Feel the magic, hear the roar–THUNDERBOLTS are loose!WRITER: Andy Diggle
PLOT:
In private, Ghost tells Black Widow II that he knows her secrets, and she threatens to detonate nano-pimps she snuck into his food. Ghost explains that she and he have a shared agenda.
THOUGHTS:
Perhaps Songbird’s return will draw the Diggle-bolts back into the broader Thunderbolts legacy, making this incarnation less Dark Reign-specific. That should prove an interesting road. For the first time, a Marvel (anti-?) hero other than Spider-Man has a personal vendetta against Osborn, who perverted a team and an ideal that turned Songbird’s life around. This conflict seems less forced than the grudge between Norman and Ronin in the Avengers books because Norms and Melissa Gold actually have history thanks to Warren Ellis’s Thunderbolts run.
The interaction between Ant-Man and Paladin reveals much. Paladin’s unique ethical code (kill as part of a job, but never for pleasure) makes him seem downright well-adjusted compared to his teammates, until you realize what it means that he feels most of his marks have it coming. Ant-Man displays more sympathetic layers than immediately suggested by his comic relief role, and surprisingly may be the Thunderbolt willing to go the furthest to thwart Osborn “when push comes to shove.”
Former penciler Roberto De La Torre steps aside for Miguel Sepulveda, an equal in skill and appropriateness for this title. The colors-on-pencils look makes some pages appear smudgy, but other pages benefit from the remarkably rich rendering.
FAVORITE QUOTE:
“Andreas Strucker lied to me! Fortunately I had the foresight to … preemptively punish him for any such potential betrayals.
RATING:
4 webheads out of 5. Yet another rock-solid Thunderbolts. Please leave a comment before glacial daily strips and deceased pop stars push this review off the page!
REVIEWED BY: CrazyChris
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Perfect call on the ‘favorite quote’ here and ‘Norman’s Tangled Web’ is also very fitting for this book. Truthfully though, almost every DR title running right now could be classified under ‘Norman’s Tangled Web’ as well…
I would add Luke Cage to the list of superheroes with personal vendettas for Osborn (Pulse, NA 48-49) and even Tony Stark…and aside from Osborn sullying Songbird’s former-team, he was most likely responsible for the death of her mother as well…
One last thing–this book had, what i find less and less comic books have nowadays, and that is a clear path for the reader to follow as you read the story…in some of the other books that i read, im sometimes unsure if i’m reading in the order the author intended…i get a lot more satisfaction out of the story when that ambiguity is removed…
I am SO hooked on Diggle’s writing style! I’m very fond of his Dark Hawkeye as well. Looks like you’re getting your wish about Songbird, Chris! I remember you hoping that this character WOULDN’T get lost in the mix on this title. It appears she won’t, and she’s really grown on me now. Please don’t give up writing these reviews, man! I may not comment every time but your reviews convinced me to pick up Thunderbolts again and I’m really glad I did because I think I like this even better then Dark Avengers. Keep up the great work!
I’m glad someone got the reference!
Keep commenting! I wanna hear from everyone! I’ve heard from several people now that these reviews are the only way they keep up with the title, so you gotta let me know you’re reading so I know it’s worth it to keep going!
Eye of Agamotto, give me sight beyond sight!
Thunderbolts has been a great book ever since they threw Osborn in charge. I was hoping to be able to drop this book and just switch over to Dark Avengers, but this book is still good dang it.
You’re dead-on in your review. I even agree on that smudgy look of the art.
If I was reading the book I’d probably agree with your assessment of this issue, sadly I had enough books to buy this week without this. Your reviews are the only way I have to keep up with NA and TB cause I cant’ even be bothered byrne-stealing them anymore so keep them up.