Oh, this is the last issue? If I knew I would have worked this in somehow just so I wouldn’t have to read it again. Ah well. I’m having that kind of Tuesday.
Go for the forehead! It’s an easy target! Can’t miss it!
Thunderbolt #60 FINAL ISSUE
Charlton Comics (November, 1967)
WRITER: Sergius O’Shaughnessy
EDITOR: Dick Giordano
“When Flies The Dragon”
CREATOR: P.A.M.
ARTIST: Pat Boyett
“The Prankster”
ARTIST: Jim Aparo
Traveling to Australia for an assignment, Peter Cannon’s plane is captured by the Dragon Master, who wants to hold the passengers for ransom. Thunderbolt manages to free himself and the other passengers but Dragon Master escapes to his operation in Chinatown. Tabu investigates while Peter resumes his assignment and is captured by Dragon Master’s people. Thunderbolt goes to the rescue and in the incident to follow the villain is burned by his own gun. Tabu finally decides to give in to Peter’s wishes and burn the costume, but the villain mentioned there was one other that he respected as an equal, meaning Thunderbolt might be needed to stop him.
What they got right: We get a better explanation for Peter’s constant reluctance to do the superhero bit, hating resorting to violence so often. Even the annoying “I can do it, I will…”, you know the drill by now, is better paced, looking like he’s pushing himself instead of saying a catchphrase (and an irritating one at that). And after all that, even listening to a man burn to death, he finally decides there might be a need for his alter ego.
What they got wrong: How did he change and escape without the other passengers in the cell with him noticing? There are few lucky convenient moments to keep the plot going.
Peter wouldn’t like Ultrapolis, the futuristic city of our back-up. (At least I don’t have to put up with the suit-wearing bickering hippie heroes anymore.) It’s so fascist the story starts on a public execution for making music without a license. The Prankster uses gadgets and levity to fight the rulers, with one planning to take over from the other, who is rather nuts. The story ends on a cliffhanger that won’t be resolved when a disguises Prankster tries to aid a woman and is about to be killed for it. They do say that they’d rather fail than not try, so credit for that.
What else is there?: Thunderbolt would make an appearance in DC Comics, nobody realizing that the rights to this particular Charlton hero went back to the creator, Peter A. Morisi. Once they found out they dropped the comic, but not before Alan Moore had used him as inspiration for Ozymandias in Watchmen. At this point we are all done with the Charlton heroes that became DC comic characters, so I’ll be moving on to the next set of DC acquisitions. At some point I hope to return to Charlton for the rest of their library that looks interesting, but I’m done with their pre-DC lineup.
What do I think overall: I certainly won’t miss this comic. At least this issue gave us a better excuse for Peter’s reluctance to do the Thunderbolt thing than “I hate the civilized world” by suggesting he hated violence as a counter to being civilized. Overall this series is a bust and as far as I’m concerned the Morisi estate can keep him.
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