Perhaps the 1980s Alan Moore would've done some of these twisted things to the ThunderCats, and fans would've had a right to feel uneasy…but at least he would've made an effort to craft a real story around the bleakness. They did this, however, without Moore's careful characterizations or ability to truly sell a scene. In the days of Wizard magazine and early online fandom, creators wanted to imitate the more daring aspects of Moore's work (as he remained the most acclaimed writer in comics), and were far freer to do so in non-Comics Code Approved imprints like Wildstorm. The Return is worthy of review, if only for how it represents the era of its conception. RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Laurie Foster Dives Into Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell's Inclusive MissionĬritics have grown increasingly hostile toward Moore's use of sexual violence in his work, yet his output is of course still viewed as significant and worthy of study. Large portions of the miniseries read as a juvenile attempt at cramming the ThunderCats into a Miracleman-era Alan Moore plot. Events such as Wily-Kat betraying his family, or the revelation of Snarf's perilous mental state, are rushed through with no real dramatic weight, leaving the reader with no connection to all of this alleged tragedy. The quality of the writing isn't nearly sophisticated enough to match the desolate world the story's created. Is The Return a story strong enough to survive its more off-putting elements? Plainly, no. ThunderCats: The Return is lucky it was released during a different era of online fandom. Social media backlash to comics like Benes' Justice League seems to have pressured the major comics companies into severely de-sexualizing their female heroes. Ed Benes is the artist who later penciled Justice League, never missing an opportunity to contort the female cast members into Playboy-worthy poses. Rendering the once-wholesome ThunderCats as implied sex slaves, one of them a character the audience previously only knew as a child, is going to provoke some kind of response from the readers. ThunderCats fans, however, had mixed responses to the miniseries, and over the years it's become rather notorious. The Return was released during a period of numerous '80s revamp projects, and to some extent, got lost in the shuffle. He's the one who declared that his training was not be interrupted, which prevented the ThunderCats from calling on their leader during Mumm-Ra's initial attack. Cheetara and Tygra are then freed from the Mutants' clutches, and Cheetara (who we meet chained up by the Mutants in provocative fashion) doesn't hide her antipathy towards Lion-O. After killing one of the Monkians guarding the Thundrillium mines, and accepting that many of his fellow Thunderarians will sacrifice their lives to cover his escape, Lion-O rescues Panthro. Lion-O sets out to reform the ThunderCats, unaware that Mumm-Ra is watching from afar. Not helping this is Gilmore's tendency to cut back to Mumm-Ra when he's being serviced by WilyKit, who's referred to explicitly as his "concubine" in a later issue. And the twins WilyKat and WilyKit serve Mumm-Ra as his personal slaves - albeit with completely new looks.Īs many readers have noticed, WilyKat and WilyKit were likely under the age of 13 before this five-year gap, making their appearance here even creepier when you do the math. Bengali's bones are left on display in the remnants of the team's headquarters, as a warning to any potential rebels. Cheetara and Tygra are captives in the Mutants' lair. Where are the heroes we remember from 1980s afternoon syndication? Panthro now works in Mumm-Ra's mines.
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