New Thunderbolts #5

February 11, 2005

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Call to Battle?

The Fathom Five is attacking – are there any Thunderbolts left to take them down?

Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Co-Plotter: Kurt Busiek
Pencils: Tom Grummett
Inks: Gary Erskine
Colors: Chris Sotomayor
Letters: Albert Deschesne
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Cover Art: Tom Grummett
Publisher: Marvel Comics

The Fathom Five are back, attacking Manhattan. The Avengers are gone. Only the Thunderbolts are left to save the day… but how many can be trusted? Atlas is acting erratic, Songbird is in the hospital, and the last time their leader saw Speed Demon, Blizzard and Joystick they were headed to a strip club. Oh – and Abe Jenkins is cut off from his Mach-IV armor.

This is a bad day.

This is also the issue where you see what this book has been leading up to. We see hints of characterization in Speed Demon that may start to betray his real motivation. We see Abe acting like the true hero he has become. We even get a promise to a final resolution of the Captain Marvel mystery, and all of this in book that’s chock-full of action from beginning to end. We even get a quick cameo from one of the villains of Nicieza’s most popular 90s work.

Nicieza and Busiek have created a pace that just won’t stop, and while some things still aren’t quite touched on this issue – the Swordsman subplot, for instance, you realize that they were subtly setting things up for a big sixth issue, perfect for the trade paperback. The thing is, with most comics these days, you see that coming from the first issue. Not here.

Grummett continues to impress with the artwork on this issue. There are a ton of characters bandied about in here – heroes and villains alike – and a lot of action, but he’s got great fight choreography and a good handle on everyone.

This book has been building momentum slowly. This issue you get the feeling that it’s finally hit the crest and it’s time to race to the finish. At least, the finish of the first story. If there’s anything that’s been consistent about the Thunderbolts from day one, it’s that every ending brings with it a dozen new beginnings.

Rating: 8/10

New Thunderbolts #4

January 14, 2005

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Sword and Claw (Enemy of the State Tie-In)

While the Thunderbolts lick their wounds, the Swordsman faces a crazed Wolverine.

Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Co-Plotter: Kurt Busiek
Pencils: Tom Grummet
Inks: Gary Erkine
Colors: Chris Sotomayor
Letters: Albert Deschesne
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Cover Art: Tom Grummet
Publisher: Marvel Comics

While I do applaud any effort to keep a tighter continuity in Marvel Comics these days, I have to admit that any enjoyment I may have had of this issue was somewhat tempered by the fact that I’m not reading Wolverine these days and all I know of that storyline is what I’m reading in reviews, which frankly, does not impress me. Evidently, he has been brainwashed and made a pawn in a Civil War among different factions of Hydra, and this issue he’s targeting the Thunderbolts’s benefactor, Baron Von Strucker. A unique little twist about Stucker, though, winds up putting the mysterious new Swordsman in the unique position of trying to save him.

Back at camp, the ‘Bolts are still recovering from their battle with Fathom Five. The newer members, Speed Demon, Joystick and Blizzard, want to take it easy, but Mach-IV isn’t keen on their plans to hit the town, since at least two of them are still wanted criminals. Meanwhile, Atlas finds himself answering some uncomfortable questions about the missing Captain Marvel.

As continuity-heavy as this series usually is, it’s even thicker this issue, between the ties to Wolverine’s solo title and the storylines harkening back to literally dozens of earlier Marvel titles. We do get a nice surprise regarding the Swordsman, and I find myself with a suspicion as to his true identity (which I’m hesitant to divulge because I’m really not sure where that particular character was when last we saw him).

Tom Grummet and Gary Erkine’s artwork is top-notch as usual. Although our heroes really take a backseat this issue to some of the various side plots, there’s an awful lot of action – first Swordsman versus Strucker, then a three-way battle once Wolverine is thrown in. The book gets a little bloodier than I expected, but with two blade-wielding combatants, that’s really to be expected.

While I wasn’t too pleased that this issue took a side track to patch in to the “Enemy of the State” fiasco, that didn’t limit my understanding much, just my enjoyment of it. The progress that the real plot of the title is good, and as always, I’m anxious to see where it will go next.

Rating: 7/10

New Thunderbolts #3

December 24, 2004

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Heavy Burdens

Even with some all-star help, can the new Thunderbolts save the U.N.?

Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Heavy Thinking: Kurt Busiek
Pencils: Tom Grummett
Inks: Gary Erskine
Colors: Chris Sotomayor
Letters: Albert Deschesne
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Cover Art: Tom Grummett & Chris Sotomayor
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Last issue, a battle against The Game at the United Nations sent the building crumbling with the Thunderbolts, Mr. Fantastic and Namor inside. This time, heroes and villains alike work inside and out to save the lives of everybody trapped in the building.

The character dynamic in this issue is really, really good. It’s intriguing to see how quick Mr. Fantastic is to trust these new Thunderbolts, like he’s willing to give someone a second chance. On the outside, there’s a sharp contrast as Spider-Man has to forge an uneasy alliance with his former enemy, Mach-IV, who once plagued him as the Beetle. Mach-IV has to pull strings with his unlikely benefactor, Baron Strucker, to bring in the one man who can save the lives of everyone in the building. Finally, the book ends with a major, major twist (which is actually two twists in one – one of revelation and one of action) that turns the entire series on its ear only three issues in. Twists and turns were the hallmark of the old series, and it’s great to know that Nicieza and Busiek (who I have to assume is credited here for co-plotting) are keeping that tradition going.

Grummet, Erskine and Sotomayor continue to do a fantastic job with this book. They’ve got a lot to play with visually this issue, starting out with a four-page underwater sequence followed up with a major fire at the U.N. Songbird’s powers get a real workout this issue as well, which means they have a lot to play with as far as her powers are concerned.

Questions keep racking up with this book. What’s up with Atlas’s powers? How and why did Mach-IV hook up with Strucker? And what happened to Captain Marvel? I’d be lying if I said you got any answers this issue, but man, it’s fun getting to the questions.

Rating: 8/10

New Thunderbolts #2

November 24, 2004

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: The Games People Play

The Thunderbolts get a new member – and the readers get a deeper mystery.

Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Gamesmaster: Kurt Busiek
Pencils: Tom Grummett
Inks: Gary Erskine
Colors: Chris Sotomayor
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Cover Art: Tom Grummett, Gary Erskine & Chris Sotomayor
Publisher: Marvel Comics

The second issue of New Thunderbolts jumps right back in to what made the first issue so much fun: plots, mysteries, backdoor deals and a true love of the Marvel Universe. The new Thunderbolts are on their second mission, taking down the Wrecking Crew, when an old associate of Mach-IV’s shows up and declares his intention to join the team.

Mach-IV suspects the hand of his mystery financier, Baron Strucker, unaware that Strucker has some allies of his own behind the scenes. The whole world is wondering what happened to Captain Marvel, (well, the whole world minus Atlas) and the ‘bolts wind up in a scuffle with Namor and Mr. Fantastic on the floor of the United Nations!

Sound like a lot? Well, it is. Even taking away the fact that most comics these days could turn a dental cleaning into a six-issue story arc, this comic is packed with plot. More happens in this issue than in the average year of Ultimate Spider-Man, and it’s all interesting, and there are dozens of questions waiting to be answered.

If there’s any drawback to this title, it may be its total adherence to continuity. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but I also know a new reader may be confused. Not to say this book is inaccessible (it features the usual “previously” page, disguised as a news report”), but even with all of the necessary details filled in, they may feel a little left out not knowing the nuances of thinks like Mach-IV’s onetime partnership with Speed Demon (anyone remember the Deadly Foes of Spider-Man miniseries?) Still, in its previous incarnation, this was a book for real fans people who have been reading for years, and the same seems to hold true here.

The artwork by Grummet, Erskine and Sotomayor continues to be a treat. I’ve always enjoyed Grummet classic superhero art style, and he’s got a color and ink team that make his pencils jump off the page. This is a book that requires them to draw a lot of superheroes, and they make them all look great.

I loved the original Thunderbolts, I think it was the best title Marvel launched in the bleak wasteland of the 90s, and I’m ecstatic that they’re back on the racks and back in form.

Rating: 8/10

Avengers/Thunderbolts #3

April 30, 2004

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Nerves

Iron Man continues his infiltration of the Thunderbolts… but does Moonstone suspect something’s up?

Writers: Kurt Busiek & Fabian Nicieza
Pencils: Tom Grummett
Inks: Gary Erskine
Colors: Brian Reber
Letters: Albert Deschesne
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Cover Art: Barry Kitson
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Last issue, as the Avengers grew more suspicious of Baron Zemo’s intentions with the Thunderbolts, they disguised Iron Man as the old villain Cobalt Man and sent him in as a mole. This issue, Moonstone begins to poke holes through his disguise. Meanwhile, Hawkeye begins to learn that perhaps neither of his teams have been entirely honest with him.

Ever since the previous series ended (effectively with issue #75, before it became the supervillain “Fight Club” farce), Thunderbolts fans have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Songbird, Atlas… even Moonstone were characters we believed could truly reform. But Baron Zemo? Could such a villain, not to mention the son of such a villain, who has plagued Captain America for so many years… could he really reform, or has he got something else up his sleeve. That seems to be one of the questions this miniseries is intended to answer, and it’s one of the most fascinating character studies I’ve seen in comics in years. Like the best issues of the Thunderbolts series, this story is about characters on the edge, walking the line between hero and villain, trying to decide what they really are and what they’re going to be.

Tom Grummett pinch-hits for Barry Kitson on the art chores in this issue, and as he did on his recent Teen Titans run, he continues to show why he’s one of the most underappreciated pencillers in the business. Grummett draws strong heroes, dynamic poses and great action sequences. Bonus points go to the whole creative team for including one of the best ideas from Busiek’s run on Avengers – the holographic globe-scanning apparatus that the team ostensibly uses to search for threats, but that doesn’t get used often enough in my opinion.

This is shaping up to be a great miniseries for fans of both properties who have been disappointed in how they’ve been treated lately. We already know Avengers is in for a renaissance in a few months. Hopefully this mini will inspire Marvel to give the Thunderbolts the same.

Rating: 8/10