I was surprised by how much I loved the New Thunderbolts, but with issue two, I'm a little bit worried, as my enthusiasm has dampened somewhat. Nicieza and Busiek had a strong, clear, focused first issue that ended on a great cliffhanger. It reminded me in all the right ways of the early Thunderbolts issues, and less of the later run, which sometimes got a little too complex for its own good. Unfortunately, this second issue features some of the flaws of the latter half of Nicieza's run, notably too many subplots and some important character or plot moments that race by too fast because we're already galloping toward the next one. It's still a good issue, with a couple neat action scenes and terrific artwork by Grummett and Erskine, but I hope that the rapid fire introduction of characters and subplots slows down sooner rather than later.
When Busiek first started Thunderbolts, he had a last page revelation that the team was the Masters of Evil, and very few saw it coming. Issue two explained this cliffhanger ending, how it came to be, and started the team on its path of deception and redemption. Nicieza and Busiek had a similar bombshell at the end of New Thunderbolts #1, but rather than dealing with it in issue #2, they ignore it and move on to new stories. Atlas's powers come back in a fit of rage, and we don't even see him telling his teammates about it. There's a villain in cahoots with one of the most unlikely team members, but there's no information as to how and why this happened. A new villain shows up out of nowhere to join the team. And a couple different shadowy villains make threats against the team in subplot pages. There's generally nothing wrong with moving forward, but Nicieza is doing too much of that before he's really rebuilt the foundation under the team. This was the time to tell us the deal with the team's new backer, at least.
I'm also a little wary that we're two issues in and the team isn't fully formed yet. The introductions of the two new members in this issue are somewhat rushed and not entirely satisfying. Speed Demon's motivation to join up sounds flimsy (since when are the Thunderbolts a money-making proposition?) and the team's quick acceptance of him doesn't really feel right either, although at least one of the team members questions those reasons later. There's a similar sense of seeing the strings pulled with the addition of Joystick, and neither character really comes off as terribly interesting in their introduction, which is not a good sign.
However, on the upside, there are some really good moments with the team members we do know. I love that Abe (a.k.a. Mach IV) has become such a major player in the team, and I loved seeing him stand shoulder to shoulder with Reed Richards in terms of scientific heroism during the final sequence. There's also a really cool old school action feel to this book, with the team taking on the Wrecking Crew in the opening sequence and a handful of familiar B-listers in the closing sequence. Grummett, Erskine and Sotomayor continue to shine, comparing to great team artists like John Buscema or George Perez during their Avengers days in my mind. Their panels are crowded but not cluttered, dynamic but not unnecessarily flashy and always focused on storytelling rather than just the money shots.
This issue of New Thunderbolts didn't grab me by the throat the way the first one did. There seems to be too much reliance on backstory from other places (like the Deadly Foes of Spider-Man, of all things) and too many side plots and characters being introduced, resulting in a rushed pace for the all-important foundation-building of the series. The energy and old school feel that I liked from the first issue is still there, though, and my hope is that some of the answers that were delayed from this issue will be forthcoming sooner rather than later. 6/10
