Who's This? A boy with a genie.
The facts: Johnny first appeared in Flash Comics #1 (January 1940), created by John Wentworth and Stan Aschmeier, a humor strip in which a foolish young man could call up the genie-like Thunderbolt and used it to right wrongs. The strip lasted until issue 91 (in 1948) and Johnny would also become a member of the Justice Society of America and be featured in All-Star Comics until about the same time. 1948 is when his strip introduced Black Canary, and she almost immediately took his spot (in Flash Comics AND in the JSA) away from him. JSA revivals brought Johnny back, but he eventually developed dementia and loses access to the Thunderbolt (at which point it attaches itself to Jakeem Thunder. Though there is a story where he's turned into a character called Johnny Thunderbolt (fusing man and genie), and another where his corpse becomes a Black Lantern, DC Rebirth has him living in a retirement home.
How you could have heard of him: Some characters, especially comic relief in superhero stories, are universally hated. Snapper Carr, for example. And Johnny is definitely one of these, so even a reader who never read Golden Age JSA stories will likely have heard of him on that basis. He is currently being used in Jeff Lemire's JSA Year 1 story, where he seems a little less silly. The Thunderbolt has appeared with Jakeem in the Stargirl series, but Johnny himself was just a picture, I think. Justice League Unlimited DID use him, in the episode "Initiation".
Example story: Flash Comics #19 (July 1941) "Vacuum Cleaner Salesman" by John B. Wentworth and Stan Aschmeier
I tend to think the primitive art on the strip is part of the reason Johnny Thunder is shown so much disdain, but it didn't hurt the Flash any. Aschmeier's figures are stiff, his faces ugly, and his Thunderbolt weird-looking. I like the IDEA of it, with the "electric" angles on him, but he's still very strange. I'm not sure the war of electric puns has anything to do with the story, but we'll see...
Doofus or not, Johnny has a girlfriend - Daisy Darling - who I had never heard of. One day, she promises to marry him if he can get and keep a job without the Thunderbolt's help.
(He'd just said "say you" in the previous panel. Imagine if your verbal tic were a genie trigger. I wonder what the F-word means in Bahdnesian.) Looks like the Thunderbolt is more curse than boon, and the two boys are thrown out of the house so Johnny can go job hunting.
That's the spirit, Johnny! Of course, he'll make a mess of it. When a rich lady with two vacuum cleaners already turns him away, he says "I SAY YOU don't have one as good" triggers the Thunderbolt and makes the lady magically agree. We don't SEE the Thunderbolt, so Johnny has no clue he had help, but anyway, he makes a huge mess in the lady's house and the genie DOES appear.
Are we having fun yet? The lady's daughter Miranda leaves the house at the same time Johnny does and doesn't return. The following morning, the lady gets a badly-spelled ransom note and accuses Johnny of the kidnapping. His alibi: Sitting on a park bench for 24 hours feeling glum. The cops throw him in jail. Of course, with a Thunderbolt at your beck and call, it should be easy to break out. You only need to stumble on your magic words, which is probably why Johnny talks to himself as much as he does.
Running from the police station wearing lensless glasses as a disguise, Johnny stumbles over a little girl's hoop (oh, the things had to do to keep themselves entertained in the 40s), and they accidentally switch glasses, and hers don't have lenses either. I guess she's... Miranda faking a kidnapping? He tries to tell the lady, but the cops are immediately on him, and no one will listen until he says SAY YOU.
Now, THIS is useful. As predicted, Miranda faked the whole thing and the brat needs to be punished. Johnny: "Thunderbolt - you know what to do!!"
Ah yes, the comedy spanking. This girl was just trying to restore her outrageous weekly allowance back to her usual levels, and now her dad's gonna beat her silly. Comedy! She throws herself on Johnny's mercy, a photographer grabs a pic, and the next day, Daisy takes it all wrong and smacks him one. The end. I guess he lost his job, too. Can't he trade his JSA membership in for some good will from her?
So yeah... What do YOU think of Johnny Thunder's solo adventures? Were they just filler (to last 8 years, like they did), or actually amusing? And even so, should have been allowed into the Justice Society? Is he now a beloved (if retro) character to you? For my part, I thought this one example had storytelling problems, but had a certain goofy charm. Not enough to sell me on the character, but I was never a Johnny hater either. You?
Who's Next? A cowboy with a secret identity.
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