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Wildstorm's Enemy's Pride SeriesENEMY'S PRIDE: ISSUE #1  Issued August 2004 Story by John Layman. Art by Vriens, Campus of Udon Studios This story that will be told in five installments finds the Thundercats once again on New Thundera. Occurring before the destruction in the Return series, Bengali is alive and well. It opens with a battle going on between the Thundercats and Mutants. During the fighting, Slithe clobbers Lion-O over the head hard with a club. Before Slithe can finish off Lion-O, his friends manage to keep the Mutants in check. However, it was not before Vultureman managed to also kick Lion-O so that he fell into an open well. Seemingly, Lion-O emerges only slightly worse for the wear and takes a measure of revenge against Slithe by thrusting the Sword of Omens through the flesh of the reptilian's ear. That action causes the other Thundercats to cast questioning glances at one another. Back at the Lair, Lion-O retires to his chambers for a bit. The Thunderkittens happen by and see Snarf out in the hallway, having just been on the recieving end of Lion-O's thrown boot (mwahahaha, snarf abuse!). It seems Lion-O is tired of Snarf's constant hovering, and even went so far as to tell the nurse maid that his breath was worse than a Trollock's armpit after an ooze bath (lol!). Kit and Kat creep toward Lion-O's chamber door and think they hear him muttering some treacherous ideas. However, Lion-O senses someone was about and opens the door to find Kat - his sister long since deserting him. Kat manages not to look like a total eavesdropping fool and Lion-O sends him to gather the others for a meeting. Frightened, the Kittens do summon the others but before they can tell what they thought they heard, Lion-O shows up. At the meeting, Lion-O declares that he is sick of the Mutants, Mumm-Ra and Lunatacs always attacking even after the Thundercats drive them back time and again. He says it's time to prepare their people on New Thundera to defend themselves, knowing they should be prepared should anything happen to some or all of the Thundercats. It is also revealed that Lion-O was supposedly talking with Jaga in his chambers, so Kat feels some measure of relief feeling he'd merely misunderstood some of the conversation. Lion-O's plan involved taking Thundera's best and strongest young men in their mid teens and training them to fight - create an elite guard of protectors. To demonstrate the need, he has a dozen armed young Thunderian boys attack him while he is unarmed. Though wounded, unarmed and with one hand behind his back, Lion-O soundly defeats them. All the while his behavior seems a bit off, but so far only the Kittens really suspect something major is amiss. The other Thundercats agree that forming a highly trained and skilled Thunderguard is a good idea. Lion-O even makes WilyKat their captain, to be in charge of their training at a camp out in the woods. Kat is thrilled until Kit points out that Lion-O is probably trying to get rid of him, just in case the cub overheard what Lion-O had said earlier in his chambers. The book ends with the Kittens' suspicions back in full force. ENEMY'S PRIDE: ISSUE #2  Issued September 2004 Story by John Layman. Art by Vriens, Heilig, Campus of Udon Studios In this issue, WilyKat's ThunderGuard unit is ordered up snowy Mount Thundra. Meanwhile, Panthro and Bengali whisper about Lion-O's behavior while witnessing more Snarf abuse (mwahahahaha!!) and Lion-O's seeming obsession with moving the new troops around. Panthro mentions to Bengali that maybe Lion-O needs to take a vacation while someone else like himself or Tygra heads the ThunderCats. Kit tries to tell Cheetara her suspicions about Lion-O but Cheetara explains that she was warned by Lion-O that Kit may say something like that out of anger that her brother was sent away with the ThunderGuard and so her thoughts are totally disregarded. Later, various citizens of New Thundera (some like Warrior Maidens and Berbils are supposedly settlers from Third Earth) arrive at the Lair and demand to know why the ThunderGuard armies are stationed in their back yard. Lion-O shows up to explain that they are a force of protection, not occupation. Then an emergency message from WilyKat interrupts the conference - it seems Kat's unit was attacked on the mountain by a group of hostile Ice Trogs. The Ice Trogs were defeated and just happened to have blueprints of the Lair on them as well as attack plans. Lion-O promises Kat a hero's welcome when he returns home and then proceeds to use the incident to illustrate to the group gathered that the ThunderGuard is a valuable protective force. Oh, and also that a 'small' tax needs to be levied to support them. That's when Panthro can no longer hold his tongue. He vehemently opposes taxing the people and an argument breaks out between the two. It escalates to the point where Lion-O accuses Panthro of being a traitor and 'proves' this by having the Sword's power of Second Sight show everyone how Panthro supposedly help the Ice Trogs with their plan to attack the Lair (Panthro counters that the Sword can't even do that - though I do note in the Terror of Hammerhand episode, Lion-O did show the Unicorn Keepers he meant not harm by letting them see a vision in the Sword...). Anyway, Lion-O accuses Panthro of trying to turn the others against him, which does seem suspicious given Panthro's earlier conversation with Bengali. In the final pages, Lion-O and Panthro duke it out resulting in a shocking ending. I'm not going to give it away though - you'll have to see for yourself ;) ENEMY'S PRIDE: ISSUE #3  Issued October 2004 Story by John Layman. Art by Vriens, Heilig, Campus of Udon Studios This issue is full of interesting little turn of events. First off, we flashback to the fierce battle between Lion-O and the "turncoat" Panthro from the previous issue, except there seems to be a lot of, ahem, liberties taken with the story. Come to find out, this is because it's being told by the young troup of ThunderGuard WilyKat is in charge of as they sit around a campfire, and so certain things are embellished, if you will. Some of it because of the boys' youthful discretion (e.g. the women in skimpier clothes, Cheetara acting the damsel in distress) and some of it likely due to propaganda they've been fed about the incident with Panthro. WilyKat comes upon the group and, upon learning what it is they're discussing, starts to voice his suspicions about Lion-O. But, in a move that couldn't have been timed better, a courier interrupts to present WilyKat with an honor for his leadership during the earlier battle with the Ice Trogs. In the glow of flattery, Kat forgets about informing his Guard of his misgivings. Back at the Lair, Panthro is hurt but not fatally. Lion-O wants the sentence to be death but Cheetara talks him out of it. Therefore, Lion-O has him exiled from the Lair, never to return for betraying them. Tygra serves as Panthro's escort and before the panther leaves, he gives Tygra some words of warning. Skeptical at first as even he can't believe the Eye of Thundera would show a false vision. After discussing some motives and possible sinister purpose of the ThunderGuard with Cheetara (complete with more Snarf abuse!), Tygra eventually decides to investigate for himself - invisible. First he spies on Mumm-Ra and Ma-Mutt as they watch the goings-on in the cauldron, then he moves about the Lair to see what each and every Thundercat is up to. In the meantime, WilyKit is trying to sneak out only to be caught in the act by Bengali. Despite her protests and insults, Bengali takes her back inside. Tygra hasn't found anything too unusual in his stealth spying until he creeps into Lion-O's chamber. There, he sees "Lion-O" talking into a mirror to the real Lion-O who is trapped behind the glass. It is clear at this point that the Lion-O who created the ThunderGuard and has acted so out of sorts isn't Lion-O at all. Tygra tries to make a move, but when he does, "Lion-O" has been anticipating it as though he knew Tygra had been in the room the whole time. His cover blown and at the mercy of this imposter, it looks like it might be curtains for Tygra... ENEMY'S PRIDE: ISSUE #4  Issued November 2004 Story by John Layman. Art by Vriens, Heilig, Campus of Udon Studios Much is revealed in this issue, including what really gives with Lion-O's behavior (the scanned cover the issue came out with should be give-away enough). As Tygra gets a sound beating, "Lion-O" explains his hunger for revenge. Meanwhile, Kit and Snarf sneak out of the Lair to return to the well where Lion-O's rather literal transformation took place. Back home, the other Thundercats call Lion-O's attention to an upset group of New Thunderians who have gathered outside to voice their displeasure with how Lion-O has been running the planet lately. Of course "Lion-O" is not amused and calls in the ThunderGuard to haul off the protestors, in some cases, causing them harm. Cheetara has had it, especially after she sees what condition Tygra is in. The Thundercats leave in a huff and Lion-O promises them war and death if they dare oppose him. Meanwhile, Snarf recites a spell from an old book of Thunderian folk lore, hoping it will gain them some insight on where the real Lion-O is languishing. However, it looks to Kit like Snarf got vaporized in the process. As the issue closes, Kat gets word that an all out global war has started with the rebels fighting back against "Lion-O"'s tyrrany. To his dismay, he's informed that those leading the rebels are no other than the rest of the Thundercats. ENEMY'S PRIDE: ISSUE #5  Issued December 2004 Story by John Layman. Art by Vriens, Heilig, Campus of Udon Studios In this final installment, confrontations abound. Shortly after WilyKat refuses to attack his friends, it' not long before the fake Lion-O unveils himself as not a him at all - but as Tashe. Luckily, Panthro reappears with an army of "slightly modified" berbils. The Thundercats clash with Tashe until the real Lion-O shows up, thanks to Snarf's help and a magical book. However, Tashe still possessed the Doom Gaze and thinks she has Lion-O and Panthro where she wants them. That is, until Cheetara puts a painful end to it. It ends with the Thundercats glad to have Lion-O back and vowing to help mend all the damage the fake leader had done. Also, Tashe is shown getting her just desserts in the Time Warp Prison. Tidy! A stray trade paper back aside, I've heard this marks the end of the TC Wildstorm comics.
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The Show
