ThunderCats, No! (Part 2 of 2)

Last time, we scratched the surface of an ill-advised attempt to make the ThunderCats franchise darker and edgier. The sexism, gore, and terrible storytelling of the first two issues pales in comparison with the final half of the miniseries. As always, I must share my pain, so let’s explore issues 3-5 of ThunderCats: The Return.

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ThunderCats, No! (Part 1 of 2)

I don’t know why, but many people really seem to want kids’ entertainment to get re-imagined in a dark and gritty way. That’s one of the main complaints people seem to have about the upcoming ThunderCats reboot, which looks sillier than the original. While adult clamor for a darker version of ThunderCats (often ignoring that the awesome 2011 reboot was more mature and didn’t last more than one season), it’s worth noting that there is danger in going dark just for the sake of getting grim and gritty.

The ThunderCats franchise serves as a good example of why “more mature” often isn’t and why dark and gritty doesn’t necessarily make for better storytelling. See, the early 2000s had a ThunderCats reboot of its own in comic form. The resulting miniseries, ThunderCats: The Return is probably one of the worst comics I’ve ever read.

I don’t like to suffer through bad comics alone. So let’s take a look at this train wreck together, shall we?

ThunderCats, Woah!

The news of a new, silly-looking ThunderCats reboot has many fans of the 1980s franchise gnashing their teeth in anger. Personally, I don’t care about it, as ThunderCats was always sillier than fans like to remember. However, it does make me fondly remember that brief time in 2011 when ThunderCats was awesome.

ThunderCats Roar isn’t the first time Cartoon Network has tried to resurrect the franchise. It got a different kind of reboot in 2011, with an epic storyline, excellent quality art, top-notch voice actors, and some truly terrific storytelling. Sadly, all of that awesome got countered by poor marketing and Cartoon Network’s tendency to sabotage shows that don’t sell new toys. Thus, the show was canceled after only one season.

But what a season it was. There’s a lot to love about the 2011 ThunderCats series, but here are the elements that got me hooked after just a few episodes.