THUNDERBOLTS versus WRECKING CREW
Justice... (Marvel comics)
Where: Thunderbolts #1 When: April 1997
Why: Kurt Busiek How: Mark Bagley

The story so far...
Earth's mightiest heroes are dead: Killed saving Manhattan and humanity from the threat of the dreaded Onslaught!
In their stead they leave a gaping justice-shaped hole and a population of villains ready to take advantage of the power vacuum.

Then, as if from nowhere -- Justice like lightning!
Enter the Thunderbolts! A team of mysterious heroes with strange and fantastic powers, led by the courageous WWII inspired patriot, Citizen V.

The Thunderbolts represent a new wave of protectors, tackling threats like the Hulk and the Masters of Evil! Or do they? Though these mysterious heroes have manipulated the media to cement their success, what dark secrets lie beneath their colourful costumes and masks? Maybe the Wrecking Crew will find out!

Previous Form:
Baron Zemo (#287): Defeated by Hulk, Captain America and Cable.
Songbird (#162): Present for multiple instances of the team.
Thunderbolts [#14]: Split results, defeating Jack Flag, with a loss to Hulk.
Wrecking Crew: Have not yet been featured on the site.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: The Wrecker 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Techno 6 (Genius)
Speed: Moonstone 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Bulldozer 6 (Generator)
Agility: Citizen V 3 (Athlete)
Fighting Ability: Citizen V 4 (Trained Fighter)
Energy Powers: Moonstone 5 (Lasers)


Well, I've been busy-busy, but it's about damned time we get talking about The T-bolts, and the Wrecking Crew. Serious business, friends!

While not as prevelant as the Avengers or X-Men, we've had the opportunity to see a couple of incarnations of the Thunderbolts in action, and unless you've been living under a comics rock for ten years, you'll have some idea that the Thunderbolts generally have an association with some form of villainy.

Traditionally villains are not particularly cohesive or proficient fighting units, but the Thunderbolts were able to exceed the individuals, to become a superior fighting whole. Thus, let us deduce that motivation strengthens team dynamic, and therefore gives the Thunderbolts a numerical edge against their construction crew foes.

The Wrecker, aptly named leader of the Wrecking Crew, gained his powers through dumb-luck and mistaken identity, and has ever since had the enchanted power of an Asgardian. Like a good working stiff, he shares this power with his fellows in the gang; Thunderball, Bulldozer & Piledriver. Spreading the enchanted power not just to their chosen weapons, but also to each of their selves.

These days Wrecker does this without cost to himself, thanks to a little wax-on training with Ulik. This roughly equates to a quartet of badly dressed Thor-level villains, complete with construction based gimmicks, and a whole lot of average joe 'tude.

The Thunderbolt's find their key to victory in their versatility.
Under the strategic guidance of a disguised Baron Zemo - who is no fighting slouch - they are able to utilize their combination of strength, technology and super powers to deliver an encompassing attack on the one-note foes.

Likewise, the Thunderbolts, at least in this period, have the element of surprise. Most villains are completely unfamiliar with their techniques, while the former Masters of Evil have unique incite to the strategums and capabilities of their foes. This is perhaps the true edge, not seen against the likes of the Hulk. [Incredible Hulk #449]

The Math: The Thunderbolts (Total) The Wrecking Crew (Average)
The Pick: The Thunderbolts

What went down...
With New York City still reeling from the mass destruction unleashed by Onslaught, the Thunderbolts occupy their time dealing with the scavenging baddies, The Rat Pack. Having already defeated them, the team is quick to pose and rally in front of the press, mounting their efforts to again take the battle to the villainous clan.

The Rat Pack are quick to take to the skies, and even though they fully recognise the maneauver as an ambush, the Thunderbolts take chase, following the lowly crooks out of Manhattan toward Liberty Island.

There, they find themselves under the attack of an enchanted wrecking ball -- the calling card of Thunderball! His weapon destroys the V-wing, forcing the team to rally, those with capabilities of flight aiding those without.

Techno shows reluctance to battle hired crooks that might otherwise be counted as colleagues, but Citizen V quickly stems his remarks, masking them with the bold baratone of a charging superhero. Taking the cue, Atlas extends his size and strength to make an explosive landing on the island, bowling Wrecker and Piledriver, while Moonstone lends the assist against Bulldozer.

Apparently unaware of the history of the Citizen V monicker, Wrecker engages his team-leading counterpart in physical and mental combat. The Baron is more than ready to engage him in both, lithely avoiding a savage crowbar attack, with a razor edged retort of defeats passed.

While the rest of the teams duel it out, curious tourists on the island come under threat of falling rubble. Fortunately for them, Songbird is there to lend her sonic constructs as protective shields.
As Bulldozer barrels down on her, it is fortunate for Songbird that Mach-1 is on the scene to scoop up the threat with rocketting precision.

Continuing the theme of teamwork, Atlas comes to the aid of an overwhelmed Citizen V, using his impressive size and strength to clobber Wrecker into a self-made crater. Alas, Citizen V's warnings come too late, the cocky Atlas succumbing to a little teamwork from the away side.

As Atlas hurtles into the drink from the impact of Thunderball's strike, Meteorite does her best aerially to deal with Piledriver.

The super-powered menace uses his unusually large and powerful hands to wrench a piece of concrete from the battleground, using it as a massive projectile to send Meteorite hurtling into the Statue of Liberty like her namesake!

With the city watching on in horror, the Wrecker strikes at the base of the statue, sending a quiver up Liberty's spine. He challenges the star-spangle clad Citizen V to surrender, or face the consequences of being responsible for the symbol's destruction on national television.

Revelling in their apparent checkmate, the Wrecking Crew barely notice Mach-1 circling around in the air to fire spherical projectiles from the wrist mount of his armor. Each globe reaches it's target, stuffing the gobs of the cackling villains, before spewing forth noxious gas!

Under the direction of Citizen V, Songbird uses her sonic constructs to create forcefields around the Wrecking Crew's heads, trapping the gas that smothers them into unconsciousness.

His mouth shielded, the still intimidating Bulldozer mocks the Thunderbolts, but even as he speaks, his confidence begins to wither in direct response to the looming shadow from above.

A half-drowned and thoroughly ticked Atlas calls a grudge for Thunderball, but agrees to settle for the last man standing, thundering down a giant-sized fist that knocks Bulldozer back far into the city.

As the team reassembles, a strange noise begins to flood over the tiny spirited island. A sound recognizable, but yet definitely unfamiliar to the Thunderbolts.
The sound of the people cheering. The gratitude worthy of heroes.

The hammer...
Awww, ring the bell, sucka! School's back in, and the T-bolts be puttin' on a masta class of ass kickification, son!

... No good? Yeah, well, the Thunderbolts are the winners, whether my exploits as a jive talking web wacky work or not!
Bahlactus has been getting all the press for a while now, but lately respect has finally come home to roost for Secret Earths, and I've got to bring the hammer down on a whole lot of thanks to those guys.

Some of that respect finally motivated me to get on to this week's Ultimate Alliance entry, featuring the Wrecking Crew. For my estimation those guys have been about the only thing worth talking about from Mike Oeming's latest writing effort, which seems to have been downgraded from on-going to Omega Flight mini.

Even with the disgraceful slow burn and distinct lack of Mike Oeming: penciller, Omega Flight did open with some big action, and we'll probably get an opportunity to talk more about that series some time in the future.

What really knocks me on my ass here is the Thunderbolts.
While his work seems to have meandered somewhat through some easy standards; Warren Ellis has had many-a fan, myself included, several shades of jazzed over the villain-cum-hero team.

What's especially bizarre about finally discovering a love of the team is the fact that they're now a seasoned outfit, having a full decade of superheroics and internal squabblings under their belt. It was over ten years ago that we gazed upon that fateful scene where Citizen V revealed himself and his teammates as none other than The Masters of Evil! Wow!

Sadly, I was somewhat excited by the concept, but utterly bemused by the product itself. The characters were mostly second-tier villains that weren't obscure favourites, and the designs of the hero costumes, with the exception of Citizen V, inspired barely. It wasn't a book that lived up to the hype.

Some ten years later it's instability has been fully realized, but the formula has been refined in a world where superhero politics makes the lines between hero and villain all that much more blurred. The Thunderbolts exist now in a world almost inadvertently made for them, living their lives as heroes admist laws that willfully empower them to hunt down their costumed nemesis like dogs.

It's with hindsight that it can be debated that the Thunderbolts are by design a gauge of the zeitgeist of the Marvel universe. From their inception, they were the brilliantly simple response to the a power vaccuum left in the wake of Heroes Reborn, and now they again react to events in Civil War and redefinition of what a hero and villain is to the Marvel universe.

I don't mean to discount the work that went on between, and mark missing out on the so-called "fight club" years as a disappointment; but in an era still feeding and learning from the 'grim and gritty' progression of the eighties, maybe we can propose the Thunderbolts represent the final step in that exploration.

I'm confounded by regular references to the necessity of likeable and heroic characters in comics. It strikes me as foolish to claim entertainment and fiction require anything but the barest means of relating and approving.
I'd like to think maybe one day we will look back on books like Thunderbolts and recognise their contribution to our medium as the catalyst for motivated writing, over conventions of 'heroes', 'villains', and 'anti-heroes'.

And after that stretch of a musing, I'll wrap things up.
Still more Fantastic Fridays as we try to catch-up on June's delays, before reverting back to the original Friday Fight Nights. In the mean time, stay tuned!

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 4
NEXT WEEK: What evil lurks in the heart of The Lizard? The Spider-man knows!

THE THUNDERBOLTS versus JACK FLAG
Faith In Monsters Part 2 (Marvel comics)
Where: Thunderbolts #111 When: April 2007
Why: Warren Ellis How: Mike Deodato Jr.

The story so far...
Under the direction of Norman Osborn, the Thunderbolts have been completely overhauled in the wake of the Civil War. Incorporating existing members of the super-team and former criminals recruited to hunt rogue heroes, the new team is a volatile and untested mess.

Placing Moonstone in the position of leader, Osborn sends the team out on their first mission: Defeat and detain the rogue protégé of Captain America; Jack Flag.

With the press watching will this soft-target be the undoing of a team of reformed and manipulated villains. Or will they unravel live on the air?

Previous Form:
The Thunderbolts [#14]: Moonstone and Songbird were defeated by the Hulk as part of the classic Thunderbolts.
Venom (#63): Venom has a lethal victory over the Space Phantom.
Bullseye (#77): Bullseye has a victory against Daredevil, for two defeats.
Radioactive Man (#110): Radioactive Man was among the team assembled to take down the Anti-Registration Avengers.
Swordsman, Penance: Neither of these characters have been featured previously on the site.
Jack Flag: Jack Flag has not yet been featured on the site.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Moonstone 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Radioactive Man 5 (Professor)
Speed: Speedball/Penance 5 (Super Speed)
Stamina: Moonstone 6 (Generator)
Agility: Speedball/Penance 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Jack Flag 4 (Trained Fighter)
Energy Powers: Radioactive Man 6 (Mass Destruction)

So, as we continue Marvel Ultimate Alliance Mondays, this is supposed to be the Radioactive Man representitive entry. Confession time: Radioactive Man is a pretty insignificant cog in this entry, but I'm not a huge fan of the character, so it's about as good as it gets.

As a character in this situation Radioactive Man is probably more of a second-tier performer, but he brings a great deal to the team. Strength, intelligence and radioactive power being his trifecta of terror.

There seems to have been some confusion about the origins of the Jack Flag character. He's only been on the job since the early nineties, and initially brought very little to the game as an admirer of Captain America.
His skills developed with intensive training and clearly he picked up some points from the Captain himself. It's difficult to tell to what degree it has been retained, but he also gained super human strength after a tussle with Mr. Hyde.

It seems Flag has maybe been scaled down a little from that level, bringing him back to more of a 'roid raging 4 on our stat tape.

Guys like Venom, Radioactive Man and Moonstone all excede his strength level, and Moonstone, Venom and even Songbird have the skills to potentially outmaneuver the earth-bound Flag.

The key to victory for Flag would have to be using the inexperience of some of the characters, and exploiting the lack of preperation they've had as a team. Certainly the volatile nature of many of the characters only stirs the chemicals of dissent and distrust. That said, it's a big ask!

The Math: The Thunderbolts
The Pick: The Thunderbolts

What went down...
The Thunderbolts catch up with Jack Flag in Ohio, where he's been breaking up various criminal activities in defiance of the superhero registration act. Delivering justice without a paycheque or equipment and health benefits... Actually, why wouldn't a two-bit schmuck like Flag be signing up?!

In a scene that would send a film soundtrack platinum, the team struts in unison from their space age plane vehicle. If it were a Mattel the individual credits would go in an order along the lines of; sweet ass Songbird, marvellous Moonstone, radical Radioactive Man, peripherally challenged Penance, voulptuous Venom and the swinging Swordsman!

So, anyway, Moonstone goes about fullfilling her roll as new 'team leader' by orchestrating from the sidelines. With Jack Flag standing tall in the middle of a parking lot, Moonstone orders Radioactive Man to blow the gas tanks, making it appear to the on-looking press as though Flag had rigged the explosions himself.

The explosions put Flag on the back foot, as Moonstone sends in Swordsman and Venom to do the work of soldiers. Unfortunately she doesn't count on the strength and determination of the flag-clad hero, who shatters Swordsman's sword as it hovers above him.

Flag rolls back, booting the airborne sword end into Venom's chest, whilst using the follow throw to knock Swordsman for six.

Though the sword tip doesn't do any permanent damage to the symbiote-clad Mac Gargan, it does send him into a berzerker rage. As Flag stomps on Swordsman's helmet, Venom doubles in size and becomes a veiny mess... Hello!

Flag feels the sting of Venom's taloned fingertips, and finds himself in the grip of a creature that's pretty intent on eating his head. A prospect that would produce a win for the Thunderbolts, to be sure, but probably isn't the kind of press you want on the six O'clock news.

Moonstone plays moderator, calling for the activation of an implant that subdues Venom with an electrical charge. They'll pass it off as a hand-held weapon concealed in Jack Flag's gloves later. Oh, they're sly!

Songbird heads to the sky, but the smoke cover caused by the exploded cars proves to make her influence moot. Flag, freed of Venom's grip, goes about taking possession of something that may or may not be a misproportioned wheel mag.

Recalling the advice of his now deceased mentor, Captain America, he whips the cylindrical shrapnel into the air, ricocheting it off a street sign and lamp post, to strike Songbird directly in the throat. The jolt to her vocals quells her sound-based energy powers, and brings her into a heavy descent atop one of the surviving stationary vehicles.

Moonstone denies Radioactive Man opportunity to step in, instead seeing the opportunity to showcase the newest face on the team - Penance. Formerly Speedball, the massochistic turn he's taken, donning an iron maidenesque outfit, allows him to turn his kinetic powers outward.

With blood trickling from his suit, Penance brims with energy and hurls it into the lot. It stirs already twisted metal into the air, but ultimately finds it's target.

Though he's struck in the back, Flag is able to not only survive the onslaught, but turn it to his advantage as he attempts to make an escape down an alley.

The police cut off his backdoor, and he proves unwilling to fight the drones of the law. Perhaps a misguided mark of respect for the men in uniform and their distance from the 'Civil War', or perhaps the true sign of a hero.

Either way he switches strategy, kicking his way into the lower levels of one of the surrounding buildings. A chance to create a distraction and find his way to his goals. Unfortunately, there was one contingent he didn't count on.
There was one last trump the team didn't display in front of the cameras and the action figure buying children, and that was the scariest one of them all. The one scarier than the alien costume that eats brains, or the bulky Chinese guy who glows green.

Flag feels it before he knows what's happened -- a sai burying deep into his spinal column. The sting of the man called Bullseye, lurking in the shadows to clean up the mess before it spilled completely out of control.
He never misses his target. Flag's cauda equina is the victim, and he will never walk again. All in a day's work for the might Thunderbolts.

The hammer...
Well, with the assist going to the rest of the team, Bullseye scores the victory for the Thunderbolts. Go team!

Y'know, there's a certain level of excitement that occurs when a person says "Warren Ellis" and "Thunderbolts" in the same sentence. Especially when that prospect is said to entail a complete overhaul of the B-list team. Which is a fact that only becomes even more exciting when names like Green Goblin, Venom and Bullseye are getting thrown around!

Unfortunately, the imagination tends to run a little wild with those ingredients, and what actually rests in one's hands is of a flavour more pedestrian, perhaps.
Actually, that accurately describes the tone of the book, as Ellis panders to the 'real world' repercussions of a world where the superheroes have been dubbed outlaws.

There are a handfull of criticisms coming the way of this, and none is more sound than the theory that Bullseye and Mac Gargan could be sold to the public as the good guys. Bullseye, a character we featured just recently, wherein he was dubbed number four on America's Most Wanted list, a hero? [Daredevil #49]

Fair enough, he seems to be lurking shackled to the shadows with armed guards, but Venom is among the public face of the team. His raging "kill!" screaming outburst is dismissed by Moonstone as she fronts the press after the assault, as she assures them Venom is quite incapable of killing, despite a long history of being a known killer and menace in public. Something that dates back even to the days of Eddie Brock [a 'lethal protector'], should there be illusions about who is wearing the symbiote.
Of course, Gargan is the Venom that only a couple of years ago tore buildings down in the streets of New York in an effort to gain the advantage over Spider-man.

I digress, there are some issues to be taken with the details.
What was perhaps most disappointing to me was the subdued nature of the book, and the shadowy psuedo-realistic artwork by Deodato Jr, someone who seems to be being pushed in this sort of street realism capacity; presumably for his photo referenced pencil work.

I think what I hoped for was something a little less covert, exhibiting the unbridled enthusiasm of a Nextwave, or something akin to it. Not necessarily so over-the-top or tongue-in-cheek, but more vibrant, and action packed, and free flowing.

Remove those expectations and there is a good read to be found here.
Some of the conventions and tools are a little obvious, but the first three issues approach facets of the concept with purpose. The first issue reveals the new team, the second issue puts them into action and exposes some problems, and the third issue explains and faces some of the changes, including superficial qualities like Radioactive Man's new suit, or the dramatic changes.

Love it or hate it, it's a decent read, and though seemingly slow paced, as an opening arc it seems to be taking very sure steps forward. Things should hopefully pick up by the second, as team dynamics begin to settle, motivations become clearer, and problems escalate outside of the parade of Z-list heroes.

One can't help but anticipate the in-house problems that will arise with guys like Bullseye on the team. A character who couldn't possibly remain on the team for much longer than a few years, guaranteed.

As for Jack Flag, it's a shame they crippled him. He actually seemed to have come out the end of a revamp looking like a strong prospect for a hero in the post-Captain America world. Maybe that's a little too Death of Superman for some, but I think it might have been nice.

Norman Osborn is looking better than he has in a while too. Hilarious ending!
Songbird apparently got herself a character too, which helps. Albeit, she stole it from Dr. Cameron from TV's House MD, but fair enough...

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 5.5

NEXT WEEK: Fin Fang Foom!

THE THUNDERBOLTS versus HULK
(Marvel comics)
Where: Incredible Hulk #449 When: January, 1997
Why: Peter David How: Mike Deodato Jr.

The story so far...
When the world's most powerful telepathic mutant, Professor Charles Xavier, can no longer contain his bottled up emotions, it spells trouble for the entire Marvel universe.

The battle with Xavier's dark shadow, Onslaught, forces Marvel's greatest heroes to band together like never before, to focus their efforts on a single threat.

The final confrontation sees the unthinkable realised: Earth's mightiest heroes are dead. The only survivor is the Hulk, who walks away mindless, confused, and not quite feeling himself.
As he treks across the country, new heroes emerge to pick up the slack.

Recommended reading:
Iron Man #1-#3: Heroes Reborn: Bruce Banner becomes the Hulk all over again.
Thunderbolts #1: The villains as heroes spin-off into their own series.
Deadpool #4: Hulk continues to struggle with the mysterious weakness.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Hulk 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Techno 6 (Genius)
Speed: Moonstone 4 (Olympic Sprinter)
Stamina: Hulk 6 (Generator)
Agility: Baron Zemo 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting Ability: Hulk 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Moonstone 5 (Arsenal)

Well, here you have something I don't think we've encountered on Secret Earths since month one with our first and third entries. Looking back, we find mixed results from those one man against a whole team, which doesn't paint a great picture for the Hulk, incredible as he may be.

The relative inexperience of the Thunderbolts as a cohesive unit casts at least some doubt in their direciton, but even if they aren't a 'champion team' they still pack a punch as a team of champions.

Physicality is always something relevent to a fight with the Hulk, and the Thunderbolts roll their powerhouses in in the form of Atlas and Moonstone.
The application of Atlas' strength is potent, but fairly minimal, while Moonstone's element of the cosmic broadens her use in a fight such as this. In fact, on a good day, one might even just about be willing to say Moonstone could take Hulk alone.

When you throw in the smarts of Techno and Citizen V, it's a potent combination of brain and brawn, with some energy blasts, solid soundwaves and flying armored guys to boot.

Taking all of that surface information into account, one starts to lean toward the Thunderbolts as the likely victors, given the scenario. This is further the case when one acknowledges the continuity of Hulk's encounter with Onslaught, and the plot threads of Heroes Reborn.

The Hulk simply isn't feeling himself, which is potentially a catalyst for unbridled, and desperate rage. Even with the potential calming effect of Janis [Joplin?] Jones in tow, keeping an eye out for the big green lumbering dummy, Hulk can wipeout ANY team on a good day.
That said, as we saw when he faced Deadpool, Hulk simply isn't up to it in the strength stakes. So, at the end of the tape, you'd have to tip Thunderbolts in this dual.

What went down...
For citizens of the Marvel universe, the sound of a rampaging Hulk getting nailed by airborn missile is probably a horrifying sound. It might even be more frightening to hear the jet engines of a flying armored superhero coming to the rescue, too, since that means chances of a fight are likely.

Yet, as the Thunderbolts [Moonstone, Techno, Atlas and Songbird] would discover, the only thing more terrifying than a rampaging Hulk, is a Hulk surrendering...

Notably stunned, the Thunderbolts take no chances.
Taking a field command role, Techno throws up his shoulder-mount laser cannon thingy, and orders Songbird to construct a solid sound prison to contain the jolly jade giant until their fearless leader can arrive.

A light hearted riff of Brian Bendis proportions gets a second run, as Atlas and Moonstone exchange 'human' words on the bizarre situation before them. Ordinarily this exchange wouldn't warrant mention, however -- DUN DUN DUN -- apparently Moonstone has a mysterious past with the Hulk!

Bad ass, mohawk sporting refugee from a future imperfect - Janis Jones - has been accompanying the Hulk, and it's at this point she observes Mach-1 making a sudden dash instead of getting revenge after she kapowed him with her low-tech Mad Max future staff... that shoots lasers.

As it turns out, Mach-1 was conveniently speeding up the introductions reveal Citizen V! Mysterious masked leader of these new champions of truth, justice, and apple pie.
With sword held high, he asks the imprisoned Hulk exactly what it is he's waiting for -- too which the Hulk reveals, "I was waiting... ...for all of you. In one place."
Yes kids. Excessive pauses did exist before Ultimate Spider-man.

The Hulk claps his hands together at startling speeds, forcing Songbird to break her vocal vibrations to create a defensive sonic buffer, thus protecting her from the kinetic effects of Hulk's sonic clap. (Or something).

Apparently, despite allowing the Hulk success in initiating his plan, Citizen V had actually brilliantly deduced this on his trip to the scene. He orders Mach-1 to fire off his heat seeking missiles, while Techno fires off rounds from his shoulder cannon.

Hulk leaps away from the cannon blasts, but is unable to outrun the heat seaking missiles that plow him into the ground, in much the same fashion as the opening pages of the issue.

Hulk is surprised to find that, despite feeling stronger than ever before, much like his encounter with Deadpool, he has been hurt. Bleeding from the chest, the Hulk is rescued by the most unlikely of archetypes -- puny human, Janis Jones!

Jones uses her unassuming staff to blast Moonstone and Mach-1 off target, and avoids Songbird sonic knives long enough for Hulk to recover.
For a moment Atlas is given the false impression he can go toe-to-toe with the Hulk, and to his credit he's more than just a puny human. In fact, as Hulk proves, he's perfect for hurling at pesky moustached inventors like Techno.
[Maybe when he gets back to Earth, Hulk should try hurtling Atlas at his pro-registration leader: Tony Stark. - Mike]

Strength in numbers allow the Thunderbolts to stay one-foot in the game, as the Hulk clearly begins to grow flustered.

Green blood smeared across his chest, Hulk stands like a lion caged as the Thunderbolts warn him there is no escape.

Still, this Hulk isn't any dummy, and is able to turn Citizen V's own words against him in a switcheroo that would have made Foggy Nelson proud!
Acting on their vow to protect the innocent (and get good PR), Hulk throws himself straight through the dam infront of which he fought valiantly, endangering thousands in the villages below.

The Thunderbolts have no choice but to act, and in the end, Hulk manages to make a sneaky exit with his sheet-wearing gal pal, before his injuries get the better of him.

The hammer...
Well, this was quite a tough one to call.
On points, the Hulk had his opponent's number, dominating for hte majority of the fight, but by the end his opponents were still willing and able to fight on. Hulk, on the other hand, technically made a retreat, and for that reason, he should officially be the loser.

Because Hulk was so dominant, I think you'd have to give him the win, but the Thunderbolts make a pretty might effort of their first outing.

Of course, by now we all know the Thunderbolts' nasty secret.
Surprisingly enough it had nothing to do with being a fairly bland combination of designs and characters, and more to do with being alter-egos designed by the Masters of Evil to fool a vulnerable world into trusting them while their greatest heroes were assumed dead.

This initial premise garnered much deserved attention, but like many things from the mid-nineties, it's probably gladly forgotten. Now the concept lives-on with, presumably, far superior execution, even though I'm descriminately disinterested in the book.

I chose this title because it's one of the modern Hulk milestones marking the first appearance of The Thunderbolts, but it really isn't a remarkable issue by any means.

I would say this issue actually highlights the struggles the character has endured at various points throughout the last two decades.
While Peter David will be fondly associated by many with the character, his revisitations have not been anywhere near as fruitful as previous projects.
While the Hulk on the Heroes Reborn side of the equation is having all kinds of Whilce Portatio fun, this half of the character is stuck in stagnant, boring, comic-booky melodrama laced with uninteresting guest characters, and a wandering plot.

This mediocre presentation is helped very little by, as quipped previously, PAD's pre-puBendis dialogue. It certainly intrudes much less than scenes from Ultimate Spider-man, but the quieter moments are unattractive parodies of legitimate characterization.

All of that said, Peter David can write a fight scene. Hot damn, yes he can!
While the overall arc of the fight in this issue is not particularly large, we are privvy to the cramped introduction of an entire cast of gimmick-packing characters who would be the subject of their own heavily promoted title.

We gain insight into the determination and dedication of these characters, while also getting a good whiff of the shocking twist ending that would end Thunderbolts #1.
Much like The Sixth Sense, more people would claim to have seen it coming than had actually read the damn thing before they knew.

Deodato's artwork is fairly typical of the time, and could probably benefit from denser layouts. Some benefit of the doubt has to be given due to the fact that the majority of scenes occur in barren desert location.
Still, pencils seem relatively standard, and a little uninspired. Colours and inks do little to service the page, producing fairly flat blanks of primary colours, and fairly standard blacks.

Points would also have to be deducted for reusing the same image of Techno and his shoulder blast cannon on pages six and thirteen. Thirteen, unlucky for some.
Maybe editorial was just a little hectic during the Heroes Reborn period. I'm sure there's a way we can blame this all on Lifeld, and be done with it.

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 3

NEXT: The villain that changed the hero forever! Iron Man versus Extremis!