Thundercats #6 // Review
Panthro has been scanning Third Earth looking for Thundrillium. He’s found something. It’s not what he’s looking for, but the power source is scarce enough to warrant great interest in anything that could approximate it on any level. He’s going to go alone in search of it what’s he’s going to find might be a little bit more than he was expecting in Thundercats #6. Writer Declan Shalvey continues an exploration into the popular action fantasy franchise with artist Drew Moss. Color comes to page and panel courtesy of Martina Pignedoli. Panthro is an interesting character. Shalvey takes full advantage of this in an issue squarely focussing on him.
Panthro needs to investigate the possible Thundrillium substitute, but he also needs some time to himself in light of recent developments. So maybe going in search of a deposit of something like Thundrillium might help to clear his mind. Of course...Third Earth is filled with all kinds of dangers that could prove to be some kind of a distraction for him. He’s going to get attacked by some very wicked vulture people. It’s nothing he can’t handle alone, but there’s always room for the unexpected on a foreign planet. Panthro needs to be prepared for anything.
Shalvey explores a little bit of the backstory behind Third Earth in an issue that also gets a bit into the psyche of Panthro. There’s a nice balance between emotional rendering of Panthro and a bit more about the mythology underlying the Thundercats. The central focus of the issue, however, is Panthro’s trip out to investigate the deposits. The vulture mutant attack is delivered with a clean sense of pursuit and a satisfying resolution. Shalvey’s greatest accomplishment, though, might be allowing Moss rot deliver the action he needs to deliver on a pursuit-and-combat issue.
Moss isn’t given a whole lot of the issue that ISN’T wrapped-up in Panthro in the ThunderTank being pursued by vulture people. The only way to frame a chase on a comics page that really makes any sense is to orient things left-to-right....which is a format that Moss follows perfectly. A full-issue chase, though? It feels constantly moving to the right of the page, which makes the whole thing feel a little bit off-balance. To Moss’ credit, he DOES find some really fun ways of framing the action between aerial combatants and a the high-tech earthbound tank.
The action is maintained with a great deal of energy throughout. Panthro is given quite a bit of time to capably brood over the course of the issue, which it benefits from quite a bit. And then there are little details that are fun too. Shalvey and company even manage to make Snarfer come across as something other than annoying. There’s actually a cuteness there, which they’d never really managed in four seasons of the original series. That’s a nice touch on a largely satisfying issue that adds to a largely successful run for the current series.
