“Should have chosen the lady.”
Thunderbolt #55
Charlton Comics Group (December, 1966)
“Where Stalks The Mummy”
WRITER/ARTIST/CREATOR: PAM
The Sentinels: “Beware…The Menacing Mindbender!”
WRITER: Gary Friedrich
ARTIST/LETTERER: Sam Grainger
Professor Hugo Drummond is convinced that mummies are in suspended animation (must be fun without their vital organs) and experiments on one to prove his theory. Long story short his mind ends up in the mummy and of course he turns evil. Tabu has to drag Peter into doing something with his talents and actually fight the guy.
What they got right: A villain origin we’ve seen before–kind of, but it works. There’s some decent action.
What they got wrong: There it is again. “I can do it, I must do it, I WILL do it!” Yeah, after your best friend has to constantly browbeat you to take all that ancient knowledge and physical training you had since you were a child and do something besides sit on your ass writing articles or playing sports in your super huge mountain mansion that you somehow have. Bruce Wayne looks at you with disappointment! I look at you in disappointment and I’m on MY ass writing articles! I also don’t have the wisdom of the ancients or a superior physique. Also, you have your hero fighting a mummy, and your cover is a lousy tiger that’s barely a page worth of action? I guess the lead must be a sarcophagus as well, because it sure got buried!
Over with the Sentinels (speaking of reluctant heroes with old Crunch), their manager convinces them to use their band as a secret identity, since he just got them on The Ed Sullivan Show. Meanwhile, they learn that their powers were created to stop a villain named Mind-Bender, who uses his powers that you can guess from the name to mentally convince the US and Russia to go to war, then challenges the Sentinels. They barely win against the robot he sends for them but the villain isn’t done with them yet. It’s like they wanted to make the Fantastic Four minus one but made their bickering much more annoying. Also, we learn the Brute is attracted to Cindy and doesn’t like Rick, so how did they form a folk band? I’m not planning to like these characters. I want to be proven wrong, but I doubt I will.
What I think overall: I’m not sure who’s more pathetic, Thunderbolt or the Sentinels. I guess since the latter is still new and doesn’t have Peter Cannon’s training he still wins but I really hope these get better. I survived some of the other pre-DC stories because they were good or decent, but I’m not sure why DC wanted this one, and they’re probably better off that they ultimately weren’t able.
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