ThunderCats #20
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThunderCats #20 is a landmark character-study issue within Declan Shalvey's acclaimed Dynamite run because it devotes an entire standalone chapter to excavating the pre-series relationship between Jaga and Mumm-Ra — revealing them as former acquaintances whose shared history across the ages shaped the very conflict at the heart of the franchise. That storytelling choice deepens lore that the original 1985 Rankin/Bass cartoon never explored, building on a thread Shalvey seeded as far back as issue #1, when Jaga was shown to have encountered Mumm-Ra before the ThunderCats ever reached Third Earth. The issue continues the series' pattern of standalone, character-centered chapters — a structural technique Shalvey used earlier with the Slythe-focused issue #10 — cementing that approach as a defining feature of the run and giving the broader epic its emotional architecture.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The Dynamite ThunderCats series was announced at New York Comic Con 2023, with writer Declan Shalvey and regular series artist Drew Moss forming the primary creative team, joined by letterer Jeff Eckleberry. For standalone or flashback-heavy issues that called for a distinct visual sensibility, Shalvey brought in guest artist Joe Mulvey — first for the Slythe spotlight in issue #10 and again for issue #20's time-spanning Jaga/Mumm-Ra narrative, with colorist David O'Sullivan and Arancia Studio completing the art team. The issue's release date shifted from an originally solicited September 24, 2025 (via Diamond Comics Distributors) to October 29, 2025 through Lunar Distribution, and a cover originally planned for issue #20 was moved forward to issue #19 during that scheduling change.
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- Written by Declan Shalvey with interior art by Joe Mulvey (guest artist) and colors by David O'Sullivan / Arancia Studio; released October 29, 2025 by Dynamite Entertainment.
- The issue's central narrative spans multiple eras — 'from their earliest days to the current battle for the future of Third Earth' — tracing the long rivalry between Jaga, the ThunderCats' spectral mentor, and Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living devil-priest of Third Earth.
- Issue #20 follows the series' recurring structural device of standalone, perspective-shifting chapters that expand lore; Shalvey used the same technique for issue #10 (Slythe's point of view, also drawn by Joe Mulvey) and issue #13 (Snarf-focused).
- The Jaga/Mumm-Ra pre-series connection was first seeded in ThunderCats #1 of this run, where Jaga encountered Mumm-Ra before the team's arrival on Third Earth — making issue #20 the payoff chapter for that long-running storyline thread.
- A Goodreads reader annotation notes the issue also contains a vision of the future character Apex (Lion-O's future self/counterpart, whose first appearance was in an earlier issue of the Dynamite run), tying the standalone story into the series' larger continuity.
- The issue shipped with at least sixteen cover variants, including standard covers by Lucio Parrillo, Declan Shalvey, Daniel Scalisi, Alfredo Cardona, Manix Abrera, and Drew Moss (Action Figure variant), plus multiple ratio incentive and virgin editions.
- Joe Mulvey made his debut on the Dynamite ThunderCats series with issue #10; his return for issue #20 marks his second pairing with Shalvey on a lore-expansion chapter, establishing him as the series' designated guest artist for deep-history storytelling.
- The Dynamite ThunderCats ongoing series ran to issue #25, the final issue of Shalvey and Moss's tenure, which was announced as the conclusion of their arc in March 2026 solicitations — placing issue #20 squarely in the run's final, climactic story phase.
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