ThunderCats: Lost #9 // Review
Ligon is being given a history lesson. The fact that he’s tied-up while it’s happening doesn’t help his ability to focus on it, though. The fact that he’s being threatened with death doesn’t help either. And maybe it’s the fact that the masked individual known as Scorpius thinks he knows more about it than he’s letting-on? That could be very, very dangerous for Ligon. Things feel particularly bleak in ThunderCats: Lost #9. Writer Ed Brisson and artist Elton Thomasi continue their exploration into the past of the. ThunderCats universe with colorist Rochan Kurichiyanil. As bleak as it is, there are some bright moments of drama in another atisfying chapter in the serial.
Lynx-O isn’t exactly having difficulty following the trail. Scorpius has taken no care in covering his tracks. Even a blind cat could follow it. Clearly he doesn’t think that anyone could possibly be a threat to him. He may be more or less correct in assuming that he’s not in any danger. It would take forever for Lynx-O, Pumyra and the rest to make it all the way to where Ligon is being held captive. Of course...there ARE a few pack animals that might be used as steeds...
Brisson has a solid handle on the pacing for an issue that delivers both the interrogation drama on one end and the pursuit drama on the other. The narrative moves back and forth between the two dramas quite swiftly. Theoretically, Brisson could have drawn-out the pursuit a bit more and really explored Third Earth with a few more twists an turns, but the pacing that he’s managed in this issue is remarkably tight and well-executed throughout. There’s a strong sense of tension in a very well-articulated dram that doesn’t len-in too havily on lore or backstory the way fantasy tends to do.
Thomasi lays-out the action with a nice sense of balance. The tight close-us of the interrogation are contrasted against the bigger ensemble scenes with Lynx-O, Pumyra and the rest. Big establishing shots anchor the action between the two different settings with a clever sense of atmosphere. The pack beasts that the cats use in their pursuit manage to look massive and cute at the same time, which is a weird kind of accomplishment in its own way. Everything seems to be working quite well for the series visually.
Third Earth has a lot going for it. There are a lot of different ways that Brisson and company could explore the action if they were willing to pursue them. At its heart, though ThunderCats Lost really IS about the drama going on between different members of the ensemble, so it makes sense that the world itself would largely rest in the background of the series. It’s really more a matter of the interpersonal connections than it is about exploration, which has been a central focus of the franchise since the first animations hit the small screen back in the 1980s.
