Review: ‘Thundercats’ #1 Is A Familar Tune In A Different Key

Stop me if you’ve heard this one. A beloved fantasy action franchise from the 1980’s gets a soft reboot and a new story telling a remixed version of the franchise’s earliest stories. If you thought of another recent reboot, you wouldn’t be wrong, but it also describes this week’s Thundercats #1.

Declan Shalvey, Drew Moss, Arancia Studio, and Jeff Eckleberry return to Third Earth for the first time.

The Thundercats have arrived on Third Earth, barely surviving the devastation on Thundera. With Lion-O aged and Jaga dead, they have to adjust to their new world and a completely changed reality. Unfortunately they’re not alone as they’ve been followed by the Mutant marauders that destroyed Thundera. Little does anyone know that their arrival may have awoken an ancient evil beyond their understanding.

I liked this issue. The issue with it is that it’s too similar to what we’ve seen before. It was only about four months ago that Transformers did the same thing at Skybound. The concept of Thundercats is good, and the execution by Shalvey here is solid throughout. It’s got some solid character moments, and the fight between the ‘Cats and the Mutants is a lot of fun. It’s just too familiar.

Now on the flip side, there are two VERY good twists near the end of the issue that elevate it enough that I wish the issue was longer. If both reveals- the Sword of Omens breaking and an unexpected connection between two key characters that I won’t spoil- had more room to breathe, or even had happened earlier in the issue, I would have liked it quite a bit more. Both open up some very cool storytelling avenues, and they both mean I’d love to check out the rest of the series’ first arc.

Moss’s art is a huge part of the equation too. He has a style that’s cartoony enough to match the cartoon, but also make it stand out as its own thing. He makes Third Earth an interesting setting, the characters are a modernization of the classic designs (though I kind of hate Tygra’s mustache, sorry), and I really like the action. Arancia’s colors are bright enough to match the classic, but uses modern techniques and palettes to make it feel more timeless.

Thundercats #1 is available now from Dynamite Entertainment.