicethe going rate—just hemorrhaging cash, andthat was the cause of subsequent difficulties?Dave: Probably. Hesaid that he had a printbroker backing him, thatwas where his money was coming from. He was having to wait for the proceeds of a givenissue to come in before he could afford to printthe next one.Jon: [laughs] So muchfor business acumen. Do you have any idea why The Futurians waspublished under theLodestone imprint and notDeluxe Comics?Dave: He used whichever name he was using that month… onemonth he was Deluxe, the next Lodestone, and at one point, he considered using “D.C.,” but didn’t think he could get away with it.[laughter]Jon: Did you know Singer prior to doing business with him?Dave: No. It’s when he first approached me that I was introduced to him. Of course, I also did a couple of T-Agents stories in betweenThe Futurians.Jon: So T-Agents and The Futurians were produced simultaneous. For that time frame, were you exclusive to Lodestone/Deluxe?Dave: Yes, but I really wasn’t fast enough to keep on doing all ofthat work in the time required… but I mostly got it done. Plus, in theone issue where we brought back Iron Maiden [WWTA #3], Singer

plotted it but I wound up scripting. I also wound up finishing GeorgePérez, because he was only able to do a few pages and I drew the restof the story. Jon: Were you trying to emulate Pérez?Dave: I don’t know if I was or not.Jon: George told me you had little time to complete that job?Dave: Yeah.Jon: Was it fun to do T-Agents?Dave: Yes. These were characters that I loved. The splash page I did

with NoMan walkingdown the street was aswipe of an issue ofCaptain Marvel I did(Marvel’s version).Jon: Was the first jobfor Singer that posterimages of all the Agents?Dave: I think so.Jon: You had your old employer, MurphyAnderson, inking your pencils.Dave: Well, Murphyhad inked be prior, on the first three “Legion”stories I did. (At least on the first one, editorMurray Boltinoff creditedMurphy first, because hewas afraid Murphy, beingan old-timer, would beoffended to be listedunderneath a newcomer.But I was the penciler andMurphy was the inker.Jon: There’s a panel ofLightning reproduced frompencils….

Dave: David liked my pencils so much on that, he reproduced them directly.Jon: Would you like to return to the characters someday?Dave: Sure, yeah. I talked to John Carbonaro on this possibility bye-mail a couple of times, and he indicated that he wouldn’t mind if Icontributed. This was back when DC was planning on doing an ongoingseries. (I gather that whatever they were going to do wasn’t verygood.) All of that fell through.Jon: In one story you did, there’s a character with glasses and bighair. Is that a caricature of Dave Singer?Dave: No, that’s supposed to be Singer’s accountant…. I didn’tknow what that guy really looked like; I just drew what I thought anaccountant would look like. [laughter] The title for the “next issue”

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blurb at the end of WWTA #3 wasmine, by the way: “Well, I Guess IAm That Kind of Boy…” [laughter]Jon: Whatever happened to David Singer?Dave: All I know is that he shut down the company and disappeared. I have heard peoplemention his name in recent years, so I guess he’s around somewhere,but I have no idea.Jon: So was the overall Deluxe/Lodestone experience negative?Dave: Financially, it was stressful.I didn’t get all the money I waspromised, and half the time Idelivered work, if he gave me acheck, it would bounce. I would haveto go back in and demand cash. Itfinally got to the point where I wouldcome in with a finished story, but Iwouldn’t let him have it until hehanded me cash. That part of it wasnot fun, though doing The Futuriansand T-Agents was fun. [chuckles]Jon: Did this teach you a lesson to be wary of start-up publishers with grandiose plans thereafter?Dave: Yes, it made me very wary. I tend now to be reluctant totrust people too much unless I know them really well.T-Agents work: ART: WW T-Agents #1-3.

Steve EnglehartStephen K. Englehart, was born on April 22, in Indianapolis, Indiana.Raised in his native city and Louisville, Kentucky, he later earned a BAin Psychology at Wesleyan University. Steve has written a zillioncomics, first coming to prominence in the comics field in the early1970s. Some of his most renowned work appeared in CaptainAmerica, The Avengers, Doctor Strange, Detective Comics, Coyote,Scorpio Rose, and recently a reteaming with artists Marshall Rogersand Terry Austin to produce a Batman mini-series. He has also workedin film (Batman, Nightman, Team Atlantis: Milo’s Return), video games(Tron 2.0, Hard’s Tale, Spider-Man, etc.), children’s books (Countdownto Flight, The DNAgers, etc.), and has written the adult novel, ThePoint Man. He currently lives and works in California. Steve was interviewed by e-mail in June 2005.Jon B. Cooke: Were you familiar with T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents inthe 1960s?Steve Englehart: Yes. I liked the original series and went outof my way to collect it, since it was badly distributed.Jon: How were you approached for Deluxe Comics’ T-Agents revival?

Steve: They asked.Jon: By most accounts, Singerwas… ummm… a flamboyantcharacter. What were your dealingswith him and what’s your opinion ofthe man and his comics line?Steve: Singer was obviously notreliable, on any level. You alwaysfelt he had a hidden agenda... andthat turned out to be so. But he waspleasant enough, as I recall.Jon: How were the rates at Deluxeand how’d they compare with therest of the industry?Steve: I don’t remember. I imag-ine I got my usual rate for the time.That may be one reason he decidedto write the second issue himself.Jon: How did you come to get theassignment for the T-Agents story (as opposed to Raven, Lightning,etc.)? Did you choose the team segment of the book?Steve: That was what Singeroffered me. I have a rep for doing

team books, so it seemed like a sensible idea.Jon: Obviously, in short order, you were no longer writing for thecompany. What happened?Steve: Dunno. Singer just called up and said he wanted to writethe second one himself.Jon: John Workman mentioned that Singer had a compulsion torewrite the material. Did that happen in your case?Steve: It didn’t happen on my first and only issue. Maybe that’swhy he wanted to write the second one himself.Jon: The second issue features your plotting. Did you read the published version and make any impressions of Singer’s interpretation?Steve: I’m sure I did read it at the time, but I haven’t looked at itsince. I naturally thought I could have done a better job!Jon: As far as you could see, what were the respective strengths andweaknesses of Deluxe Comics?Steve: They had good characters and they had good people doing them. Without all the internal problems, Deluxe should have succeeded. But the problems were obviously their weakness.

I only know what I think is common knowledge: They didn'treally own the characters. So the whole basis for doing the book…for the talent, it turned out to be bogus, but I have to believe that forSinger, he knew it was bogus. And if he knew, he was operatingknowing that he might be brought down at any moment. That can'tlead to stability.Jon: Any idea of what became of David Singer?Steve: None.

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Left:Panel from Wally Wood’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1. Art by Dave Cockrum.

what shook me up most of all. When I think back to the opportunitiesI had, the access I had to the best in the business… Wood, Toth,Ditko, Kubert, Kirby… and I blew it. Damn!T-Agents work: ART/PLOTTING: WW T-Agents #1-5.

Jerry OrdwayJeremiah Ordway was born on November 27, 1957, in Milwaukee,Wisconsin. Jerry calls his graphic novel The Power of Shazam! and The Messenger, a creator-owned project done through Image Comics,among his favorite work. The artist currently lives in Easton,Connecticut, where he is working on a five-issue mini-series featuringthe Alan Moore/Gene Ha characters from Top Ten, with writer PaulDeFilippo.Jon B. Cooke: Were you exposed to the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agentsin the ’60s, Jerry?Jerry Ordway: Yeah, back in the days of newsstands. Our major outlet, where we used to get most of our Marvels, wasdowntown in Milwaukee. I never saw T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents there,which I’m sure was why they probably didn’t survive. [laughs] But wedid find the comic on spinner racks in drugstores. In those days, readers would have to go to multiple outlets, in search of titles thatwere not from the top publishers (like DC and Marvel). T-Agents werealso 25¢ each, a big bite for a time when comics were 12¢. That wasa lot to pony up to buy a book, but I thought the Wally Wood coversreally stood out, so they were worth the extra dough.Jon: Were the Tower Comics discernably different? I assume you were alsobuying DC and Marvel atthe time.Jerry: I didn’tstart actively collecting until theSummer of ’67, and then Iwas only buying Marvels. But Ido remember picking up anissue of T-Agents. Thecover just jumped out atme. I’m sure that was themoment I began my Wally

At that point I certainly went and sought out more of his work.Wood was a solid draftsman, but he always had that cool light-

ing effect—double-lighting and all that—and I was just amazed byhis art.Jon: While I wouldn’t immediately say that you two have similarstyles necessarily, there’s something about your work that reminds meof Wood. Was he an influence on you?Jerry: Oh, yes. After Captain Action #1, I started spotting his workeverywhere, though I probably had been exposed earlier without evenrealizing it.

Regarding Wood’s influence, my style is probably a couple ofgenerations removed, and I was probably influenced by the artists whowere influenced by him. Once I started really collecting Wood, I woundup following a thread back to him. Then I realized a thread from WallyWood back to Hal Foster and Alex Raymond. So if there’s any real stylistic approach now, it probably comes from that Alex Raymond/Hal Foster school, Woody’s roots.Jon: Did you ever meet Woody?Jerry: No, but I certainly picked up his fanzine, witzend, in the’70s, but the closest I ever really got to Wood was having a casualfriendship with [former Wood collaborator] Joe Orlando and otherswho had worked with Wood. I’d always hear Wood stories; Gil Kanehad them, as did Mike Zeck, who worked as a Wood assistant, maybe the last one, when he moved up to Connecticut from Florida.

Jon: Did you drawany T-Agents in yourdays before turningpro and in your early

professional career?Jerry: I can’t remember

doing anything, except thatoccasionally, back in the early

’80s, when I was doing conventionsketches, I had requests for them. I think I did a couple of

Dynamo shots.My first professional experience with the characters was when I

did a Lightning pin-up for the unauthorized Wally Wood’s T-Agents thatDavid Singer published back in the mid-’80s. Then I wound up doing a15-page story for WWTA #5, at the end of its run. But nothing sinceuntil I did a centerspread pin-up in Comic Book Artist [vol. 1, #14].That was the first actual fun time I had. [Jon laughs]Jon: How did David Singer contact you? Did you know him at all?Jerry: No. Singer was calling everybody who had any kind of profile in comics around that time. He really worked hard to get me to do a story. I’m probably stupid in this way, but I’ve never respondedto people calling me up and offering to throw tons of money at me,which is what he did. I ultimately wound up doing it out of love for the original material. That’s what it comes down to. But it was a bitter-sweet experience, because part of me held out until I felt convincedthat Singer did have rights to the material (which was debated in thefan press, at the time). I’m no lawyer, but since he had published

Jon: Was thatyour first memory of

Wood’s work?Jerry: It’s really hard to pin

it down. I just remember it stood out.I would say my first concrete “Wow! Wally

Wood is terrific!” moment was when I picked upCaptain Action, because I was a big fan of that toy. When I

saw Wood had done the pencils and inks on the first issue, it was,“It’s my favorite artist drawing the adventures of my favorite toy!”

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Left:Pin-up detail. Wally Wood’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1. Art by Jerry Ordway.

background just because that orange sky they used—I drew it thinking of a night sky—was a little brighter than I had anticipated.[laughter]Jon: I saw on some index of your work that you’re listed as illustrator on a T-Agents role playing game. Do you recall that?George: If it had any of my artwork, it would have been pick-upart [reproduced from work specifically done for the comics].Jon: You were quoted in Comics Interview #50 [1987], in yourinterview conducted by Andy Mangels, saying you weren’t very happywith the inking on your pages. In retrospect, do you still feel that way?George: Dave did a credible job and Dan Adkins had to follow my incredibly loose pencils and there was nothing that he added, so Idon’t think we worked well together. He probably was told he wasgetting full-pencils from me, but they were just layouts, so they justended up looking like inked layouts. And I don’t think that Bill Wrayand I were a good match either.

The T-Agents doesn’t stand out as a high water mark in my career. I did it for the money—and I can say that

about a lot of work—because, as tempting as the money can be, I can’t take a job if it’s only about that. I need to be interested.

Had I read T-Agents as a kid and then Davecame in with his offer, I probably would have done

a better job. The fact that I was aware of themas a historical footnote, as opposed to me

having read them when they cameout, probably didn’t help myattempt to bring them to any kind of glory.

Jon: Singer made an announcement about a Raven graphic novel byGeorge Pérez?George: At that point, Dave was doing a lot of promoting,announcing stuff that wasn’t even in the germinal stage….Jon: So he had not even discussed this with you?George: He would have probably just taken all my pages andcalled it a graphic novel, but if it was supposed to be an all-originalgraphic novel, he never talked to me about that.Jon: Do you recall another announcement, Tales of T.H.U.N.D.E.R.?George: I had heard about it but I just assumed he was going toreprint existing material, not anything new. It was during a time whena lot was announced before any commitments were made… and itgot to the point where people weren’t getting paid. I think there was alot of hope that, “Oh, let’s hope that the advance money [from thedistributors] comes in, so we actually produce these books.” Asopposed to having books ready. That’s my take.

I saw my name attached to a lot of stuff that would make mesay, ”Hey, nobody told me!” [laughter]Jon: Ahhh, hucksterism in comics! So there was nothing of yours leftunpublished?George: No, everything I had done for Deluxe was printed.Jon: Y’know, it just seems odd to have George Pérez, one of thehottest fan-favorite artists at the time, not work on the team or onDynamo, or even NoMan, but on a third-stringer like The Raven. Do you have any idea what Singer was thinking?George: I honestly don’t know. There were other artists who were going to be involved, who were much more interested in T-Agentsthan I, so it could have been a case of one of them wanting Dynamo.(I don’t know if anyone would have settled for Undersea Agent!)[laughter] Maybe it was just, “Give George ‘The Raven,’ because he doesn’t care one way or the other.”Jon: Hearing what a showman Dave was, it makes one wonder if he was holding back to build up anticipation for a big release for WallyWood’s Dynamo #1… but, it begs the question, why not just comeout with both guns blazing?George: And T-Agents probably should not have been an anthology book, given the popularity of team books at the time.Introduce them as a team and then split them up into individualtitles… put Raven in as a back-up feature. It needed more of a team-book feel to it, to recapture what the cover implied. Who knowswhat Dave was thinking.Jon: Except for your misgivings about the inking, were you impressedwith the books overall? There seemed a sense that they did recapturesomewhat the quality of the Tower Comics.George: I was more impressed with everybody else’s work than Iwas with mine. Quite honestly, I thought that they did a better jobbecause they had their heart in it more than I did. I think I did serv-iceable work, but I know the difference between that and inspiredwork. I did get some flattering and favorable comments about thoseissues, but they don’t have the same resonance personally for me.T-Agents work: ART: WW T-Agents #1-4.

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Left:Pin-up, Wally Wood’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1. Art by Stan Drake.

Dwight: Yet Tower was not able to make a go of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.David: Tower went under due to problems on thenewsstand distribution scene, not because of sales. The characters went into limbo for many years. Then a gentleman by the name of John Carbonaro beganpublishing them in a black-&-white magazine, two four-color issues co-published with Archie Comics, andthree reprint color issues of the original Tower stuff.John and I were friends at the time, we’re both fromNew York City, and John and I both knew that the characters were in the public domain because Towerneglected to put copyright, trademark or registrationnotices on their comics.

John Carbonaro published T-Agents for a couple of years. He used mostly fan artists and new artists.The books, were not particularly well-received. Saleswere low and Archie Comics decided to pull out of thepartnership because they weren’t making any money an the deal. Carbonaro had no funding so his venturewent into limbo. About six months later, after his lastbook had come out, I told him that I wanted to publishT-Agents. The world at large thought that he had exclusive rights to the characters because he had beenputting copyrights and trademarks by JC Productions inhis indicia. This he could do, but only in the sense ofprotecting his interpretations. The characters themselveswere public domain.Dwight: What happened during that talk?David: Initially, I offered to “license” the characters fromCarbonaro—actually, I first asked to buy the rights from him, but hedidn’t want to sell. So I said, okay, even though I don’t have to, I’lllicense them from you—that way you’re getting something from thecharacters and everyone will think I’ve got exclusive rights thus protecting my investment as well and it’ll make the whole venture alot easier for me. We had an agreement. I went to work producing my comics.

I originally was going to come out with the first issue in theSummer of 1984. But when John saw how successful I was, gettingGeorge Pérez, Keith Giffen, Steve Ditko, Dave Cockrum, and others to

work for me, he suddenly decided totake back the “rights” and

get those artists at thesame time.

How he was going to get the artists to go with him,I’ve never figured out. Regardless, he pulled out andstarted causing trouble. My investors then backed outbecause they weren’t sure what was going on….Dwight: There has been a fair amount of discussionabout the new printing processes and paper for comics,some people not being entirely pleased with this development. What were your reasons for going thisexpensive format route?David: Well. I think I answered that in my "publishorial" in the very first issue of WWTA. For thebenefit of all of your readers who didn’t see it, let mesay this: I like to do things with style. I went to highschool in a suit and tie. And I wore five different suits aweek. When I was doing public relations, I’d wear aboutonniere to work every day. When I go to some-one’s house, I always have a bottle of wine, a housegift, or pastry. It takes an effort to remember to dothese things and it costs money, but I like to have style.Anything I do has to have style. I’m publishing comicbooks now. They’ll be stylish comic books. My goal isto do a comic that a 28-year-old Wall Street stockbrokercan take home on the 6:15 back to Connecticut andproudly read that instead of The Wall Street Journal andhave no one look at him and think he’s retarded.

My covers all look like paintings. The paper is aquality stock. George Pérez is doing beautiful covers.Most of our books are colored by airbrushing! Evenmost Baxter books are not airbrushed. Airbrushing isreally the upper, upper tier.

Dwight: When T-Agents first came about, the United Nations had acompletely different political make-up than it does now. What’s going tohappen to the organization now?David: T-Agents are going to leave the U.N. We felt that from thebeginning, we had to do that for a very basic reason. In the 1960s,Red China was not in the U.N. And T.H.U.N.D.E.R. often fought agentsfrom Red China. Well, in 1973, President Nixon threw us a curve. AndRed China soon became a part of the United Nations and comic bookshave never been the same. So there really is no competition for theU.N. now, in terms of being a spy network. Who the heck are theyspying on?Dwight: I have a bunch of rhetorical answers for that. [laughter]David: In terms of the U.N. charter, that is. We don’t want to havealiens coming in and attacking the world every issue, or dinosaursbeing fought or people coming up from the depths of the earth,because all of that is just not realistic. We’re trying to create a relative-ly realistic series about nine-to-five Joes who punch a clock. Our stand-ing joke at the office is that the typical T-Agent works a nine-to-fiver, or whatever his shift is, and at three minutes to 5:00 P.M., he suddenlysees this dinosaur rumbling the street. He looks at his watch, looks at his timecard and says, “Joe will be on in a few minutes. Let him

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Bottom left:Text page illustration, The Futurians#2 (also published by Singer). Art by Dave Cockrum.

Left:Panel from “Work… Work…

Work… Work…

Work,” Wally Wood’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #3. Art by Steve Ditko (pencils) & Greg Theakston (inks).

endless litigation didn’t drain away all his funds or his love for comics.Nor do I have any idea what his impact on the field may have been.Perhaps the brief realization of his dream inspired some other fan totry his hand at publishing… or discouraged another. I suspect most of the contributors will tell you that it was a fun and lucrative ridewhile it lasted.Jon: Do you have any affinity for super-heroes? Were there any otherT-Agents characters you would have liked to tackle?Dann: My affinity for super-heroes is not as strong as those who

became writers after

years of devoted fandom. But I do enjoy the “what if” story possibilities that super-powers or super-gadgetry allow with awesomeexaggeration and wish fulfillment. NoMan is an interesting character,though I prefer Raven.Jon: Do you have anything to add about George Pérez?Dann: George is a comic-book genius and the ultimate pro who,despite crushing deadlines, has never submitted a mediocre page of art in his life. I have no specific anecdotes to relate, but he alwaysimpresses me as a larger than life person—a dynamo.Jon: Roy mentioned there was speculation that he co-wrote those stories with you, though told me he only did small suggestions andminor editing. How do you respond to such speculation?Dann: I am flattered by the suggestion because Roy is one of the best scripters inthe field, but no, the writing in the“Raven” series is all mine… forgood or ill. Roy’s help was primarilywith balloon placement and in givingbackground and history of T-Agents.Jon: How do you look back at theDeluxe experience?Dann: My memories of the workingon the series are nearly entirely positive.George gave me the Bahrain splash pageand I’ve framed it and hung it in ourentrance hall. I smile every time I look at it.I look forward to reading the book so as tolearn more of the legal story.T-Agents work:SCRIPT: WW T-Agents #1, 2, 4.

John Workman[Editor’s note: John Workman’s bio and interview on his work forJohn Carbonaro can be found in the preceding JC Comics section.]

Jon B. Cooke: How did you start working with David Singer?John Workman: John Carbonaro and David had come up tothe offices of Heavy Metal and we had a nice talk about T-Agents andwhat he planned. Then, somehow, John fell by the wayside and it was Dave who came back to me and said, “Would you like to work on T-Agents?” I recall that he was very happy because he had just

gotten someone to invest $250,000 in hisplans. I thought, “That’s a nice little

start, but it’s not an amount ofmoney that’s gonna last forever.You’ll need more than that.”

I also remember a party that Dave put together, where herented a hotel suite, and SteveDitko was there, as well as others

(whose names I can’t remember). I stood there with Ditko, and the two of

us were alone in our pessimistic attitude about the possibilities of thiswhole Deluxe Comics thing. Everyone else was sure that they wouldput DC and Marvel out of business and really show the world howcomics should be done. Now, I liked what they were doing, becausethey were taking these fun characters and being respectful to them. Of course, they were also using some great talent, including DaveCockrum, George Pérez, Keith Giffen, Jerry Ordway, Steve Englehart,Dann Thomas, and Steve Ditko. Ditko and I had a nice conversationthat night.

I always got along well with Dave Singer—he even came outto my house and stayed over a few times—but I do recall one time

when I disagreed with his ideas. He was a terrificguy, but we were, politically, total opposites, whichis okay, but Dave wanted to bring politics into thecomics that he created. These were the Reaganyears, but I got the idea that if Bill Clinton hadbeen in the White House at that time, Davewould have been a big Clinton supporter. Inever got the impression that he had any realbelief in either conservatism or liberalism; hewould follow whichever way the wind wasblowing. But I do remember us arguingabout Franklin Roosevelt. Dave had thisgreat dislike for FDR—”He destroyed thecountry!”—and all that. Roosevelt hasalways been one of my heroes.

Dave did a book (not related to T-Agents) about an ultra-conservativesecret agent character. The originaltitle of the book was going to be

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Left:Logo work by John Workman.Below

bottom:Wally Wood’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #4 cover. Note the face of Iron Maiden was redrawn by John Workman. Art by George Pérez.

that he’d write and I would draw. We’d produced a couple of things, but nothingreally caught on.

We’d been fans of T.H.U.N.D.E.R.Agents since the Archie/JC revival of theseries, and so had been watching the lawsuit between John Carbonaro and DeluxeComics pretty closely in the comics press.One night, while Michael was loopy fromusing Nyquil cold medicine, he picked up acopy of Amazing Heroes Preview and read acouple of the joke entries they’d included.He couldn’t quite make out that they werejokes. Willy Wonka’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agentsstuck with him as he went to sleep, and thenext day he had it all figured out: Thatentry was a joke, but our book wouldn’t be.

The problem was, we were under theimpression that T-Agents had been declaredpublic domain, and that anyone could do abook based on the original series. So weput our proposal package together and sentit off to Will Shetterly at SteelDragon Press.Will liked what he saw, but had enoughsense to suggest that we should change itto something similar, not unlike the Charltonheroes becoming Watchmen, or he’d haveto pass on it entirely rather than risk a lawsuit. But we were pretty headstrong—Iwas 21 or 22 at the time—and didn’t likethe idea of changing it at all.

About that time Chuck Wojtkiewicz,who had been nice enough to try to get mework on several projects, went to work forSolson Publications. He suggested we runthe book by Rich Buckler. I’d had a fewdealings with Rich a few years earlier andthought maybe he’d remember me. So wedid. Rich thought we had a winner, but alsodidn’t want to risk a lawsuit. Fortunately,he’d been editing the Red Circle line forArchie when John Carbonaro was doing T-Agents under their JC imprint. Rich still had John’s number, and the two of themworked out a licensing deal. Buckler got therights for something like five years, I think.Jon: What was your experience dealingwith Solson?James: I’d worked mainly for reallysmall press companies up to that point.Escape to the Stars was published by Philip

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John CarbonaroJon B. Cooke: Who was George Caragonne and ConstantDevelopments?John Carbonaro: At the near-end of the Apple Comics deal,and since they were obviously not going to meet the deadline, I asked[Apple publisher] Mike Catron to let his deal lapse two months aheadof time to allow a new guy in, George Caragonne, who was brought tome by my agent at the time. George pretty much was ConstantDevelopments.Jon: One artist distinctly recalls receiving a check from, of all things,the publisher of Richie Rich, Harvey Comics, for a T-Agents job (thoughhe did say that George brokered the deal). Was the license granted toGeorge before Penthouse Comix came into existence?John: George had developed a great marketing plan during whatwas a booming time for comic book sales. He got HarveyEntertainment to back him just before they went public. Unfortunately,Harvey’s lawyers insisted that George had to pay back their investmentbefore the books were even published, so he shopped around to otherpublishers. Chris Henderson, novelist and Batman writer, directed himto Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione.

Bob told George that he was unwilling to do super-hero comicsbut did want to use George’s marketing plan for a proposed line ofPenthouse comics, though that unwillingness obviously softened (andyou can blame T-Agents indirectly for the Men’s Adventure stuff).

Meanwhile, Harvey came back toGeorge with a decent proposaland took over payments for T-Agents material that hadbeen assigned. But when they

went public, Harvey made amistake, threateningGeorge by withholdingchecks due to artistsunless he could get me to

sign a multimedia dealwith them. I told

George that I waswilling to negotiate

if the deal was right, but instead he asked me not to. His plan was,once they had deliberately missed making contractual payments, hecould now tell them to void the contract by threatening to expose theirdeliberate breach to the new stockholders. So the material came toGeorge and I with payments made to Harvey Entertainment.

Okay, so Harvey leaves the picture and George is busy develop-ing the Penthouse Comix line, and my funds once again became limit-ed (and I realized I should’ve taken the Harvey deal, but oh well).

Penthouse did make claims after George’s suicide that becausehe owed them money, they were going to deface all the art (eventhough, by contract, the rights to the material were mine) unless Istopped my deal with Rob Liefeld and allowed them to publish the sto-ries. So my choice was to sue a guy—one with reputed gangsterties—who might indeed make good on his threat to destroy the art,or allow him to publish a T-Agents story. Guess what I chose? Yep, Ichose to live. I let them do their book and took the fallout from Rob,who went and started his version without consulting me.Jon: What was to be included in the unpublished “Issue Zero”?John: A prologue by penciler Paul Gulacy and inker Terry Austin,then an “Andor” story by Paris Cullins (pencils) and Will Nyberg(inks). Also Dave Gibbons did the cover (which appeared as a pin-up inOmni Comix #3). Garry Leach drew one story, plus two pin-ups. JordanRaskin also drew a three-pager starring Dynamo and Iron Maiden.Jon: I’m confused. Can you detail exactly the plans and chronologyof this material? Was it initially supposed to be a comic-size produc-tion? Was there any plans for a T-Agents-only title? How much stuffwas produced?John: George Caragonne, the actual editor/publisher/writer, intend-ed for “Issue Zero” to precede the Omni Comix #3 story, as a regularcomic. It introduced the characters and villains. The Omni story wasoriginally intended as a stand-alone comic (though George did mentionusing the “Issue Zero” material in subsequent issues of Omni Comixbefore he killed himself. The intended chronology was: 1) “IssueZero”; 2) The three Gulacy chapters (first two inked by Austin, finalone by James E. Lyle); and 3) the Cullins/Nyberg fill-in completed atthe time Paul was doing Batman vs. Predator.Jon: What happened with the whole Penthouse deal?John: George seemed to think he could handle whatever he was

Two fascinating—and frustrating—aspects of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents are that, for one thing, they never stayed in one place very longafter the first revival back in 1981, and for another, each respective appearance bares virtually no resemblance to the last. Such is certainlythe case for the one-shot appearance the characters made in Omni Comix #3, published by one of the leading men’s magazines of the day,

Penthouse. Blanketed in top-flight production values, the appearance was the first in an intended three-part adventure, written by Omni’s flamboyant editor, the late George Caragonne (along with Tom Thornton), with art by penciler Paul Gulacy and inker Terry Austin. Caragonne

had big plans for T-Agents, intending to publish a T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #0 (with multiple artists contributing, including a young JordanRaskin, interviewed below, and a prologue by Paul Gulacy, featured in the pages that follow), and more. Alas, the story of George Caragonneis a tragic one (the editor/writer committed suicide in 1996), a tale that will be soon told in the pages of CBA, and no other T-Agents exploits

from Penthouse were published, though innumerable material was prepared, begging the question, is there a T-Agents curse?

1995: Penthouse Comix “T&A”gents

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Left:Panel detail. Art by Paul Gulacy (pencils) & Terry Austin (inks).

Dan DiDioDan DiDio is a native of Brooklyn and graduate of Brooklyn College.After an extensive career in television (where he worked for CBS andnotably as ABC’s executive director for children’s programming, as wella senior vice-president of Mainframe Entertainment), in 2002, with no formal experience in the comics industry, Dan joined DC Comics aseditorial vice-president, where he remains. Though an essential playerin two “almost” T-Agents projects—a ’90s ABC cartoon show andDC’s aborted comic-book revival in ‘03—Dan declined to be interviewed for this tome (though he kindlyshared the Tom Grummett artworkgracing these pages).However, in 2001, prior tojoining DC, Dan did write aninformative letter of comment to CBAregarding the Tower issue, excerpted here.Dan DiDio: In 1996, ABC Children’sEntertainment optionedT.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agentsand commissioned MarvWolfman and Craig Millerto develop the propertyas a Saturday morningchildren’s series.

The basic premise remained thesame with one majorchange being that the team leader, NoMan, wascontrolled by the 13-year-old grandson of Dr. Dunn,Wally Crandall. The team, ofcourse, was unaware that theyoung boy had assumed therole of his respected grandfather.Remember, this was for Saturday morning. Other changes included anAfrican-American woman assuming the helmet of Menthor and a NativeAmerican woman as Raven. In this version, the winged Raven was theonly member with natural powers. A full bible, pilot outline and somefine designs, by Tom Grummett, were prepared for the series. But

before they could get to script, Disney (the new owners of ABC)passed on the property in favor of projects they were developing intheir own studio.

It was one of my favorite projects and was developed to com-pete with cartoons like X-Men that were ruling the ratings at the time.But instead of a television series, we have just one more footnote inthe troubled history of such a promising project.

Marv WolfmanMarvin Arthur Wolfman was born on May

13, 1946, in Brooklyn, New York,and raised on Long Island. He

attended the High School of Art &Design, Queens College. From

early on, Marv was involved incomics fandom, producingfanzines and frequenting theoffices of DC and Marvel in the

’60s. With best friend LenWein, he broke into the

field as a writer for DC’santhology books. While

Marv did serve as Marvel’seditor-in-chief for a spell inthe ’70s, he is predomi-nately known as a prolific, multiple award-

winning scripter for innumerable companies,best regarded as creatorof Blade and writer of

Tomb of Dracula, Crisis onInfinite Earths, and the’80s revitalization of theTeen Titans. He has also

had a fruitful parallel careerin animation, and today lives in

Tarzana, California, with his wife, Noel. This interview conducted by e-mail in June 2005.Jon B. Cooke: I assume you read T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents as akid, Marv. What was your impression of the Tower books?Marv Wolfman: I loved T-Agents, my favorite being NoMan. Ibought every one of the Tower books (except for Tippy Teen), and I

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In a letter to CBA V.1, #15 (featuring LOCs commenting on the preceding “Tower Comics: Years of Thunder” issue), Dan DiDio, today Vice-President–Editorial of DC Comic, revealed a little known T-Agents fact: “In 1996, ABC Children’s Entertainment optioned T.H.U.N.D.E.R.Agents [from John Carbonaro] and commissioned Marv Wolfman and Craig Miller to develop the property as a Saturday morning children’s

animated series.” Here we speak with Marv, along with a few more comments from Dan, on this fascinating, if ill-fated, project.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Animated?

LeftDynamo character presentation for animated show pitch. Art by Tom Grummett.

even the books published by Dark Horse. [Editor’s note: John’scomments on Dark Horse’s unauthorized use of T-Agents in a 1987issue of Boris the Bear is discussed in the section entitled “SomeBlunders Over T.H.U.N.D.E.R.” in this book.]Jon: Comico?John: Well, I knew those guys, but never made any deal withthem, but I did give some advice to one of their top creators: When Imet Matt Wagner in the early ’80s—he was doing Grendel at thetime—he mentioned wanting to do a book about the legend of KingArthur, but DC had just released Camelot 3000, so he was depressed.But I explained that Camelot3000 was DC’s copyrightedversion of a folk story, a centuries-old myth that wasclearly in public domain. Ifhis concept was substantiallydifferent, I said, then Mattcould do his own copyrightedversion. Years later, Mattcame up at a convention andthanked me. He explainedthat Mage was his version ofKing Arthur. While I wasgrateful for his thanking me,to do Mage, Matt hadstopped writing and drawingGrendel, which I enjoyed!(My only consolation wasthat I was able to purchasethe first page of original artfrom the first “Grendel”story. But when Grendelbecame popular, I did asmart thing and returnedthat page to Matt, figuringthat he wasn’t a strugglingartist anymore and would like to have his very first page back… Hey, Matt, when are you going to do that “Dynamo” story you saidyou wanted to do? Sheesh!)Jon: Apple Comics?John: Well, Apple Comics tried to package T-Agents with a writerwho wanted to change everything, thinking he had carté blanche and could do better than Wallace Wood. So that was a problem andthere ended up being not enough time for them to fulfill their end ofcontract, and we parted ways amicably. Then George Caragonne started on what would later be known as the Omni Comix version.Jon: I've seen a Rob Liefeld-drawn T-Agents promo ad, featuring atop-heavy female Lightning. What was that all about?John: I think that ad appeared during “Babe Month” (Babewatch?)or something. We were in discussion about Extreme finally printing theunpublished Gulacy material that Penthouse was holding on to, but

that fell through. Well, Liefeld felt he had to do a different versionsince he couldn’t use the Gulacy stuff. Unfortunately, once again, anew publisher felt he had carté blanche to vandalize Wood’s T-Agents.(Come on! Wallace Wood was a sharp guy, one who is a cornerstoneof the comics industry! Sure, start a new riff, but why throw away his initial concepts, the essence of the characters’ appeal? Ain’t that a no-brainer?)

Rob put out that ad without checking with me. He said hereceived plots from Jim Valentino, and implied that I should just acceptit (so I was told by Matt Hawkins at the time). Another problem was

that he had just made adeal to do the Marvel“Heroes Reborn” stuff. Irequested that T-Agents bereleased prior to the Falldebut of his Avengers andCaptain America, as I figuredI would be small potatoescompared to that re-launch.Extreme said fine, but later I was told that T-Agentswere going to be part of ananthology book due at theend of December. Since Rob was tight with Marvel,he tried to have them sub-license T-Agents from him,but never told me nor did hereach an agreement withMarvel. I realized that thissituation wasn’t going towork. Rob didn’t seem towant to work with anyonebut to do whatever he wanted with other people’s characters.

As you mentioned, Rob’s version made radical changes to thegroup. Later I learned that in the advertisement, that wasn’t a seven-foot tall Dynamo, but rather his son standing on a step—wait a sec-ond! His son gets the belt?—and the buxom woman in the Lightningcostume was the daughter of the original. Plus a female Menthor wasgoing to be added… but didn’t I have a female Menthor in mybooks, the child of Undersea Agent? It was just a mess.Jon: Obviously, T-Agents have a convoluted history, among them having a number of false starts. Do you think there’s a curse that comes with the characters?John: I think the voodoo dolls I bought in New Orleans should takecare of that! Seriously, it’s said that if you build a better mousetrap,people will beat a path to your door to buy it. I think, in my case,some people have instead tried to steal my “mousetrap.” To see thecharacters properly portrayed, I just have to find the right people.

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Left:Splash page of unpublished Dynamo story. Art by Jeff Zornow (who dedicated the work to Joe Orlando, one of his School of Visual Arts instructors.

As Robert J. Sodaro so aptly wrote in his article, “The Resplendent Sound of T.H.U.N.D.E.R.,” appearing in the1999 Comics Value Annual, Wallace Wood’s team of costumed heroes has somehow endured, yet seems plaguedby a bittersweet history. “In some respects, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents have lived a most charmed life, as they haverisen Phoenix-like from the grave of cancellation more times and appeared under more corporate banners… thanany group of super-heroes has any right to expect. However, on the other side of the coin, there seems to be somesort of black cloud constantly hovering over their collective head as they have never been able to make it past issue#20 in any of their many incarnations over the years.”

Is some sinister curse haunting the characters? Surely even the appearance of this very book must, at leastin some way, attest to the sheer fortitude of the T-Agents, if not their sustaining popularity. But evidence of theirbad luck may lie, in part, in simple statistics.

In considering the past four decades of the super-hero team’s existence, if you add up all the months inwhich at least one of their titles was released, just how many aggregate years have T-Agents comics been on thestands? (Give me a minute now; I’m hardly any good at math!) Well, by this writer’s estimation, taking intoaccount the once-a-year frequency of the original run’s final two issues, as well as the twice-a-year appearance ofDeluxe Comics’ six editions (plus generously throwing in 1987’s unauthorized sightings in Boris the Bear #11 andThunder Bunny #11), it rounds out to a total of 44 months—less than fours years-worth of monthly comics! Evenif the calculation is off a year or two, the notion that, for a cumulative 35 of the last 40 years, readers have notencountered a freshly printed T-Agents comic book is a depressing one.

(Ironically, one of T-Agents’ longest runs since their debut series has been multi-volume reprint collections ofthose very same Tower titles, presented again in the guise of hardcover editions and published by DC Comics.)

Taking another perspective, during the same month T-Agents #1 debuts—November 1965—DetectiveComics #345 is released. On the 40th anniversary of those appearances—November 2005—Detective will benumbered around #809. That’s 464 issues published in those four ensuing decades. (Also keep in mind thatDetective was, for a stint between ’73-75, published bi-monthly.) A liberal tallying of T-Agents comics puts the

count at around 50 separate issues in the same timeframe, which (compared toDetective) accounts for a difference of 414 comics.

While numbers don’t tell the whole story of their varied misfortune, in the last 10 years alone, we haven’t seen even one new T-Agents adventure

published… though in 2003, DC Comics did have ramped up a monthlyseries with two issues ready to go to press. But, alas, The NewT.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents was never apparently meant to be. (Still, yours truly is happy to boast that some previously unpublished (albeit short) stories, aswell as a few pin-ups—all first intended for Penthouse Comix titles—areincluded, courtesy of Mr. Carbonaro, at the tail-end of this very tome!)

Shifting now to review the actual content of said comics, we might venture the opinion that while their costumes and character potential are both

top-flight, perhaps one major shortcoming of T-Agents is a lack of any respective story development, even across the varied incarnations. The original series do containnotable—and exploitable—story elements, including Menthor’s conflict to chose

heroism or villainy, ending with his shocking death; the romantic relationshipbetween Dynamo and his nemesis, Iron Maiden; Lightning’s literal racing towards his own premature death; the inherentambivalence of NoMan’s self-image… “Am I android orhuman?”… never mind a bizarre ability to self-destruct and

yet live over and again; as well as the possibilities raised by that

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Left:Splash page detail, “A Slight Case of Combat Fatigue,” T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents#16. Art by Dan Adkins & Wallace Wood.

fascinating human-raised-by-Subterraneans anti-hero,Andor. These are archetypesobviously rife with fertilestory potential.

With some glaring lapses, the artistry displayedin the infrequent incarnationsof T-Agents has been exceptional, their exploitsillustrated by some of theindustry’s finest pen-&-inkmen. But much of the material on the scripting endhas been lackluster, some-times downright bland. Andcharacterizations? Often flatand boring, denying theheroes’ aforementionedpotential. While the originalseries’ trademark infusion of humor now and again were often a welcome relief, Marvel’s Not Brand Echh #2’s T-Agents parody was spot-on in contrasting Stan Lee’s easy-going, assured writing against Tower’sover-reliance on fight scenes in place of clever dialogue. And with rareexception (such as Keith Giffen and Tom & Mary Bierbaum’s lively“Lightning” serial in the Deluxe version; and Michael Sawyer’s delight-fully innovative one-shot, T.H.U.N.D.E.R.), subsequent writing hasn’timproved much, and here’s hoping the next series will infuse the talesof Woody’s super-heroes with much-needed vitality and imagination.

(Though just sad coincidence, there’s also the tragic, self-inflict-ed—and unrelated—deaths of Wallace Wood and Penthouse Comixeditor George Caragonne, one the creator of T-Agents and the other afervent promoter of same, who separately committed suicide, both indramatic fashion: Woody by shooting himself in the head in 1981;Caragonne by jumping off of a New York City office building in ’95.)

And then, kind reader, consider all the enthusiastic plans andgrandiose schemes of those ambitious fan publishers (as well as a couple of established houses), so eager to see their beloved Dynamoand crew back in print, and willing to mortgage their grandmothers todo so. Think about it: How many one-shots and aborted revivals canyou recall? (And not only comic books, people! There have also beenill-fated attempts to translate the characters into a role-playing gameand an animated TV show, plus now there’s talk of —gulp—a majormotion picture…!)

Some critics throw blame for problems in the direction ofT-Agents owner John Carbonaro. In his online column, RichJohnston writes that there are two conflicting opinionsabout the guy. “[He is] described as both ‘dedicatedand principled’ or ‘obsessed and overly-moral,’depending on who you talk to.” Certain peoplewho have negotiated with John about licensing

the characters haveexpressed frustration in what they see as an uncom-promising position about suggestions to update T-Agents, while others admirehis steadfast refusal to allowmodern-day brutality or any amoral tone mar his“Thunderverse.” And therehave been industry prosupset at John’s role as thatrare licensor of a covetedproperty who retains a vest-ed emotional interest in hisT-Agents, wishing instead the man would just shut-up,keep his nose out of creativematters, and sign the damncontract already.

But might it not be better for those who share John’s passion forthe characters to wait even years ’til one day an appropriate seriesarrives, rather than settle now for some inappropriate, post-moderntake? Isn’t a new T-Agents series, one fashioned by creators whounderstand the underlying appeal of the characters, and who developan approach that not only makes the grade for the license-holder, butactually does justice to the original concepts… isn’t that all worthwaiting for? Why isn’t that preferable rather than suffer new but probably bad versions every year or so, interpretations that mightbetray Woody’s standard of quality?

Time can only tell if T-Agents will return to former glory.Carbonaro has licensed the characters yet again to a new, ambitiouspublisher, and plans for another version will undoubtedly be releasedsoon. But the original characters have prove durable and resilientthrough periodic revivals, some good, some bad, and maybe it’s better,if only in recognition of the superb work that has come before, to view

their endurance and perennial appeal as less acurse, and more a blessing, courtesy ofthe imagination of Mr.Wallace Allan Wood.

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

Companion The heroes who never die! Though theT.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents had a relatively shortlife during their initial run in American comicsduring the 1960s, you just can’t keep a goodteam down as evidenced by their periodic re-vivals over the years, and this is the authorized- and definitive - book on the history of suchmemorable characters as Dynamo, No-Man,Lightning, Andor, the Iron Maiden, and all theother super-heroes and super-villains createdby the late, great Wallace Wood and com-pany! To celebrate the team’s 40th anniver-sary, included are interviews with Woody’screative team, as well as those superb writersand artists involved in the various T-Agents resurrections over the decades, and a de-tailed examination of the origins and exploits of the characters themselves, includingthe shocking truth behind the first super-hero to ever be “killed,” Menthor, the masterof mental force! This exclusive book, the perfect compendium to sit alongside of therecently-published T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents archive volumes, also features reams of art-work, much of it rarely-seen or previous unpublished, including a rare 28-page T-Agents story drawn by Paul Gulacy, unpublished stories by Gulacy, Paris Cullins, andothers, all behind a Jerry Ordway cover.

(224-page trade paperback with color) $24.95(Digital Edition) $9.95

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