ThunderCats #3 Review

 

Writer: Declan Shalvey

Artist: Drew Moss

Colorists: Martina Pignedoli

Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry

Cover Artists: David Nakayama; Lucio Parrillo; Declan Shalvey; Jae Lee & June Chung; Ivan Tao; Drew Moss

Publisher: Dynamite

Price: $4.99

Release Date: April 10, 2024

 

Newcomer Calica enchants Lion-O. The ThunderCats’ young ruler wishes to accompany her outside. But when Lion-O draws the broken Sword Of Omens to check if it is safe, the embedded Eye Of Thundera doesn’t grant him Sight Beyond Sight. Instead, a door of glowing light appears inside the crashed flagship. What will Lion-O discover when he steps through this magical doorway? Let's extend our claws, leap into ThunderCats #3, and see!

 

Story

Lion-O peers through the glowing doorway. But before he can enter, something leaps out at him. Cheetara doesn’t hear Lion-O’s cry, but she hears Calica call for help. She races through the Thundarian flagship to find Lion-O beaming. Her leader embraces a long-lost friend.

 

When they enter the chamber, the ThunderCats discover a cache of weapons. Lion-O learns that his father appointed his friend to guard the room two months ago. They find no stasis pod to explain his friend’s lack of aging. Yet Jaga piloted the ship for years. Even though Lion-O’s malfunctioning pod slowed his aging, he still grew to manhood during their trip.

 

Jaga gave his life to pilot the Thundarian flagship to Third Earth. Yet his spirit haunts Mumm-Ra in ThunderCats #3. Seated upon his throne in the black pyramid, Mumm-Ra questions the glowing figure. He alludes to their shared past. But the Thundarian spirit does not answer.

 

 

 

In Declan Shalvey’s story, Panthro should be Lion-O's rock. Yet his Security Chief grows impatient with Lion-O. When Panthro countermands one of Lion-O's decisions, the situation escalates. Cheetara intercedes but realizes she must restore order quickly to protect her people's heritage and cohesion on this alien planet.

 

Panthro’s distrust of Calica is understandable. Why would the Mu'Tants abduct the girl before they destroyed Thundera? The previous issue also hinted at a psychic link between Calica and Mumm-Ra. As Jaga once wielded the Sword Of Omens, this suggests that Mumm-Ra gained access to the sword’s Eye Of Thundera and used it to communicate with Jaga and Calica. With Declan Shalvey cramming ThunderCats #3 with hints, mysteries, and drama, Tygra’s suffering almost goes unnoticed. While Cheetara strives to return order, the contest for leadership between his friends shakes Tygra to the core.

 

 

 

Art

Drew Moss reveals the grandeur of the ThunderCats’ flagship. Calica wanders through long corridors, Lion-O meets her in an immense conference room, and Panthro studies screens projected from computers in the hangar, surrounded by vehicles and Tygra’s repair equipment. Even broken, the ship hums with a technology indistinguishable from magic. When Lion-O first peers inside, the chamber mirrors the conference room in size and shape, with a central aisle lined by empty displays leading to an elevated throne. Yet when he and the ThunderCats enter, the walls seem to hug the shelves and cases filled with weapons in this Room Of Requirement.

 

Moss portrays earnestness, determination, despair, and overwhelming joy in the ThunderCats’ expressions. He propels the Thundarians into action amid rising tensions regarding Lion-O’s leadership. Yet the most fraught scenes belong to Slythe, the Mu’Tant leader. He entered the jungle to be alone. In leaving his people behind, he may have lost them forever. His desperate fight for survival in ThunderCats #3 reveals that he was wrong to claim victory over “this pathetic world.” 

 

 

 

Cheetara cuts an electrifying swathe of yellow through the red, blue, and green that enrich this story. Whether the action occurs during the day or night, Martina Pignedoli surrounds the characters in bright, rich colors. The atmosphere of Third Earth fills the air with appealing colors that contrast with the characters. When tensions rise in the Thundarian flagship--or something unexpected occurs--a cloud of beautiful color appears.

 

Lowercase black letters in colored narrative boxes relate character thoughts and off-camera dialogue. Black uppercase words in white dialogue balloons grow bold for inflection and swell for shouts. A heartfelt cry wafts through a disembodied pink oval. Mumm-Ra’s handprinted letters dominate cloudy balloons. Jeff Eckleberry helps us hear the Eye Of Thundera open, Slythe’s failure, and a bulkhead shatter in ThunderCats #3.

 

Thanks to Dynamite Comics for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Repressed anger prompts a challenge to Lion-O’s leadership, a beloved friend returns, a mysterious room showcases a Mu’Tant weapon, and a villain discovers new adversaries in ThunderCats #3.

 

Rating 9.4/10

 

For more covers and preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

ThunderCats #2 Review

 

Writer: Declan Shalvey

Artist: Drew Moss

Colorists: Chiara Di Francia & Martina Pignedoli

Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry

Cover Artists: David Nakayama; Lucio Parrillo; Declan Shalvey; Jae Lee & June Chung; Ivan Tao; Drew Moss

Publisher: Dynamite

Price: $4.99

Release Date: March 13, 2024

 

The Mu’Tants craved the Eye Of Thundera. They destroyed the ThunderCats' homeworld to get the jewel. Mu’Tant leader Lord Slithe tracked the lone escaping ThunderCat vessel to Third Earth. Yet while battling Lion-O, Lord Slithe's mighty axe shattered the Sword Of Omens adorned with the precious gem. What reason have the Mu’Tants and the ThunderCats to continue fighting? Let's leap into ThunderCats #2 and find out!

 

Story

Lion-O looks up to Jaga. After Jaga’s death, Lion-O seeks his mentor in his dreams. He awakens to mourn Jaga. Of all the ThunderCats, Lion-O feels the most alone. He lost his childhood and camaraderie with WilyKat and WilyKit to a faulty stasis pod. Years and responsibilities separate them. In ThunderCats #2, Lion-O quickly assures WilyKat and WilyKit of their safety. Then Lion-O bids the children leave his presence so he can use Sight Beyond Sight to spy on the other adults.

 

After the destruction of their ship, the Mu’Tants seek a new stronghold. A pyramid guarded by four obelisks seems too good to be true. While Lord Slythe's soldiers journey through the desert, their leader enters the forest. Lord Slythe lost his ship to children, suffered defeat despite his larger army, and shattered what he most desired. Slythe seeks renewal of mind, body, and purpose, yet the forest may not offer the tranquility it promises.

 

 

 

Declan Shalvey builds his story upon cracked pillars. Perhaps the most stressed is Panthro. He is a general. Yet his forces number a handful. Half of them are children, and Lion-O rejects his leadership. In their first conflict, Lion-O shattered the Sword Of Omens while WilyKat and WilyKit's exuberance deprived Panthro of a valuable asset. Like Lion-O and Lord Slythe, Panthro’s failure has led his people to ruin.

 

Interlopers intrude upon all their lives in ThunderCats #2. One meets the Mu’Tants in the desert. The ThunderCats welcome another into their crashed spaceship. A third deprives Lord Slythe of his solitude. How many more dangers inhabit the Third World?

 

 

 

 

Art

Drew Moss brings us into the characters' concerns with closeups. Backgrounds fade as characters argue over plans or share their fears. WilyKit and WilyKat sit on a ledge on the hull of the pitted and scarred Thunderan flagship. As they converse, moons rise above distant hills on their new homeworld. 

 

Lion-O's hair is in constant motion in ThunderCats #2. Bald, elfin-eared Panthro wears a perpetual frown. Like lightning, direction lines flash through panels when Cheetara bursts into motion. Rocks bounce along the ground, and dust rises as she speeds through the desert.

 

A green horde disturbs the blue-gray sands. The Mu’Tants march beneath an angry red sky, evoking Sauron’s Orc armies in The Lord Of The Rings. A gray mist obscures the lower portions of the black pyramid and obelisks they find. As red sinks beneath the hills, Chiara Di Francia & Martina Pignedoli color the night sky ultramarine. Lord Slythe walks between green trees near a blue lake. Yet moonlight pierces the forest, illuminating the Mu’Tant leader as he treads upon clumps of green grass and passes brown tree trunks.

 

 

 

 

Lowercase black letters in colored narrative boxes relate character thoughts and off-camera dialogue. Black uppercase words in white dialogue balloons grow bold for inflection and swell for shouts but rarely shrink. Peering into the Eye Of Thundera can make any day a Red Letter Day. Jeff Eckleberry adorns memories of the Sword Of Omens shattering, the commencement of Sight Beyond Sight, and a battle in the darkness with colorful, enlivening sound effects. Yet a cloaked figure speaks with cloud-like dialogue balloons, promising more dangers in ThunderCats #2.

 

Thanks to Dynamite Comics for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Danger threatens a retreating army, a despondent leader seeks renewal, and a mysterious figure deploys nefarious plans as a power struggle brews in ThunderCats #2.

 

Rating 9.4/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

 

 

ThunderCats #1 Review

 

Writer: Declan Shalvey

Artist: Drew Moss

Colorists: Chiara Di Francia & Martina Pignedoli

Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry

Cover Artists: David Nakayama; Lucio Parrillo; Declan Shalvey; Jae Lee & June Chung; Ivan Tao; Drew Moss

Publisher: Dynamite

Price: $4.99

Release Date: February 7, 2024

 

Lion-O entered his stasis pod as a boy. He awakened as an adult. Birth makes him the leader of the ThunderCats. But he has much to learn. Can Lion-O lead his people and wield the Sword Of Omens despite his lack of education and experience? Let's leap into ThunderCats #1 and find out!

 

Story

With their homeworld destroyed and their fleet ravaged, the only surviving ThunderCat ship crashed on Third Earth. Lion-O’s friends WileyKat and WileyKit are cubs. His journey into adulthood begins with no friends his age among the skilled and experienced adults Tygra, Panthro, and Cheetara. Lion-O has no peers. Can he lead and protect his people?

 

Lion-O seeks solitude in the desert. Instead of answers, he discovers an arriving spaceship. The Mu’Tants tracked their damaged ship! Desperate to prove himself, Lion-O unsheathes the Sword Of Omens. The Eye of Thundera, embedded in the sword, unleashes its power. The adults at his crashed spaceship, the troops aboard the Mu’Tant vessel, and a dark figure who inhabits the Black Pyramid realize Lion-O is in trouble.

 

In ThunderCats #1, Declan Shalvey introduces a cast of colorful and appealing characters. He paws lightly over their history to focus on the crucible Lion-O must pass through.

 Lion-O fled Thundara as a frightened boy. Now, Lion-O must guide and protect an endangered species. Lion-O can look to Tygra for guidance. Panthro can teach him how to wield the Sword Of Omens. But like Paul Atreides, Lion-O must discover his birthright amid a trial by fire.

 

Art

The ThunderCats leave their damaged ship to explore the alien desert of Third Earth. As Lion-O runs up a slope, a shape emerges from the darkness overhead. A beam of light streaks up from the Sword Of Omens, revealing the ThunderCat symbol to the arriving spaceship. Their leader, Lord Slythe, cringes at its intensity. In the Desert Of Sinking Sands, a giant skull perches on a vine-covered stone floor before a pit within the Black Pyramid.

 

Drew Moss packs pages with panels that convey history, character, and reactions. Splash pages and double-page spreads introduce and show the cast in action. Backgrounds give way to speed lines amid motion and conflict. Smoke rises from a battlefield when WileyKat and WileyKit surf the air currents on spaceboards and drop capsules onto the combatants.

 

Reds, yellows, and blues dominate ThunderCats #1. Chiara Di Francia and Martina Pignedoli's limited palette breathes life and drama into each page. The yellow explosions accompanying the ship’s flight from Thundara and the fiery streak of their ship hurtling through Third Earth's sky match the glow inside the stasis pod that robs Lion-O of his teen years. Highlights enrich characters with individuality, while shadows enhance the drama of this opening installment.

 

Lowercase black letters in colored narrative boxes introduce the characters, relate their thoughts, and tell of the dangers facing them. Black uppercase words in white dialogue balloons grow bold for inflection and swell for shouts but rarely shrink. Jeff Eckleberry infuses training, hunting, and battle scenes with energetic sound effects. When Lion-O raises the Sword Of Omens, his giant white-edged black shout echoes through the remaining pages of ThunderCats #1.

 

Thanks to Dynamite Comics for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Robbed of his teen years, a young hero struggles to lead the hunted survivors of his race with the strength of his adult body and a mythic sword in ThunderCats #1.

 

Rating 8.2/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.