I’ve been hearing alot about the new reboot of Thomas the Tank Engine known as “All Engines Go!”, how people are saying it’s trying to be like My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, well, personally I think it’s just going for a more Preschool Nick Jr Feel, like I can see this thomas constantly talking to the camera during his stories, if they really wanted to make it like MLP, the artwork and backgrounds would be better, the characters would still argue and all that while still having good morals and encouraging good behavior just how kids show should depict real life, and they wouldn’t make the trains so chibi, the colors so bright, & everything so bouncy, [in fact (and I’m not trying to be overly obsessive brony here but…) I personally think it would probably be better if DHX did this cartoon, and made it something you’d see on the HUB (like not just MLP, but also Pound Puppies, Littlest Pet Shop, Dan VS, and Transformers Rescue Bots. like a mix of DHX style of animation and Piemation’s style when he did an fan animated thomas short),22 minute stories with sub plots from the other trains, and something that’s cute, fun, and made for little kids, but doesn’t act like everything is perfect all the time that sometimes people fight and argue], this just kind of looks like a parody of a preschool show and it’s a definitely a hallow shell of the original 24 seasons (it’s basically the same deal as Veggietales in the House/City was a hallow shell of a show to reboot the series into, hell the creator actually made a new Veggietales show that’s more like the old one because of that, but what do you think?
WhenRoy Thomas started working for DC comics in 1981, he wanted to create a NEW male character called Johnny Thunder (he was very fond of the name). Roy ThomasandGerry Conway were discussing the neglected private-eye comic book genre and came to the conclusion that nobody had successfully mashed up the private-eye and superhero genres in a while - this was the spark that led Thomas to flesh out the idea for Jonni Thunder AKA Thunderbolt and a rough plot was quickly established. While Conway was too busy to do the actual writing, he did co-plot the first issue of the mini-series.
Roy Thomas’ wife, Dann Thomas, was a big fan of Raymond Chandler (and detective fiction in general) and jumped at the chance to collaborate on this mini-series. It was RoyandDann who decided that Jonni should be a woman who aspired to be like her hero, Philip Marlowe*. Dann Thomas wrote the first draft for the four issues based on the plot that she, Roy ThomasandGerry Conwaybrainstormed.Roy Thomas did a quick re-write smoothing everything out - but the majority of what you read in that series (the snappy dialogue and the one-liners) were written by Dann.
Ernie Colon (who had been working with Thomas on the Arak ongoing series) was Thomas’ first choice as an artist, but Colon got wrapped up with Amethyst, and Dick Giordano was eager to take over as illustrator for this project - so Giordano became the penciller and inker of this mini-series. Giordano was still editorial vice-president of DC comics when he accepted this assignment - prior to Jonni Thunder AKA Thunderbolt,Giordano’s last interior artwork was for Wonder Woman #300(1983).
Between the conception of Jonni Thunder AKA Thunderbolt in 1981 and the actual realization of the project (due to Thomas’andGiordano’s busy schedules), DC had published another PI series - Nathaniel Dusk (written by Don McGregor) in 1984. (Alledgedly,McGregor was overjoyed that Nathan Dusk didn’t have to incorporate super-hero elements and was able to keep it strictly detective fiction.)
The mini-series itself had a film noir type detective plot with supernatural/sci-fi/fantastic elements (as usually found in comic books). Curiously, none of the 4 issues in the mini-series had a Comics Code Authority (CCA) Seal on the cover - indicating that it was targeted towards a more mature audience. I noticed that some parts of dialogue were heavy with subtle sexual innuendo, but I hardly doubt it was enough to not be approved by the CCA.
Jonni Thunder AKA Thunderbolt was extremely well received by comic fandom - Don Thompson, editor and respected comic book critic, praised Jonni Thunder AKA Thunderbolt in the Comic Buyer’s Guide and even stated that it read betterthanNathaniel Dusk. Alas, Roy ThomasandDick Giordano’s extermely busy schedules meant that neither would have any time to work on a Jonni Thunder AKA Thunderbolt ongoing series. At best, they would be able to work on the occasional Jonni Thunder AKA Thunderbolt mini-series or graphic novel, but nothing ever came of it.
Jonni Thunder later appeared in Infinity Inc (another book Roy Thomas was writing) from 1986 to 1988 as Skymaster’s main squeeze. Her adventures with the team occurred after the Crisis On Infinite Earths event, so I guess they would count as post-Crisis appearances.
As previously mentioned, this is NOT the first Johnny Thunder to appear in DC comics…
Johnny Thunder (first named ‘Johnny Thunderbolt’) first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (1940). Created by John WentworthandStan Aschmeier, he was a bumbling comedic character who had a sentient energy-being thunderbolt pet who would do whatever he commanded (akin to a genie in a bottle who has to obey his master’s wishes). All of his adventures were set in the present-day (so, around World War II). His antics were a regular feature in Flash Comics back-up stories from the get-go – until about 1948 when the newly introduced Black Canary took up his slot. He also starred concurrently in All-Star Comics from 1940 to 1948 as a member of the Justice Society of America (and it looks like Black Canary booted him out of that series, too).**
A few months later, a NEW character named Johnny Thunder appeared in All-American Comics #100 (1948) only a few months after the original Johnny thunder was ousted from his two regular books. This new Johnny Thunder rode a horse named Black Lightning and his stories took place in the latter half of the 1800s in the American Old West. This new Johnny Thunder did not have access to a thunderbolt pet and really had no connection the aforementioned Johnny Thunder. This new Johnny Thunder had a pretty nice run and even became the headliner for All Star Western in the late 1950s. Western Johnny Thunder’s star faded in 1961 with the cancellation of All Star Western.
Despite the fact that Jonni Thunder had the ability to become a living thunderbolt energy-being and the original Johnny Thunder controlled a sentient thunderbolt energy being, no connection was ever made between the character (missed opportunity?).
I am of the opinion that a catchy name never dies and there will always be a ‘Johnny Thunder’ to reflect whatever is happening in current comic book pop culture as long as DC comics is around. Case in point, in the 1940s (also known as the “Golden Age” of comic books) superhero ‘funny’ books were the predominant genre in comics books, thus we had a comical character with fantastic powers named Johnny Thunder appear. When the superhero genre died out and the Western genre emerged, we suddenly had a new Western-themed vigilante named Johnny Thunder appear. It’s a pretty bold declaration for me to state that Jonni Thunder was a product of the second and third-wave feminism movement (ex: a strong, assertive, independent female who can go toe-to-toe with any man) - all I could think about while reading Jonni Thunder AKA Thunderbolt was how the lead character reminded me of Candice Bergen’s character Murphy Brown (aired from 1988 to 1998). And finally, for the late 90’s, Jakeem Thunder: an African America youth who gains possession of the original Johnny Thunder’s pet thunderbolt and uses this new power to become a hero. I’m strongly suggesting that DC introduced this new version of ‘Johnny Thunder’ to their readers to demonstrate that they are “hip with it”.
*Philip Marlowe is the main protagonist in Raymond Chandler’s detective fiction.
** Don’t worry, he would re-appear again in Roy Thomas’All-Star Squadron ongoing series (1981 - 1987) and make sporadic appearances in other comic book whenever the Justice Society of America was involved. At the time of Jonni Thunder AKA Thunderbolt’s publication, America vs the Justice Society was also being published.
Fawcett Publications more or less shut down it’s comic book publishing division and sold off the majority of their characters to rival comic book companies in 1953 - this was the aftermath of a twelve-year legal battle with DC comics over allegations of Fawcett’s Captain Marvel being a copyright infringement of DC’s Superman. Part of the settlement included Fawcett never publishing another Captain Marvel or Mavel Family comic book again. You can find more information about the lawsuit at National Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications.
In 1972, DC comics licensed the rights to Captain Marvel (and associated characters) from Fawcett Publications with the intention of taking advantage of the fanfare Captain Marvel had built up in the 1940s. DC comics were no longer able to use the name ‘Captain Marvel’ however, since Marvel Comics had trademarked the name in 1968. Thus, DC renamed 'Captain Marvel’ to 'Shazam!’.
In the 1970s, DC had used Shazam! to full effect - not only did he receive an ongoing series in 1973, but he was also the lead character in a 1974 live-action television series (Filmation’sShazam!) and starred in two episodes of NBC’sLegends of the Superheroes in 1979. Despite all of the publicity DC put into Shazam, it did not sell as well as it *should* have. DC cancelled the Shazam! ongoing series in 1978 after 35 issues, and Shazam!’s adventures continued in the pages of World’s Finest. Apparently, Fawcett’s licensing agreement with DC had a per-use fee for every appearance a Fawcett character made in a DC publication, hence DC’s reluctance to use the characters after the Shazam! series ended.
In 1981, Captain Marvel got ANOTHER crack at television - this time in an animated cartoon produced by Filmation that ran from 1981 to 1982. NBC’sThe Kid Power Hour with Shazam! ran on Saturday mornings, featured Captain Marvel as well as of the Marvel Family and their associated rogues, and lasted 13 episodes.
Sometime in the early 1980s, Roy Thomas,Don Newtonand Jerry Ordway submitted a proposal for a new Captain Marvel. This new version of Captain Marvel would be an Earth-One character (as Shazam! and the rest of the Marvel Family in the 70s Shazam! ongoing series were part of the Earth-S/Earth-5 universe) and would be an African-American character who would turn into Captain Thunder when he said the word “Shazam”. Calling this new character 'Captain Thunder’ was obviously a throwback to the original Fawcett version of the character (Captain Marvel was originally intended to be named Captain Thunder, but couldn’t - due to trademark reasons). The proposal never saw approval from the DC editorial board.
In 1985 the Crisis On Infinite Earths cross-over event happened, which was DC’s effort to simplify it’s continuity by eliminating all of those 'other’ earths in the DC multiverse (Earth-S/Earth-5 included). Shazam and the Marvel Family were now part of the same DC universe as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. For reasons I cannot explain, DC decided to publish a re-adaptation of the Shazam!/Captain Marvel origin (as per the Fawcett Publications version) in Secret Origins #3 (1986). This is a little confusing to me since Roy Thomas retconns Shazam!/Captain Marvel’s origin once again in the Shazam! The New Beginningmini-series.
As explained by Roy Thomas, the goal of this mini-series was to re-introduce the Shazam!/Captain Marvel mythos back to DC readers, but in a way that was more in line with the current state of comic books. The theory was that the reason why DC’s Shazam! never hit the astonomical sales numbers of it’s Fawcett Publications heyday was because the stories were too silly/whimsical for the modern audience - the new modern audience wanted more realistic stories/art that could relate to the world they lived in. So, Roy and (his wife) Dann Thomas got to work scripting the new Shazam!/Captain Marvel reboot.
Major changes Thomasintroduced:
Dr Sivana became Billy’s evil uncle
Uncle Dudley became Billy’s real uncle
Billy kept his own personality when becoming Shazam! (versus switching between his and Captain Marvel’s personality - as seen in Fawcettissues)
Black Adam is quickly introduced and is part of Captain Marvel’s origin
No plans of introducing Lieutenant Marvels
Fawcett city is removed, Shazam! now operates on the West Coast of the USA
A little more insight into Billy Batson’s life before the death of his parents is given. This is meant to flesh out the character of Billy Batson.
origin of Wizard Shaman set before age of pyramids in Egypt - mentions “God-Birds” (I am 99.9% sure they are sliding in a Hawkman reference here)
the Wizard Shazam is aware of the pre-Crisis Marvel family from Earth-S/Earth-5
Dr Sivana is no longer a humorous villain, he is now deadly and a threat to be taken seriously.
On a side note, Thomas originally wanted to make Billy a more typical kid with a typical job, but the first issue ofLEGENDS got plotted and penciled before the LEGENDS creative team were made aware of Thomas’ new plans for the character. Shazam! The New Beginning was actually a prequel to the LEGENDS mini-series (although this mini-series would only be published as LEGENDS was ending), and Shazam! became a member of Giffen’s Justice League in 1987. Shazam! even got an action figure of himself in the third wave of Kenner’sSuper Powers Collection toyline (1986).
Illustrated by artist Tom Mandrake, the mini-series was a great read and did really well in sales. According to Thomas, when the possibility of an ongoing series was discussed, the idea was shot down by DC management. Shazam! later appeared in 1988’s Action Comics Weekly for a few issues and a new Shazam! ongoing series was announced, but the idea never saw the light of day. Some have speculated that the reason the idea never went anywhere was because DC didn’t completely own the rights to Shazam! (Filmation acquired the television rights to Captain Marvel in the 1970s), and didn’t want to invest heavily in a character they weren’t guaranteed would actually belong to them.
DC would ultimately purchase the full rights to Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family fromFawcett publications in 1991 and Jerry Ordway would go on to reboot the Shazam!/Captain Marvel origin yet again in DC’s Power of Shazam! 1994 graphic novel.
