Who was the first "Johnny Thunder" (or related DC character) you ever read?

[MajorHoy]

Who was the first "Johnny Thunder" (or related character) from DC you ever read about?
There were:

* Golden Age Johnny Thunder (John L. Thunder) - first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (January 1940)
* John Tane - lawman in 19th century Arizona; first appeared in All-American Comics #100 (August 1948)
* Johnny Thunder of Earth-One - first appeared in Justice League of America #37 (August 1965)
* Jonni Thunder - female private detective from California; first appeared in Jonni Thunder (AKA Thunderbolt) #1 (February 1985)
* Will Power (William Twotrees) - illegitimate son of Golden Age Johnny Thunder; first appeared in Primal Force #2 (December 1994)
* Jakeem Thunder (Jakeem Johnny Williams) / J.J. Thunder - became in charge of the original Johnny Thunder's Thunderbolt; first appearance in Flash #134 (February 1998)

[Lee Stone]

The one in the Black Canary origin JLA/JSA crossover story.

[The Darknight Detective]

The first one I saw was the original in this comic from 1976:

[Jim Kelly]

I think the first time I saw Johnny Thunder (of Earth-Two) in bow-tie action was in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA Nos. 100 - 102 (September '72 - November '72). I remember that one because Johnny and Ollie got in an argument over Dinah.

But since I already knew something about him (and his connection to Dinah), I probably had read about the character before that--maybe in ALL IN COLOR FOR A DIME or in THE STERANKO HISTORY OF COMICS Vol. 1--both of which I must have digested before that anniversary event.

[Jim Kelly]

This Joe Kubert pic appeared in the tabloid-sized STERANKO HISTORY OF COMICS Vol. 1--

[MajorHoy]

I think the first time I saw Johnny Thunder (of Earth-Two) in bow-tie action was in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA Nos. 100 - 102 (September '72 - November '72). I remember that one because Johnny and Ollie got in an argument over Dinah.

That "arc" would have been when I first discovered a "Johnny Thunder"





(It's when I first discovered the wonder of the Golden Age JSA, and I've been hooked ever since!)

[codystarbuck]

This Joe Kubert pic appeared in the tabloid-sized STERANKO HISTORY OF COMICS Vol. 1--

I believe it was also used in Maurice Horn's The World Encyclopedia of Comics.

[dr-brainwave]

Johnny Thunder was one of the protagonists of the very first superhero comic i've ever read!



he has always been one of my all time favorite characters!

[MajorHoy]

Looks like we've had

* 13 people selected "Golden Age Johnny Thunder (John L. Thunder)"
* 6 people said "Jakeem Thunder (Jakeem Johnny Williams) / J.J. Thunder"
* 1 vote for "other? (please explain)"

though it doesn't look like the person who chose "other" ever bothered to explain who it was / why they voted that way.

[Assam]

Read about Johnny first. Love Jakeem more. Both are awesome.

[MajorHoy]

By the way, I believe the first one to get his/her own comic book with their name as the book's title was

19th century lawman John Tane

Back in 1973, he had three issues that reprinted his stories that were first published the +/-1950s.

[Jim Kelly]

Prior to that reprint comic, Johnny Thunder Tane's last appearance (by Gardner Fox, Gil Kane and Joe Giella) was in ALL-STAR WESTERN No. 119 (June-July '61)--that was the last issue of the comic that started out as ALL-STAR COMICS. He had first appeared in ALL-AMERICAN COMICS No. 100 (August '48), only six months after the original Johnny Thunder (the seventh son of a seventh son) who had last appeared in ALL-STAR COMICS No. 39 (February-March '48).

Earth-Two Johnny made his stormy return (by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella) in THE FLASH No. 137 (June '63), almost exactly two years after the western Johnny left. After that brief appearance in FLASH 137, Johnny next showed up in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA No. 37 (August '65), which featured the debut of his evil Eath-One counterpart--also named Johnny Thunder.

[Agent of Wolfram & Hart]

Jakeem is my favorite possessor of the power of the Thunderbolt, but I read about Johnny first in JLA/JSA crossovers

[MajorHoy]

Looks like we've had

* 13 people selected "Golden Age Johnny Thunder (John L. Thunder)"
* 6 people said "Jakeem Thunder (Jakeem Johnny Williams) / J.J. Thunder"
* 1 vote for "other? (please explain)"

though it doesn't look like the person who chose "other" ever bothered to explain who it was / why they voted that way.

Since then,

* Golden Age Johnny Thunder (John L. Thunder) = 19 votes
* Jakeem Thunder (Jakeem Johnny Williams) / J.J. Thunder = 12 votes
* Johnny Thunder of Earth-One = 2 votes
* Jonni Thunder = 1 vote
* Will Power (William Twotrees) = 1 vote
* other = 1 vote

[MajorHoy]

And here are the latest results:

* Golden Age Johnny Thunder (John L. Thunder) = 22 votes (+ 3)
* Jakeem Thunder (Jakeem Johnny Williams) / J.J. Thunder = 13 votes (+1)

and all the others stayed the same:

* Johnny Thunder of Earth-One = 2 votes
* Jonni Thunder = 1 vote
* Will Power (William Twotrees) = 1 vote
* other = 1 vote

I am a little surprised John Tane still doesn't have any votes.
He had his own feature that ran from 1948 to 1961, then he had a three-issue comic book around 1973 that reprinted his old stories.

Beyond that, he earned a "What Ever Happened to . . . " feature in DC Comics Presents #28 (December 1980);


was in Secret Origins #50 (August 1990);


and, among other appearances, was in an issue of Swamp Thing (#85, April 1989) written by Rick Veitch that also featured people like Jonah Hex and Bat Lash.