Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt
cover of Peter Cannon ... Thunderbolt #1 (Aug. 1966), art by Pete Morisi
Publication information
Publisher	Originally Charlton Comics, later DC Comics.
First appearance	Thunderbolt #1 (1966)
Created by	Pete Morisi
In-story information
Alter ego	Peter Cannon
Team affiliations	Justice League
Abilities	Mind over matter (the art of activating and harnessing that unused portion of the brain) DC Comics: Low level telekinesis Psychic control over animals Ability to ignore pain Clairvoyance

Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt is a fictional superhero character originally published by Charlton Comics. The character has been owned by the estate of its creator, writer-artist Pete Morisi, since his death in 2003.

The character debuted in Peter Cannon ... Thunderbolt #1 (Jan. 1966), part of Charlton editor Dick Giordano's "Action Heroes" superhero line. The series then took over the numbering of the defunct title Son of Vulcan, and ran from issue #50–60 (March/April 1966 – November 1967), after which Morisi, a New York City Police Department officer and time-pressed with police work, left the title, which was canceled along with the rest of Charlton's "Action Heroes" comics line.

There were several backup series in Thunderbolt. "The Sentinels", by Gary Friedrich (writing his first superhero stories) and penciler-inker Sam Grainger, appeared in #54–59, and #60 had the Prankster, written by Dennis O'Neil with art by Jim Aparo.

Morisi, who'd done work for Lev Gleason Publications in 1940s, reported in Comic Book Artist #9 (August 2000) that he had attempted to buy the rights to 1940s superhero Daredevil in the early 1960s. Gleason gave him his okay, but the character's primary writer-artist, Charles Biro, balked, requesting a percentage of future profits. Morisi declined and went on to create Thunderbolt in a scaled-down version of that Daredevil's symmetrically divided, red-and-blue costume.

After Charlton sold its superhero properties to DC in 1983, Thunderbolt reappeared after almost two decades in the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover series (April 1985 - March 1986, Thunderbolt appearing in #6, 7, and 10) when he joined the heroes of the Multiverse in their crusade against the Anti-Monitor.