T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS #1
November, 1965
I first read about the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents in Maurice Horn’s WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COMICS, and thought they sounded interesting. I was always on the look-out for new and esoteric comics in my childhood. So when I found this dilapidated copy of issue #1 at The Batcave on Long Island (which is still in business today under the name Long Island Comics, albeit at a different location), I snatched it up for a princely 75 cents.
A product of its times, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS starred the members of The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves, a super-secret organization devoted to defending Democracy from extra-normal threats (despite the fact that they were sponsored by the United Nations). the real selling point of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS was the superlative artwork of Wally Wood, backed up by the likes of Reed Crandall, Gil Kane, Mike Sekowsky, Steve Ditko, George Tuska and many more. The series was also double-sized on a regular basis, the higher cover price of which may have helped to kill it off over time.
The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents have been revived many times by many people since the series ended in 1969, but none of the revival attempts have captured the unique charm of the original
2014 Notes: No longer my copy pictured. I believe Long Island Comics is in business still, though I’m not sure they have a storefront any longer.
The Tom Brevoort Experience 