Thompson is generally well regarded as an artist, and was an all-in-one talent, doing the penciling, inking, and lettering on the majority of his stories.

However, he is relatively obscure to modern audiences, especially when compared to contemporaries like Will Eisner or Jack Cole. Peer artists like Jim Steranko believed Thompson could at times be considered superior to Eisner or Cole.

Thompson’s obscurity is generally attributed to none of Thompson’s inventions, like Captain Compass, having ever taken off as hit characters. Also, he died fairly young in the 1940s, which limited the reach of his career.