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