ThunderCats: Apex #1

History

Editor Nate Cosby approached writer Ed Brisson — a lifelong ThunderCats fan who cited the 1985 animated series as a childhood staple — after Brisson had been in contact with main series writer Declan Shalvey; Cosby pitched him the project directly, with the spoiler-heavy concept already fully formed. Brisson and artist Rapha Lobosco were announced as the creative team in late September 2024, with the issue solicited for a December 4, 2024 on-sale date. The special was developed in coordination with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products, which co-holds the ThunderCats trademark alongside Ted Wolf's estate, as part of Dynamite's broader publishing agreement for the franchise.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published December 4, 2024 by Dynamite Entertainment; written by Ed Brisson, with interior art by Rapha Lobosco and a cover A by Declan Shalvey.
• Apex made his first appearance in the main monthly series in ThunderCats #8 (September 25, 2024), designed by Declan Shalvey as a cloaked, single-glowing-red-eyed mystery figure; the Apex #1 special provides his full origin and identity reveal.
• The issue's central revelation: Apex is a future, time-traveling version of Lion-O who, after watching the rest of the ThunderCats die in a war against Plun-Darr mutant refugees, fled into the time stream and entered a pact with the Ancient Spirits of Evil, who gave him the title 'Apex the Ever-Living.'
• Apex is depicted as a sorcerer who carries both the Eye of Thundera and the Book of Omens, and whose shroud and bandages are remnants of Mumm-Ra's garb — details confirmed in-issue.
• The 40-page oversized special was designed to bridge the 'Omens' era and set up the story arc launching in ThunderCats #11, functioning simultaneously as a season-one finale and a season-two prologue.
• The issue was solicited with at least 15 cover variants (Covers A–P in Dynamite's October 2024 catalog), including versions by Lucio Parrillo, Meghan Hetrick, Jae Lee & June Chung, and multiple Declan Shalvey foil editions.
• Background alien species populating the issue's saloon and desert scenes are drawn from the 1985 animated series — including Mudhogs (from 'Mandora – The Evil Chaser'), Trollogs (from 'Berbils'), and Brutemen (from 'The Slaves of Castle Plun-Darr') — signaling deliberate continuity nods to classic lore.
• The Dynamite ThunderCats relaunch that spawned this special was a major commercial event for the publisher, with ThunderCats #1 surpassing 180,000 copies sold and requiring multiple print runs — the highest initial orders in Dynamite's then-20-year publishing history — providing the commercial foundation that made the Apex spin-off viable.

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