By: Nick Spencer (writer), Wes Craig (artist), Hi-Fi (colorist), Sam Keith (feature artist), Jeromy Cox (feature colorist)
The Story: NoMan teaches us that living in a clone body can’t get in the way of friendship!
The Review: One of the things I really like about T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents—and there are many—is its point of view. Most of the superhero titles on the stands are fairly clear-cut in who the good and bad guys are. Even that darkest of knights, Batman, is obviously a force for good in the world, no matter what the urban legends say. Very rarely do heroes have a moral quandary that’s truly unnavigable; in the end, they nearly always do the right thing.
About the only series that really mired itself in gray area was Gail Simone’s Secret Six, which almost took masochistic pleasure in confronting hard questions and having no answers. Though completely different in tone and substance, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is very much a spiritual successor to the Six. Both feature a cast of characters thrust into unpleasant situations for which no easy solutions can be found, forcing them to take uncertain moral chances in their attempts to come out the other side in the black, however slightly.
The major difference, of course, is the Six made no pretensions about being heroes, though (very) occasionally motivated by principles of justice. The Agents, on the other hand, sincerely believe what they do, they do for the greater good. Ultimately, however, they owe their existence to a wrongful war, and we all know that nothing exactly equates to the greater good in such circumstances. At best, the Agents can only hope for what all war victors hope for: that history will vindicate them in the end.
That’s what makes Henry Cosgei’s (a.k.a. Lightning)—spoiler alert—sacrifice so meaningful and yet so tragically pointless. While the death of Dynamo seemed sudden and had little emotional weight, given how little we knew of him, Spencer actually invested a great deal of time in Cosgei’s background and reasons for joining the Agents. When you reflect on the fact that he put his life on the line to restore his honor after a bit of athletic cheating, you really understand the measure of the man, but too late. And what did he die for? For the Agents to retrieve their irreplaceable weapons? To strike a blow against an oppressed people?
If anyone sees the hypocrisy in all this, it must be Emil Jennings, inventor of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. tech, which he made “lethal by design” to discourage their use. The fact this didn’t stop the Higher United Nations from putting his work to use clearly leaves his faith in humanity shaken, but it’s also clear that alone hasn’t made him transfer his faith in non-humans. Demo, for all his outrage over the atrocities committed against his people, is no less horrible or selfish than your run-of-the-mill surface tyrant. Jennings is smart enough to see that, so he simply takes the side of the innocent, betraying all the aggressors in the process.
I’m not a fan of Keith’s work. There’s a weirdly charming quality to it that makes his work look more appropriate for an old-timey comic strip. The characters are often exaggerated to the point where they look funny—Demo’s grouchy face and jutting chin, Jennings’ Annie-esque blank eyes, that kind of thing. Perhaps by comparison, Craig’s art looks all the more impressive. The closer you zoom into his work, the better he gets; the close-up of Cosgei’s expression just before he sprints off is one of the most powerful, affecting, emotionally raw moments of the issue.
Conclusion: A sobering issue full of Spencer’s trademark suspense and smartness, though a bit flat in the art department. It doesn’t feel like two issues is enough to put a wrap on his story or these characters—hint, hint, DC.
Grade: B
– Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: – Do you suppose the numbers Colleen recites on the last page are the same she forced out of Iron Maiden in T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #10? How did Maiden get such apparently crucial data in the first place?
– You know, I don’t quite understand how a race whose entire existence has been underground would have or know the operation of helicopters.
Grade
Conclusion