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Cover: George Pérez

The New Teen Titans #32

Jun 1983 · DC · 0.60 USD; 0.25 GBP; 0.75 CAD

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“Thunder and Lightning!”

★ 1st appearance — Lightning

About this Issue

The New Teen Titans #32 (June 1983) marks the debut of Thunder and Lightning — Gan and Tavis Williams — a pair of Vietnamese-American brothers whose origin was one of the earliest attempts by a mainstream superhero title to directly reckon with the human cost of the Vietnam War, giving the conflict a face in the form of two sons searching for the American soldier father whose wartime genetic experiments had given them uncontrollable elemental powers. The issue sits inside the 'Terra Incognito' arc, the extended storyline Marv Wolfman and George Pérez used to embed Terra within the team while quietly laying the groundwork for the betrayal that would culminate in 'The Judas Contract,' meaning even this Thunder-and-Lightning spotlight chapter carries the weight of one of the defining long-form plots of the Bronze Age. With Wonder Girl stepping up to lead the team in Robin's absence, the issue also quietly rehearses the kind of rotating, character-driven leadership dynamics that distinguished New Teen Titans from its contemporaries.

writer Marv Wolfman · artist George Pérez · artist, inker Romeo Tanghal · colorist Adrienne Roy · letterer Ben Oda · cover George Pérez

ComicBooks.com Value

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CGC 9.8 · 83 in census $68

CGC 9.6 · 23 in census $27

CGC 9.4 · 7 in census $23*

CGC 9.2 · 2 in census $23*

CGC 9.0 none in existence

CGC 8.5 · 1 in census $23*

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CGC 8.0 · 4 in census $23*

CGC 7.5 · 1 in census $23*

CGC 7.0 · 1 in census $23

CGC 6.5 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 6.0 · 1 in census $20*

CGC 5.5 none in existence

CGC 5.0 none in existence

CGC 4.5 · 1 in census $20*

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History

Writer Marv Wolfman and penciller/cover artist George Pérez produced the issue under editor Len Wein, with Nicola Cuti as assistant editor and Dick Giordano as executive editor; Romeo Tanghal inked the interior art, Adrienne Roy colored it, and Ben Oda lettered it. By mid-1983 the Wolfman/Pérez New Teen Titans was one of DC's top-selling titles, and the creative team was deliberately pacing subplots — Terra's infiltration, Kid Flash's growing desire to quit, the Dick Grayson/Robin identity tension — across multiple issues, using self-contained introductory chapters like this one as pressure valves that also advanced the larger story. The issue was published in both direct-edition and newsstand variants, as well as a Canadian edition.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Thunder (Gan Williams) and Lightning (Tavis Williams), created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, cover-dated June 1983.
Thunder and Lightning are established as the twin sons of American soldier Walter Williams and an unnamed Vietnamese woman; their powers are linked to their father's wartime genetic experiments and are lethal without access to his blood.
The issue is a chapter in the 'New Teen Titans: Terra Incognito' story arc, which introduced Terra (Tara Markov) as a double agent and built directly toward 'The Judas Contract.'
Robin is absent for the main action; Wonder Girl (Donna Troy) leads the Titans against Thunder and Lightning, with her military intelligence contact revealed to be her sister Wonder Woman (Diana Prince).
Speedy (Roy Harper) appears as he departs the team to return to his anti-drug work, and Frances Kane is seen returning to Blue Valley — both exits serve ongoing subplots rather than the main plot.
The Barry Allen Flash and Frances Kane appear only in flashback or supporting roles; Frances Kane's first appearance was in New Teen Titans #17 (March 1982), not this issue.
Thunder and Lightning voluntarily surrender to S.T.A.R. Labs at the issue's close, a resolution that frames them as sympathetic figures rather than villains — a template both characters carried into later appearances and the Teen Titans animated series.
The issue has been collected in the New Teen Titans: Terra Incognito trade paperback, The New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 2 (both 2011 and 2017 editions), and the New Teen Titans Vol. 5 reprint series.