Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt #4
Written by Steve Darnall & Alex Ross
Illustrated by Jonathan Lau
Colors by Vinicius Andrade
Letters by Simon Bowland
Covers by Alex Ross & Stephen Segovia
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: December 12, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt #4 is one fantastic comic book! It’s got a very old school vibe, yet it’s set in modern times, making it one of the few properties that can actually work in modern day. Dynamite has done other pulp heroes and wisely left them in their original time frame, but the creative team proves that Peter Cannon can be updated for current times with great success.

Steve Darnall and Alex Ross bring you an action-packed, well thought out, fun, and entertaining comic to us this month. There is SO much going on in this book, it’s crazy. You’ve got about six different mysteries and subplots running at the same time, yet it’s never confusing or misleading. This issue in particular is a lot of build up to what’s coming, yet the writers are able to weave some great action seamlessly into the story without going out of their way and making it awkward. The character of Peter Cannon is SO interesting, I dare say he’s one of the most entertaining characters in comics today. He’s a modern day guru with deep, dark hidden secrets and he’s also headed towards a war that he probably won’t win. Yet, the character is never bogged down in needless self pity; he’s a true hero and there’s a lot of those missing in comics today.

Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt #1
Written by Steve Darnall & Alex Ross
Art by Jonathan Lau
Colors by Vinicius Andrade
Letters by Simon Bowland
Covers by Alex Ross, John Cassaday, Jae Lee & Ardian Syaf
Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt Ashcan
Foreword by Mark Waid
Written & Illustrated by Pete Morisi
Colored by Mike Kelleher
Pete’s Dragon
Written by Steve Darnall
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: September 5, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt #1 is probably one, if not THE MOST, original super hero story that you’ll read this year. Hands down, bar none. It’s a great change of pace from the “normal” super hero genre books that are being published right now. In short, pretty sure you’re gonna enjoy this one.

Where the heck has writer Steve Darnall been? I read a LOT of comics, ladies and gentlemen, but I haven’t seen his name in a looooooong time. And that’s a shame. In fact, after an exhausting internet search, I can’t find anything credited to him since 1999. Again, really a shame. I absolutely LOVED this book and so will you. It’s quite different from a lot of first issues, there’s no book length long origin, no “I shall be called THUNDERBOLT” moment, but there are panels and inner monologue that give us small clips and snippets of an origin, and the rest pretty much takes care of itself.