Guess we have one more delay, although at this point I just want to get it over with.
Never come between Lion-O and the last jelly donut. Especially if it’s cherry.
Thundercats #0
WildStorm (October, 2002)
“A Cat’s Tale” plus promotional material
WRITERS/ARTISTS: Ford Lytle Gilmore & J. Scott Campbell
INKER: Rhys Yorke
COLORING: Studio XD
LETTERING: Rick & Wes at Comicraft
EDITOR: Scott Dunbier
To introduce readers to the series we have a short story where Wilykat wishes he had a weapon like the adult Thundercats do instead of the usual bag of tricks he and his sister Wilykit have. He then flashes back to older Thundercat adventures, which Lion-O notes didn’t quite happen the way he’s “remembering” them. For example, Lion-O didn’t stab Mumm-Ra with the Sword Of Omens and tell him to die during the Trial Of Evil; he locked him in his coffin and tossed it into his pool. (Like I said in an Art Soundoff, “defeat” doesn’t have to mean “dead”. Besides, technically Mumm-Ra is already dead. He’s a mummy after all.) They’re darker versions of previous Thundercat fights, which is odd when the interview with Gilmore says he wants this to be all-ages. We’ll be getting back to this interview when we get to the second miniseries. Believe me, I’m already planning the article.
The art is also bad here; everything is so exaggerated that the Thundercats are kind of scary, Lion-O being the worse of it, while Wilykit’s head is too big for her body. I was happy to read there would be numerous artists on the first miniseries (collectively know as “Reclaiming Thundera” although not the individual issues I own) since this just didn’t work for me. There are also a series of pin-ups, I’m assuming by artists who will work on “Reclaiming Thundera”, but the only one I like was by artist Peter Vale and colorist Carrie Strachan. The rest suffer similar exaggerated poses and moves. And this is from a guy who needs to stop making characters so stiff.
I suppose it works as a reintroduction and I expect to say that during the rest of this first mini because that’s what I remember from my original reading. However, I see no other reason to get it outside of Mumm-Ra’s cryptic notion that Wilykat’s “impetuous nature” may be to his advantage someday. And that’s hardly worth the $2.50 cover price much less what it would go for today.
BW Media Spotlight 
Will the next issues in the 2002/2003 run be better?
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I did buy the back issues of this first Thundercats series by Wildstorm in June 2018 because my local comic shop was selling all back issues that are normally worth 10 bucks or less at 1 dollar each that particular weekend! So I managed to get most of these comics of Wildstorm’s first Thundercats series. (except issue 2 which was not there…too bad because that’s the issue with the Mutants in it. I hope to track that one down at some point). So at 1 dollar per Thundercats comic, I couldn’t resist that!
I finally got to read three issues last weekend and then the last two issues today. Now I will provide my insights seeing as I have read them.
First, I actually enjoyed the artwork, coloring, and paper quality of Issue #0. The fact that I got to see the Mutants in this issue was an added bonus. I actually ended up being a little disappointed by issue #1 because the artwork, coloring, and paper quality had changed significantly. I wish the other issues had kept the artwork and coloring quality the same as in issue #0. The pin-ups were another cool bonus. The interview with Gilmore was also very informative. I like how this series will be set on New Thundera and pick up where the cartoon had left off. Gilmore’s alluding to the future dark tones of future Thundercats comic collections (and also Tronix’s reviews of said issues) reinforces that I know I have no interest in those other series from Wildstorm, with the exception of Thundercats: Hammerhand’s Revenge which I thoroughly enjoyed and am glad I have as part of my Thundercats collection.
This issue #0 was the first time the Thundercats had appeared in an American comic book since 1988 (the British Thundercats comics were going into the early 1990s). As a result, this issue, in my view, was a splendid way for the Thundercats to return on the scene in North America.
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