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LIGHTNING |
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Thunder and Lightning clash with the Titans
in NEW TEEN TITANS #32 [1983]. |
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Elemental Origins
Two young men calling themselves Thunder and Lightning were causing major disturbances in St. Louis with their super-powers. The Titans were summoned to deal with this menace. After a short battle, the Teen Titans learned the two brothers - Gan and Tavis Williams - were searching for their father, Second Lt. Walter Williams. Thunder and Lightning revealed that they are the offspring of American soldier Walter Williams and a Vietnamese mother. As children, they began to manifest strange abilities, controlling thunder and lightning. A wise China man named Chan To urged the brothers to seek out their father - he sensed that was the key to harnessing their sometimes-uncontrollable powers.
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ABOVE AND BELOW: Thunder and Lightning
search for their missing father
in NEW TEEN TITANS #32 [1983]. |
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Wonder Girl discovered that their father had been missing for almost 20 years, following a laboratory accident. The brothers decided to settle at S.T.A.R. Labs, where, hopefully, they could learn to control their powers more efficiently.
A few months later, the Titans and S.T.A.R. Labs tried fruitlessly to find a cure for Thunder and Lightning's powers. At this time, Raven used her soul self to learn more about their missing father through Gan and Tavis' subconscious. Raven unlocked the secrets of their origins: The man who called himself Walter Williams was actually an extraterrestrial; his ship crashed in Vietnam 600 years ago; He returned to the crash site under the guise of Walter Williams to retrieve his spaceship. There, he met and fell in love with the Vietnamese woman who would be Thunder and Lightning's mother. Now, with Raven's help, the Titans and Thunder and Lightning were able to locate the alien father, who was being held prisoner by the H.I.V.E. The H.I.V.E. had been holding the alien prisoner for years, exploiting his knowledge and abilities for their own purposes. Under the H.I.V.E.'s control, the alien attacked the Titans and his sons. The battle ended tragically: Thunder and Lightning were forced to kill their own father.
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Thunder and Lightning show their powers in NEW TEEN TITANS #32 [1983]. |
S.T.A.R. Lab Security
With their father's blood sample, however, S.T.A.R. Labs was able to cure Thunder and Lightning, allowing them to control their abilities at last. After this, the brothers returned to their motherland. Sometime after this, the brothers returned to S.T.A.R. Labs, still searching for ways to rein in their powers.
The brothers eventually relocated to the S.T.A.R. Lab located in San Francisco. As Gan and Tavis learned to master their abilities, they also provided security for S.T.A.R. Labs.
Trigon Seeds
While stopping a robbery, Thunder and Lightning came into conflict with Raven, whose dark soul had been reborn in the image of her father. Raven was trying to plant the demon seeds of Trigon's unborn children into suitable host bodies. Raven sought out Thunder and Lightning - beings of great power - and used their bodies as hosts for these seeds of Trigon.
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| Thunder and Lightning are forced to kill their own father in NEW TEEN TITANS #36 [1983]. |
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Thunder and Lightning are summoned for help in JLA/TITANS #2 [1999]. |
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Thunder and Lightning - along with Supergirl, Deathwing, Changeling and Frances Kane - fought the Titans under Raven's thrall. The Titans, with the help of Phantasm, were able to defeat this dark version of Raven. However, the demon seeds still left in the host bodies seemed to have varying effects. Supergirl, Changeling (and, to a lesser extent, Frances Kane) were able to free themselves from these demon seeds. Thunder and Lightning (along with Deathwing) remained infected with these seeds. They remained in stasis in S.T.A.R. Labs under observation.
Allies Again
It appears as though Thunder and Lightning were able to free themselves as well. They have since appeared to aid the Titans during their encounter with the Justice League, who were trying to stop former Titans member Vic Stone (formerly Cyborg, then transformed into Cyberion) from fulfilling his Technis Imperative.
Freed from the evil influence of the seeds of Trigon, the super-powered Thunder and Lightning have returned to their home country in Southern Vietnam, reportedly to defend it from an unknown alien threat.
Gan (Thunder) is able to control thunder, which he manifests as rumbling noise, which he can control to varying degrees. Gan also possesses super strength. Tavis (Lightning) is able to release bolts of electricity and harness lightning. The brothers also share a psychic link, and are able to communicate telepathically with each other.
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New Teen Titans #32 [1983]: Speedy learns that there is trouble in St. Louis, MO, and the Titans go there and battle the reluctant Thunder and Lightning, who are looking for their father; Wonder Girl learns that their father has been declared top secret by the US Government. First Appearance of Thunder and Lightning.
New Teen Titans #36 [1983]: While Dr. Jenet Klyburn is conducting experiments on Thunder and Lightning, a power surge causes Thunder and Lightning to go out of control: the twins battle the Titans, and Raven attempts to help them; While Thunder and Lightning are in Raven's soul-self, it is revealed that the H.I.V.E. has their alien father; Thunder and Lightning manage to communicate with their father before Trigon begins to take control of Raven; The Titans battle Thunder and Lightning's alien father and are losing badly, when Thunder and Lightning realize that they must kill their father so that he does not destroy the Titans; The twins are cured by their father's blood and return home to Hsuan. Origin of Thunder and Lightning.
Teen Titans Spotlight On: Thunder & Lightning #16 [1987]: Thunder and Lightning strive to achieve greater control over their powers at S.T.A.R. Labs, under the direction of Dr. Alysia Demalis. When the Atomic Skull, also at S.T.A.R. Labs, runs amok, it's up to Thunder and Lightning and Frances Kane to contain him. Dr. Demalis is puzzled by Atomic Skull's outburst; she had been working with him on controlling his powers and he was showing progress. Lightning is intrigued and volunteers himself for Dr. Demalis' program. Thunder is suspicious and rightfully so; He saves Lightning just before Dr. Demalis tampers with his mind. Dr. Demalis later reports back to her mysterious boss and they plan to 'activate' their next agent. A call is placed to Frances Kane; When hearing the 'trigger word', Rumplestilskin, Frances Kane responds as 'Magenta' and asks "Who do you want me to kill?" To be continued next issue.
New Teen Titans (second series) #41 [1988]: Wildebeest recruits the Puppeteer, the Disruptor, Gizmo and Trident to attack the Titans. Thunder and Lightning battle the Wildebeest, who kidnaps Mother Mayhem from S.T.A.R. Labs.
New Titans #118-121 [1995]: Raven, now reborn as an avatar of Trigon, is intent on planting the seeds of Trigon's unborn children into new vessels. She plants ‘Trigon seeds' in Supergirl, Changeling, Magenta, Deathwing, and Thunder and Lightning. Eventually, Raven and her demon allies come into conflict with the Titans. With the help of Phantasm (who reforms himself, sensing he is needed), the Titans finally destroyed this evil incarnation of Raven (or so they think). Thunder and Lightning are left in the care of S.T.A.R. Labs; It is revealed that they have been purged of the Trigon seeds in JLA/Titans #2, where they aid the Titans once more.
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Titans West: Aborted Plans
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WOULD-BE TITANS WEST MEMBERSHIP:
Cyborg, Red Star, Chris King, and Thunder & Lightning |
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[from Amazing Heroes #135, 1988 - A Marv Wolfman Interview]
In 1988, Marv Wolfman set the stage for a new Titans West. The New Teen Titans had an adventure with Chris [Dial 'H'] King and Red Star. At the same time, Sarah Charles relocated to the West Coast, and Vic Stone thought about moving with her. Those three would have comprised the core of the Titans West team.
Marv Wolfman notes, "I was talking about the West Coast version of the book, that would be in San Francisco. [...] DC wants to do a West Coast Teen Titans. In the last run of the book, before I did it, it was Titans East and Titans West. It was a regular feature that pre-dated West Coast Avengers by about ten years. They want to revive that. They asked me if I wanted to write it, or would let someone else write it. Well, I want to control the Titans; I think one of the problems with Spotlight was that I really didn't do any. I think that's the reason that led to it eventually being cancelled. There was no sense of urgency to the stories, as good as some of them were. There was no sense of the stories having any effect on the characters. The fact that it lasted 25 issues, I think, is a testimony to the characters themselves- that people still cared about them.
"I will handle all the Titan work. That way there's a continuity between what I write in one place and another. So the stuff will have some meaning as a whole to the book. All of it will feed in on itself, which is the way it should be. It's for that same reason I decided to do the West Coast version."
"Cyborg will be moving to the West Coast. Red Star, who is a re-named Starfire from Russia, will be a member of it. Chris King, who is one of the Dial "H"for Hero character that I had done, and I just reintroduced him to the regular Titans book, he'll be a member. So we actually have a character who, every time you see him, will be different. "
Try, Try Again
[from Comics Scene Magazine #8, 1989 - an article with George Pérez and Marv Wolfman]
One detail that has yet to be worked out is just which of the two will ultimately handle the Titans' twin title, Titans West. "We'll probably do the first issue together whenever that finally comes about. Then, depending on George's schedule, he may take over the book.
"I didn't want another young superhero book," Wolfman notes. "The concept that I had come up with was more of a rescue group-not another bunch of policemen running out and stopping crime-working out of San Francisco. Just before George returned, I set up the San Francisco branch of S.T.A.R. Labs as a place where they're testing super-people. We had Red Star and Thunder and Lightning out there, and some other characters that we were going to introduce. When the Titans West, or whatever it's finally called, is formed, they'll operate out of that, and there will be positive charter in the helping in disastrous situations.
"Now that I'm coming back as a writer in my mind after a couple of years where I wasn't too pleased with everything, I don't want to overdose on Titans. I want to really enjoy what I'm writing so that each issue, when I sit down, I can approach it at the strongest, as opposed to saying, 'Oh, no. Another Titans story.' So, if George decides at some point not to write Titans West, at least it'll be so completely different from Titans that I wouldn't be bored."
Last Gasps
[from Comics Scene Magazine #11, 1990 - an article with George Pérez]
Another Titans project is the often-mentioned Titans West series. Pérez says it's still planned. "One of the stories that Marv discussed was a mystery story in which the Titans are missing. That could lead to the introduction or reintroduction of the Titans West set of characters. Then, I would be the writer of the second Titans book if reader interest warrants a second title. It also depends on whether I have the time to write it, or if I would be better off on another title I could write and draw.
"I'm not interested in doing a monthly series anymore," Pérez sighs. "I can't do one and do my best work. I used to be able to be satisfied with the work I did on a monthly basis. Now, I look at it and say, 'Ahh, it's not really the best I can do,' and I don't want people to think it's my best, either. I hope to do mini-series, maxi-series, graphic novels. I really enjoy inking other people. I just finished inking a Carmine Infantino story for Secret Origins, 'Space Museum.' I'm slated to be the regular inker on Titans over Tom Grummett. It's not all Pérez anymore, but at least Pérez has the last word, as every inker does. But, that means finding a penciller who doesn't mind my having the last word. I'm very faithful to pencillers, but I'm extravagant when it comes to extra detail I toss in."
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