Lesser Known Characters I Love: Johnny Thunder

It is no secret that I love the team Birds of Prey. Something to note about the team is that, before the 1980’s, Black Canary and Huntress were not on the same earth as Batgirl, Barbara Gordon. No, these two lovely ladies were on Earth-2, an older Earth then the one we all know about but they elected to take the name Earth-2 to make our Earth feel better about its self. Kinda nice of them, isn’t it? It is on Earth-2 that we got the JSA, or the Justice Society of America. These were the older heroes like Alan Scott, Wildcat, and Dr. Fate. But there was another hero on the JSA who was all the same heroic as the rest. There was one person who was born under such a lucky star that the world had to see him. That person was Johnny Thunder.

Johnny Thunder was born on July 7^th, 1917. It was the 7^th day of the week, and he was born at 7:00 am. He was also the 7^th of his brothers. Yeah, take a wild guess what his lucky number is. Because of all these signs, the people of the fictional country of Badhnesia kidnap him. He is given a genie named Yz on his 7^th birthday in hopes that the country of Badhnesia would win against the countries enemies. Before Johnny could do such a thing, he was taken back to the USA and had his parents found. It was not until Johnny was 22 that he learned of his powers, to summon Yz when he says Cei-U, which sounds like “Say You”. It was not long after that Johnny joined up with the JSA as the team’s mascot.

Johnny was more of a joke for writers then a serious character. Johnny started as a secondary story in Flash Comics number 1. 

Yes, when Flash Comics started, so did Johnny. Johnny’s powers were that when he says “Cei-U”, he is able to summon his Genie Yz and wish for just about anything. This is because it turns out that Yz is not a thunderbolt given life by magic, but because Yz is a 5^th dimensional being much like Bat-mite and Mr. Mxyzptlk.

Johnny was soon given his own supporting character. Yeah, wrap your head around that. A secondary mascot character to the JSA gets a supporting character. And who was this character, made solely for Johnny? Black Canary.

Yep, Black Canary, the first one, came from the pages of Johnny Thunder. And you thought me talking about the Birds of Prey was pointless. In that book, Johnny had a crush on her but she never gave him the same feelings. She was made to help the joke of a hero that Johnny by being a villain. At least that is how it was suppose to look. But it was not long before she outshined Johnny and, in Flash comics #92, Black Canary became her own character, ironically replacing the Johnny Thunder stories.

Over time, and with the help of a magic hex placed on him, Johnny Thunder lost his power over the Genie. Johnny would stay a member of the JSA but now even more a mascot than ever before. Years past and Johnny soon resigned from the JSA, being replaced with, who else, Black Canary. He did come back off and on to help the JSA, the biggest being when the JSA entered a Limbo dimension. As more time passed, Johnny grew old and gained a case of Alzheimer's disease.

Johnny lost his Genie, which was placed in a pen at this time, and it was a kid named Jakeem who not only found the pen, but became the second Thunder. Johnny was not given a peaceful death though. In his last moments, Johnny Thunder was taken over by the Ultra-Humanite. The plan was to have the power of the Thunderbolt take over reality. It worked but soon Ultra-Humanite lost and left Johnny for dead. Johnny’s body did come back in the Blackest Night event, but I really don’t count that at all, since the rings were only wearing the bodies and not the other way around.

So where is Johnny now? Like many other characters, he is nowhere. Johnny very clearly died long before the events of even Blackest Night. Plus, he has a well liked and fun successor. While Johnny was not lucky until the end, he was a hero who should not be forgotten in the pages of history. 

All images (c) DC