ThunderCats #1 Review: Lion-O Unleashes the Beast!

THUNDER, THUNDER, THUNDERCATS, HOOOO! Yo, fam, that battle cry still gets me hyped after all these years! Dynamite’s ThunderCats #1 comes through with Lion-O, the Sword of Omens, a whole mess of mutant trouble, and enough attitude to remind everybody why these cats have been running around our imaginations since the ’80s. Greg Pak knows he’s dealing with characters people grew up loving, but he ain’t treating them like museum pieces. We’re on Third Earth, the danger is real, and Lion-O’s got more problems than a dude trying to find parking in Brooklyn on alternate-side day. Let’s get into this madness!

The issue kicks off with Lion-O getting into it with a mutant, and brother, this ain’t exactly a friendly neighborhood disagreement. Dude gets knocked around, the other mutants are running their mouths, and our boy is learning that having a legendary sword doesn’t automatically make you the smartest cat in the jungle. There’s a playful edge to the confrontation, but Pak is doing something interesting underneath the punches. Lion-O has power, courage, and a whole lot of heart. Experience? Eh, we’re still working on that one, papo. Being Lord of the ThunderCats sounds wonderful until everybody expects you to know what the hell you’re doing.

Pak gives the story some personality through the characters’ relationships. Cheetara isn’t just hanging around waiting for somebody to yell her name, and the conversations about Lion-O’s responsibilities carry more weight than you might expect from an issue that opens with mutant foolishness. There’s some genuine friction between what Lion-O wants to do and what his people need from him. I dig that. The kid’s got a big destiny hanging over his head, but he’s still impulsive, emotional, and occasionally acting like he needs somebody to take the car keys away. We’ve all known somebody like that, except most of them weren’t carrying a magical sword capable of lighting up the damn sky!

Then we get into the mutants, and these fools are a whole different kind of headache. They’re not simply disposable goons waiting around for Lion-O to practice his sword swings. Pak spends time showing their frustration, their internal arguments, and the ugly business of surviving on a planet where everybody’s fighting for a piece of something. There’s a sequence where Lion-O gets caught in the middle of their anger, and the situation turns nasty in a hurry. The tension builds because the story isn’t pretending every problem on Third Earth can be fixed with one heroic speech. Sometimes people are furious, hungry, scared, and ready to swing first. Sounds like the subway at rush hour, except with more fur.

Now let’s give David Cousens his flowers, because this artwork has ENERGY! The characters are expressive as hell, the action has movement, and Lion-O looks like somebody who could absolutely wreck your afternoon if you caught him in the wrong mood. Cousens isn’t afraid to stretch faces, exaggerate impacts, or let a fight get downright chaotic. The page where Lion-O unleashes the Sword of Omens is pure comic-book goodness, with that blazing ThunderCats symbol cutting through the darkness. WEPA! That’s the kind of visual moment that makes the inner kid in me start yelling at the page. Some of the busier sequences get a little crowded, but the personality never disappears.

Igor Monti’s colors are putting in serious work, too. The greens of Third Earth’s forests, the electric blues of the night scenes, and those explosive oranges and reds during the action give this book a bright, adventurous flavor without making everything look like a Saturday-morning coloring book. Jeff Eckleberry handles the lettering, keeping the banter and battle cries readable even when the panels start getting rowdy. That’s important when you’ve got mutants screaming, swords flashing, and Lion-O trying to make himself heard over all the commotion. The whole visual team understands that ThunderCats should feel BIG, loud, and just a little ridiculous in the best possible way.

Here’s where I gotta bust Pak’s chops a little. The middle of the issue spends a fair amount of time moving characters around and establishing tensions, and some conversations run longer than they need to. I get it, we’re launching a new series and everybody needs a reason to be here. Still, there were a couple of pages where I wanted somebody to stop debating and get this adventure rolling again. Thankfully, when the violence erupts, it REALLY erupts. Lion-O gets pushed hard, the mutants come at him, and the story reminds us that our young Lord of the ThunderCats has a dangerous side he’s still learning to control. That tension gives the action a little more bite than your average good-guys-versus-bad-guys scrap.

The supporting cast also gives this first issue some welcome heart. Tygra, Panthro, Cheetara, and the rest of the crew aren’t just there for a nostalgia roll call. They’re trying to hold things together while Lion-O figures out what kind of leader he wants to become. The closing pages start hinting at a bigger, uglier threat waiting beyond the immediate mutant conflict, and the final reveal is the kind of creepy little surprise that makes you go, “Oh, we doing THAT now?!” Pak leaves us with a proper reason to come back without pretending this opening chapter is some world-ending event. Sometimes a good adventure comic just needs to introduce its people, start a fight, and leave a nasty surprise waiting in the shadows.

ThunderCats #1 is a fun, energetic return to Third Earth with enough character drama to keep it from becoming a nostalgia cash grab. Greg Pak gives Lion-O some real growing pains, David Cousens delivers expressive, hard-hitting artwork, and Igor Monti and Jeff Eckleberry help keep the whole thing looking and sounding like the ThunderCats adventure we want. A few stretches could move faster, sure, but I had a damn good time with this one. The Sword of Omens is back, the mutants are acting up, and there’s trouble brewing in the darkness. Fam, somebody cue that theme song!

Crusaders Score:
4/5

Writer: Greg Pak
Artist: David Cousens
Colorist: Igor Monti
Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry
Cover Artist: Mark Spears
Editor / Packager: Nate Cosby
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment