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Now THIS is something worth saying “Who cares?” over.

Fair enough, Adam. Me? I’m looking forward to seeing how The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents mix in the DC universe.

figured dc would not let marvel hog all the thunder and cause shock with them acquiring Marvelman . that they would have something to match it and looks like the T.h.u.n.d.e..r. agents is it as for why the last attempt by dc went no where. it was because some editor showed the late John corbin some designes that changed the characters and refused to scrap them when John said he did not like them thus making the last attempt become doa

THUNDER Agents is a bigger announcement than Marvel’s MarvelMan. Why? Because DC actually owns the full rights, unlike Marvel who only owns the rights to the shitty Mick Anglo stories that no one cares about.

Is DC licensing rights from the Carbonaro estate, or did they purchase them outright? (For example, Archie still owns the Red Circle characters and is licensing them to DC)
And please don’t tell us that the pitiful artwork above are the actual character designs for the new series!
Hell, even the revamped designs they did several years ago were better! And THOSE were rejected!

“THUNDER Agents is a bigger announcement than Marvel’s MarvelMan. Why? Because DC actually owns the full rights, unlike Marvel who only owns the rights to the shitty Mick Anglo stories that no one cares about.”

Once again, not entirely true. In theory, being that they own the character, they own everything, not to mention having support from Gaiman and Buckingham.

And there are plenty of us who actually like those shitty Mick Anglo stories.

This is very interesting news when you consider that when John Carbonaro was alive, he pulled the plug on DC’s “reimagining” of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents because it didn’t maintain the continuity from (and the integrity of) the Tower series, right down to the costume designs, and now that he’s dead, whoever’s in charge of his estate has no such problems.

If Andreyko’s involved again this time around, I’m interested.

If this is anything like the Andreyko version hinted at in the THUNDER Agents Companion then God Help those fans of the real THUNDER Agents. It will just be a Ultimates rip off, nothing original, nothing new to say, no value what-so-ever.

Except that Andreyko is better than any writer who has ever been attached to The Ultimates, and y’know, not all comic fans are whiny fucks who can only cling to the past, “real” THUNDER Agent fans or not.

>> y’know, not all comic fans are whiny fucks who can only cling to the past, “real” THUNDER Agent fans or not >>

I know nothing about DC’s plans for the THUNDER Agents, but this sort of amuses me.

It’s certainly true than not all comics fans cling to the past, but it’s odd to see such sneering dismissal of the past in the context of reviving a well-loved-but-minor Silver Age superteam.

If you’re going to reject the past, why bother with a revival? Make up new characters. Surely names, powers and costumes aren’t so hard to come by that you need to buy ones Wally Wood and company made up forty years back. Conversely, if you are going to shell out money for them, presumably it’s because you think there’s some value in that past you’re paying to buy. And presumably, some of that value is in the portion of the audience that wants to see these characters again, whiny fucks or otherwise.

Were I doing THUNDER Agents, I’d want a fresh start myself. But it’s nonetheless tough to reconcile “stop clinging to the past, you losers” with “hey, they’re bringing back the THUNDER Agents! I’m looking forward to that!”

kdb

I wish they could bring back Wally Wood (or that he never went) — that’s what I liked best abt the THUNDER Agents.

@ Kurt

I’m not rejecting the past at all. I am rejecting comic fans who are dismissive of anything that isn’t old. There is a small, annoying, vocal population of fandom that automatically hates something because “it ain’t the way it was”, sight unseen, which seems to be the general attitude I’m reading in the other comments. Maybe I’m making too much out of it – I hadn’t had my coffee yet – but it’s irritating as hell. It’s these “whiny fucks” who are still to this day bitching about Brand New Day, or possibly even still bitching about Spider-Man getting married in the first place 2 decades ago. Yeah, things I loved as a kid were awesome when I was a kid, but as a “mature” (term used loosely) adult, I also like to see a new take on old standards. Or in the case of THUNDER Agents, a property I pretty much know nothing about at all, if a writer I enjoy is attached, then I’m interested in seeing what the writer does. I follow creators, I like seeing what they do with properties old, new and on their own, creativity unleashed. I don’t give a damn if – as an example – Marc Andreyko adheres tried and true to the old ways of the THUNDER Agents, or if he goes in a drastic new direction. I just want to read a Marc Andreyko comic. I’m not going to dismiss it simply because Wally Wood can’t be involved, or because THUNDERMAN or whoever the characters are, are now “not the same” due to a new vision.

If you have no idea what the series was about or who the characters are, then it’s understandable that you have nothing invested in wanting it to resemble the property that’s being revived, sure.

It ought to be understandable, though, that there are people who do know something about the property and do like things about it they’d like to see preserved. If what you want is a Marc Andreyko book, then it doesn’t matter to you whether it’s THUNDER AGENTS, THUNDERBOLTS or THUNDER ROAD. But not everyone’s going to be in that same position.

Calling them “whiny fucks” for not sharing your disinterest in a property you don’t know or care about seems a tad extreme.

kdb

I agree with Kurt and this is one of my all time pet peeves. If you’re going to change a concept so much, why not just create something new, whether its movies, comics whatever.

One problem i have is the integration into the DC universe. To me this kills a huge part of the appeal of the concept and with the multi-verse back, why not give them their own world and have a setting where there isn’t a million other heroes.

As for a fresh start, what I would do is acknowledge that the original agents were around in the 60s and now we have new agents wearing the suits. This way you have a fresh start without spitting on the past.

@ Kurt

Again, I didn’t call anyone a whiny fuck for not sharing my “disinterest” in a property I don’t know “or care about”. I called ‘em that for the attitude of immediately dismissing a different take on a property, sight unseen, simply because it wasn’t – theoretically – the book they grew up with. That’s my problem. Was I harsh? Yep, probably too much so. I usually try to remain positive when I post a comment about anything, but I lost it.

My sole interest in a THUNDER Agents book is going to be in the creative team, pure and simple, and that much is true. But even if it’s worked on by a creative team I’m not fond of, and every issue is a panel-by-panel recreation of the previous series, I won’t buy it, but I’m not going to dismiss it or the fans of it. It’ll exist, and simply won’t be for me.

I brought up Andreyko because he was attached to the previous attempt at a THUNDER Agents book, and I follow his work. If he’s attached to this new one again, then yeah, I’m in (for that matter, any other creator I enjoy). If others aren’t, that’s fine, but to instantly dismiss it and his work as worthless because it’s not the same THUNDER Agents as from the silver age, that’s what bothers me. That’s what I’m dismissing. That’s what is getting me riled up. Not the comic. Not the concept. Not the past. I’m dismissing the attitude that brought the phrase “raping my childhood” into popular nerd culture.

But this is all moot, since we have no idea what DC is planning.

>> called ‘em that for the attitude of immediately dismissing a different take on a property, sight unseen, simply because it wasn’t – theoretically – the book they grew up with.>>

No, you didn’t.

You went off on “whiny fucks” in response to someone who made a conditional statement about something they have seen. “Larry King” didn’t say that sight unseen it would be no good, but that IF it was like what was hinted at in a source he’d read, it would be an Ultimates ripoff.

I haven’t seen that source myself and have no opinion on whether he’s right or wrong. But we’re still looking at one guy who doesn’t know or care anything about what the project is based on telling someone who does know, does care, and has seen some material that he doesn’t like that he’s a “whiny fuck” if he doesn’t embrace the project the way you do.

>> but to instantly dismiss it and his work as worthless because it’s not the same THUNDER Agents as from the silver age >>

On the one hand, he didn’t say any such thing — that seems to be you projecting — and on the other, since you know so little about the characters that you think one of them might be named “Thunderman” and haven’t seen the material he’s reacting to, I think you’re on shaky ground.

That you don’t care whether it has any relation to the property DC purchased is perfectly acceptable; you don’t have to. I still find it amusing that you’re arguing that someone’s a “whiny fuck” for “clinging to the past” — on a project that’s a revival in the first place.

>> But this is all moot, since we have no idea what DC is planning.>>

We don’t, but then, I wasn’t discussing what DC’s planning. I was discussing the implications of calling someone a “whiny fuck” who can only “cling to the past” because they think that if the revival follows along the lines of the material they saw about the previous attempt, they won’t like it.

kdb

>> I agree with Kurt and this is one of my all time pet peeves. If you’re going to change a concept so much, why not just create something new, whether its movies, comics whatever.>>

I don’t have a problem with making drastic changes; I just found it funny that interest in a revival would be excoriated for “clinging to the past.” It’s a revival — if letting go of the past is the mantra, revivals would seem like a poor place to apply it.

That, and I’d say that if you do make changes, it’s simply going to be expected that there are people who won’t like them. If you make up something brand-new, there will be people who won’t like it, too, but someone who felt that reported plans for a brand-new superteam sounded like an unoriginal copy of the Ultimates wouldn’t be called a whiny, past-clinging fuck — that’d more likely be taken as championing new ideas rather than Ultimates-retreads.

But apparently, while not wanting to see a new team become an Ultimates retread is forward-thinking, expressing the concern that a revival might be done as an Ultimates retread is whiny past-clinging. Forward-thinking means retreading the recent past, or something like that.

Again, no idea what DC’s planning, just reacting to the idea that “I don’t what this revival to be a copy of a 7-year-old idea” amounts to clinging to the past.

kdb

What are you looking to get out of me here, Kurt? An apology to Larry King? An apology to all comic fans everywhere? An apology to you? I admitted my language was harsher than it should have been, and I tried to clarify my stance and tried to defend it. You’re absolutely dead right in that I was projecting, and for that I’ll apologize. Larry King may not be a part of the “whiny fuck” populace I’ve described, but even you admitted that that segment of fans do indeed exist. Every comic thread I glance at has a prevailing negative overtone and some sort of “they raped my childhood” vibe, and I got fed up and snapped, quite possibly misdirected that anger at someone who didn’t deserve it, and contributed to the negativity I usually try to avoid.

By the way, yes I know Thunderman is not the name of a character in THUNDER Agents, it was a joke. Also, it has been greatly amusing to see you use the word “fuck”. I hope you’ve got a Vertigo pitch lined up.

I stand by what i said. if you feel the need to make so many drastic changes to a creation that has had some success or history in the past, just make something new.

Unless you are hoping to sell books based on shock value and don’t have the creativity to actually make something on your own.

>> What are you looking to get out of me here, Kurt? >>

Nothing in particular. I made an observation, and you’ve been telling me I’m wrong. So we seem to be having a conversation.

>> Larry King may not be a part of the “whiny fuck” populace I’ve described, but even you admitted that that segment of fans do indeed exist.>>

Sure. Since you were responding directly to Larry, though, it certainly seemed you were addressing him. In fact, no one in this thread has made the argument that unless the revival is exactly like the original series, it’ll be no good. It all struck me as funny, for the reasons I mentioned.

kdb

This was right at the top of my list of “fictional universes I’d like to see revived”. so I’m a happy camper to see one of my favorite teams of the past going to my favorite comix company of the present. I certainly understand that a new team will have a new vision, but I hope they will keep some of what made the original THUNDER Agents so interesting to me — the humanity of the characters, the touch of humor, the threads of continuity that made THUNDER Agents a continuing story rather than just a series of adventures. I hope we will see the return of great characters like: Len Brown, the hard-luck “everyman” who is handed a high-tech Dynamo powersuit that really only further complicates his already complicated personal life; Guy Gilbert, dedicated agent who gives his life away a piece at a time every time he uses his Lightning speed and Dr. Anthony Dunn, the dying genius who trades his aged human body for a series of identical NoMan androids that give him more-than-human power and serial immortality. The characters and the threads that bound them together were what made THUNDER Agents fun and fascinating. I hope DC and the new creative team will keep that, and then add their own new imaginings of where those characters can go and what will happen to them.

The other fun part of this will be watching how they manage to bring this into the standard DC continuity. Will they “reboot” with THUNDER just starting out and the super agents first getting their various devices and codenames? Is the world of the THUNDER Agents out there among the 52 parallel universes and is only now merging with the mainstream DC Universe? Or has THUNDER been around behind the scenes of DC continuity all along? Could be fun, no matter which way they go.

Kurt, you seem a little overprotective there buddy.

Personally, I dont want something that is stuck in the past either, but I dont want something that doesn’t have ANY ties to the past. A mixture of both would be great, with a look to the future!

Loving the new costumes. Who is the artist? And have they mentioned the creative team yet?