REVIEW: ‘Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt,’ Issue #1

Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt #1, which is published by Dynamite Entertainment, is written by Kieron Gillen and drawn by Caspar Wijngaard. Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou serves as the colorist in this issue and Mary Safro is the letterer. The issue follows the story of Peter Cannon, a hero who goes by the name Thunderbolt. Earth has been invaded by aliens and several cities have been destroyed. Other heroes are asking Peter for help, to which he refuses. He doesn’t see the point in helping out a planet that would let this happen in the first place. He eventually gives in but soon finds out that not everything is what it seems.

It’s always great to find new comic books to read. Part of the joy comes from not knowing what you’re getting yourself into and finding a reason to continue with any future installments that are released. What’s also fascinating about new comics are that even if the central character has had previous comics written about them, seeing the new takes on the characters can pull you into the story even more.

Like I stated above, the character of Peter Cannon was originally created by Pete Morisi and first published by Charlton Comics. After Charlton sold its rights to DC Comics in 1983, he was reintroduced to the world and made his first appearance in the Crisis on Infinite Earths series. Knowing this basic information about the character, I really found the way the Gillen wrote him very interesting. Normally, heroes are more than happy to save the day, no matter what. Seeing a hero that’s not willing to help is quite interesting. We get a glimpse as to why he could feel like this in his backstory, but I’m hoping this is expanded in further issues.

Another interesting plot point established in this issue is that all the other heroes are from different countries. They’re only there to ensure the planet’s safety. This seems to be an Earth that’s been divided for some time now. I’m eager to see how the relationships between continues to unfold throughout the series.

Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt #1 itself is visually stunning. The costume designs for the heroes are all unique and look fantastic. It seems like the alien designs take influence from the Xenomorphs, which is great. Even if this isn’t the case, they still look menacing and they fit the part of creatures that would cause a lot of destruction. It’s one thing for books to talk about a city being destroyed, but seeing it in a comic gives readers a better picture. Not only does the opening pages display what the world looks like, but it perfectly captures what the overall feeling of the comic is going to be like.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this issue. The plot and drawings blended together very well and managed to convince me to continue with this series. The ending set up an interesting villain who I’m sure will cause a lot of trouble for Peter. Other than seeing the character in the Crisis series, I don’t know much about him but I’m definitely going to check out more comics on him.

Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt #1 will be available started January 28th wherever comic books are sold.