A super-hero created by
John Wentworth and
Stan Asch for
DC Comics. Johnny Thunder first appeared as a backup story
in
The Flash #1 in January 1940 under the name "
Johnny
Thunderbolt"
Johnny Thunder was born at 7AM on the 7th day of the 7th month
in 1917. For this reason, he was believed to be destined to
gain great power on his 7th birthday by the people of
Badhnisia. They kidnapped Johnny and gave him a gold belt
with the words cei-u (pronounced "Say You") on it. The people
of Badhnisia sought to use Johnny for their own ends, but he
ended up escaping the country during its war with a neighboring
country and returning to the United States.
Years later, while working as a window washer, Johnny's co-worker
fell from the platform to almost certain doom. Johnny
yelled out "Say You..." and inadvertantly summoned the Thunderbolt,
a mystical entity who was at Johnny's command for one hour.
The Thunderbolt saved Johnny's partner without either Johnny or
the co-worker realizing what was going on.
So went Johnny's life for quite a while. He seemed to live an
almost charmed life, getting out of tight scrapes and having
seemingly impossible circumstances occur around him. Finally,
Johnny figured out that he was somehow effecting his environment
and deduced the existance of the Thunderbolt. The two then
came to an understanding and battled crime with the powers of
the Thunderbolt.
Johnny became a member of the Justice Society of America replacing
the Flash who had retired from active duty. His activities
continued until 1948 when he was replaced by the Black Canary.