Review: THUNDER Agents, 50th Anniversary Special

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS, 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL
IDW PUBLISHING – @IDWPublishing

[This review was first published by Patreon.]

WRITERS:  Larry Ivie; Len Brown; Dan Adkins
PENCILS: Wally Wood; Steve Ditko; Dan Adkins; Garry Leach
INKS: Wally Wood; Dan Adkins; Tony Coleman; Garry Leach
COLORS: Jason Millet
LETTERS: Victor Gorelick
MISC. ART: George Perez with Ronda Pattison; George Tuska with Ronda Pattison; Jerry Ordway with Ronda Pattison; Dave Cockrum with Ronda Pattison; Dave Cockrum; Steve Ditko and Greg Theakston with Ronda Pattison; George Perez and Dave Cockrum with Ronda Pattison; Dave Cockrum and Murphy Anderson with Ronda Pattison; Steve Ditko and Will Blyberg; Bob Layton; Phil Hester and Eric Gapstur with David Baron; Dave Sim with David Baron
EDITORS: Greg Goldstein and Michael Benedetto
COVER: Dan Adkins with Jason Millet (based on Wally Wood and Dan Adkins' cover for T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #3)
SUBSCRIPTION COVER: Andrew Pepoy with Jason Millet (based on Wally Wood's cover for Incredible Science Fiction #33)
64pp, Color, $7.99 U.S. (July 2015)

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents created by Wally Wood and Len Brown

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents was a team of superheroes that appeared in comic books originally published by Tower Comics from 1965 to 1969.  The original T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents were an arm of the United Nations.  The name, T.H.U.N.D.E.R., is an acronym for “The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves.”

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents the comic book series ran for 20 issues.  Tower Comics gave the two of the most popular T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, Dynamo and NoMan, each his own short lived comic book series.  After the demise of Tower Comics, the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents characters did not appear in new comic book stories until the early 1980s, which was the beginning of a series of sporadic efforts to create T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents comics over the next three decades.  Beginning in 2010, DC Comics published a short-lived ongoing T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents series and a miniseries.  In 2013, IDW Publishing published another short lived T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents comic book series.

In spite of decades of short-lived iterations, the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents still have fans and admirers, and I am one of them.  In fact, 2015 is the 50th anniversary of their first appearance in T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1 (Tower Comics; cover dated: November 1965).  So I was excited to discover that IDW had published a one-shot comic book, entitled T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, 50th Anniversary Special.

Despite their checkered comic book publishing history, the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents comics have featured the work of a number of talented writers and artists.  T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, 50th Anniversary Special celebrates the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, some of their classic stories, and a selection of work from acclaimed and popular T.H.U.N.D.E.R. creators.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, 50th Anniversary Special reprints four Tower Comics-era stories.  “First Encounters,” from T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1 (November 1965), introduces the devices that give super-powered T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents their powers.  Dynamo shines in two stories:  “D-Day for Dynamo!” from T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #2 (cover dated: January 1966) and “Master of Evolution” from T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #4 (cover dated: April 1966).

One of the best known T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents stories is also reprinted here.  That is “A Matter of Life and Death,” from T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #7 (cover dated: August 1966).  Some comic book historians and fans believe that this story features the first meaningful and long-lasting depiction of the death of a major character, in this case, Menthor, in a comic book.  T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, 50th Anniversary Special also reprints the art Garry Leach drew for a story that deals with the aftermath of Menthor's death on Dynamo.  I am assuming that this story, written by the late George Caragonne, was originally produced for Deluxe Comics' short-lived T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents revival, a comic book series entitled Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.

I don't want to describe the four Tower Comics stories as “quaint and charming,” which is how I sometimes describe comics from the Silver Age and earlier.  I think that these stories are actually quite good, and they reveal that Dynamo is a dynamic character, one whose potential has never and will likely never be reached, unless someone dedicated to comic books saves the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, 50th Anniversary Special also offers just under 20 pages of illustrations, pin-ups, cover art, and preliminary art by classic comic book artists, like George Perez and two now deceased artists, Dave Cockrum and George Tuska, among others.  This comic book is like a short love letter to fans of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.  It does seem a bit inadequate, but fans can get more T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents in T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Companion (from TwoMorrows Publishing).  In the meantime, we can enjoy the comic book-sized T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, 50th Anniversary Special for what it is.  It is a special comic book commemorating a group of comic book characters whose 50 years of existence is probably the shortest half-century in American comic book history.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

I Reads You Review: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS #2

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS #2
IDW PUBLISHING – @IDWPublishing

WRITER:  Phil Hester
ARTIST: Andrea Di Vito
COLORS: Rom Fajardo
LETTERS: Shawn Lee
COVER: Phil Hester and Eric Gapstur with David Baron
COVER RIA: The Sharp Brothers
COVER RIB: Dave Sim
SUBSCRIPTION VARIANT COVER: Dave Sim with David Baron
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (September 2013)

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents was a team of superheroes that appeared in comic books originally published by Tower Comics from 1965 to 1969.  The original T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents were an arm of the United Nations.  Their name, T.H.U.N.D.E.R., is an acronym for “The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves.”

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents the comic book series ran for 20 issues.  Two of the most popular T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, Dynamo and NoMan, had short lived series.  After the demise of Tower Comics, the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents characters did not appear in new comic book stories until 1983.  For the next four or five years, five different entities published T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents comics.  Except for a brief appearance in the 1990s, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents did not appear in new stories until DC Comics published a short-lived ongoing series and a miniseries beginning in 2010.

Now, the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents are at IDW Publishing.  The creative team of the 2013-launched T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents comic book series is writer Phil Hester (Godzilla, Wonder Woman) and artist Andrea Di Vito (Dungeons & Dragons).

The first issue of IDW’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents had sold out by the time I made it to a comic book shop.  From the information I’ve gathered from the Web, IDW’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is a reinvention of the concept and characters, to one extent or another.  I have grown weary of the term, “re-imagination,” because pop culture concepts and franchises that are re-imagined often seem as if they are not really the result of imagination.  It is as if the people behind some of these new versions just make arbitrary changes and tweek some things for the sake of “modernization.”

Thus, far I can’t really tell how much T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents has been changed.  Apparently the new series begins like this:  The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents are dead, or will soon be.  It is up to new recruit Dynamo to master the incredible but lethal power of the Thunderbelt (which gives him his power) in time to rescue his teammates from the mysterious Iron Maiden, a classic T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents adversary.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #2 (The Judgment Tower, Part Two: “Embrace of the Iron Maiden”) opens as Dynamo makes his landing in “the disputed territory of Kashmir” (a sort of barren, rocky landscape that resembles parts of Pakistan or Afghanistan).  He must rescue Agents NoMan and Lightning from a secret T.H.U.N.D.E.R. station that is now under the control of the Iron Maiden.  Dynamo immediately meets someone who is supposed to be an ally, but seems too suspicious to trust.

There are only 20 pages of story in this 28-page comic book.  Dynamo lands in Kashmir, meets someone, penetrates his target, and gets captured.  Plus, some people talk and scheme.  What it took writer Phil Hester fifteen pages to do with Dynamo, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko would have done in three pages – tops, and with more imagination.

This comic book is not awful; it is just a story stretched too far.  It is a short story padded to be graphic novel-like.  It is boring.  T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is supposed to be a superhero action comic book, but this is stiff and phony.  Andrea Di Vito’s art is rigid, awkward, and clunky.  I must admit, however, that I do like the art Phil Hester drew for the cover.  In fact, Di Vito should go away.  Hester should become at least the pencil artist and give up the writing to someone else.

I think I may try another issue of this series.  I hope that IDW does not turn this T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents comic book into a B.L.U.N.D.E.R.

C-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

The New 52 Review: GREEN LANTERN #1

GREEN LANTERN #1
DC COMICS

WRITER: Geoff Johns
PENCILS: Doug Mahnke
INKS: Christian Alamy with Tom Nguyen
COLORS: David Baron
LETTERS: Sal Cipriano
COVER: Ivan Reis and Joe Prado with Rod Reis (Variant cover by Greg Capullo)
32pp, Color, $2.99

The best known Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, first appeared in Showcase #22 (September-October 1959). Like other Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern of Sector 2814 (which includes Earth), wields a power ring, one of the most powerful weapons in universe. But times have changed.

There have been other Green Lanterns of 2814, and with the re-launch of DC Comics’ superhero line, “The New 52,” there is a new Green Lantern. Now, Hal Jordan’s nemesis, Thaal Sinestro, who first appeared in Green Lantern #7 (July-August 1961), replaces Jordan. Sinestro shares the spotlight with Jordan and apparently takes the lead in the new version of the flagship Green Lantern title.

As Green Lantern #1 opens, Thaal Sinestro faces the Guardians of the Universe on his way to being the new Green Lantern (of Sector 2814). Sinestro’s first stop is his home world, Korugar, which is besieged by Sinestro’s own Yellow Lanterns. Meanwhile, Hal Jordan seems to be having every kind of life crisis he can have but then, help is offered…

Once upon a time, in a rural home far, far away, I was a Green Lantern fan, but the character mostly bores me now. I didn’t read anything in this new Green Lantern to make me become a big fan again, but this is a good comic book, for the most part. The juxtaposition of Sinestro’s ascendance and Hal Jordan’s collapse gives the book some dramatic tension. The Yellow Lanterns and Guardians sequences did not appeal to me, so I see them as problems in an otherwise good comic book.

I must also commend penciller Doug Mahnke and inker Christian Alamy for creating some of the best Brian Bolland-clone art I’ve seen in a long time. I might come back for more that.

B

September 14th

BATMAN AND ROBIN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/batman-and-robin-1.html
FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF SHADE #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/frankenstein-agent-of-shade-1.html
SUPERBOY #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/superboy-1.html

The New 52 Review: GREEN ARROW #1

GREEN ARROW #1
DC COMICS

WRITER: J.T. Krul
PENCILS: Dan Jurgens
INKS: George Perez
COLORS: David Baron
LETTERS: Rob Leigh
COVER: Dave Wilkins
32pp, Color, $2.99

Green Arrow is a superhero appearing in DC Comics publications. His secret identity is billionaire Oliver “Ollie” Queen. Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 (cover date November 1941). Green Arrow dresses like Robin Hood, and he was originally an archer who invented trick arrows with various special functions, such as net arrows, explosive arrows, boxing-glove arrows, etc. The various series writers have toned down the trick arrows over the last few decades.

With the re-launch of DC Comics’ superhero line, “The New 52,” a younger Green Arrow is back. Green Arrow #1 (entitled “Living a Life of Privilege”) re-introduces billionaire Oliver “Ollie” Queen, who is also the green-garbed archer and superhero, Green Arrow. He tracks celebrity criminals and has targeted three in Paris: Supercharge, Dynamix, and Doppelganger. Back at Queen Industries, the CEO is demanding that Queen spend more time in board meetings, while Green Arrow’s weapons designer, Jax, is having second thoughts about his career.

Thanks to the art by Dan Jurgens and George Perez, Green Arrow looks like a traditional superhero comic book that could have been published in the 1980s. On the opposite side of that, writer J.T. Krul immerses the series in corporate boardroom melodrama and international intrigue, or at least the superhero version of it. Green Arrow is a modern superhero who relies on technology and communication as he does on his paranormal physical and mental skills – traditional and new.

I’m curious to see where this goes, especially because Green Arrow seems to have a fascistic streak or at least a penchant for acting like Big Brother or Dick Cheney. Hopefully, Krul explores the dark side of Green Arrow, while the Jurgens/Perez team keeps churning out neo-soul art.

B+

August 31st
FLASHPOINT #5
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/flashpoint-5.html
JUSTICE LEAGUE #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/justice-league-1.html

September 7th
ACTION COMICS #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/action-comics-1.html
ANIMAL MAN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/animal-man-1.html
BATGIRL #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/batgirl-1.html
BATWING #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/batwing-1.html
DETECTIVE COMICS #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/detective-comics-1-2011.html
HAWK AND DOVE #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/hawk-dove-1.html
JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/justice-league-international-1.html
MEN OF WAR #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/men-of-war-1.html
OMAC #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/omac-1.html
STATIC SHOCK #1 2.99
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/static-shock-1.html
STORMWATCH #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/stormwatch-1.html
SWAMP THING #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/swamp-thing-1.html

Leroy Douresseaux on "BATMAN/PLANETARY DELUXE"

BATMAN/PLANETARY DELUXE
DC COMICS

WRITER: Warren Ellis
ARTIST: John Cassaday
COLORIST: David Baron
LETTERS: Comicraft’s Wes Abbott
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3184-2; hardcover
96pp, Color, $22.99 U.S., $25.99 CAN

One of my favorite comic books is back in print, and it’s better than just being back in print. It has come back to life in a hardcover edition with a sweet extra – the original script. I love this comic book. It is eternally awesome.

Published in 2003, Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth #1 was a one-shot pitting the stars of the Wildstorm Productions comic book, Planetary, against the Dark Knight himself, Batman. This 48-page, prestige format comic book was written by Warren Ellis and drawn by John Cassaday, the creators of Planetary.

DC Comics recently reprinted this comic book in a hardcover edition entitled, Batman/Planetary Deluxe. This new edition even includes Warren Ellis’ script for the original comic book.

For those who don’t already know, Planetary was superhero comic book published by DC Comics’ Wildstorm imprint. The series was previewed in the summer of 1998 as a backup feature, and the regular series began in early 1999, running for 27 issues before ending in 2009. The comic book focused on an organization called Planetary which sought to discover the secret history of the world. The stories focused on Planetary’s field team: a kind of superwoman named Jakita Wagner, a scruffy young man named Drummer who could detect and manipulate information streams, and Elijah Snow, a man dressed in a white suit and who could create intense cold and extract heat.

In Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth, Planetary travels to Gotham City, the world’s most dangerous city, to capture a serial killer named John Black. On Planetary’s Earth, there is no Batman to protect Gotham. Jakita, Drummer, and Snow find Black in Gotham’s infamous Crime Alley, but they also discover Black’s amazing power. He can rewrite reality.

The first time Black’s power activates, he and Planetary are in a new Gotham City, and this one has a Batman. And this Caped Crusader is not happy to see the Planetary trio. Every time Black rewrites reality, however, Gotham changes, and so does The Batman. The only things about Batman that don’t change are his relentlessness and his desire to bring Black to justice and keep him out of Planetary’s hands.

Truthfully, Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth is not an exceptional Planetary comic book, nor is it an exceptional Batman comic book. It is simply an exceptional and wonderful comic book that puts Planetary and Batman together. It is one of those comic books that is so fun to read and is still enjoyable after repeated readings.

Its strength lies in the talents and skills of its creators. Warren Ellis’ script offers the imagination, inventiveness, and snappy dialogue with sparkling wit that is often evident in his comics. John Cassaday’s beautiful, photorealistic art takes on a dream-like quality here, especially as he offers interpretations of various incarnations of Batman (including Batman creator Bob Kane’s, Adam West’s campy Batman of the 1960s television series, and Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Batman). David Baron’s evocative coloring subtly and delicately shifts in order to appropriate the right mood and look depending on what a moment in the story requires.

Simple and clean, Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth was that thing that is now rare: a self-contained gem – the comic book that offers complete entertainment in one small package. Now, it is back in the more permanent edition that it deserves – with Ellis’ blueprint/script. Batman/Planetary Deluxe is the book you didn’t know you had to have, and it is worth every penny.

A

--------------------------------------------

Leroy Douresseaux on BATMAN BEYOND: HUSH BEYOND

BATMAN BEYOND: HUSH BEYOND

DC COMICS

WRITER: Adam Beechen

PENCILS: Ryan Benjamin
INKS: John Stanisci
COLORS: David Baron
LETTERS: Travis Lanham
COVER: Dustin Nguyen
EXTRAS ART: J.H. Williams III
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2988-7; paperback
144 Color, $14.99 U.S., $16.99 CAN

Batman Beyond was an Emmy Award-winning animated series. It began life in January of 1999 on The WB Television Network and ended in May of 2002, after three seasons and 52 episodes. Set in the year 2039, it starred a new, younger Batman, with high school student Terry McGinnis wearing a new Bat-suit. The original Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne, guided Terry from their base of operations, the Batcave.

DC Comics published a Batman Beyond comic book from 1999 to 2001. Batman Beyond returned to comic books last year. Batman Beyond: Hush Beyond is a new trade paperback from DC Comics. It collects Batman Beyond (2010) #1-6, which were written by Adam Beechen, penciled by Ryan Benjamin, and inked by John Stanisci, with covers by Dustin Nguyen.

As the story begins, someone has escaped from Cadmus Labs in Neo-Gotham, and its trifling Director Amanda Waller is trying to keep things hush-hush, in spite of protests from research scientist, Nora Elliot Reid. From the beginning, the escapee leaves a trail of bodies behind him, all of them connected to the original Batman.

In his updated, hi-tech Bat-suit (now with invisibility and jet propulsion), Terry McGinnis takes on a foe who knows everything about him, and this couldn’t have come at a worse time. Terry and his mentor/boss, Bruce Wayne, are at odds over Terry’s job performance, and Terry has been running on little or no sleep. As he tries to uncover the secrets of this killer, he seeks help from Batman’s original sidekicks, but one of them holds a grudge. Terry’s investigation also leads him into conflict with a mysterious new Catwoman, who doesn’t like The Bat the way the original did. And the streets say that someone who was supposed to be dead is back with a vengeance – Hush.

I have mixed feelings about the original Batman: Hush, written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Jim Lee. Half of it was quite good; the other half was cold and robotic. Adam Beechen, the writer of this new Hush storyline, has written an old-fashioned potboiler/cliffhanger serial. This is a flat out, excellent read.

Sometimes, I couldn’t read this thing fast to appease my hunger to know what was on the next page. Some of the ideas here are familiar, done hundreds of times before in other Batman comic books, but here, it is the execution that makes Hush Beyond such a thrill to read. Beechen is at his best in this story when he lets Terry and Bruce get raw with each other about their opinions of each other’s job performance. Plus, there is a big red herring and twist here that will shock and confuse the reader – in a good way.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

------------------------------

Leroy Douresseaux on "Batman vs. The Undead"

BATMAN VS. THE UNDEAD

DC COMICS

 

WRITER: Kevin VanHook

ARTIST: Tom Mandrake
COLORS: David Baron
LETTERS: Steve Wands
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3035-7; paperback
128 Color, $14.99 U.S., $16.99 CAN

I still find comic book back issues in which the credits list the comic book artist as an illustrator. I don’t know if the term illustrator is appropriate because comic book penciller or artist does not provide illustrations for a comic book story. Rather he tells a story using graphics and drawings.

Certainly, some comic book artists employ the techniques of illustrators because they are the best way to tell a comic book story. A recent example would be Tom Mandrake whose pen and ink style art makes the new trade paperback, Batman vs. The Undead a thrilling superhero comic book, but also a throwback to weird pulp tales.

Batman vs. The Undead collects the storyline originally serialized in Batman Confidential #44-48. This story arc finds Bruce Wayne in New Orleans to contribute money for the post-Hurricane Katrina rebuilding effort. Batman, on the other hand, is in the Big Easy on the trail of madman, Professor Herbert Combs. Combs was released from Arkham Asylum and is in New Orleans seeking to further his knowledge of the dark art of voodoo.

Batman isn’t the only one tracking Combs, so is the vampire Marius Dimeter and the Polish werewolf, Janko, both victims of Combs’ dark magic. Now, Combs has joined forces with another powerful voodoo practitioner, Mama Ezili, in a plot to raise the zombie army to beat all armies. The task to stop Combs is so big that Batman will not only need the help of Dimeter and Janko, but also the help of Superman.

Ten years from now, readers may not remember Batman vs. The Undead the way they remembered Batman: The Dark Knight Returns a decade after it was first published. Hopefully, new readers will continually discover this Batman Confidential storyline and many of them will remember it as one of the better Batman horror stories. Kevin VanHook and Tom Mandrake are in near-perfect dark harmony in creating this riveting mixture of Batman detective story and weird fiction.

Only a diseased mind or an imaginative comic book scribe could use rotting corpses, plastinated bodies, and moldy mummies as seed to grow one of the Dark Knight’s most challenging cases. Which is Kevin VanHook? I’ll let you decide, dear reader. Seriously, VanHook blends pulpy Robert E. Howard/H.P. Lovecraft horror and Denny O’Neil-style Caped Crusader into a gruesome stew that simmers like a summer potboiler.

Borrowing only a tiny bit from recent Batman artists like Jim Lee and Andy Kubert, Tom Mandrake creates graphics that recall the Batman comic book art of Berni Wrightson and Jim Aparo. When Mandrake weaves ghastly pages of undead action, dank swamps, and creepy graveyards, he conjures, in a way, early 20th century pen and ink illustrators (like Joseph Clement Coll). In the zombie and voodoo pages, Mandrake does award-worthy work that is as good as the best recent horror comic book art.

Batman vs. The Undead is a delight to read, like a good scary movie is to watch. The last chapter sort of stumbles in the last act, but overall, this is fun. I hope VanHook and Mandrake plan on giving us more such dark delights.

A-