If you’ve been following T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS, you’ve been reading the gripping story by Nick Spencer and have been seeing art by some of the industry’s top talent including Walter Simonson, Jerry Ordway and Wes Craig. And if that’s not enough T.H.U.N.D.E.R. for you, the final two issues of this six-part miniseries will include a new backup story. Written by Michael Uslan (BATMAN: DETECTIVE NO. 27, THE SPIRIT) and illustrated by Trevor McCarthy (BATMAN: GATES OF GOTHAM, NIGHTWING), the back-up story will focus on the Undersea Agent, a new member of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. organization. “First appearing in the Silver Age of comics with artwork by such legends as Gil Kane (GREEN LANTERN, THE ATOM) and Wally Wood (EC Comics to designing Daredevil's red costume to ALL-STAR COMICS), Undersea Agent makes his first splash in the 21st Century and he is NOT your father's Undersea Agent,” Uslan exclusively told THE SOURCE. “Some may call this a super-hero adventure, others may refer to it as a spy story, but, in fact, these are the opening chapters of nothing short of a tale of abject HORROR! With cursed power comes grave responsibility.” “Going into the story, my idea for Undersea Agent began in a very different place than Michael's,” McCarthy continued. “Based on what I learned about the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, I had more of a classic 1960's archetypal character in mind, so I worked up those designs initially. But after having a very interesting phone conversation with Michael, my direction changed drastically. Michael envisioned this more along the lines of a horror comic, and that the transformation and look of the character need to be incredibly dramatic and horrific. That really got me interested! We batted around a few ideas and then I got to work. Michael suggested that since the human body is 2/3 water, what if that fact was represented more literally? As if the 2/3 water was redirected outwardly and all that remained was 1/3rd of flesh and bone? The end result is something I think is very unusual and certainly horrific – taking the flayed torso of a man and suspending it inside of a liquid humanoid form. In the end, it turned out to be a very complicated and color-heavy character, but it’s something that I'm really excited about!” Below, take an exclusive first look at Undersea Agent by checking out McCarthy’s character design and some interior art from T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS #5, which hits stands on March 21st. [gallery link="file" order="DESC"]

It's quite rare in this day and age for me to get excited about the artwork in a particular comic book story. It happened to me when I saw my first Golden Age Captain America comic as Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's art tore through panel borders and leaped directly at me. I witnessed it in those nine panel cinematic pages by Steve Ditko in the '60's. I was shaken up by it when I bought Spectre #2 in the Silver Age and saw the work of some guy named Neal Adams who then continued to push the envelope of graphic story-telling through his every Deadman page. I was captivated by it when Jim Steranko took comic book art to an entirely different level in SHIELD and Captain America.

And right now this very minute, I'm looking at the third issue of THE SPIRIT and am dazzled by some of the best and most contemporary graphic story-telling I have seen in decades. I can't help but get excited. I believe that I have seen the next super-star in the comic book industry and his name is Justiniano. His design and art in our "Spirit Black & White" story, "Fifteen Minutes of Fame," (yes, today's salute to Will's "Ten Minutes") shows not simply what he is capable of using black and white to its natural artistic maximum, but that he is my Neal Adams- Jim Steranko break-through artist of 2010.

I discovered how special a talent he was when he illustrated our three issue "Spirit" story arc a year ago and, since then, while he's been drawing... innovating, actually... this story for SPIRIT #3. The last time I worked with an artist like this was when I did "The Question" with Alex Toth, a story also in black and white that wound up in the hardback DC Archives book, ACTION HEROES ARCHIVES, Volume 2.

Fellow fan-boys, I really want to bring to your attention this man's work. Fans who vote for the yearly big awards in the comic book industry should not overlook his black and white gem. His name is Justiniano and he's one damn good artist.