Thunderbolt - Encore The Hooded One!

Thunderbolt #58 is dated July 1967. Pete Morisi under his pseudonym of P.A.M. back for what will be his final full issue of the character he created. He is listed as the creator, writer and artist of the lead story and he did the cover too. Special Case Number 0009 from T-Bolt's Personal Files is titled "Encore: The Hooded One". 

It begins as do most T-Bolt tales in the secluded mansion Peter Cannon has outside New York City. He and Tabu are boxing and discussing the world. Specifically Tabu brings up the disappearance of a young woman in the Himalayas who was searching for the grave of her father killed during WWII. It turns out that Peter has all ready gotten plane reservations to take them to the Himalayas to search for the girl who turns out to be the daughter of the pilot who crashed his plane next to the lamasery and in which were found an unexploded bomb which was carried away by the man who would one day become the Hooded One. His face was destroyed by his good deed and he was to be rewarded with access to the Ancient Scrolls until the deeds of Peter's parents superseded his claim. His bitterness has made him T-Bolt's most tenacious enemy. Peter and Tabu get to the lamasery and quickly arrange to travel into the mountains to the Cave of the Peaks, the hideout of the Hooded One. Arriving there, Peter becomes Thunderbolt and leaves Tabu in the cavern as he travels deeper into the cave finding again the entrance to a hidden valley filled with all things that have lived including prehistoric dinosaurs. He eludes a Pteranodon and battles a pair of lions before finding a fortress wall. He enters and finds prehistoric dwarves all too ready to fight him. He is about to invoke his mantra to inspire his will when a stone axe knocks him out. He awakes in a room with Lori Carson, the girl they've come to rescue. Soon enough the pair find themselves in an arena where the Hooded One presides as leader of the dwarves. He condemns to the beast of the arena demanding revenge on Thunderbolt and the daughter of the man he holds responsible for his suffering. A giant gorilla appears and T-Bolt must muster all his will to defeat it which he does. Then dispatching the dwarves, he and Carson escape from the fortress. The are assaulted by deadly army ants, but leap into the river to escape and then T-Bolt is able to use the river to escape the valley and the dinosaurs carrying Carson to safety. In the lamasery Lori meets Peter Cannon and Tabu and wishes to thank the man who saved her. They say they came to assist her and she insists on returning with them, saying they are now responsible for her according to ancient traditions. Peter scoffs, but Tabu says it might be so and the story ends as the trio fly back to America. 

"Thunderbolts" offers up three letters this time. One writer praises the odd nature of Thunderbolt's stories, and rejects the critics who want more action at the expense of the characterization between Peter and Tabu. The Sentinels get praise but generally it seems folks want more T-Bolt and fewer pages dedicated to the trio. Dick Giordano indicates the shorter T-Bolt stories have more to do with P.A.M.'s deadline woes than a desire to increase the Sentinels exposure. A new cover design is announced and perhaps a new logo to boot. 

The Sensational Sentinels return in a story titled "Into the Lair of the...Mind-Bender!". The story features artwork by Sam Grainger, but writing this time is by Sergius O'Shaughnessy a pseudonym for Denny O'Neil. The story picks up with Sarge Steel arresting the trio for spying, saying that Dr.Kolotov who gave them their powers was a Soviet agent. But Steel's aggressive nature and his attempt to shoot the trio in an alley convince them he is being controlled and Mentalia uses her ESP powers to overcome him. Then Brute and Mentalia are attacked by a hotdog vendor who they realize must be the Mind-Bender. They repel the attack but he escapes. They then take both Sarge Steel and Rick Strong, also known as Helio to the hospital where the reports are good for both that they will recover. Then Crunch Wilson and Cindy Carson resume their roles as two-thirds of the Protesters, a singing group and try to perform. But they are attacked by a very hostile crowd clearly under the sway of the Mind-Bender. Helio returns just in time to save them using his flying belt and the trio escape. Later that evening Helio gets a call from Crunch and goes to the location only to find that he and Mentalia are taken prisoner by Brute who is under the power of the Mind-Bender. As the story closes, Helio and Mentalia are strapped to tables while Brute pushes a button which will kill them. 

This issue is one of two that my beloved grandmother got me when I was a mere youth. It was my first exposure to P.A.M. and I immediately fell in love with the spare and romantic style of the artist. This is sadly Morisi's last Thunderbolt adventure. He will turn up again on the cover of the next issue, but deadlines apparently were too much for the full-time policeman and so his hero gets turned over to the capable hands of Pat Boyette full time. This is a solid adventure, a few additional pages making a big difference in the apparent scope of the struggle. But there is alas no real solution to the Hooded One's threat.

This issue was reprinted under the Modern imprint in the late 70's. 

To read the complete comic book use this link. 

 More Thunderbolt to come. 

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Thunderbolt - Face Of The Dragon!

Thunderbolt #57 is dated May 1967. This issue is different from those that have come before because Pat Boyette is on hand for the storytelling this time handling both the writing and the artwork. There is a memo from Dick Giordano the editor indicating that the story is developed from notes provided by Tabu. In fact the story is told from Tabu's point of view, an immediate change of style. The cover is by Boyette too. 

"Face of the Dragon" (though this is Special Case #0008 there is no mention of this on the splash page) begins with an enigmatic figure standing motionless in the snow. Tabu and Peter Cannon look out into the snowy night and discuss a feeling that Peter has that a mighty evil is brewing. They make note that the man outside has not moved for an hour and they go to investigate and find him nearly frozen and in his hand a defaced stone griffin. The man, an oriental giant, is sent to the hospital and they discuss the meaning of the griffin and since a griffin represents a new-comer and the mutilation indicates a crime, they conclude that an invasion is imminent in the land they come from in the Himalayas. They fly together to the ancient land and after arriving find a massive exodus of people fleeing their homeland. The flee a warlord who reputedly has the face of a dragon. Peter and Tabu contract with a British pilot to fly them over the area and they parachute into the very heart of the warlord's territory. They are immediately set upon by a large gang of thugs and taken before the warlord. In a throne room they wait before an empty seat before in a wisp of smoke the dragon-headed warlord appears. Peter vows to defeat him but the warlord is undeterred and casts his hand creating a vapor that sends the pair of heroes into a hallucination. They awake in the mud of a lower chamber. The warlord appears and asks again if they are impressed, but Peter indicates that no man with a mask will frighten him. He accuses the warlord of being a fake, and attacks, but the warlord disappears in a cloud of smoke. Then a mass of stones is dropped on the pair. Peter then takes a moment to become Thunderbolt; and he and Tabu begin their escape but find themselves under attack by arrows. Taking cover in a stone niche, they are in a trapdoor and are flipped back into the throne room filled with thugs and the dragon-headed warlord. He orders them executed and to impress everyone conjures up snakes. Thunderbolt takes one of the snakes in hand and causes it to evaporate. Then T-Bolt unleashes a power he's never used before and his face becomes drawn under the mental strain. There appears in the throne room a giant dragon who tears through the building and the men. They all flee in terror. After they go, the dragon disappears and T-Bolt reveals that though it was real while he maintained his concentration, it was only the product of his mind nonetheless. The pair leave in triumph while on the ground behind them is a dragon mask forgotten and left behind. 

"Thunderbolts" features one letter this month, a lengthy one that touches on several points. There's a desire expressed for more exciting covers and maybe that Steve Ditko should take over the covers for Charlton. We learn that the covers for Thunderbolt are rather generic because they have to be produced before the comic is actually drawn. The formulaic nature of the T-Bolt stories is commented on. Giordano takes issue with the cover comment, since he indicates he's been responsible for most if not all of Charlton's covers for many years. nearly 500 by his count. The titles he doesn't have cover control on are Captain Atom, Peacemaker, and Thunderbolt. Also there is desire expressed for letter writers to direct their missives to specific titles and not just to Charlton in general. 

The Sensational Sentinels appear again in a story titled "If This Be Triumph!". The story is plotted by D.C.Glanzman and the script and the art are by Sam Grainger. Lettering is by A.Machine. The story begins soon after the battle from the previous issue where we find Brute, Mentalia, and Helio in their apartment recovering. Brute apparently survived the fall from the roller coaster by landing in some water. Rick still has amnesia. The android Titan breaks into the apartment to continue the battle and he and Brute exchange blows, with Titan eventually flinging Brute toward a window. But Mentalia exerts her thoughts and is able to stop Brute in mid-air revealing for the first time not only an ability for telepathy but telekinesis as well. The Titan captures Mentalia and climbs down the building with her in tow. Brute follows using his great hand strength to grip the bricks on the side of the building. He and Titan again mix it up until Brute realizes that he was granted great strength over other men and not androids, so he changes tactics and uses a light pole to attack Titan to great effect. Then Brute leaps to attack Titan and Mentalia adds her telekinetic might to the thrust and they severely damage the android who ultimately collapses. Returning to their apartment the find Rick still confused but just they are dealing with what that means for the team Sarge Steel appears and announces that the Mind-Bender and Titan were creations of the C.I.A. and that Dr.Kolotov who gave them their powers was a Soviet spy. As the story ends, he is taking the team into custody in order for them to make statements.

 

This issue was reprinted in the later 70's under the Modern imprint. This comic was my first exposure to Thunderbolt. It was given to me by my maternal grandmother. Where she found them, I'll never know, but it opened a world up to me that I had missed. I was just a bit too young for the Action-Heroes. They were wrapping up just as I was getting into comics, so it was only in back issues that I found and enjoyed them. That said, finding T-Bolt first in the hands of Pat Boyette really changes your understanding of the character. The struggle of conscience is less pronounced in this story. Peter is more than willing to fight, though he does express a desire for peace there's no sense he's reluctant to press the battle that presents itself. Also, the opening scenes with the frozen messenger are outstanding drama and highly mysterious, a classic Boyette moment. I can see that people might be upset that T-Bolt breaks out a new "power" in this one, something it seems most men can't do. But although he suggests it's more, hypnosis can explain it all for those reluctant to go further. With the past filled with ancient mummies and whatnot, such a power is not out of context, but is different for our hero. 

To read the complete comic book use this link. 

 More Thunderbolt to come as Pete Morisi returns.

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Thunderbolt - Beware The Cobra!

Thunderbolt #56 is dated February 1967. Once again, the feature is credited as created, written, and dawn by Pete Morisi under his P.A.M. pseudonym. Morisi did the cover too as he has done all the covers for the series so far. Special Case Number 0007 from T-Bolt's Personal Files is titled "Beware...The Cobra". 

It begins in Peter Cannon's secluded mansion outside New York City where Peter and Tabu are sparring in judo. After the bout, they again talk about Peter's responsiblity as Thunderbolt to his fellow man with Tabu urging him to take a greater role. Tabu also asks about the nature of Peter's power which Cannon explains as tapping into that unexplored reserved that all human beings have. He is vague and says the way it's tapped must remain a secret. The origin of "Thunderbolt's Personal Files" is revealed as Tabu announces that he has been recording Thunderbolt's adventures. What follows is a two-page review of the previous issues with a panel devoted to each of the previous six cases. The scene shifts to the waterfront area where a mysterious bearded man named Cobra meets with some eccentric looking types and conducts a slave auction, offering up men who are compelled to follow orders because they've been given some drug derived from cobra venom. The Cobra makes one hundred thousand dollars from the auction and has his henchmen go out into the city to get more potential slaves. What follows is a wave of kidnappings that terroize the city and attract the attention of Peter and Tabu. Again Peter is reluctant to investigate until Tabu tells him that one man who has disappeared is a surgeon who is the only man able to cure a young girl currently waiting for the operation. She has only a day left to live. With that deadline facing him Peter becomes Thunderbolt and heads through his hidden tunnels into the heart of the city. He leaps about on rooftops for a time looking for clues. He at last finds an area that seems suspicious and investigates further finding the prisoners and the Cobra and his men. He attacks but the Cobra shoots him with darts coated with the drug and has him tied up. While he is bound, the Cobra unleashes a real cobra into a room with T-Bolt who uses his teeth to subdue the deadly serpent. Shocked the Cobra attempts to cajole the Thunderbolt into being his partner but a punch sends him falling and he lands on the fangs of the dead cobra, and is killed. Tabu and Peter discuss the case later and Peter urges Tabu to end the installment with "The End", but Tabu insists on "To be continued". 

 

"Thunderbolts" offers up four letters from fans. There is praise for The Sentinels save for one writer who wants them replaced with Nightshade. It's noted that a number of fans have become writers for Charlton in recent months and that is encouraged. One writer apparently knows the identity of P.A.M. and uses his name in the letter though Dick Giordano edits it out. Speculation about P.A.M.'s job though is erroneous. The new Blue Beetle book is announced as well as a new showcase-type book which certainly must be Charlton Premiere though the title is not mentioned. It is also announced that the next issue of Thunderbolt will be by Pat Boyette, filling in for Morisi. 

The Sensational Sentinels return in a story titled "Where Walks...The Titan!" written by Gary Friedrich and drawn by Sam Grainger. Dick Giordano is listed as editor. This story is advertised as "Another Cataclysmic Charlton Classic", a bit of a stretch even for a diehard like me. The story begins with Ed Sullivan introducing the Protesters who sing a fairly lame song about being in jail and throwing a pie in the warden's face. They are nonetheless mobbed by girl fans. Their manager the Colonel is happy and takes them out to eat, but they bicker as usual. Meanwhile at Coney Island a young boy (who looks like Billy from the last few issues) and his grandmother find themselves in harm's way when an orange giant appears demanding to know the whereabouts of the Sentinels. The man who calls himself Titan begins to wreak havoc in the park. TV news informs the Sentinels who don their garb and head on over to face the threat. Helio flies up but he is unable to control his flight and Titan smacks him hard to the ground. Mentalia finds that as with the Mind-Bender's robot she is unable to effect this Titan with her ESP. That leave Brute to confront the foe and they have a knockdown dragout fight for a few pages until finally Titan throws Brute from the top of the roller coaster. In the last panel Helio awakes but apparently is suffering from amnesia. The story ends at this point. I liked the idea that the comic is developed from the records kept by Tabu. This gives a neat meta-fictional twist to the proceedings, not unlike the mechanism used by Arthur Conan Doyle with Watson and Sherlock Holmes. It's a clever bit. The story though, like last issue felt a bit rushed. With a lot of page count used in reprise, this left precious little time for the story unfold. It's not really clear how Thunderbolt found the Cobra, he just sort of does it.

One neat thing though is a panel by Morisi showing Thunderbolt biting the cobra which is clearly a swipe/homage to Bill Everett's Amazing-Man cover from Centaur Comics. Thunderbolt is clearly inspired by Amazing-Man in many ways, though perhaps streamlined a bit for the 60's, and it's nice that Morisi pays tribute to his inspiration. Here's some more information about Amazing-Man. 

To read the complete comic book use this link. 

More Thunderbolt to come. 

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PAM's Johnny Dynamite!

As Max Allan Collins explains in the expansive introduction to this Yoe Book collection of Johnny Dynamite, the story begins with Mickey Spillane. Spillane wrote comics from the very beginning of the genre. But he made his reputation in 1950's with the novel I The Jury which introduced rough and tough Mike Hammer. 

Versions of Hammer had appeared in comics before as Mike Danger and Mike Lancer. But the essence of the Mike Hammer character was arguably best captured by Johnny Dynamite from Comics Media in their series Dynamite. While there is no doubt what inspired the character, the question of who created Johnny Dynamite is an open one. 

(Announcement of the character in Dynamite #2)

It might have been an editor at Comic Media, or writer Ken Fitch, or perhaps it was artist Pete Morisi, better known to the world as P.A.M. There is no question however that it is the work of Morisi, using a style evolved from that of George Tuska, which causes the character to resonate still in a modern comics arena. There's something absolutely stylish and compelling about Morisi's work.

It's in the third issue of Dynamite that we first meet "The Wild Man from Chicago", who in three heavily written tales confronts the mobsters and molls of that inhabit his morally challenged world. Johnny still has two good eyes when we first meet him, designed to resemble John Garfield. 

One of the more distinctive aspects of the character is that he is more than capable of shooting and killing a woman. Generally, "heroes" eschew such behavior, but for Johnny it's almost a defining quality.

One woman he's eager to kill is the dame who took out his eye. In the very first story of the second issue, he gets shot in the face and loses a "lamp" as he puts it. It's not surprise he eventually finds the woman pays her back. But Johnny also tries to help women who come to him for such things, but he's not all that successful as more than few fall victim to mobsters, either being killed outright or falling under the spell of hard drugs. In the second issue also, the text diminishes somewhat and while we still get the classic first-person perspective so prevalent for noir, the artwork does more of the lifting in the narrative. 

In the fifth issue we get a story narrated by Hennessy the cop who Dynamite calls often after he's plugged a few mugs. It's a tale of a mobster trying to go straight and failing. We also get a two-page text story about Johnny by Fitch which not only satisfies the post office, but also showcases the hard-nosed hero in the format from which he sprang. Morisi's artwork gets more refined as he continues to present these tales. 

In the sixth issue Morisi takes over the writing as well as the art for the series. Or at least he now gets credit for the work, it's hard to know to what extent he was already doing this. Most hard-boiled dicks have a sexy secretary and Johnny Dynamite is no exception. She's named Judy Kane and one of the two stories in the seventh issue of Dynamite deals with her kidnapping. The second story is a brutal tale which ends with Johnny meeting a woman he actually trusts enough to cover her crime. 

Morisi is really in the swing of things in the next issue which is one longer story. This helps out nicely as the compression of three tales was damaging to the drama. Two was pretty good, but one is even better, and allows for the cinematic feel to develop. There are call girls and stole diamonds in this yarn which sees Johnny consummates his "Vendetta". 

There's no doubt these are brutal stories. The phrase "Exciting Adult Reading" is perfect for the kind of no-holds violence which bristles on these well-honed pages. Love this red cover, it really pops. The first story gives us a glimpse of Johnny's past when he was a boxer called "Kid  Dynamite". This manager and friend gets caught up in crime when his beloved wife is killed, and he vows to gather mob might to get his revenge. We then get a one-page text story. This is followed by a second tale that has Dynamite get involved with yet another gorgeous but dangerous dame. 

The ninth issue of Dynamite is the final one from Comic Media. It's a got a great cover and the best Johnny Dynamite story yet. He goes up against the Mafia and it's a beautifully rendered and paced tale of deceptions and secrets. This one was the most like a film noir film, with the narration beautifully aligned with the imagery. 

The leftover material produced by Morisi for Comic Media finds its way over to the folks at Derby Connecticut where the Charlton Comics operation was located. The first two issues of the renamed Johnny Dynamite series (it continues the originally number) have one Pete Morisi story in each of the first two issues. They also feature less impressive Morisi covers. The two stories take Johnny overseas, first to Germany where he confronts an old nemesis from World War II, and then to Vietnam to assist with the fight against the Commies. 

(Cover by Dick Giordano and Vince Alascia)

The series wraps up with issue twelve with stories written most likely by Mickey Spillane friend Joe Gill and art supplied by the rock steady Bill Molno. 

The collection closes out with a story from the Ms. Tree series by Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty titled "Whatever Happened to Johnny Dynamite". We learn that Johnny and his secretary Judy Kane were both instrumental in sending a particularly deadly mob boss to prison and have been in witness protection for many years. Now to save them both, Mike Mist is called upon to join forces with Ms. Tree. The original stories from the Comic Media series would be reprinted as back-up features in many of the subsequent Ms. Tree issues for Renegade Press. 

(Officer Pete Morisi aka P.A.M.)

If you would like to read the original stories from Comic Media by Pete Morisi and others check out this dynamite link. 

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Daredevil Battles The God Of Storms!

First mentioned, to my knowledge at least, in the pages of The Great Comic Book Heroes by Jules Feiffer is the legendary tale of how a Golden Age comic book was created in a single weekend, one in which the survival of the artists themselves was in some meager doubt. The comic book in question is the second issue of Daredevil Comics from Lev Gleason Publishing which hit the stands in the summer of 1941.

This tale has been told in several venues and even immortalized in fictional form in Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. It kindles the imagination for a number of reasons, one it speaks to the helter skelter nature of comic book creation in its infant days, how raw energy often substituted for craftsmanship and care. How comics are an art, but they are also a product for sale which are fashioned within the demanding rigors of a deliberate and often unforgiving schedule.

Things have changed nowadays with comics having been reduced to a minor art and no longer a true mass medium, but throughout most of the history of the comic book, we fans want our comics to be good of course, but first and foremost we wanted them to simply be. We were eager to buy and publishers were sure to have it available so that the opportunity would not slip by.

I most recently ran across this legendary yarn in the biography Jerry Robinson - Ambassador of Comics, in which the story is told from the perspective of one of the men who was there on that prodigious weekend of March seventeenth.  The story goes that a gaggle of young energetic artists and writers assembled at a sparsely furnished New York City apartment rented for that very reason. Charles Biro has learned that because of a need to use up their allotment of paper they needed a new comic ready for the presses and they needed it by the following Monday. To that end the talent was assembled and given largely carte blanche to create stories to fill the needed sixty-four pages.

Charles Biro would handle the lead feature Daredevil which accounted for the first thirteen pages. After that it was every man for himself as a ferocious binge of creation ignited. Bernard Klein created "The Whirlwind" about boxing, and other talents such as George Roussos and Dick Wood contributed "Nightro". Jerry Robinson himself created "London", a masked hero who was involved with the Blitz. Dick Briefer wrote and drew "Real American". Others did what they could, creating characters, some which would only appear in this single comic, in the mad rush to hit the deadline.

New York City under snow in March, 1941

The story then takes a dangerous turn when, while the artists are furiously creating in the apartment a heavy winter storm strikes the city, closing down everything save the subways, and forcing stores to close. Getting something to eat was problematic, and Bernie Klein was sent off into the white wastes to find sustenance. He returned hours later with only some eggs and a can of beans. The artists desperately pried loose ceramic bathroom tiles and created a fire to cook the eggs and heat the beans, which staved off fits until the streets quickened with life once again.

Needless to say, the book was completed and assembled and sent to the printer on time. This story shows not only the ruthless nature of publishing but also the wild bristling energy which informed the earliest days of comics, an art form still in its infancy and eager to please the audience which fondled it with such devotion.

The story is made more poignant in that Bernie Klein, a talent with much promise was one of those multitude of young men who lost their lives defeating the Axis powers on the battlefields of Europe. His death made all the more tragic, because as the legendary weekend showed he was like so many of his peers a man filled with spirit and life.

Daredevil must break out the boomerang and confront an evil from ancient history when a deadly mummy is revived. Charles Biro presides. 

Terry Turner is a powerful boxer, but he might have met his match in Jean Jacques, a savage lumberjack. Dick Wood and Bernie Klein do the honors.

Nightro isa rather nifty version of Dr. Mid-Nite when Hugh Goddard is blinded in a radiation accident. He can see in the dark thanks to special lenses and mops up the criminals who attacked him. Dick Wood writes and George Roussos draws this one. 

Dash Dillon at Hale (not Yale I notice) is a sports natural and is recruited by a young woman to join the team and save the season for her school and her dad, the coach. Ed Ashe is both writer and artist. 

Pioneer is a naive young man who lives in a remote valley and is lured to civilization by some thugs who see riches. He turns the tables. Bob Woods wrote this one for Jay Gahr. 

The Bronze Terror is "Real American #1". He's a denizen of the Indian territory and uses his strengths to save the chief from villains who want to prey on the people. Dick Briefer is man for this one. 

London is the hero and London is the place where a brave young man fights against the Nazis for the sake of us all. This one is all Jerry Robinson. 

Pat Patriot is born when a brave young woman stands up for her overworked companions and discovers a smuggling ring. Bob Wood likely wrote and Reed Crandall might well have drawn it. 

The Claw is in fine malicious form as he steals a train and all the men aboard it. He tries to blackmail the government, but one brave man has an idea which might defeat the towering menace. This one is by Bob Wood. 

To read this epic iconic comic in its glorious totality check this out. They don't make like that anymore.

I enjoyed this wild yarn in the pages of The Original Daredevil  Archives. Tomorrow. we back things up a bit, as the Dojo takes a look at the debut issue of this comic book series. 

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Thunderbolt - Where Stalks The Mummy!

Thunderbolt #55 is dated December 1966. Again, the entire Thunderbolt story is written and drawn by P.A.M. the pseudonym of Peter Morisi. Special Case Number 0006 from T-Bolt's Personal Files is titled "Where Stalks the Mummy?". 

The story begins with Peter Cannon and Tabu playing basketball and once again discussing Peter's role as Thunderbolt, and Peter repeats that he is reluctant to involve himself in a world filled with greed and hate and violence. The scene shifts to Egypt and an archeological dig where Professor Hugo Drummond and his team unearth a sarcophagus with an undisturbed mummy inside. Drummond only wants the mummy for his work, rejecting the other riches and has the mummy shipped to his castle-like armory in America. He begins a series of experiments searching for the gift of immortality the ancient Egyptians have possibly hidden in the mummy. He uses technology to connect himself mentally to the mummy and a merging takes place with the mind of Drummond and the mind of the slave who was mummified blending. It is primarily Drummond's consciousness though that now animates the mummified body. He then uses his new-found power to kidnap his former colleagues and begin a crime wave of terror. 

Tabu and Peter Cannon read of these events, the crimes carried in many newspapers it seems. And Tabu convinces Peter once again that he has a responsibility to become Thunderbolt to help his fellow man. Peter though reveals that his reluctance comes from his desire to work peacefully and not through violence, but he ultimately accepts that he must. He follows the clues to Drummond's castle and finds the kidnapped archeologists and Drummond in his mummy form. Drummond is just about to kill the men in his gas chamber when T-Bolt appears and breaks the glass of the chamber freeing the men. Thunderbolt then pursues Drummond into the basement of his castle but is under surveillance by camera as he does so. Drummond unleashes a fully-grown tiger on T-Bolt and it takes all of T-Bolt's skill to defeat and possibly slay the man-killer. Thunderbolt then confronts the mummified Drummond and they fight, with Drummond finally falling from the parapet of the castle. The castle then catches fire as T-Bolt leaves. Later no sign of Drummond is found as Tabu and Peter discuss the case in his secluded mansion, and they note that Drummond's human body is now under observation though it seems in a vegetative state. They wonder if such a thing as the mummy could exist, but ultimately are forced to accept that such superior beings as the mummy and Thunderbolt himself exist. 

The Sensational Sentinels return in a story titled "Beware...The Menacing Mind-Bender!". The story is edited by Dick Giordano, written by Gary Friedrich, and drawn by Sam Grainger. The story begins with the trio trying on their new uniforms and arguing incessantly all the while, especially Crunch Wilson know as Brute and Rick Strong known as Helio. Cindy Carson known as Mentalia tries to keep the peace as much as she can. Ultimately, they head into public and endure the stares of the crowd each harboring secret thoughts. Rich wonders what money can be made in addition to the good they can do, Cindy only wants to help her fellow man, and Crunch is reluctant and looks forward to his pro football contract. They see a purse-snatching and intercede, but their inexperience comes into play as Helio smacks into a street sign and Brute crashes through a brick wall. They get arrested but are bailed out by their manager "Colonel" Juniper Julep who wants them to appear as the folk singing act "The Protesters" on the Ed Sullivan Show. He says they can wear masks on stage to protect their identities. Meanwhile the leaders of the world are undergoing changes in attitude which result in war being declared between Russia and the United States. The Sentinels get a message from the late Dr. Kolotov (who gave them their powers) by way of his grandson Billy and they learn that he feared one former colleague known as the Mind-Bender. No sooner do they learn this than they are attacked themselves by a robot sent by the the Mind-Bender and after a brief struggle they send the machine out the window, but out of the ruined machine a warning from the Mind-Bender erupts and the Sentinels brace for more attacks. 

"Thunderbolts" features four letters from fans. Among the concerns are a desire to see Blue Beetle again and the new Ditko version of the hero then appearing in Captain Atom is promoted. One writer thinks P.A.M. is a woman and is corrected. There are a number of requests for original artwork, but Dick Giordano says that selling this material is not possible. As he puts it "For reasons too lengthy to go into in this space, we MUST keep all of it! It is carefully stored and indexed, and it is necessary to our operation that we maintain this procedure." Given the haphazard way the artwork was ultimately treated, with much of it forgotten and destroyed carelessly, this is painful to read today.

 And that wraps another issue. This particular issue of T-Bolt seemed the most formulaic yet. The threat was defined, T-Bolt reluctantly goes to fight it and is triumphant but broods. Maybe it's the loss of pages, but the ending seemed a bit abrupt without an interesting twist. The villain was a nice one though and seemed poised for a return at some point. The Sentinels story was full of plot for such a small tale, but still the incessant bickering among the team does get tiresome very swiftly. 

To read the complete comic book use this link. 

The Sentinels get an entry in The League of Regrettable Superheroes by Jon Morris. They are better than that, but maybe that's nostalgia talking. 

 More Thunderbolt to come.

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