Thunderbolt

Background

Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt was created by the late Peter Morisi. Peter Cannon was one of the first characters in American culture to focus on martial arts abilities (though he also acquired some quasi-mystical lore), Also, he was one of those rare creations from that time, a creator-owned comic and still owned by his estate.

Thunderbolt first appeared in Thunderbolt #1 in 1966 published by Charlton Comics. When DC Comics acquired several Charlton characters, Thunderbolt made his DC Comics debut in Crisis on Infinite Earths #6 in 1985. However DC had just bought the license to publish Thunderbolt. When the license expired, the rights returned to the Morisi estate and now he has been licensed to Dynamite Entertainment.

Peter Cannon was the inspiration for other martial artist abilities superheroes like Iron Fist and have a direct analog in Watchmen's Ozymandias.

Origin

Peter Cannon became an orphan when his parents died battling the Black Plague that was sweeping through the Himalayas where they were working as medics. Because of the great work his parents had done, the High Abbot of the Himalayas oversaw Peter's upbringing and developed within him the highest level of mental and physical perfection. When Peter became of age, he was decreed "the Chosen One," the one man alive entrusted with the full knowledge of the Ancient Scrolls which contained secrets of mental and physical powers lost to the world.

When his studies were completed and the scrolls were destroyed, Peter returned to the outside world, accompanied by his lifelong friend Tabu, an orphan of Tibet. Shortly after the duo had settled in New York, the city was rocked by an assault from two dinosaurs. Behind this scheme was the Hooded One, a former student of the ancient scrolls who was bitter because Peter and not he had been deemed the Chosen One.

Cannon realised that his powers could be of aid in this crisis, yet he feared becoming involved in a modern civilisation of wars and hatreds that he wanted no part of. Tabu had the idea of adding a mask to Cannon's ld training outfit and an enterprising reporter named the lone avenger "Thunderbolt." Over the months that followed, Cannon - spurred on by Tabu - fought many threats to the innocent, all the while loathing his exposure to a civilisation he detested, yet realising the good his abilities could do.

Cannon went on to be a freelance writer, living in semi-seclusion, only occasionally making apearances as Thunderbolt.

DC Comics

1992: Peter Cannon Thunderbolt series.

In the DC series, Thunderbolt fought against the criminal terrorists-for-hire known as Scorpio. He later discovers that his girlfriend Cairo DeFrey was actually in charge of the organization.

The character also appeared briefly with the Justice League Task Force and in Justice League Quaterly, where he reunited with the other Charlton characters, against a enemy of Thunderbolt.

Other Versions: Earth-22

On Earth-22, a version of Peter Cannon Thunderbolt is present. By legal reasons, the character is only refered as Thunderbolt. There, he was member of Magog's Justice Battalion. During a chase after the Parasite, through Kansas , Parasite, desperate to escape his pursuers, tears through Captain Atom's shell, causing a nuclear explosion that destroyed most of the midwest and kills both he and the Justice Battalion, save Magog and metal-man Alloy.

Dynamite Entertaiment

2012 Series

Peter Cannon has returned in a new ongoing series from Dynamite Entertainment. In the new series Peter remains an archaeologist and writer.

2019 Series: Watch

The 2019 series of Peter Cannon was a deconstruction of the Watchmen story, where Peter Cannon with the help of the superheroes of his world, the Meta-Agents, obvious analogs to the Charlton/Watchmen characters, must fight against an evil version of Peter Cannon, also called Thunderbolt from a parallel universe. This Peter Cannon was more close to the concept of Ozymandias, an sinister genius who plot the union of the world through false alien invasions. The series also explored the narrative of the comic and incorporated elements of the Ozymandias character in Peter Cannon himself.