Thunder Agents at DC Week: Lightning

Lightning is the requisite speeding superhuman on every team everywhere in the comic cosmos. His plight of aging inexorably with his speed was a curse as much as a blessing. The suit he wore, keyed into his specific physique, was the means to accomplish daring deeds of do-gooding. And just when he was ready to retire, another emergency required he resume his role-player role.

And now, we meet a new Lightning for a new era. This may sound a bit obvious, but it must be said that he reminds one of Marvel's Blur... which is not a bad thing by any means. In the homogenized early 1960's, heroes of color were taboo until a slew of "Black" dudes appeared on the scene (i.e. Panther, Goliath, etc).

Here is hoping that is characterization is spot on and not stereotypical, which there is a good chance of given the creative forces on this project.

Friday Fiends: Covert Carrot-Tops

We already met one  sultry scarlet sister of the sinister and then saw how she turned the tables on the bad guy in our last installment to aid our working class heroes. Maybe it was some chick named Black Widow over at another publisher (who makes her big screen debut tonight!), but the trend of red head femme fatale spies with a soft spot for the good guys was not unique to that marvelous comic brand. Over at Tower, they rolled out their own version in the form of Iron Maiden (again with the "Iron" connection).

The Maiden of Ferro never revealed much about herself, so her origin and motivations are left a mystery. Except that she loved the thrill of the dark side, and wearing form fitting armor that would make Doctor Doom drool didn't hurt either. And to continue our tie in with the metallic movie event of the summer, check out this fantastic meeting between our gal and guy of Iron by the fabulous Fred Hembeck! Gotta love it!

Sparks flew when Rusty first met Len Brown's Dynamo alias, and the fire was only stoked further when they were introduced in their civilian duds. While she at first worked for the Warlord and his faction of underworld alien minions, she later freelanced until finally siding with the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents in order to stave off an alien invasion. Alas, their romance was doomed to failure due to differing sensibilities for right and wrong.

Charlton decided that after a dozen or so issues of Fightin' Five, the missing ingredient (which perhaps caused them to lose their title and then shack up in Peacemaker's back pages) was the feminine touch. And so, shortly after introducing Sonya in issue #1, they immediately brought her back as a substitute for poor Irv the Nerve who bit the dust last ish. And she continued to assist the Five (actually Four including herself, as team leader Hank operated behind the scenes due to injuries from last issue that killed Irv). Until Peacemaker's final issue she aided the team.

And so, two lethal lasses add their clout to the proceedings aiding a pair of doomed franchises that briefly capitalized on the Cold War spy genre of the day. Not unlike a myriad of other covert carrot-tops back then.

Third-World Thrills for Fightin' Five Friends

Two petty dictators of third world countries armed to the hilt, ready to cause chaos with their army and armaments. However, they underestimated the hearty resolve of our five for fightin', namely the Fightin' 5 and T.H.U.N.D.E.R Squad. Only this time, with tragic consequences to our heroes.

Jrozya's henchwomen Sonya led Fightin' Five leader Hank Hennessey to the Unibrow villain, and  then she seemingly extinguished the life of the beret clad crusader! Sure!

The Brain ultimately sacrifices himself to save his fellow challengers of the unknown. The Squad shrunk from five to four, and another was soon to leave the fold before the Squad gained notoriety.

Turns out Sonya had a soft spot for Hank. Was it her inherent good nature, or something more? Regardless, she soon gained the trust of her former foes showing that the cold war... at least in this comic... thawed.

The Chief, as always, focused more on the mission than on his employees or their morale. With out realizing it, he introduced to the Squad to a device that would divide them further. After a battle with some elusive bandits, one member would use this gadget to begin a new solo career.

Further assisting the agents of her nation's arch-enemies, Sonya and Hank realize they have to place their political differences aside to tackle a bigger threat to the entire globe, a mad man with his finger on a nuclear option. Which forces the Fightin' Five's General to make a tough decision which we'll cause him regret later.

Donning the bright plumage of future super fast legend, Lighting, Guy Gilbert attempted a dual career as speedster and soldier. However, his own divided loyalties towards his comrades and their (and humanity's) well being. He chose the latter, and it cost him years of his life due to the adverse effects of artificially induced acceleration.

Sacrifice is something the Five are familiar with as well, as Irv the Nerve shows how foolhardiness can lead to fatality. Still, he provides the opportunity for Sonja to sabotage Jrozya's fortress. As if this wasn't bad enough, Han's his left eye and right arm were destroyed from the same jolt of juice. This leader lost a step that fellow leader Gilbert gained, though still at s steep cost.

Now a terrific three (no, not that one), often the fair Kitty Kane was off attempting to recruit super agents to save their bacon (in this particular instance, Agent Vulcan), it was up to Dynamite and Weed to stave off an alien invasion. And showed their finesse in the face of fearsome fiends fearlessly fighting for freedom. (Whew)

And yet still, we have not concluded the story of our glib and gaudy governmental good guys. We were introduced to one red head double agent today, would the Squad also meet such a dangerous and yet intriguing sultry scarlet sister?

We'll find out come Friday!