ThunderCats #23 // Review
It’s quiet in space. Completely so. There has been noise and pain and suffering. It’s tranquil now. “War is the General’s burden,” states the General. It’s a responsibility that Panthro has shouldered. He hopes that he’s been able to do so with honor. Now he finds himself in a state of peace. Having survived war, he must now survive peace...and maintain it. His journey continues in ThunderCats #23. Writer Declan Shalvey continues his journey with a beloved space fantasy franchise from the 1980s. The story comes to the page with the art of Drew Moss and color from Arancia Studio.
Panthro’s spine is fully healed. Bloodwork has come back clean. Heart rate is optimal. He’s fully recovered on the outside. Tygra is giving Panthro good news, but something’s not right. He asks hi if he’s feeling pain or nausea. His only feelings are of frustration. He feels the need to be useful once more. He is the General, but there are at present no enemies to fight. In times of peace, a General must plan for war. Part of that planning will involve Panthro going back into space on his own for a short visit. He’s only going into low orbit, but he’s hoping to learn much from his journey.
Shalvey takes the opportunity to reveal a few more mysteries regarding the nature of Third Earth and the ThundeCats. There's a great deal going on in the heart of the story that Shalvey he wants to advance before there's more direct conflict. It would've been all too easy to simply present the information through some sort of text or flashback or something like that. But he's really providing the opportunity for the mystery to flourish. Panthro’s journey into orbit reveals more mysteries that will be interesting to explore as the series continues.
It's difficult to really pull across the feeling of fantastic mystery in exploration on the page of a comic book, which is largely action fantasy based. I'm trying to get the real power of the exploration and the fascination of that cross on the page can be very, very difficult. Shalvey doesn't offer the art team a whole lot of opportunity to really explore anything truly mysterious and novel. However, perhaps there's a bit of a mystery and just how common place it all looks. There's a space station in low orbit that seems to have been abandoned only a brief time ago. The fact that it looks as simple as it does only provides more mystery. But it doesn't necessarily look fantastic.
The visual fantasy of the world that Shalvey is exploring, might not necessarily be all that impressive. However, it's a lot of fun getting into it anyway. It's enjoyable to see a little bit more of the world explored. They never really had as much of an opportunity to do show with the original cartoon series. So it's kind of nice to see them get into some of the edges around the corners of the center of the action with a simple issue that just allows everyone to take a breath and do a little bit of exploration.
