Fulguros, the self-dubbed "Master of Thunder", began his career as a regular super-hero, fighting the mad scientist, Professor Klabus.  He then abandoned his costume and secret identity, and became a brilliant scientist, who used his inventions to fight enemies such as the Green Dragon, the Public Enemy No.1 and the evil Professor Murdock, who wants to use weather control to rule the world.
 

The Stories    1946   1. Fulguros le Surhomme [Fulguros The Superman] a.k.a. Fulguros contre Klabus [Fulguros vs. Klabus] ("Andax" Nos. ??, 1946; "Pic-Nic" Nos.37-48, 1947))    1954-55   2. La Maison Mysterieuse [The House Of Mystery] ("Sylvie" Nos. 7-8, 1954)  3. L'Ultimatum [The Ultimatum] ("Sylvie" Nos. 9-10, 1955)  4. Fulguros contre Murdock [Fulguros vs. Murdock] ("Sylvie Nos. 11-12, 1955)  1959   5. Les Robots Géants [The Giant Robots] ("Audax" No. 55, 1959)  6. L'Élixir de Jeunesse [The Elixir Of Youth] ("Audax" No. 59, 1959)  7. Le Fils du Radjah [The Rajah's Son] ("Audax" No. 63, 1959)    1967 ("Meteor" Reprints)   160. La Maison Mysterieuse [The House Of Mystery]   161. L'Ultimatum [The Ultimatum]  162. La Fin d'un Rêve [The End Of A Dream]  163. Fulguros et sa Kronexa  164. L'Ennemi Public No. 1 [The Public Enemy No. 1]  165. Fulguros contre le Dragon Vert [Fulguros vs. The Green Dragon]  166. Le Gaz Alpha et la Poudre Omega [The Alpha Gas And The Omega Powder]  167. Aventures Extraordinaires [Extraordinary Adventures]  168. La Fuite de Murdock [Murdock's Flight]

Prof. Klabus

 
 

Publishing History  Fulguros, the self-dubbed "Master of Thunder", was the creation of noted science-fiction illustrator René Brantonne, a French Frank Kelly Freas-like artist who provided the cover art for the Fleuve Noir line of science fiction paperbacks throughout the 1950s and 1960s.    Fulguros was a promising series that never achieved the success it deserved, perhaps because of Brantonne’s other commitments, which forced him to hire various (uncredited) assistants.  Also, censorship struck, and Fulguros was forced to abandon its super-hero guise soon after its creation, and became a more ordinary-looking character.    Fulguros the super-hero made its debut in 1946 in the magazine "Andax".  This story was then reprinted in Nos. 37-48 of the magazine "Pic-Nic" (published by SAETL).  Seven pages of this saga were reprinted again in 1976 in the fanzine "Haga".  Fulguros, now dressed in civilian clothes, and starring in much tamer adventures, then made a surprising move to a girl’s magazine called "Sylvie" in 1952, published by French comics publisher Artima.  To no one's surprise -- except perhaps the publisher -- these did not reach an audience.  These three episodes were reprinted in 1993 as Volume 2 of a series of archives-like material published by Apex.  Fulguros then made a return appearance (again in civilian clothes) in three issues of "Audax" ( Second Series) in 1959, but again failed to prove popular.    Finally, in 1967, five years after Artima had become Aredit, nine episodes of Fulguros (original episodes Nos. 2-4 + previously unpublished stories?) were reprinted in "Meteor".

 
 

The Authors  Fulguros was the creation of René Brantonne (1903-1979), one of the foremost French science fiction illustrators.  Some of the stories were written by R. Lortac.    FOR MORE ON RENE BRANTONNE,  .  FOR MORE ABOUT R. LORTAC,  .

 LINK TO A FRENCH SITE DEVOTED TO BRANTONNE