Thunderlord | |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
First appearance | 1982 |
In-story information | |
Full name | Liang Xih-k'ai |
Species | Human |
Team affiliations | Global Guardians |
Abilities | Destructive soundwaves, vocal impersonation |
Thunderlord is a fictional DC Comics superhero, a Buddhist monk who has vocal manipulation powers.
Liang Xih-k'ai, Thunderlord's real name, helps the Black Canary dismantle a bomb on the island of Taiwan. Later on, he assists the brothers Thunder and Lightning in Vietnam during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Thunderlord joins the other Global Guardians as brainwashed pawns of the Queen Bee. The brainwashing efforts are long and complex. As with most of the Guardians he assists the Justice League Europe in battling a robot threat. It takes a trip into the sewers before the group could destroy it. Unknown to the heroes, the robot was under the Queen's control and she did not care if it had actually killed Thunderlord or anyone else in particular, it was a public relations maneuver.
As with the rest of her brainwashed victims, Thunderlord remains loyal to the Queen Bee until her murder by Sumaan Harjavti. At the same time, several recently fired members of the Justice League, Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, Elongated Man and the Crimson Fox had violated international law to investigate Bialya. They suspected Bialya was behind their firings and other manipulations of the League (they were right). The group confronts the Guardians and in the crossfire, Little Mermaid is slain by a blast from Jack O'Lantern. Thunderlord and the rest of the Guardians pursue the League through the Queen's scientific facilities. The brainwashing center is discovered.
Sumaan detonates the entire complex, killing many innocent people above and some of the scientists below. Ice saves as many lives as she can with an ice shield. She fails to save Jack O'Lantern but it turns out he was an impostor whom nobody knew.
Thunderlord, the Guardians and the Justice League team up to defeat the mind-controlling villain Sonar.
The heroes involved stay to help the injured then go their separate ways. Thunderlord gains a job doing celebrity impersonations. Fain Y'onia, an ancient enemy of Doctor Mist, begins attacking the group one by one. Godiva, Impala and the Olympian are all injured. Bushmaster dies during his fight with Fain.