|
THUNDERBOLTS #57
"Storm Clouds Gathering"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
|
Marvel Comics
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Pencils: Patrick Zircher
Inks: Al Vey
Colors: Hi-Fi
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Price: $2.25 US/$3.50 CAN |
For the first time in several issues, I'm excited about Thunderbolts again. The rematch against Graviton got off to a bit of a rocky start, with Nicieza going for a high body count using ill-defined characters, but this issue is much better. Zircher gives a real feel for the destruction that Graviton is causing, and I love how Nicieza's script jumps around to various characters, rebuilding a new team from the shattered remnants that have been in the book for the last six months. Compared to some of the work coming out of Marvel these days, Thunderbolts was beginning to look a little tired, but
with this issue, Nicieza has once again sparked my interest the way he did when
he first took over the title.
Zircher really impressed me on
this issue. The double-page spread of heroes being held in Graviton's grasp
immediately establishes how dire the situation is, and I was truly impressed at
the scope of characters he chose to use and the accuracy of costume references.
He also does a nifty redesign of several Thunderbolts and some terrific action
sequences throughout the book.
Over the course of the last few issues, the team has become rather far-flung. This issue does a nice job of looking in on various members and various places, giving a real feel for a crisis that is affecting everyone. Nicieza even throws in a brief Kang appearance, referencing the big events going on in Avengers. It was enjoyable to see what was going on with
Hawkeye and Riordan, even as the focus was on Citizen V, Songbird, MACH 2 and
Techno and Moonstone. There's a real feel of coming together, similar to the
feel that Busiek's first Avengers story had.
This book has never been
afraid to make changes in the status quo, and I find it interesting that this
issue is making so many changes by reverting back to a status quo of sorts.
Nicieza has almost pared the team back to founding members, although they're all
quite different at this point, and it's a nice back-to-basics approach that
doesn't ignore all the character evolution that has gone on. I'm particularly
enjoying the clever way that Zemo has been brought onto the team. Although I
must admit to some nervousness about Zemo starting to develop a heroic side, as
Moonstone did. It doesn't fit the character, and it seems almost insulting to
have a murderous Nazi redeem himself as a hero. Hopefully I'm just misreading
where that one is going.
The next issue will feature
the Thunderbolts, reunited at last, facing off against their default nemesis
Graviton. Nicieza has set himself up an out with the mysterious M'Reel so that a
victory doesn't seem ludicrous, and I expect that we'll be seeing an
impressively big battle and some nifty revelations about the true motivations
for all of this.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
