Yz is the real name of Johnny Thunder's Thunderbolt, an invisible pink anthropomorphic thunderbolt-shaped magic genie who can do about anything if it has a human guide to steer it. In 1940, the young Johnny Thunder became its master by saying the magic words "Cei-U" (or "say you" - which is "Yz" backwards) and they had many wonderful adventures together during the 1940s. In early years, the djinn remained invisible, and Johnny believed that all strange happenings around were a power of himself. [2]The almost incredibly innocent Johnny also didn't realized the relation in saying "Say You" and those weird tricks until later.

Pre-Crisis, Golden Age

Thunderbolt (Oswald Archibald Thunderbolt[3]) was married with other djinn named Mildred. The couple had a son named Shocko. They lived in a cloudhouse, complete with electrical furniture, at Cloud Villa, located in the troposphere. Many other djinns were living in this villa,[4] among them, his own family.[1]

Pre-Crisis, Bronze Age

Thunderbolt came from Thunderbolt Dimension, a place with electrical-based lifeforms.[5]


Originally the Thunderbolt was believed to come from the Asian land of Badhnisia, but was recently revealed to be a djinn from the 5th Dimension.

In recent years, Johnny Thunder has suffered from Alzheimer's, and other potential heroes have become the Thunderbolt's master, first Johnny's ward Kiku, and later the reluctant hero Jakeem "J.J." Thunder, who currently works with the JSA. (The Thunderbolt also seems to have transferred some powers to Johnny Thunder's biological son, William Twotrees a.k.a. Will Power.)

Currently, Yz resides in a magic pen and is called into action when Jakeem clicks it and says the words "so cool". For a while, the Thunderbolt was merged with his archenemy, the blue djinn known as Lkz, into a purple Thunderbolt. Now it seems like the pink Yz is on his own again, or if not, at least he is the dominant part. He also merged with Johnny Thunder's soul, and became Johnny Thunderbolt, with an Yz appearance but with Johnny's mind, and now the original master is the genie.



  • Exact Command: Thunderbolt's abilities, thanks to his magical powers, are quite vast; however, he is limited by only being able to execute Jakeem's (or, originally, Johnny's) exactly worded order. Yz must always follow the orders to the letter; if the user speaks a slang when giving an order, he will interpret it literally.[2]
  • Vulnerability to Water: Because of his electrical nature, Yz is damaged when he is in contact with water.[7]
  • Power Limitation: Yz is ruled by strange djinn laws: For example, when he was with Johnny Thunder in Cuba, he refused any order from Johnny if not spoken in Spanish.[8] Killing seems to be a taboo under these laws, and Yz can't fill orders to kill anyone.[7]



  1. 1.0 1.1 Flash Comics #78
  2. 2.0 2.1 All-Star Comics #3
  3. In Flash Comics #69, the Thunderbolt's wife, Mildred, calls him "Archibald". They call him "Archibald" and "Oswald" in other occasions. In Flash Comics #78, Thunderbolt's family call him "Oswald".
  4. Flash Comics #69
  5. Justice League of America #219
  6. Flash Comics #1
  7. 7.0 7.1 Justice League of America #37
  8. All-Star Comics #9

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