Thundercats (Star Comics)

Thundercats
Star Comics
1985 - 1988

Thunder...

Thunder...

Thundercats. Ho!

Was it two "thunders" and a Thundercats, or three of them and then Thundercats? Getting too old to remember.

Thundercats burst onto the animated scene in 1985 and stood proudly holding its own against popular shows such as G.I. Joe, Transformers and He-Man to become an iconic cartoon, toy line and yes, even a comic books series.

Marvel Comics produced twenty-four issues of the series under its Star Comics banner. The series initially ran as a bi-monthly title (for the first eight issues) and then shifted to a monthly title.

Unfortunately you won't find any "big" names in the comic industry behind the title. Writers Ford Gilmore and John Lyman as well as artists Brett Booth, Joe Prado Al Vey and Eric Nguyen remain relatively unknown in the world of comics.

Fans looking for even more Marvel related Thundercats stories should turn their attention to the Marvel UK publications which ran for a whopping one hundred twenty-nine issues between 1987 and 1991. Marvel UK also produced several seasonal specials, trade paperbacks and hardcover annuals.

Though Thundercats went dormant for some time thereafter, by 2002 the Thundarians were back in the limelight via DC's Wildstorm banner which churned out several mini-series until 2004. However, it's worth noting none of these stories are considered cannon due to the numerous inconsistencies found within them.

Panini Comics, owners of Marvel UK would once again begin publishing Thundercats stories in 2012. These issues focused on the 2011 iterations of the characters for the very short lived animated reboot. Much like the cartoon, the comic series didn't last long either (eleven issues).

You'll notice with issues twenty-two through twenty-four that Marvel Comics assumed publishing the title. This is because in 1988 the company dissolved the Star Comics label and resumed publishing some of the more popular titles under the Marvel banner.

Thundercats can still be found periodically in print form - The most recent being the 2016 crossover with He-Man from DC Comics. Of course fans still wait for the long announced never seeming to be coming live action film.

In closing, there has been a fantastic fan made trailer for a Thundercats movie floating around for several years. I'm sure many of you have seen it already. If you haven't take a minute to check it out below.

I have to admit - I'd see this film if it were real.

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