T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #3 – Review

By: Nick Spencer (writer), Cafu (feature penciller), Bit (feature inker), Santiago Arcas (feature colorist), Howard Chaykin (flashback artist), Jesus Aburtov (flashback colorist)

The Story: As the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents make their next move against Spider, the many lives of NoMan come to light, with betrayal on both fronts.

The Review: Any time a new team of heroes gets together, you’re going to have a mix of rookies and the old vanguard.  Sometimes the conflicts between the two pop up further down the line, but sooner or later, the ghosts of the team’s past will come to haunt them.  From the beginning you had the sense that some old history was definitely at work behind the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents’ current mission.  After this issue, you’ll know if these new Agents survive, they’ll be rising from the ashes of their predecessors.

Nick Spencer continues to use flashbacks to furnish the backgrounds for the characters, but this time around he’s beginning to lay the path for those old ghosts to walk on.  NoMan’s past comes across as particularly chilling, but speaks to Spencer’s writing talent.  For frequent readers of superheroes, it’s easy to take the origins and science of their powers lightly.  Spencer takes some major steps to show the price of these extraordinary abilities, and in doing so, sets the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents apart from the rest of their DC counterparts.  NoMan’s increasing inability to feel as a side effect of his constant body-switching is shown to horrifying effect.

As effective as these flashbacks are at giving you a grasp on these characters, they also deaden the pace of the present story.  The current mission just inches forward with each issue, and with all the page-time devoted to the past, the logistics of the current mission tend to get lost in the shuffle.  So far, all you know is that the original Raven has been captured and the Agents are out to get him back.  But so little time has been spent explaining the risks and importance of the mission that it all feels very low-stakes and there’s hardly any suspense at all.

One big problem is that we’re basically dealing with espionage and counter-espionage here.  The intensity of the action comes from how much more information each group has on the other, and frankly, there’s little excitement to be had in the revelation of facts unless something tangible comes out of it.  Both the heroes and villains involved in this issue seem to think they have the leg up on their opponents, so even the characters don’t act particularly threatened or anxious.  Even the big reveal at the very end—“We have a man on the inside.”—well, so what?  The whole premise of the first issue involved each side’s double-agents, so this fact just feels like old news.  Until something meaty actually happens, it’s going to be very hard to care about whatever new data comes to light.

Cafu’s art is as strong as ever.  His use of point-of-view makes even the talkiest, least-dynamic scenes gripping, which is good because there is literally zero action going on this issue.  Bit’s inks keep the fine lines distinct amongst all the shadows.  Howard Chaykin’s art on the flashback doesn’t have the same caliber as ChrisCross’ on last issue’s.  It’s very sketchy, distorting the characters a little, and doesn’t offer quite as much detail.  But Chaykin can sure sell silent panels; the way he blocks the characters and draws their expressions, especially NoMan’s blank stares, just makes everything eerier.   Kudos to Santiago Arcas’ colors for somehow remaining vibrant despite the darker hues used for the story.

Conclusion: The weakest issue so far, although there’s still a lot to like: tremendous character work, subtle drama, strong artwork.  But the action remains light—not a good position for any superhero title.  However, next issue seems to be the turning point for the story, so let’s count on a big payoff there.

Grade: B

– Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: – So wait—if these clones aren’t animated unless NoMan possesses them, does that mean they’re all just sitting/standing around in catatonic states?  Eww.

– Art snafu: where’d all the dirt on Dynamo’s gloves come from?

– Why does NoMan’s assistant feel the need to dress like Mrs. Danvers from Rebecca?  It is still 2010 in the story, yes?