If I were going to choose a “hero for greatness” it wouldn’t be the dude whose servant has to trick him to actually fight villains.
Thunderbolt #54
Charlton Comics Group (October, 1966)
“This One’s For Tabu”
CREATOR/WRITER/ARTIST: PAIII
(The Grand Comics Database says PAM, the pen name of Peter Morisi, but it looks like three I’s or possible ls or even 1s depending on the font. Either way, in the letters page the editor insists they aren’t the same person when someone compliments Morisi instead of PAM.)
“Behold…The Sentinels!”
CREATOR/WRITER: Gary Friedrich
ARTIST/LETTERER: Sam Grainger
Tabu suddenly come ill from a sleeping sickness, and just after actually getting a shot in on Peter during training. Peter travels to the Himalayas, knowing there’s a plant there that offers a cure. It may be the cave where the Hooded One currently is, but the real danger are the dinosaurs and pygmies, and that’s after fighting Mongols to get to the cave. Peter returns home with the cure and Tabu is saved.
What they got right: The idea of returning “home” for Peter so he can cure Tabu is a good story idea. The art is good.
What they got wrong: The Hooded One does nothing to stop Peter, hoping the residents of the land time forgot in the back of his cave will do the job, but when they don’t he does nothing. I’m not sure how his Thunderbolt costume, meant for athletics rather than the cold, is warmer than the clothes he was already wearing. They may be cold and wet from the snow but they have legs. It’s an excuse to get him into his costume, though he has no need for the mask, yet wears it anyway.
The new back-up heroes are…a folk band who become superheroes. Okay. Interesting choice for 1966. Rick Strong, Cindy Carson, and Crunch Wilson are a college grad with a grim outlook on life (so a modern college student), a would-be starlet, and a would-be football player. The men are wearing suits and the girl a blouse and dress. While the song is about a “doomsday purge”, these guys look nothing like folk musicians. Not that they appear to be doing well, so badly that Rick may be giving it up to become a teacher. Is their understanding of folk music wrong or is mine? Well, it turns out their dying landlord is an escaped Russian scientist who wants to use his experiments on using electricity to enhance the human body to fight evil and communism. So he chose the bickering folk bad who dresses for a fancy dress party. Rick is given a belt that makes him lighter than air, thus he is now Helio. Cindy gets an ESP-inducing tiara that turns her into Mentalia. Crunch’s name is apparently not silly enough, so the Brute has gloves that make him even stronger than he already was. With the exposition over with he finally dies, and our heroes are getting fun costumes, whether Crunch likes it or not.
Is this the worst superhero origin ever? No, but it’s high (or low, POV depending) on the list. Outside of the Brute we’re talking different powers and one member short, but I still get the feeling they wanted their own Fantastic Four, a team who bickers but are still friends. There had to be a better origin story and team choice than this.
What I think overall: If it weren’t for the history involved, now would be a good time to stop reading. Now we have two heroes who don’t want to be heroes. I wonder if Peter’s big challenge in the outer world is to actually care. I see comments on Comic Book Plus from people talking about being fans of this book, but I am not one of them.
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