Thundra
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For the game, see Thundra (computer game).
Thundra is a Marvel Comics superheroine who is often aligned with the Fantastic Four. She is a powerful, red-haired amazon warrior, or Femizon, from a matriarchal, technologically advanced future timeline where men have been subjugated by women. She was created by Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway, and first appeared in Fantastic Four #129.
Origin
Thundra is a time traveller from the 23rd century. In the future society she hails from, the United States is now known as Femizonia, and is ruled by amazon-like female overlords who have conquered and virtually enslaved the diminshed male population.
She travelled to the 20th century to challenge Fantastic Four member the Thing to a bout of one-on-one combat; believing him to be the strongest male of all time (unbeknowst to her, that distinction would actually go to the Incredible Hulk). By besting the Thing in combat, she felt she would prove once and for all that women were superior to the male gender, and finally end a stagnant war between Femizonia and the warlike, male dominated planet of Polemachus, where the female population had been subjugated.
Thundra was also recruited into the evil group of supervillains known as the Frightful Four by the Wizard. She secretly had her own agenda and had no real interest in the group, ultimately switching sides and helping the Fantastic Four defeat them.
Thundra has superhuman strength and endurance, and is a skilled combatant with a sword or chain, the latter of which is her weapon of choice, often attached to a bracelet on her left forearm. She has battled alongside (and sometimes against) the Fantastic Four and the Avengers. At one point, she became a professional wrestler training with 'The Grapplers', a group of female wrestlers who possessed cybernetic-endowed superpowers. In a fixed wrestling match with one Grappler member, Thundra (who had superior strength and fighting skills) was secretly drugged by her opponent, causing her to black out, and lose the match.
When she awoke, it was revealed that the Grapplers were actually agents working for the Roxxon Oil Company, a multinational petroleum company which was covertly involved in developing advanced technology and weaponry for sinister motives. The Grapplers were assigned to trick Thundra into helping them sabotage Project Pegasus, a prison/research facility built for housing supervillains.
As a result of the deception by Roxxon and the Grapplers, Thundra came to blows (yet again) with the Thing (with whom she has expressed a romantic interest in, on more than one occassion). She was briefly allied with the duplicate Hyperion while still in service to Roxxon, and later became the consort of the extra-dimensional warlord Arkon.
But Thundra has a special place in her heart for Ben Grimm/The Thing, and in addition to her amorous advances, the two have been involved numerous superheroic adventures; one particularly important pairing of the two involved enlisting Grimm to help liberate Femizonia from a powerful, six-armed android sent from Polemachus to conquer the Femizons. After defeating the android, Grimm informed Thundra that they could never be together, expressing his love for Alicia Masters. Thundra then allowed him to return to the 20th Century.
Marvel's answer to Wonder Woman?
There are a few interesting similarities between Thundra and DC's Wonder Woman:
- Both women are highly skilled in the art of physical combat
- Both come from advanced societies where women rule (Femizon and Paradise Island respectively)
- Both wear metal bracelets
- Both wear tiaras
- Both place high value on the virtues of 'sisterhood'
- Both women generally consider men to be inferior, but have had relationships with men they felt were 'worthy' of them (Superman, Trevor Barnes, Ben Grimm)
Up until Thundra was created in the early 1970s, Marvel really didn't have a 'strong female character' who was equal to male superheroes in size and strength.
Now, such characters are commonplace in comics; the She-Hulk, Rampage, Big Barda, and Caitlin Fairchild are just a few examples. Although the She-Hulk has surpassed Thundra in popularity (among comic book readers), Thundra is still considered to be the first 'strong' female character from Marvel.
Thundra was created as a tounge-in-cheek take on the 1970s American Feminism.