Johnny Thunder
Johnny Thunder is the name of three superheroes appearing in comics published by DC Comics. A fourth character has the variant name Jonni Thunder.
The character appeared in the second season of Stargirl on The CW network played by Ethan Embry.
Publication history
Johnny Thunder first appeared in Flash Comics #1 and was created by John Wentworth and Stan Aschmeier. In the first few issues, the title of the feature was Johnny Thunderbolt. He continued in Flash Comics until issue #91.Fictional character biography
Earth-Two version
John L. Thunder is the seventh son of a seventh son, born at 7 a.m. on Saturday, July 7, the seventh day of the week, the seventh day of the seventh month in 1917. This causes him to be kidnapped by men from Badhnesia who sought to harness his power.Johnny gained possession of the pink, lightning-haired genie-like Thunderbolt named Yz during a mystic ritual on his 7th birthday, which was intended to allow the Badhnesians to use Johnny to rule the world. However, the plan is soon aborted after an attack from a neighboring country.
Johnny eventually returns to the United States and lives an ordinary life until one day, while washing windows, he inadvertently summons the Thunderbolt with the magic words "Cei-U". Johnny underwent several adventures, repeatedly summoning Thunderbolt by accident before learning of his existence.
Johnny lived with his parents, dated his on-again, off-again girlfriend Daisy Darling. In 1941, he adopted a little freckle-faced blond orphan girl named Peachy Pet, who, despite her cutesy name and clothing, was a tough little girl who was much smarter than him. Many times during his adventures, which included a stint with the United States Navy, Peachy would instruct her befuddled but beloved "Papa John" on how and when to use Thunderbolt's powers.
Johnny's appearances with the Justice Society of America and in his own solo adventures tended to be quite comedic, as Johnny's main personality trait was being fairly dimwitted, which prompts his much-smarter Thunderbolt to possess a sarcastic attitude toward his "boss", while knowing full well that he could not do anything until his master told him to.
Johnny accidentally joined the Justice Society after wishing that he could be a member and was immediately taken to their meeting by the Thunderbolt. Despite recurring impatience with his stupidity, his fellow JSAers genuinely valued Johnny's good-heartedness and dedication and considered him a friend. Furthermore, the Thunderbolt's vast power may have contributed to Johnny's continued JSA membership, his frequent blunders notwithstanding, since the more competent heroes doubtlessly thought it wise to keep an eye on the pair whenever possible. He finally became a member after the Flash left and the group told him to capture Mister X, which he accidentally succeeded in doing. Like most of the JSA members, he had his aging factor greatly slowed during an encounter with the villain Ian Karkull.
Johnny's adventures ceased in the late 1940s when he was replaced in the Justice Society stories by a heroine he had begun teaming up with, the Black Canary. The reason for his leaving the Justice Society is eventually explained to be that his control over his Thunderbolt is weakening, thanks to a spell cast by renegade Badhnesian priests. In the early 1950s, Johnny is kidnapped again by agents from Badhnesia, with the intention of executing their original world conquest plan. Johnny manages to summon Superman, and the would-be conquerors' plans are defeated. Johnny spent some time in Badhnesia afterwards, teaching the native citizens about democracy. He returns home after the country elects its first President. Johnny joins the Justice Society on various adventures.
''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' and Ragnarök
Following the maxiseries Crisis on Infinite Earths was the one-shot Last Days of the Justice Society of America Special. This book depicted the sacrifice of Johnny and his JSA teammates as they left the 'new' Post-Crisis world and entered into a Limbo dimension. Caused by the actions of Adolf Hitler in April 1945, a wave of destruction appears over Earth even as it is settling down from the Crisis. To stop a literal Ragnarök, the heroes enter into an eternal battle and so leave the world.Earth-One version
Prior to the Crisis on Infinite Earths retcon, an alternate version of Johnny Thunder existed on Earth-One. This version was a simple petty criminal with no Thunderbolt. Upon meeting the Earth-Two Thunder, the criminal Johnny Thunder knocked his counterpart out and seized control of the Thunderbolt. He uses it to temporarily reshape Earth-One such that several heroes, such as Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern, retroactively cease to exist. The criminal exploits the fact that the Thunderbolt is "keyed" to simply obey Johnny Thunder, without any distinction made between alternate versions, leaving the Thunderbolt obligated to obey whichever Johnny is conscious despite his own morality. However, the Thunderbolt often tries to work in loopholes to give the heroes an advantage, such as informing the criminal that the Justice Society—who had come to Earth-1 to find out what had happened to their friends in the Justice League——had disappeared, when they had, in fact, disguised themselves as the Justice League to provoke Johnny into revealing what had happened to their version, or making a barrier which keeps out cops, but not superheroes. The Earth-2 Johnny is apparently placed in a coma by the Thunderbolt's magic, though this is not shown.The alternate version of Earth-One that Johnny creates is sometimes referred to as Earth-A, which Johnny thinks up himself. Thunder's 'Lawless League' of evil people with powers like the Justice League heroes, which are made up of Johnny's fellow criminals who were given the powers of the Justice League members, are defeated by the visiting Justice Society of Earth-Two, who had originally disguised themselves as the JLA, after learning of Johnny's disappearance, the Society's greater experience allowing them to easily defeat their criminal counterparts. They subsequently face off against Johnny Thunder on the Moon, and the three creatures that the Thunderbolt creates, Medusa-Man, Absorbo-Man, and Repello-Man. All of the members are defeated, except for Doctor Fate. He creates a golden mask over Medusa-Man's face, and sends the wooden Mr. Terrific and Atom at Absorbo-Man, who had absorbed Green Lantern's power, meaning he is vulnerable to wood and is destroyed. He uses repello-magic on Repello-Man, which is repelled and destroys him. When the fight comes down to a struggle between Doctor Fate and the Thunderbolt, Johnny Thunder is so battered about by the combatting magic wielders - whose powers fail to do any actual damage to each other - that he finally gives up his attempts to use the Thunderbolt and wishes that none of these events had taken place. The two Earths and their respective heroes are restored, with the Justice League mentioning their world's Johnny Thunder as a small-time criminal at their meeting. The Johnny Thunder of Earth-One would return as a threat in Justice League of America #219-220.
Johnny's return
The absence of the JSA and of Johnny Thunder did not last long. In 1992 DC published Armageddon: Inferno, the miniseries which brought the JSA out of Limbo and into the Post-Crisis world. This was followed by Justice Society of America. This series showed how the heroes were adjusting to a 'normal' life. Johnny is depicted as an overweight man, not as old as his friends, but nostalgic for the past. It is explained that before he had entered into Limbo, he had lent his foster daughter a few thousand dollars and during his time fighting for the universe, she had created Peachy's Frozen Yogurt, a very successful chain of which Johnny is half owner and now very wealthy. Of greater import to Johnny is his discovery that the Bahdnesians have all but disappeared. A visit to the island of Bahdnesia proves that no Bahdnesians are left there. In issue #7, Johnny states: "There were never very many of them...and the island magic had worn out. T-Bolt was all that was left, and he was with me in limbo. They had to leave or starve to death". This series also introduced the young Kiku, according to the Thunderbolt, the last remaining Bahdnesian.After this, Johnny is depicted as having dementia. At one point, he loses a pen in which the Thunderbolt is being stored, which Jakeem Thunder later obtains.
Johnny Thunderbolt
In a later battle with Solomon Grundy, Johnny is controlled by the Ultra-Humanite and eventually killed, causing Thunderbolt to fuse with him to save his life. This creates a new being with the memories of both, known as Johnny Thunderbolt.In Blackest Night, Johnny Thunder is temporarily revived as a Black Lantern.