The Atomic
Thunderbolt #1
Written by Kevin Powers
Art by Matt Gaudio
Colors by Donna Gregory
America:
1946. Reports are coming in from around New York City that a strange and
mysterious figure is showing up, thwarting crimes, saving falling airplanes and
even rescuing cats from trees. One other such incident involves a giant raven,
oddly enough. The OSS is on the case and searches for answers on the identity
of this powerful stranger, fearing enemy agencies might be interested in
recruiting him against the good ol’ U.S.of A. Once they find out the name of
one Willy “The Wharfrat” Burns, the OSS seek to get his attention through
rather unusual means.
Resurrecting
a long dead intellectual property from the graveyard of irrelevance is no easy
task. With IDW bringing back such nostalgic characters as Rom: Spaceknight and
M.A.S.K. as well as Dynamite reinventing the King Features comic strip heroes
(Flash Gordon, Phantom, Mandrake) for new audiences in their King line, it’s a
time where, now more than ever, it’s good to be a fan of obscure, mainly
forgotten public domain heroes. I might have to track down Jeff Rovin’s
Encylopedia of Super-Heroes or do a quick google search to try and anticipate
the next blast from the past. At MegaCon 2016, I ran into the creative team
behind the rebirth of John Aman, Amazing-Man. What a time to be alive.
Atomic
Thunderbolt #1 takes a rather non-traditional approach to the usual origin
story a first issue puts forth. Eschewing the actual event that shows the hero
gaining his powers, we see him in silhouette, or his hands lifting or zapping
something. We never see his face until well into the issue’s final pages. It’s
an interesting mode of getting out exposition as well as showing a different
perspective of this costumed do-gooder righting wrongs and performing feats of
derring-do. We see it from the viewpoint of the government who would, no doubt,
want to have a man with superpowers on the side of America fighting the Nazis
or at the very least, not letting him fall into enemy hands.
Credit
to the writer Kevin Powers for taking something that, to modern audiences,
might seem a little silly and giving it some depth and dignity. It reads like a
1940’s comic but with modern sensibilities and understanding of structure and
pacing. It reminds me of Kurt Busiek’s Marvels in how it takes the viewpoint of
the common man doing the legwork of investigating and tracking down leads,
while in the skies, men with powers beyond those of mortal men exist on another
level entirely. It never goes into cynical territory with such concepts,
though, which is a decent counter to the now tired notion of “We hate you,
oddly-dressed-nice people-who-save-us-from-oddly-dressed-psychos!”
The
artwork from Matt Guido is very expressive when it comes to facial movements
and body posture and language. The action sequences flow nicely and it’s clear
where everyone is and what everyone’s doing. It’s well put together and crafted
artwork and it services the story very well, especially when it comes to
finally showing Thunderbolt’s face by him floating above cops, the sun at his
back and a small lens flare behind him as bullets bounce off of him.
Perhaps
my one small gripe is that while the artwork is good and the plot well
executed, it didn’t quite grab me or engage me. I’d be willing to read further
to see if that changes, but this wasn’t the “blow me away” kind of first issue
that hooks in readers. There’s enough to garner some interest from the curious,
but it seems very plain, despite its unique perspective shift addressed above.
Atomic
Thunderbolt #1 Is a well-crafted throwback to a bygone time with a forgotten
hero which hopefully will bring much more life and energy in future issues.
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