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 AVENGERS versus THE SECRET AVENGERS
Civil War (Marvel comics)
Where: Civil War #3 When: September, 2006
Why: Mark Millar How: Steve McNiven

The story so far...
As the stars of a new superhero reality television programme, the New Warriors have embarked on a journey already of a controversial nature, but when a fight with some villains escalates the Marvel Universe will be rocked forever.

When amped up villain Nitro uses his explosive powers, there are far more casualities than the heroes, and far younger. A nearby school is wiped out, and thousands mourn the deaths of their children.

For the first time ever, the question of hero registration is answered with swift action. Leading the initiative, along with SHIELD commander Maria Hill, is Tony Stark - aka Iron Man.

Registration is mandatory. Those who do not declare, will be declared by Iron Man and the various registered heroes who are obligated by law to server and protect.

Previous Form:
Captain America Annual #9: Cap bitterly challenges a possessed Iron Man.
Marvel Team-Up #145: Jim Rhodes teams up with Spidey against Blacklash.
Captain America #6: Cap and Cable do battle with the forces of AIM.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Thing 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Mr. Fantastic 6 (Genius)
Speed: Spider-man 4 (Olympic Athlete)
Stamina: Vision 6 (Generator)
Agility: Mr. Fantastic 6 (Rubber)
Fighting Ability: Hercules 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Radioactive Man 6 (Mass Destruction)

It's been a couple of weeks since the last update. I'm doing this one now on Nov 6, having actually done a November update a couple of days ago.
I'll have to admit, I wasn't looking forward to this entry when I realised exactly what I was dealing with. I suppose it's worth establishing first up, exactly what we're dealing with:

Pro-Registration (Avengers)
Atlas
Black Widow
Doc Samson
Invisible Woman
Iron Man
Joystick
Mach-V
Mr. Fantastic
Ms. Marvel
Radioactive Man
She-Hulk
Spider-man
Thing
Thor-Clone
Tigra
Yellow Jacket
Wasp
Wonder ManAnti-Registration (Secret Avengers)
Cable
Captain America
Cloak
Dagger
Falcon
Goliath
Iron Fist
Hawkeye Jr
Hercules
Hulking
Luke Cage
Patriot
Stature
Vision
Wiccan




Okay... That's a lot of characters... Which made doing the stats pretty overwhelming. But, this is the website that's supposed to indulge in these discussions, so I'm going to try not to cheap out on you too much.

I think you can pretty much take one universal fact here, that does seem to be pretty indisputable - The Pro-Registrants have the Anti outnumbered.
This is particularly telling when you take into account the power the pro-team is packing. Characters like Hercules and Captain America are great allies to have, but against a force with the Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts, Iron Man, Doc Samson and other heavy-hitters, it's just tough to bet against them.

By the nature of the argument, I suppose, the anti-registrants are chiefly street level characters, who really have very little business duking it out with the combined forces of the establishment.

The core Secret Avengers team of Goliath, Iron Fist (DD), Cap and Hercules isgreat for punking out Vulture's latest team of Sinister Six, but against an organized group of characters who can go toe-to-toe with the Hulk, they're kinda outmatched.
Just for clarification's sake, we're talking about characters like Thing, Doc-Samson, She-Hulk, Atlas, Iron Man... A mighty shield can only do so mcuh against that, and that's not even acknowledging the fact that half the Secret Avengers' allies are the Young Avengers. Against their seniors, you'd have to think experience counts for something.

It seems ill-conceived for Cap to lead this ragtag mob into a head-on collision with Iron Man's forces, and I guess that's perhaps a highlighting point.
This is not a planned confrontation. This is a trap, and a damned good one.

You can never count out Captain America all-together alone, let alone with an army of troops to be inspired. The numbers make it hard to tip against anyone else, though.

What went down...
I'd have to admit, this is probably a somewhat boring section more often than not. Summaries of what's going on the page are never going to be as interesting as seeing it, especially since sometimes I'm just not that interested anymore.

No WWD has ever been as injust as this one, though.
The team of McNiven, Dexter Vines, Mark Morales and Morry Hollowell make this one of the most amazing looking books I have ever read. This truly is artwork that can not be done justice by dull descriptions such as mine.
Never the less, I attempt to at least relay the events of the fight, for future prosperity.

After hearing a call over the police radio, the Secret Avengers rally their troops to converge as Geffen-Meyer Chemicals, where a tragedic accident has said to have left three to four hundred factory workers in peril.

Scanning his info-net, Cable finds nothing in terms of panic signals or other indicative informations. It's this, coupled with a nasty find, that lead the soldier of the future two twig first. Geffen-Meyer is a subsidiary of Stark Industries, and this scenario is purely for their benefit.

Darts fly dramatically from the sky, burying in the backs of Cloak and Wiccan, an attack to designed to prevent mass retreat. An ambush.
SHIELD helecopters and soldiers descend on the area ans the heroes gather in the presence of pro and anti groups.

Tony Stark attempts to reason with his old friend and ally, and with each faction standing tensely, Iron Man extends his gauntlet in the name of the greater good -- and Cap returns the favour.
"All right! Way to go, Wing-Tips! Didn't I say this was all gonna work out fine?," pipes Spider-man, just as Stark notices something attached to his metallic outer-hand.

As the SHIELD Electron-Scrambler, designed as a contingency against Iron Man, and given to Cap by the renegade Nick Fury, fries the Iron Man armor, Cap springs into action with Black Goliath following suit.

As battle begins, the heroes peel off into various pairings.
Goliath/Yellow Jacket, Atlas/Stature, Ms. Marvel/Cage, Cable/Radioactive Man, Wonder Man/Hercules, Thing/Hulking, Spidey/Patriot...

Iron Spidey intercepts Captain America's shield, and uses it against men he once called friends. Iron Fist (DD) and Vision go down, as Thing gets the better of the Young Avenger, Hulking in the mid-ground.

Cap and Patriot go back-to-back, as Spider-man fades from sight.
Cap explains the stealth function built into the Stark-produced Iron Spider-man outfit, and then has opportunity to feel the full effects of the suit, as Spidey rematerializes right infront of him - using the shield against him!

Meanwhile, Iron Man is rebooting his fried armor, and as Cap fights back against Spider-man in the foreground, IM looms rather ominously with his suit fully functional, and ready to torpedo into the fray.

Hercules, battling Doc Samson, does his best to warn Captain America of the incoming attack, but IM's speed gives him the opportunity to plow the patriot through a partially demolished brick wall.

Cap tries to continue the good fight, but the spiritual leaders of the opposing forces are poorly matched. Stark totes the armor's knowledge of Cap's arsenal of moves as he drives his gauntlets into Captain America.
Blow after blow reigns down, with little regard for the distinct margin between the suit of armor's strength, and the Captain's.

"Out of my way, you filthy traitors! He's killing him in there!"
In one of the less 'widescreen' moments, but also most inspiring, Hercules tosses Samson aside, and barrels through She-Hulk and Spider-man with the objective of saving Captain America.
"HOLD ON, CAPTAIN! I'M COMING!"

From the safety of the SHIELD Helicarrier, Maria Hill gives the order to initiate "codename lightning," as a result, Hercules does not have the opportunity to reach his target.

Hawkeye, Cage and Dagger are caught up in the lightning swirl also, as rain begins to fall on the battlefield.
Cable and Iron Fist gaze up to the pouring sky and gaze upon a sight they never expected to see.

They gaze upon a dead God.
They gaze upon Thor.

The hammer...
After Civil War #4, we all now know of course that Thor was in fact a clone manufactured by Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man, and no doubt in the future if I end up getting a hold of the issue, we'll talk some about that.

This is really a difficult situation as far as drawing a usual conclusion. With unfinished fights like this, I think it's best to just consider the end of the issue a cut-off point, thus, it's with no uncertainty that we call the Pro-Registration team he winners.

I probably talked out some of my key feelings on the Civil War during the entirely unrelated review of Thing against the Frightful Four [Fantastic Four #129], and I'm very keen to get this overdue update online, so I'll try to be brief.

I guess what Civil War #3 indicates particularly well is just how mismatched the two sides are at this point in the story. Likewise, it further highlights the lengths at which Captain America is going to fight against a system in which he's already practically involved with.

I mean, I think it's safe to say Cap's stance is one of principle and understanding, rather than one of necessity. He himself could probably be counted among the very first heroes to be techncially registered, purely by his very nature. It's a problem he's run into in the past when he's disagreed with decisions of an establishment, and has been forced to handover the property and trademarks of the government if he wishes to continue superhero-ing.

Even though Cap is probably the majority sentimental favourite, Civil War #3 goes lengths to highlight just how pig headed his stance of principle really is.
The very first scene sees one of the group of children he's leading into battle get taken down. With death right at the heart of this matter, and also all the recent history for the Avengers, there's definitely a negative light to be cast on Captain America and his team's actions.

There's not a lot I can say that hasn't already been said, but I think, when you stop thinking about the pro-registrants who are justly viewed as antagonists, and forget about the victimization of the anti-resgristrants, the other point is there.

Iron Man's team is right because in a Marvel universe where reality is being emphasized, security is what we would want. Likewise, Captain America is turning on his country to the point of blind vendetta, ignoring what is potentially the greater good, and leading this kids into a fight, rather than keeping them safe from the establishment.

The justification comes from the previous discussion [again; FF #129], because these are people reacting to tragedy, but ultimately... Is this the way Cap should go?
Probably not.

The Fight: 5.5 The Issue: 6

NEXT UP: The latest top five, and an all new feature in the long overdue September punch-up!

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!