Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt
Real Name	Yz
First Appearance	Flash Comics #1 (January, 1940)
Creators	John B. Wentworth, Stan Aschmeier
Team Affliations	The Justice Society of America, The All-Star Squadron
Aliases	Johnny Thunder, Yzklz
Base of Operations	New York City, New York
Powers	Reality Manipulation, Various Magic Abilities, Variable Corporeal Form, Flight
Skills and Abilities	None
Tools and Weapons	A Magic Pen (his home)

Thunderbolt is a super-powered genie in the DC Universe and is a friend/servant to Johnny Thunder.

Origin

A powerful genie was bonded with young Johnny Thunder, helping him whenever Johnny said "Say You".

Biography

Pre-Crisis (Earth-Two)

Very little is known about the past of the genie known as Yz (more commonly referred to as Thunderbolt) save that he had a roughneck son named Shocko at one point and a wife named Mildred (also sometimes known as Mrs. Thunderbolt.  When Johnny Thunder was but a baby in a foreign country, a spell was placed on him by some native Badhnesians to give him control of a genie-like creature known as the Thunderbolt, with the intent of using the child to rule the world. After the plot is foiled following an attack from a foreign country, Johnny returned to the US and lived a relatively ordinary life. While working as a window washer, Johnny inadvertently summons Thunderbolt using the magic word "cei u", which sounded exactly like the words "say you", and found himself turned into a successful boxer.

The bumbling Johnny Thunder went through a number of adventures that he unwittingly got himself into and/or out of due to the unintentional wishes he's made to the Thunderbolt and it was quite a while before he discovered Thunderbolt's existence. With this, Johnny decided to work with Thunderbolt to help people by using its magic powers. Eventually, the duo caught the attention of the Justice Society of America and despite Johnny Thunder's occasional bungling, both members were valued by the rest of the team.  Johnny Thunder would later adopt a young girl named Peachy Pet, who, at some unspecified time, was transformed into a genie and eventually married Shocko).

After a long tenure with the team, Johnny and Thunderbolt found they needed to quit after Thunderbolt's power was severely diminished due to the sorcery of rebel Badhnesian priests. Later Johnny was kidnapped by Badhnesian renegades attempting once more to use Thunderbolt and Johnny to conquer the world, but with Johnny weakened, he finds himself unable himself. Johnny and Thunderbolt were able to summon Superman and the three team up to save the world and Johnny, noticing the problems with the nation of Badhnesia, decides to stay to teach people about democracy with his Thunderbolt, staying until the first democratically elected president was decided.

Afterward, Johnny returned to the Justice Society for a few adventures before retiring.

Post-Crisis

After the events of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the history of the universe was rewritten, but only the most minute of details of Johnny's past was changed (most notably that Earth 2 (where he lived) had merged with Earth 1. Following this, time had past for Johnny and Thunderbolt with Johnny becoming an old man who suffered from Alzheimer's. For a while, Johnny allowed his old friend and ward Kiku to care care of Thunderbolt. Later in his life, Thunderbolt, who was living in a pen, ended up accidentally being given to the good-hearted (but foul-mouthed) Jakeem Johnny Williams during an autograph signing.

Jakeem accidentally summoned the Thunderbolt and became it's new master, quickly using it to fulfill his wildest dreams. However, Jakeem and Thunderbolt soon found themselves recruited to battle former superhero gone mad Triumph, who had acquired a powerful genie of his own. The two genie's battled to the extent that their powers threatened the Earth, but soon the Justice League and Justice Society was able to come up with a solution: get the two genie's to merge into a single entity.

Jakeem and Thunderbolt would later go on to join the Justice Society, with Jakeem being the youngest (though still valued) member. Johnny Thunder would later be approached by Johnny Thunder, who wanted his Thunderbolt by but the moment he reattained it, Johnny revealed he wasn't Johnny, but was the Ultra-Humanite, a villain capable to swapping minds who took over Johnny Thunder's body. The Ultra-Humanite succeeded in taking over the world with the Thunderbolt, until he was defeated by the Justice Society, which resulted in the death of Johnny Thunder.

Afterwards, however, Thunderbolt was able to resurrect Johnny by merging with him, becoming Johnny Thunderbolt. Johnny Thunderbolt became Jakeem's genie, with the two working as a team as they had done before. For a while, he appeared closer in appearance to Johnny Thunder, but following a funeral for Johnny Thunder, he chose not to let his family know he lived on as Thunderbolt, perhaps to give them closure) and chose to look more like the original Thunderbolt.

Jakeem and Thunderbolt continued to work together as members, until the supernatural entity the Spectre, trapped Jakeem in his magic pen with Thunderbolt.  Together, the two were trapped in the 5th Dimension and the 5th Dimensional entity Qwsp manipulated Jakeem into becoming a power-mad tyrant. 

In a plot Johnny begins to die and Thunderbolt merges Johnny's mind with himself, in a being called Johnny Thunderbolt.

In other media

Johnny Thunder and the Thunderbolt appear in three non-speaking roles in the animated series Justice League Unlimited. Johnny himself only appears in the first episode, "Initiation." The Thunderbolt goes on to appear in two more episodes by himself. The Thunderbolt appears in "Initiation", "The Greatest Story Never Told", and the series finale "Destroyer." In "Initiation", he is seen with Johnny during Superman's speech. In "The Greatest Story Never Told", he is seen helping the Justice League in the battle against Mordru without Johnny. In the series finale "Destroyer", he is seen at the end as the League walks down the stairs, also without Johnny. It is possible that this incarnation is Johnny Thunderbolt.

Thunderbolt is featured in Stargirl. He and Johnny Thunder are shown to be members of the Justice Society of America. When the Injustice Society attacked the JSA, Thunderbolt was left trapped in his pen for ten years while Johnny Thunder was killed by Brainwave. According to Pat Dugan, Thunderbolt was a dangerous weapon.