The stakes are high in this opening adventure, but can Dynamo get the job done? Read on to find out.

The official description from IDW:

Dynamo’s first day on the job as a T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent leads to a disastrous encounter with the beautiful, but deadly, Iron Maiden. Guy Gilbert, consummate T.H.U.N.D.E.R. veteran, scrambles to keep the secret base from the attention of warring local clans. What lies behind The Demon’s Smile?

Before perusing this comic book and doing some preliminary research of my own, I have to admit I had very little knowledge of this property.  Similar to when I took on Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt I endeavored to learn more but truth be told what the creative team delivers requires no previous awareness.  Instead we have a new adventure that borrows from the past as it embraces its upcoming future.

Phil Hester pens the script and the author finds a way to strike a proper balance between the overly zany aspects of the franchise and a modern world that would more than likely laugh off an institution that carried such an acronym.  By using Len Brown as our entry vehicle the scribe makes the world of super-powered spies accessible, believable and more to the point understandable.  Even when confronted with a more than predictable twist and some stuffy dialogue the innate wit that drives this literary yarn carries the festivities to a fitting conclusion.  In short: I really liked what I read.

The art by Andrea Di Vito is spot on, as the illustrator employs a cadence that updates and re-imagines the original material.  Working alongside the text the renditions of each sequence successfully offers up beautifully realized details that inform the journey of our recruit.  There were a couple moments where the over the top nature inherent in this series made some of the visuals come off a bit too wonky. Truth be told the whole of the body of work did enough to discourage an overabundance of missteps as it embraced some stoic tendencies.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #2 is very solid adventure that balancing cornball heritage with modern gumption.  Recommended.

3.5/5