ThunderCats #22 // Review
The child that Jaga once held in his arms is now holding a sword to his throat. Suffice it to say, things have gotten rather complicated for the greatest warrior of Thundera. Those who Jaga had taken to Third Earth had buried him not long ago. So naturally...when he shows-up alive, he’s going to have a lot of explaining to do in ThunderCats #22. Writer Declan Shalvey and artist Drew Moss continue to expand the lore of the decades’ old franchise with coloring work from Arancia Studio. Complexities written-in around the edges of the 1980s cartoon continue to expand in another engrossing issue.
Jaga had made many promises. He had to act quickly when the Mu’Tants has taken Thundera. Decisions had to be made in the shadows. The last of the Thunderians had to escape to a place only he knew of that he vowed never to return to. He thought they would be safe. Now Jaga has to answer for some of those decisions as Lion-O is less than enthusiastic about trusting him. One would hope for a warm welcome for someone as revered as Jaga, but everyone must prove themselves when survival is on the line.
Shalvey continues to add to the lore of this series with a little bit more detail on some of the backstory that formed the foundation of a series. It's delicately rendered stuff which fits in quite well with all of what has come before it. They complexity that a comic book is allowed is hard greater than that that we have been allowed in animated television back in the 1980s. It's nice to see an added level of death and intrigued in an amongst everything. In many ways, it continues to feel as though. Shalvey is allowing the franchise to grow-up and catch-up with those of us who remember watching the series over the air on cathode ray TVs decades ago.
Though there is quite a bit of an action in and around the edges of the drama, the drama really is the heart of what this particular issue is. Moss delivers the intensity of that drama with some remarkably well executed layout. And the drama is framed for each panel in a way that amplifies the intensity of it all without over exaggerating it. There's real nuance being drawn into every panel. There's a heavy weight that accompany, a deep moodiness about the drama in this particular issue. And it's all captured with such grace and poised by Moss’ art. Arancia does a brilliant job of providing textured highlights and luminosity to the page that a lens it a visual depth that was never really allowed throughout much of the original animation.
Dynamite continues to expand quite a bit on what has been firmly established elsewhere. Shalvey is doing a remarkable job of expanding what's already been established in a way that is still true to the original animated series without feeling like a weak retread of everything that's going on before. It's a delicate balance to try to reach. Shalvey is doing a remarkable job of striking a balance between reverence for the past and progress towards greater thematic complexity.
