Thunderbolt #53 is dated August 1966. This is one of two Thunderbolt appearances this month, the only time this happened in a single month I believe. The work as usual is by Pete Morisi under his famous pseudonym of P.A.M.
Special Case Number 0004 from T-Bolt's Personal Files is titled "Enter...The Tong". The story begins at midnight in a secret lair in the countryside. Criminal types have gathered together as a bizarre ceremony begins around an Oriential-style idol of evil. Dancers appear and the ritual rises in pitch until all within the chamber are chanting "All hail the Tong!" over and over. The idol slips away into the floor and out of flames appears a white-haired Asian man who commands all to be silent. He is The Tong, also the name of the organization. He identifies a traitor in their midst and quickly shoots him and order him disposed of. The Tong then introduces his greatest weapon, a giant armored tank with a drill on its nose which will plow through the earth. With this weapon he declares the Tong will rule.
The scene shifts to the secluded mansion of Peter Cannon where Peter is training. He gets a call from the police who indicate that the man they had inside The Tong has been found shot and is currently in a coma. They want expert advice from Peter who is a famous writer and expert on things Asian. He identifies a symbol they found tatooed on their man's wrist as a Tong symbol, and Peter informs the Police about the old Tongs and how they rose to power originally as vigilante groups but became criminal organizations, and that a story persists that they will rise again. Peter leaves the meeting saddened by mankind and the way in which people cannot find ways to live peacefully. But he also realizes that Tabu is his conscience and that maybe he's too hard.
"Raymond the Rain Maker" is a one-page text story about a drought which brings the skeptical leaders to consult Professor Raymond Raney who claims to have Jiburo indian spells to make it rain. He wants one million dollars to create four days of rain and does so, but the leaders refuse to pay him. He then creates a deluge and demands ten million to make it stop. They pay him and he heads off to Mexico to use the money to help the Jiburo indians.
The Thunderbolt story continues as The Tong plan their attacks on the city using their drill to rob banks. A crime wave strikes the city and Tabu convinces a reluctant Peter to become Thunderbolt again. He does and stalks across the dark cityscape until he finds the thugs of the Tong and attacks. He intentionally allows himself to be captured so he will be taken to The Tong. The Tong is pleased and orders Thunderbolt to battle two giant Sumo wrestlers. Calling upon his mantra and will T-Bolt is able to at last defeat the giants and turns his attack on the criminals of the Tong. The Tong sees this and climbs into the armored drill and attempts to drive T-Bolt into the ground, but the drill gets out of control and digs ever deeper into the earth until it at last bursts through into the sea. The Tong is seemingly trapped in his own invention. The police arrive to mop the criminals alerted to the location by the policeman who has wakened from his coma. It is discovered that leader The Tong was an orphan who sought revenge when his innocent parents were killed during the Tong wars. His life a crime a response to that senseless death. Tabu points out how similar the Tong's tragedy was to Peter's but that they responded to the circumstances differently.
"Thunderbolts" is the debut installment of the Thunderbolt letters page. There are four letters, most all praising the new comic. Some want to know when Sarge Steel will be seen again, and at least one writer points out how much better T-Bolt is than the usual Charlton material. There is a comment from the editor (Dick Giordano) about those who want Charlton to be just like Marvel and DC, but he promises that the Charlton heroic universe will be different still.
"Captain Atom's Secret" is a two-page feature by Frank McLaughlin which talks about Cap's origin and also the nature of atomic theory and how the modern world is dealing with the benefits of that new power. There is a panel devoted to cross-promoting Captain Atom's new magazine too.
Thunderbolt also shows up in this month's Judomaster comic. Issue #90 dated August 1966 features a two-page Thunderbolt piece by Morisi titled "The Roof of the World - Where Thunderbolt Was Born". It tells of T-Bolt's origin and speaks of the nature of his power. There is a panel promoting his comic.
The series Thunderbolt seems well established creatively by this point. While Morisi takes care each month to reintroduce the hero, each month this has diminished in the time it takes from the main story. Peter Cannon and Tabu have an established relationship and that combination offers up a neat variation on the classic hero. Under Morisi, Thunderbolt looks like no other comic on the stands at the time and the atmosphere and mood are rich with a distinctive pulp flavor. Morisi's style can be somewhat static, making the captions filled with words almost at times read like an illustrated story rather than a comic book. Nonetheless it is a compelling read.
More to come.
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