More of a "Ramifications of..." Than a Tie-In
Thunderbolts has been one of my favorite titles for years, but this latest installment isn't hitting it out of the park. Perhaps a triple, but not quite a homerun. While Thunderbolts is and really has always shown and relied on strong character interaction and tests of the members individual characteristics, at this point of Fear Itself, it took the momentum and dropped it a bit.
The Good & The Bad (sorry, easier to do this since we are dealing with multiple stories)
There is rarely a truly bad issue of Thunderbolts, and while #159 was not the greatest, it was still a decent and enjoyable read. This double-sized issue features four stories about what happened after the major Fear Itself tie-in events of the previous issue. The first story is probably the best, giving more interactions between the new B-team or "Underbolts", more specifically Centurius, Mr. Hyde, Boomerang, and Shocker. I don't want to give too much away, but the events here look to be laying some groundwork for future plotlines. Second came a Moonstone story, which was okay. Karla Sofen is a complex character and while it is always nice to see her featured. The next story is a team-up between the Ghost and Warden (former US Agent) John Walker. This was a decent story that helped explore Walker and show that even though he is in a wheelchair, he is the right man for the job. The last story shows us what happened to former Thunderbolt Crossbones during the chaos on the raft. This story felt rushed although it too looks like we may be setting up future plot, although maybe not in this book.
My biggest gripe with this issue can be summed up by saying...where's Juggernaut? He was pivotal to tying this into Fear Itself and while there would obviously be fallout due to what happened (SPOILER ALERT!!!!!) when Juggy got the hammer and became one of the Worthy, where did he go? It is possible that all of these stories could have been better suited or even fleshed out more in a one shot Fear Itself special. July 6th sees another issue of T-Bolts being released and it looks like his whereabouts may be addressed but it also looks like (judging by solicits) that more of his story will be shown (more than likely most fittingly) in the X-Books. Now a Thunderbolts/X-Men crossover might be very interesting, but we will see where it goes.
The Verdict
As always, the Thunderbolts are very character driven (or at least seem to work best when this occurs) and this double-sized issue does give us more pieces of the puzzle of who are the Thunderbolts (A & B teams). While not the most slam-bang action issue, it is not bad and at least recognizes the major event of the previous issue. Not the all around best tie-in issue, but even okay Thunderbolts are better than many other reads.
