JC Comics - T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents

Carbonaro had purchased the rights to the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents from the defunct Tower Comics, and tried to relaunch them with his own comic book company.

Carbonaro was also associated at the time with Archie Comics and their attempted relaunch of their superhero imprint Red Circle Comics. This resulted in JC Comics reprinting some of the Archie materials just before the Red Circle Comics came out, cross advertisements between JC and Red Circle, and the wrap-up of the JC Comics' T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents in Red Circle's Blue Ribbon Comics title. Despite this, Archie never owned the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents characters; nor was JC Comics an Archie imprint.

In 1984, David Singer's Deluxe Comics began publishing a new series, Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, featuring some of the best artists of the era, including George Pérez, Dave Cockrum, Keith Giffen, Murphy Anderson and Jerry Ordway. Singer, a former associate of Carbonaro, claimed the group was in the public domain. A lawsuit by Carbonaro claiming otherwise was heard in New York State's Civil Court, and via summary judgment, the judge ruled from the bench that the characters were indeed Carbonaro's property.

Years later (long after Deluxe Comics had folded), JC tried again to launch new T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents material. In 1995, Carbonaro tried getting their stories in Penthouse Comix' Omni Comix, but that line ended after the first story came out. Another attempt was planned with DC Comics, but the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archive and some statutes are all that came of it.

Following Carbonaro's passing, DC Comics obtained the rights to the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.