Thunderbolt #59 is dated September 1967. The cover for this issue is by Pete Morisi under his P.A.M. pseudonym and it's the last work he did for Charlton directly on Thunderbolt. With this issue the art chores are given to Pat Boyette who filled in on an issue previously and who does both the drawing and writing on this last-minute fill-in issue.
"Assassins" is the title of this story. (And while the official special case numbers for the stories gets dropped, I will still use them as markers for the remaining T-Bolt stories.) The tale begins with an introduction to the Hooded One who we see sans his hood for the first time. His scarred face is nonetheless still obscured by a wide-brimmed hat. The setting is Morley's Wax Museum in London, England and after Mr.Morley closes up he is assaulted by the Hooded One and an accomplice who steal three wax dummies and then burn down the museum to cover their crime. The pair take the dummies into the depths of underground London as the Hooded One plots his revenge. (Note: Pages 1 and 2 are flipped in this book. I'll have to be honest and say that I don't think it really impacts the story all that much.)
Meanwhile Peter Cannon and Tabu are aboard the S.S.Manson heading from American to England and Tabu is a little seasick. Peter is coming to London on a writing assignment. The scene shifts back to the underground lair of the Hooded One where he has returned to his familiar robes and we see that his stolen wax dummies resemble a 30's gangster, an ancient sword-wielding warrior, and the Minotaur. He claims to be able to bring these dummies to life to bring about his revenge on T-Bolt.
As Peter and Tabu check into their hotel suddenly the gangster dummy of Machine Gun O'Brien attacks with his tommy gun and only Peter's quick reflexes save the day as he knocks the dummy's head off, and they discover their attacker is wax. The Hooded One is keeping track of this attack in a mysterious pool and immediately dispatches Barbo the Deadly, the ancient warrior.
Peter and Tabu prepare to go to see the sights of London, but while Peter plans on Tower Bridge, Tabu wants to check out the Purple Panic, a mod hangout. Tabu suggests that T-Bolts costume will fit in well with the mod fashions of the day. Nonetheless Peter wears an overcoat and they go to enjoy the music of The Scorpions at the Purple Panic. While there Barbo attacks but is quickly defeated by T-Bolt who disassembles the dummy. The Hooded One is furious and sends his henchman to lure T-Bolt to his lair and the prepares the Minotaur dummy.
Despite knowing it's a trap T-Bolt and Tabu head into the lair and T-Bolt finds himself battling the Minotaur, but using a torch he melts the monstrous opponent, as the Hooded One escapes vowing to get his revenge another time. Back at the Crown Hotel, Tabu begins to record the adventure, but Peter stops him saying it's too absurd. And Tabu agrees that no editor will touch such a lame story, but then Peter asks him if he's ever heard of a guy named "Dick Giordano".
"Thunderbolts" offers up three fan letters. One is full of praise for the book though the static nature of the covers is bothersome, another offers to buy back issues of Charlton if other fans will send lists, and the third really likes T-Bolt and will fight to defend his honor as an exciting and original character. An editor's note confirms that P.A.M. is no longer working on Thunderbolt due to time constraints for such a long regular story, though there is indications that he will be working on westerns in the future. Pat Boyette is announced as the new artist and praised for the speedy way he turned around the current issue. Sergius O'Shaugnessy is announced as the new regular scripter for the title.
The Sensational Sentinels begin their final installment titled "Night of Doom" with Crunch (Brute) Wilson on the verge of pushing a button that will destory the minds of Cindy (Mentalia) Carson and Rick (Helio) Strong. The story is written by Sergius O'Shaugnessy (Denny O'Neil's pseudonym) and drawn by Sam Grainger. Dick Giordano is listed as editor.
Before Crunch can push the button though, Rick draws the Mind-Bender into revealing his plot and his past. He says that the minds of Rick and Cindy will be put into two more Titan androids and they will be under his control. With these soldiers and more like them he will gain great riches. He indicates that he was a research scientist who during a "brain wave" experiment was struck by electricity and given great mental powers. While the Mind-Bender has been talking though, Rick has spotted one of Brute's power gloves and has been using his flying pack to gain leverage to reach it. With the glove on, he damages Mind-Bender's machine and he and Cindy get free. Crunch comes to his senses and the trio battle the Mind-Bender who tries to escape. Helio flies and tries to stop him, but they fight with Mind-Bender ultimately losing his balance and falling to his apparent doom. The lab begins to burn and the Sentinels leave through a hole Brute broke open using an inert Titan. The trio escape and wile Crunch wants to go get coffee, Rick and Cindy walk off together leaving him alone and brooding. This will presumably be picked up next issue, but there will not be another Sentinels story.
The book closes with the great "Action-Heroes? We Got'em!!!" house ad featuring Thunderbolt, Peacemaker, Blue Beetle, Judomaster, and Captain Atom. This might just be my favorite house ad of all time.
Surprisingly solid issue given the last-minute nature of the production. Thunderbolt nears its end of course despite noble efforts of Giordano and company, the whole Action-Hero line will soon disappear. This story by Boyette has a neat self-consciousness about it giving the tale a bit more whimsy and humor than usual. The Hooded One's London henchman makes quite a few jokes about his role and then Peter's final snippet about Giordano really breaks the fourth wall. This is also reinforced by a fake "memo" used at the beginning of the story from Giordano. So I guess "Dick Giordano" is a character now in the Charlton universe, just like Stan and Jack and the Bullpenners are in the Marvel Universe.
One more issue to go.
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