‘ThunderCats’ #1 Breaks Through 100,000 Copies Ordered
by Erik Amaya
ThunderCats are indeed on the move.
Dynamite revealed Thursday that the first issue of their upcoming ThunderCats series from writer Declan Shalvey and artist Drew Moss has already crossed a significant milestone — over 100,000 copies have already been ordered ahead of the final order cutoff date this coming weekend. The six digit threshold is a major achievement and a sign that fans and retailers alike are anticipating the long-awaited return of the ‘Cats, their foes, and the world of Third Earth.
As we previously reported, the series will tell a new tale of the title characters as they first reach Third Earth following the destruction of their homeworld, Thundera. Young Lion-O, now aged into the body of a grown man thanks to a malfunctioning cryo-sleep chamber, must quickly learn to be the team’s leader as he is the only one who can wield the Sword of Omens and harness the power of the Eye of Thundera within its hilt. Additionally, as Shalvey told our own Anton Kromoff, “the tone could be described as a slightly darker, more grounded take on the characters.” Although not grimdark, it will confront the trauma from fleeing Thundera and the difficulties in establishing a new home with, of course, “a lot of kicking and punching to come along with it.”
Some of the darkness to be explored comes from the original animated series with the villainous Mumm-Ra looking to destroy the Sword of Omens by any means available to him. Also, we have to admit, his transformation from mummified corpse to his musclebound “Ever-Living” form was one of the more unnerving scenes in 1980s afterschool television.
The comic book is part of an ongoing partnership between Dynamite and Warner Bros. — one that appears to be off to good start thanks to the interest in ThunderCats. The first issue — featuring covers from Shalvey, David Nakayama, Lucio Parrillo, Jae Lee, Ivan Tao, and more — is due out on stands February 7th.
