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THUNDERBOLTS #59
"Silent Scream!"
Recommended (7/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Pencils: Mark Bagley
Inks: Al Vey
Colors: Hi-Fi
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Price: $2.25 US/$3.50 CAN |
As I mentioned in my Peter Parker review, the best "'Nuff Said" stories are those that have a reason for their silence, and Nicieza has clearly planned for this story in advance. Angar and Songbird's unresolved story, given their sonic powers, makes for a convincing rationale for ailence, and the story reads as an homage (intentional or not) to the excellent Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Hush." Paired with his longtime collaborator Bagley, Nicieza seems to have little difficulty telling a silent story, and the only complaint I really have is that the pacing required by the silence leads to a story where not very much actually happens. Fortunately, what does happen is fairly important and interesting stuff for Thunderbolts fans.
Ever since The Scream showed
up as part of the Redeemers, there have been none-too-subtle hints that he was
somehow related to Angar the Screamer, Songbird's former beau and no small
reason why she became a part of the Thunderbolts. This issue is the payoff of
all that, as Songbird (typically a background player) takes center stage to
confront the ghost of her dead lover. Bagley does a wonderful job with the
effects of sound streaming from the folks in Burton Canyon and into the Scream,
and the use of bright colors and amorphous energy to represent sound is a clever
way to get around being unable to use words in the issue.
While "Hush" got a great deal of mileage out of silence, silence isn't as obvious in a comic-book as it is in television or film, and so this doesn't have quite the powerful effect that the similarly stolen-sound-based Buffy episode had.
However, the loss of sound is really not the most important element of this
story. Instead, this is a confrontation between Songbird and Angar, and it makes
for a nice bit of resolution to a long-running characterization subplot for her.
For a silent story, there is
a fair bit of information imparted here. The truth about Scream's origins, the
backstory on Songbird and Angar and new technology for Songbird are all covered
in the main story, and the concluding pages leave off with what has become a
Nicieza trademark, the intriguing cliffhanger. Though there are a few words on
computer screens or pads, for the most part that storytelling is down to Mark
Bagley, who has always counted storytelling amongst his best assets as an
artist.
Given the frantic pace of Thunderbolts lately, a focus story on one member should be welcome, but I did feel like the issue moved a bit slowly due to its silent nature. It takes a lot more time to convey the story between Angar and Songbird without words, and fitting or not, I did feel like "'Nuff Said" interfered a bit with the regular story rhythm that Nicieza had built up during the Graviton saga. However, the familiarity of Songbird was welcome, since Nicieza is also rotating casts faster than Suicide Squad, killing
off or seemingly killing off characters to make room for "All New, All
Different" teams at a rapid pace.
Thunderbolts once numbered among my favorite Marvel
comics, and while it may not be as flashy or edgy as the work being done by the
various new creative teams brought in under Jemas and Quesada, it's a solid
super-hero book that always has surprises and action a-plenty to
offer.
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