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Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt (2019) #1-5
Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt
His level of genius is matched only by his heroics, and in humanity's darkest hour, he's the hero they need the most-alas, poor humanity. Peter Cannon-the man known as Thunderbolt-is only too happy to leave civilization to face its end. Kieron Gillen (The Wicked + the Divine) teams up with powerhouse artist Caspar Wijngaard (Doctor Aphra) as he returns to the superhero genre with a dark, humorous and relentless love song to the genre.
Well, "Love Song" in a Leonard Cohen Love Song kind of way. Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt: saving a world he hates.
Well, "Love Song" in a Leonard Cohen Love Song kind of way. Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt: saving a world he hates.
124 pages, Hardcover
First published January 8, 2020
9 people are currently reading
169 people want to read
About the author
Kieron Gillen
1,472 books1,910 followersKieron Gillen is a comic book writer and former media journalist.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
January 28, 2020
It's a neat setup. Peter Cannon was supposed to be Ozymandias in Watchmen until DC got cold feet and made Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons change all the characters from the Charleton heroes to analogues. Now that Dynamite picked up the rights to Peter Cannon, Guillen sets him up in a series taking place right after the end of Watchmen fighting fake aliens. He quickly figures out what is really going on and sets out to find the evil alternate version of himself who instigated this whole mess. Unfortunately, not a whole lot of interest happens after that great setup. It's mostly just a big fight. Caspar Wijingfard's art is very good.
September 22, 2020
Story - 3.50
Graphics - 3.00
Graphics - 3.00
January 24, 2020
Once up a time, DC Comics gained the rights to the Charlton heroes, but rather than allowing Alan Moore to totally deconstruct them, they instead had him create the Watchmen, which were parallels to the iconic heroes. In particular, Ozymandias was Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt.
Then the wheels of time ground on, and DC lost the rights to Cannon, and they didn't really care because they'd scarcely ever used him. Enter Kieron Gillen, who decided to deconstruct the Watchmen using Peter Cannon.
The premise of this comic is pretty brilliant: it starts a few minutes after Watchmen ends, with fake aliens descending on the world. There is at least one other brilliant twist, and when Gillen squarely focuses on the idea of alternate worlds (and alternate Peter Cannons), it feels like he's doing something interesting not just with his story of the Watchmen but also talking about how these characters are used and reused in different forms.
The problem is: nothing much comes of this. Whereas Watchmen used superheroes in original ways, to talk about bigger concepts, PC:T just has superheroes punching each other. And we don't care about most of them, because they're so minimally characterized.
Beyond the brilliant premise, the only other saving grace of this comic is the excellent issue #4, where Peter Cannon enters the "real" world. But it's a detour from a somewhat dull main story.
A shame: there was so much promise here.
Then the wheels of time ground on, and DC lost the rights to Cannon, and they didn't really care because they'd scarcely ever used him. Enter Kieron Gillen, who decided to deconstruct the Watchmen using Peter Cannon.
The premise of this comic is pretty brilliant: it starts a few minutes after Watchmen ends, with fake aliens descending on the world. There is at least one other brilliant twist, and when Gillen squarely focuses on the idea of alternate worlds (and alternate Peter Cannons), it feels like he's doing something interesting not just with his story of the Watchmen but also talking about how these characters are used and reused in different forms.
The problem is: nothing much comes of this. Whereas Watchmen used superheroes in original ways, to talk about bigger concepts, PC:T just has superheroes punching each other. And we don't care about most of them, because they're so minimally characterized.
Beyond the brilliant premise, the only other saving grace of this comic is the excellent issue #4, where Peter Cannon enters the "real" world. But it's a detour from a somewhat dull main story.
A shame: there was so much promise here.
September 1, 2024
When aliens invade Earth, Peter Cannon and his allies thwart them. Peter surmises the invasion was fake and the culprit was... the Peter Cannon of another dimension.
I've been wanting to read this for a couple years and it turns out that on the heels of rereading Watchmen and The Multiversity was the perfect time.
In a meta way, this is a follow up to Watchmen since Peter Cannon was the character upon which Ozymandias was based. Cannon and his allies, analogs of Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Captain America, The Question+The Creeper, and Captain Atom + The Hulk, go up against aliens manufactured by another Peter Cannon and, eventually, the alternate Peter Cannon himself.
Caspar Wijngaard slick style is more Charlton than Dave Gibbons and does a great job depicting the tale. Wijngaard and Gillen do some heavy lifting exploring themes laid down by Watchmen forty years ago, from the smartest man on the planet trying to save the world to the nine panel grid.
While it's a response to Watchmen as people say, it feels more like a Grant Morrison book that plays with the nature of comics than anything else. I don't know that I'd call it an all-timer just yet but it's very very good at what it sets out to do. Four out of five stars.
I've been wanting to read this for a couple years and it turns out that on the heels of rereading Watchmen and The Multiversity was the perfect time.
In a meta way, this is a follow up to Watchmen since Peter Cannon was the character upon which Ozymandias was based. Cannon and his allies, analogs of Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Captain America, The Question+The Creeper, and Captain Atom + The Hulk, go up against aliens manufactured by another Peter Cannon and, eventually, the alternate Peter Cannon himself.
Caspar Wijngaard slick style is more Charlton than Dave Gibbons and does a great job depicting the tale. Wijngaard and Gillen do some heavy lifting exploring themes laid down by Watchmen forty years ago, from the smartest man on the planet trying to save the world to the nine panel grid.
While it's a response to Watchmen as people say, it feels more like a Grant Morrison book that plays with the nature of comics than anything else. I don't know that I'd call it an all-timer just yet but it's very very good at what it sets out to do. Four out of five stars.
January 13, 2020
Every comic book writer has something to say about Watchmen.
This is Kieron Gillen's take on it. Admittedly, it's a more entertaining take than most. He urges everyone to give a rest to the constant deconstruction that plagues superhero stories. He asks for a more human approach to superhero storytelling. He wants to tone down the obsession comic creators have with the comic book form/medium and make the stories more organic.
He does this while pulling off some impressive tricks with the comic book format himself. For example: it involves one of the most innovative methods of inter-dimensional travel I have seen. A battle sequence in one of the earlier issues also makes great use of the panel layout.
The problem is, this story also lacks the humanity Gillen talks about. The main characters are barely characters, let alone humans. They talk in stilted superhero dialogue, even when conversing with former lovers. The supporting cast is just a group of walking costumes and powers.
Gillen offers an innovative method of more human writing, while pulling inspiration from one of the more offbeat eras of comics. But even his human characters are little more than a few clever references to old comics and a few lines of dialogue.
An enjoyable read, but not that great.
This is Kieron Gillen's take on it. Admittedly, it's a more entertaining take than most. He urges everyone to give a rest to the constant deconstruction that plagues superhero stories. He asks for a more human approach to superhero storytelling. He wants to tone down the obsession comic creators have with the comic book form/medium and make the stories more organic.
He does this while pulling off some impressive tricks with the comic book format himself. For example: it involves one of the most innovative methods of inter-dimensional travel I have seen. A battle sequence in one of the earlier issues also makes great use of the panel layout.
The problem is, this story also lacks the humanity Gillen talks about. The main characters are barely characters, let alone humans. They talk in stilted superhero dialogue, even when conversing with former lovers. The supporting cast is just a group of walking costumes and powers.
Gillen offers an innovative method of more human writing, while pulling inspiration from one of the more offbeat eras of comics. But even his human characters are little more than a few clever references to old comics and a few lines of dialogue.
An enjoyable read, but not that great.
September 17, 2020
Really enjoyed this one, 4.5 stars!
An optimistic rejoinder to the bleak and nihilistic Watchmen, Gillen continues to tilt his hat towards his forebears (Moore in this case) while carving out his own niche. There's a nice bit of Grant Morrison's metatextual meddling that works much better for me than any of Morrison's funky experiments. As an added benefit, the book looks terrific (not to mention that 4th issue style-switch) even when it's at its most gutter-smashing.
As much as it works on its own, I kind of hope there's more of this en route!
An optimistic rejoinder to the bleak and nihilistic Watchmen, Gillen continues to tilt his hat towards his forebears (Moore in this case) while carving out his own niche. There's a nice bit of Grant Morrison's metatextual meddling that works much better for me than any of Morrison's funky experiments. As an added benefit, the book looks terrific (not to mention that 4th issue style-switch) even when it's at its most gutter-smashing.
As much as it works on its own, I kind of hope there's more of this en route!
January 8, 2020
Created by Pete Morisi in 1966, Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt was originally published by Charlton Comics and although he made a number of appearances in the DC universe, arguably his greatest contribution was being the inspiration for the character Ozymandias in Watchmen. Owned by Morisi’s estate since his death in 2003, Dynamite breathed new life into Peter Cannon starting with a limited series a few years ago. Gillen himself has been very vocal about his love for Watchmen, as is evident in this five-issue series.
Please click here for my full review.
Please click here for my full review.
June 1, 2019
About a year back I was in the pub with Gillen, and the subject of DC's ludicrous Watchmen crossover/sequel Doomsday Clock came up. He mentioned a bit of a plan he had for an alternative take on that concept. And then the word came through that he was making a brief return to superhero comics with this, a series starring the character most famous for inspiring Watchmen's Ozymandias. And still, I was very nearly at the end of the first issue before I put two and two together. For all my tendency to spot patterns, sometimes I'm surprisingly good at missing the big ones. This is very much a book about patterns, though; even by the standards of Gillen's past work it's high on formalist trickery, loaded with riffs and references, yet still agile and current and, well, *good* in precisely the ways Doomsday Clock isn't (I think this whole miniseries pretty much came out during the gap between two much-delayed issues of that mess; would that the real doomsday clock ticked so slow). There's a real sense of daring and joy here, a constant sense of 'Are they really getting away with this?' which never quite settles down, so that even once it's apparent that the comic is riffing on Moore's peers and heirs as well as on Watchmen, even after the Ellis, Morrison and Millar issues, the next twist still comes as a proper jaw-dropper. Yes, it's a comic about comics, and it probably helps if you enjoy those as much as I do – but then so was Watchmen itself, and that seemed to do alright even with the uninitiated. It's also a story about the fundamental obscenity of any attempt to overwrite the messiness of real life with sterile perfection, and that's an issue which sadly never seems to lose topicality. If I have a complaint, and it's a mild one, it's that I would have liked to see more of the Dream Daddy-styled rework of Cannon's friend and former lover Tabu. But I think that's exactly how we're supposed to feel, a pull towards the human story and away from the superhuman.
February 14, 2020
I would've loved this regardless. It's too smart and too fresh and trusts its reader too much for me not to love it, but would I have loved it quite so much if I hadn't read it right after finishing Batman: The Dark Knight Returns? When the lessons of this book were juxtaposed so beautifully against such an ideal trite, dated example? Impossible to know.
All I can say is that there is so much here I want to talk about...not in a review, but with someone who's read it, whose ideas will push my own in new directions. Because while I'm greatly enjoying my mind being in a bit of a froth about art and trends and boundaries in media and stories and the way stories shape us and the way stories shape further stories and how we respond to and criticize those stories and how those responses shape us, these are not the sorts of thoughts that do their best work in solitary confinement.
All I can say is that there is so much here I want to talk about...not in a review, but with someone who's read it, whose ideas will push my own in new directions. Because while I'm greatly enjoying my mind being in a bit of a froth about art and trends and boundaries in media and stories and the way stories shape us and the way stories shape further stories and how we respond to and criticize those stories and how those responses shape us, these are not the sorts of thoughts that do their best work in solitary confinement.
February 6, 2023
Post modernism in a super hero comic! Both the story of a super genius unraveling a plot by another super genius in another dimension, as a rumination on the consumer of this kind of art, breaking the fourth wall, in an effort to do something different/new/fresh.
This would have been a 5 star read, but the other elements of craft felt really, really basic. It is often defaulted to six panels, the artwork is passable, but not much more. The use of space, especially in an oversized issue presentation like this, really makes it feel lacklustre and hodgepodge, really. So much space is under utilized and the style looks like it is very quick. Little to no detail. In fact, the variant covers for the issues are miles better than what anyone would expect in the actual pages. It’s a shame; since the actual story is very fun and succeeds at being different.
This would have been a 5 star read, but the other elements of craft felt really, really basic. It is often defaulted to six panels, the artwork is passable, but not much more. The use of space, especially in an oversized issue presentation like this, really makes it feel lacklustre and hodgepodge, really. So much space is under utilized and the style looks like it is very quick. Little to no detail. In fact, the variant covers for the issues are miles better than what anyone would expect in the actual pages. It’s a shame; since the actual story is very fun and succeeds at being different.
April 16, 2021
"This? All of this? You did it thirty years ago."
How is Doomsday Clock, a literal sequel to Watchmen that is also a crossover with the DC Universe that involves Dr. Manhattan literally fuck with the DC Universe to make it more dark a less hamfisted story about how people shouldn't blindly ape off Watchmen than this?
This story has a good idea, I know this because I've seen other stories do it. The story starts around the time Watchmen ends, with the fake Alien invasion, where Peter Cannon and his group of 0ne dimensional characters stop it. Peter pieces together that this was an intentional attack to bring the world together, just like Ozy's plan was, but this was done by a Peter Cannon of another universe.
From there Peter and his...colleagues all go to confront him and goes on a quest which makes him become a better more complete person. It should be good, but the ideas are so surface level that I don't care much about the commentary because I've seen it done better elsewhere, and it also doesn't have the characters to back it up since they're all intentionally one dimensional, more ideas than anything, which is fine if you don't also have the previous problem. You can have one or the other but you can't be lacking in both areas.
I also can't count the amount of times I rolled my eyes whenever the story did something that was literally just what Watchmen did. You can make a deconstruction or commentary on a work without literally just repeating the same images and phrases that the work you're commenting on did. It's groan worthy.
The art's ok, nothing really special that elevates the source material or anything.
A good idea that's hampered by not really developing anything outside of the surface level. It's a story that begs for comics to move past Watchmen while basing it's entire identity on Watchmen. It's the meta-fictional equivalent of when a series makes fun of itself for it's tropes but does nothing to subvert them and just keeps...doing the tropes.
How is Doomsday Clock, a literal sequel to Watchmen that is also a crossover with the DC Universe that involves Dr. Manhattan literally fuck with the DC Universe to make it more dark a less hamfisted story about how people shouldn't blindly ape off Watchmen than this?
This story has a good idea, I know this because I've seen other stories do it. The story starts around the time Watchmen ends, with the fake Alien invasion, where Peter Cannon and his group of 0ne dimensional characters stop it. Peter pieces together that this was an intentional attack to bring the world together, just like Ozy's plan was, but this was done by a Peter Cannon of another universe.
From there Peter and his...colleagues all go to confront him and goes on a quest which makes him become a better more complete person. It should be good, but the ideas are so surface level that I don't care much about the commentary because I've seen it done better elsewhere, and it also doesn't have the characters to back it up since they're all intentionally one dimensional, more ideas than anything, which is fine if you don't also have the previous problem. You can have one or the other but you can't be lacking in both areas.
I also can't count the amount of times I rolled my eyes whenever the story did something that was literally just what Watchmen did. You can make a deconstruction or commentary on a work without literally just repeating the same images and phrases that the work you're commenting on did. It's groan worthy.
The art's ok, nothing really special that elevates the source material or anything.
A good idea that's hampered by not really developing anything outside of the surface level. It's a story that begs for comics to move past Watchmen while basing it's entire identity on Watchmen. It's the meta-fictional equivalent of when a series makes fun of itself for it's tropes but does nothing to subvert them and just keeps...doing the tropes.
January 8, 2020
Why it seems like screenwriters have no time these days? It`s like "fuck all that character and scene building and let`s get to the cool shit as fast as we can". There are some brilliant ideas but it`s too rushed, too shallow, too on the nose. There is nothing so new and groundbreaking you can afford to ditch everything but your cool concepts. I mean - there is nothing Grant Morrison haven`t done already, you just put it on Watchmen premise.
January 30, 2020
Apparently this is the universe that was going to be the Watchmen universe until DC chickened out. While the original Watchmen is a classic bit of comic storytelling it is overly long and wordy and needlessly (excessively) Alan Moore.
This comic is a lot of the above but done on a concise streamlined fashion. It essentially tells the story in just five issues and is not nearly as bloated with filler or excess characters. If you enjoyed the original Watchmen give this a quick read you should enjoy the story as well. Finding the similarity between the two was a fun bonus.
This comic is a lot of the above but done on a concise streamlined fashion. It essentially tells the story in just five issues and is not nearly as bloated with filler or excess characters. If you enjoyed the original Watchmen give this a quick read you should enjoy the story as well. Finding the similarity between the two was a fun bonus.
August 20, 2021
A fun quick read that shows you can do superhero deconstruction without having your characters acting like brooding douchebags. Really insistant in establishing its anti-Watchmen identity but very smartly written otherwise and I loved the art.
Read
July 6, 2023Kieron Gillen be like
- What if the superhero was gay tho
- Reference Watchmen
- Formal experimentation
- Sorcery!
- Profit
And I’m not complaining
- What if the superhero was gay tho
- Reference Watchmen
- Formal experimentation
- Sorcery!
- Profit
And I’m not complaining
June 3, 2019
I picked up the first issue of this from my LCS on a whim, because I love Gillen's work, and the idea of him returning to a superhero sounded enticing. And after finishing this 5-issue series, I can confirm that "Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt" is incredibly enticing. It's not entirely satisfying in the end, but it's a spectacular ode to comics as a medium and Gillen and Wijngaard have a lot of fun playing with and breaking the tropes we all associate with the superhero genre.
This story is wild and weird and intentionally obtuse. The characters, which I never heard of before reading this (although I know now that Cannon was the original inspiration for "Watchmen's" Ozymandias), are interesting, but outside of Cannon himself, lacked the kind of depth I needed to get invested. But, this is Cannon's show, and thankfully, he's excellent. His casual hyper-intelligence and the immensity of his mission are potent, even as his reaction to the (admittedly horrific) things he sees remains relatively nonchalant. Gillen's writing is, as always, very strong, and his signature air of dark, introspective pretention remains as enjoyable as ever. This is a writer who knows the superhero genre well, and this comic reads like a love/break-up letter to that genre, as he both embraces and utterly dismantles the tropes of the superhero.
The real star of this comic though, at least for me, is Caspar Wijngaard's art and Mary Safro's colors. Wijngaard's linework is stunning, and the way he maneuvers through an almost-constant 9-panel grid is spectacular. And when he breaks from the grid, I almost had to set the book down because of the amount of creativity and originality that he displays. Wijngaard's expressions are also phenomenal, especially when paired with Safro's coloring, where every line and glance of the characters practically leaps off the page. Safro's colors show a lot of restraint too, and she plays with dark and light in a lot of beautiful ways. And I'm not even going to mention the kind of spectacle Wijngaard and Safro pull off in the latter half of this comic when things get truly cosmic and the artwork catapults itself into an entirely different dimension of excellence. Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou's lettering is also great, and I loved the ways that Gillen let him do something unheard of in a comic (no spoilers, but you'll know what I'm referring to when you see it).
The only reason I don't give this 5-stars is because of the ending. The conclusion is appropriate, but not entirely satisfying. Gillen plays with so many lofty concepts and ideas that when this story ends on a fairly vanilla, almost predictable note, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment. Still, this comic was an experience, and it's one I'm beyond happy to have gotten on-board with. Breathtaking artwork and some incredible, genre-breaking story choices make this a series that will have a home on my shelf for a long time.
This story is wild and weird and intentionally obtuse. The characters, which I never heard of before reading this (although I know now that Cannon was the original inspiration for "Watchmen's" Ozymandias), are interesting, but outside of Cannon himself, lacked the kind of depth I needed to get invested. But, this is Cannon's show, and thankfully, he's excellent. His casual hyper-intelligence and the immensity of his mission are potent, even as his reaction to the (admittedly horrific) things he sees remains relatively nonchalant. Gillen's writing is, as always, very strong, and his signature air of dark, introspective pretention remains as enjoyable as ever. This is a writer who knows the superhero genre well, and this comic reads like a love/break-up letter to that genre, as he both embraces and utterly dismantles the tropes of the superhero.
The real star of this comic though, at least for me, is Caspar Wijngaard's art and Mary Safro's colors. Wijngaard's linework is stunning, and the way he maneuvers through an almost-constant 9-panel grid is spectacular. And when he breaks from the grid, I almost had to set the book down because of the amount of creativity and originality that he displays. Wijngaard's expressions are also phenomenal, especially when paired with Safro's coloring, where every line and glance of the characters practically leaps off the page. Safro's colors show a lot of restraint too, and she plays with dark and light in a lot of beautiful ways. And I'm not even going to mention the kind of spectacle Wijngaard and Safro pull off in the latter half of this comic when things get truly cosmic and the artwork catapults itself into an entirely different dimension of excellence. Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou's lettering is also great, and I loved the ways that Gillen let him do something unheard of in a comic (no spoilers, but you'll know what I'm referring to when you see it).
The only reason I don't give this 5-stars is because of the ending. The conclusion is appropriate, but not entirely satisfying. Gillen plays with so many lofty concepts and ideas that when this story ends on a fairly vanilla, almost predictable note, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment. Still, this comic was an experience, and it's one I'm beyond happy to have gotten on-board with. Breathtaking artwork and some incredible, genre-breaking story choices make this a series that will have a home on my shelf for a long time.
June 15, 2020
Kieron is both a very smart writer and a frustrating writer. Give this one a 2.5 - right down the middle - for me. As with the Young Avengers - his ability to execute his grand ideas is his fatal flaw as a writer. I am beginning to think he (like the thesis of this series suggests) should stick to more character driven plots because his Grand Ideas come off as pretentious and he forgets to write a compelling story to showcase them in.
I will admit - this is a book you probably need to read side by side with the Watchman to get some of the panel homages (lifts) that punctuate this book. This is a meta-commentary on comics since the 80's. Because it is more of a lecture than an adventure, reading it a few times would help me get at the commentary the author is trying to tell us - but I would prefer a one page double spaced note from Kierron on his thoughts. I don't think I needed a five issue comic book with great art to drive this point home. I don't think a point is more effective when it is delivered in this cute wink at the cameras way. I similarly didn't buy into the Morrison run of Animal Man.
My main problem with these meta-comics is - if they don't work as a story on their own then why not just write out a one page essay on your thoughts? If Kierron just wanted to say "hey! I think comic book writers were overly influenced by The Watchmen and needed to remember to have fun and write their own stories" just say that.
My main problem with THIS thesis is I think it is 100% flawed. We are in 2020 and there ARE plenty of different comics of all types, written and drawn by wonderful and inventive creators that use the media in many different ways. If this had come out in the mid-90's, okay. Comics were on the downswing thanks to editors who wanted BIG EVENTS and forgot about human stories.
As a rift on The Watchmen it is okay - I guess. As a rift on breaking the fourth wall it is cute. As an overall story - it was trying to be more clever than it managed in the end.
I will admit - this is a book you probably need to read side by side with the Watchman to get some of the panel homages (lifts) that punctuate this book. This is a meta-commentary on comics since the 80's. Because it is more of a lecture than an adventure, reading it a few times would help me get at the commentary the author is trying to tell us - but I would prefer a one page double spaced note from Kierron on his thoughts. I don't think I needed a five issue comic book with great art to drive this point home. I don't think a point is more effective when it is delivered in this cute wink at the cameras way. I similarly didn't buy into the Morrison run of Animal Man.
My main problem with these meta-comics is - if they don't work as a story on their own then why not just write out a one page essay on your thoughts? If Kierron just wanted to say "hey! I think comic book writers were overly influenced by The Watchmen and needed to remember to have fun and write their own stories" just say that.
My main problem with THIS thesis is I think it is 100% flawed. We are in 2020 and there ARE plenty of different comics of all types, written and drawn by wonderful and inventive creators that use the media in many different ways. If this had come out in the mid-90's, okay. Comics were on the downswing thanks to editors who wanted BIG EVENTS and forgot about human stories.
As a rift on The Watchmen it is okay - I guess. As a rift on breaking the fourth wall it is cute. As an overall story - it was trying to be more clever than it managed in the end.
July 9, 2023
La revisión de Watchmen que nadie esperaba. Este personaje original de la Charlton Comics vuelve a tener un tratamiento actual después de estar en manos de Alex Ross, Steve Darnall y Pete Morisi. Pero Kieron Gillen eleva la apuesta de esta nueva miniserie para Peter Cannon planteando, además de una reformulación de este personaje y su mundo. Con este superhéroe en una clave de "sex symbol" muy poco interesado por los deberes superheroicos del equipo al que está asociado hasta que una amenaza universal hace que sienta que sea necesaria su participación... Pero la amenaza es más grande de lo que espera... y personal.
Este "Thunderbolt" presenta esa poderosa idea de "¿Y si Ozymandias tuviese los poderes del Dr. Manhattan?". Lo que sería un anecdótico "What If..?" en manos de DC cómics, con Kieron en Dynamite logra unas interesantes ramificaciones que quizás sin bagaje total del personaje, no se sientan tan interesantes. E incluso el osado juego metanarrativo de emplear esta premisa como crítica a la "rapiña" editorial de Watchmen en los últimos años por parte de DC, queda bastante difuso. Necesitando de los textos del autor en el "contenido extra" del recopilatorio para tenerlo totalmente claro.
El cómic se disfruta como "una lectura más" del género algo ajena al maremágnum de la oferta de las cabeceras centrales de las majors. Pero los objetivos de Kieron Gillen con esta oportunidad seguramente no se vean cumplidos en la mayor parte de las lecturas.
Este "Thunderbolt" presenta esa poderosa idea de "¿Y si Ozymandias tuviese los poderes del Dr. Manhattan?". Lo que sería un anecdótico "What If..?" en manos de DC cómics, con Kieron en Dynamite logra unas interesantes ramificaciones que quizás sin bagaje total del personaje, no se sientan tan interesantes. E incluso el osado juego metanarrativo de emplear esta premisa como crítica a la "rapiña" editorial de Watchmen en los últimos años por parte de DC, queda bastante difuso. Necesitando de los textos del autor en el "contenido extra" del recopilatorio para tenerlo totalmente claro.
El cómic se disfruta como "una lectura más" del género algo ajena al maremágnum de la oferta de las cabeceras centrales de las majors. Pero los objetivos de Kieron Gillen con esta oportunidad seguramente no se vean cumplidos en la mayor parte de las lecturas.
May 12, 2020
Peter Cannon Thunderbolt works more as a vessel for Gillen’s take on the post-Watchmen superhero comics environment, than as an actual story about the character that Ozymandias was based on. Still, that doesn’t make PCT any bad; it is a very enjoyable story, with interesting takes on mainstream superhero elements, but works best when it is a “response” to Watchmen and when it decides to tell the reader what it is about.
Usually I don’t like stories than are less of an actual story and more of a lesson, but PCT works. Both the boldness of Gillen’s take and Wijngaard’s art make for a fun book, where I didn’t mind at all that I was being lectured (it helps a lot that the lecture is fresher than just “Watchmen is good/Watchmen is bad”) and when it got to the heavier stuff, I still care for the characters, despite them being kind of flat.
I think Peter Cannon Thunderbolt is a must read for fans of superhero comics, even those that feel that have moved away from Watchmen’s influence; I appreciate more takes on the “great works” of this medium like this, instead of stuff like Doomsday Clock. “You did it thirty years ago” is one of the harshest things that could be said about the industry and it makes for an amazing lesson here.
Usually I don’t like stories than are less of an actual story and more of a lesson, but PCT works. Both the boldness of Gillen’s take and Wijngaard’s art make for a fun book, where I didn’t mind at all that I was being lectured (it helps a lot that the lecture is fresher than just “Watchmen is good/Watchmen is bad”) and when it got to the heavier stuff, I still care for the characters, despite them being kind of flat.
I think Peter Cannon Thunderbolt is a must read for fans of superhero comics, even those that feel that have moved away from Watchmen’s influence; I appreciate more takes on the “great works” of this medium like this, instead of stuff like Doomsday Clock. “You did it thirty years ago” is one of the harshest things that could be said about the industry and it makes for an amazing lesson here.
April 26, 2023
Kieron Gillen is one of my favorite comics scribes, and his version of Peter Cannon - Thunderbolt is a minor masterpiece, if one that works better for readers with some comics history under their belts (the Alec riff is a deep cut at this point). Peter Cannon is an old Charlton hero and is more famous today for being the template for Watchmen's Ozymandias. Gillen basically writes a Cannon vs. Ozy story in an extended commentary about Watchmen and the shadow it casts on the comics scene, totally in line with my own opinion that writers and artists today too often cannibalize past hits without really understanding what made them relevant in the first place. That fascination with Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns has led to boring dark deconstructionism for its own sake since the mid-80s. Gillen begs comics to try something else. Excellent work from Caspar Wijngaard playing with page composition (including Watchmen's 9-panel grid) and varying his style to suit where we are in the story. The comics formalism is part Moore, part Morrison, but what's being said (indeed about both writers' work, among others) is all Gillen.
May 18, 2020
There is so much to be said about this series. The way Kieron Gillen tackles comic history and makes use of it in a sort of meta-commentary can be endlessly explored. The brilliant battles and display of movement that Caspar Wijngaard etches into every issue. The warm and magical colours that Mary Safro brings in that make it feel like an explosion of spirit in every scene. Hassan Ostmane-Elhaou's multiple styles of lettering and how it changes for the characters show a clear evolution told not just through the content of the words but the appearance of them themselves. But above all, it's a story about a man who can put the world in a box and becomes detached from it. It's a story about recognizing your flaws and not trying to objectively fix them but to improve upon yourself. It begs the reader to demand more from themselves, and from the art they consume. Never being content with being only what you are, and always trying to learn more about yourself and the people around you.
September 5, 2025
Every superfan of comics who's read Watchmen and has had thoughts on its influence on cape comics owes it to themselves to read Gillen's Thunderbolt. Amazing comic. This is a comic that will be absolutely illegible if you haven't read not only Watchmen (the original by Moore & Gibbons) but also the decades of superhero comics that were inspired by it and derivative of it. It is not something I can recommend to regular people - in fact, I read it years ago before I read Watchmen and found it confusing and unapproachable.
But if you've read Watchmen and your brain is rotted by thousands of superhero comics like mine, I think you'll really get a kick out of this. Fun, clever. Wijngaard & Gillen together before The Power Fantasy, possibly one of the greatest superhero comics of all time, let alone the decade.
But if you've read Watchmen and your brain is rotted by thousands of superhero comics like mine, I think you'll really get a kick out of this. Fun, clever. Wijngaard & Gillen together before The Power Fantasy, possibly one of the greatest superhero comics of all time, let alone the decade.
August 21, 2020
A Sequel To Alan Moore
It seems the era of takes on Watchmen is upon us. There’s Lindelof’s show, there’s John’s caped crossover and now Gillen’s imagining of another future and another dimension. I’ve yet to read Doomsday Clock but this may be my favorite take so far. It does overlap a bit with the ideas that Lindelof explores. It’s fascinating that some of the most powerful defense of humanity comes from analyzing humanity through the lens of someone so different from humans. I know I can be quite giving when it comes to ratings but this book is genuinely a beautiful book. Granted, there are some meta/deconstructive elements that was a tad confusing/required some re-read but I guess that’s par for the course for those elements - for me, at least.
It seems the era of takes on Watchmen is upon us. There’s Lindelof’s show, there’s John’s caped crossover and now Gillen’s imagining of another future and another dimension. I’ve yet to read Doomsday Clock but this may be my favorite take so far. It does overlap a bit with the ideas that Lindelof explores. It’s fascinating that some of the most powerful defense of humanity comes from analyzing humanity through the lens of someone so different from humans. I know I can be quite giving when it comes to ratings but this book is genuinely a beautiful book. Granted, there are some meta/deconstructive elements that was a tad confusing/required some re-read but I guess that’s par for the course for those elements - for me, at least.
March 9, 2020
Ok. So this seems to be Gillen's reaction to Watchmen. Everybody has one. Gillen's is to deconstruct the ultimate superhero deconstruction, which is not the same as a reconstruction. That sounds complicated, and I suppose it is, but it makes sense while you're reading it. The book starts in what is essentially the last few minutes of Watchmen, with a very big difference. From there, it's sometimes thought compelling, sometimes confused, sometimes touching. More successful than not, but probably not everything Gillen hoped, or at least I don't think I got everything he hoped I would get out of it.
December 29, 2019
Out of all the sequels to Watchmen released this year, Gillen’s take here may be my favourite. It’s dense in a way that may make it impenetrable to those that aren’t familiar with both Watchmen and the dozens of writers it inspired - but this ultimately works to its strengths.
A bold, funny and daring response to Watchmen that begs to be read and reread many, many times.
It’s also got a great art team. Look forward to seeing Wijngaard’s next work, and I hope Mary Safro continues to colour him.
A bold, funny and daring response to Watchmen that begs to be read and reread many, many times.
It’s also got a great art team. Look forward to seeing Wijngaard’s next work, and I hope Mary Safro continues to colour him.
January 31, 2020
Thunderbolt is Kieron's love-letter to the Watchmen. The parallels and jokes are very obvious, but I think you'll get most of the story if you have heard Kieron's lecture on why he loves Watchmen.
I don't think Thunderbolt is trying to be taken too seriously. It's short and fun meta-comic on comic medium, there's a bit of philosophy but it's not forced down your throat - if you want to think about it, you can, otherwise just have fun.
Overall I'd recommend it to other genre lovers, but not to wider audience.
I don't think Thunderbolt is trying to be taken too seriously. It's short and fun meta-comic on comic medium, there's a bit of philosophy but it's not forced down your throat - if you want to think about it, you can, otherwise just have fun.
Overall I'd recommend it to other genre lovers, but not to wider audience.
April 4, 2025
TW: emotional abuse, gore
I got this book as a gift since I'm known for loving Watchmen. I finally decided to sit down and read it, and I'm very glad that I did. While the first issue suffers from the awkward stiffness that is establishing a new world and new characters for a five issue run, once the plot gets going, that is where this comic shines. The development of Peter Cannon displayed through the usage of the comic format is something really cool to see, and I loved some of the panel work done. It's a short but engaging story, exploring one character more than a world of them.
I got this book as a gift since I'm known for loving Watchmen. I finally decided to sit down and read it, and I'm very glad that I did. While the first issue suffers from the awkward stiffness that is establishing a new world and new characters for a five issue run, once the plot gets going, that is where this comic shines. The development of Peter Cannon displayed through the usage of the comic format is something really cool to see, and I loved some of the panel work done. It's a short but engaging story, exploring one character more than a world of them.
January 9, 2020
Pure Meta Amazingness. I knew this would have Watchmen references, but I didn't realize the extent of it. Weaponization of the 9-panel grid? Constant character analogues? Dimension hopping weirdness? Sad gays? Yes to all of it. There is literally a character who is basically if Joker was a Twitch streamer with gattling guns for hands, and is somehow also our Rorschach analogue. This book is insane, but despite all the formalism, it still has a heart. Comics, everybody!
May 6, 2021
While the story in this graphic novel is mostly enjoyable, I couldn't help but feel like there was a lot of context I just wasn't getting. Once I read the back matter and discovered that this is a legacy character, it made a bit more sense. There's some fun with format and incorporating the nine panel grid format into the story itself, but it's mostly a one-against-one story that felt a little hollow with me not having the context of the character's history.
September 20, 2021
This is hands down the best sequel to Watchmen. I adored this. I went in not expecting it to live up to the hype and instead it outperformed the hype for me. This is the kind of comic that I feel that steps aside from the usual comic narrative and instead becomes something more mythic. It's absolutely referencing Watchman multiple times while being a more sensitive, heartfelt work. It almost gets to the root of what I always wondered, wouldn't a super person also have super emotions?
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