Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Comic Pages Of The Week - Thunderbolts 145



If I had to choose just one title to follow it would be the 'Thunderbolts' Originally it was promoted as a new superhero team to replace the 'Avengers' who were lost at the time. We met these new characters and only on the last page of that first issue did we learn that they were just old villains masquerading as heroes. What a great premise that was.

Over the past 145 issues the team has had many dramatic changes. They have gone from a group of villains to a group of redeemed heroes to being villains again as their ranks changed.

In the past year or two they have served as a special strike force for Norman Osborne (the Green Goblin) during the 'Dark Reign' storyline. Like DC's 'Suicide Squad' the villains were forced to do the will of a greater villain.

Now 'Dark Reign' is over and the 'Thunderbolts' change with the times. They are still villains but now they work for the good guys. Luke Cage is their new handler and while they still can be terminated at will (due to implants) he is trying to turn them into more productive citizens than they had been before. The team also has a few heroes to serve as examples to the bad guys.

How cool is this comic? Well once you are able to shoehorn 'The Man-Thing' into a superhero team then you know you have something special that I want to read. This title has always surprised and kept me interested in it's stories from the fringes of the 'Marvel Universe'. Of course, click to enlarge.

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