NEW THUNDERBOLTS #3 REVIEW

[Blake Petit]

Review by: Blake M. Petit Blake@comixtreme.com
Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Heavy Burdens

Even with some all-star help, can the new Thunderbolts save the U.N.?

<a href="http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/media/760/thunderbolts3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/thumbnails/760/thunderbolts3.jpg" align="left" border="0"></a>Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Heavy Thinking: Kurt Busiek
Pencils: Tom Grummett
Inks: Gary Erskine
Colors: Chris Sotomayor
Letters: Albert Deschesne
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Cover Art: Tom Grummett & Chris Sotomayor
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Review: Last issue, a battle against The Game at the United Nations sent the building crumbling with the Thunderbolts, Mr. Fantastic and Namor inside. This time, heroes and villains alike work inside and out to save the lives of everybody trapped in the building.

The character dynamic in this issue is really, really good. It’s intriguing to see how quick Mr. Fantastic is to trust these new Thunderbolts, like he’s willing to give someone a second chance. On the outside, there’s a sharp contrast as Spider-Man has to forge an uneasy alliance with his former enemy, Mach-IV, who once plagued him as the Beetle. Mach-IV has to pull strings with his unlikely benefactor, Baron Strucker, to bring in the one man who can save the lives of everyone in the building. Finally, the book ends with a major, major twist (which is actually two twists in one – one of revelation and one of action) that turns the entire series on its ear only three issues in. Twists and turns were the hallmark of the old series, and it’s great to know that Nicieza and Busiek (who I have to assume is credited here for co-plotting) are keeping that tradition going.

Grummet, Erskine and Sotomayor continue to do a fantastic job with this book. They’ve got a lot to play with visually this issue, starting out with a four-page underwater sequence followed up with a major fire at the U.N. Songbird’s powers get a real workout this issue as well, which means they have a lot to play with as far as her powers are concerned.

Questions keep racking up with this book. What’s up with Atlas’s powers? How and why did Mach-IV hook up with Strucker? And what happened to Captain Marvel? I’d be lying if I said you got any answers this issue, but man, it’s fun getting to the questions.

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[Blessed]

It is getting better and better .
Don't know if i like the wolverine crossover but we'll see
Good review!:D

[Ammar Al Subahi]

Theory!


Could the new Swordsman be Hawkeye???


great issue!

[Adam Chapman]

Great idea Carnage... would be awesome if it were true... :D

[Blake Petit]

Hmm... very interesting theory. Nothing to back it up, but there aren't exactly a lot of clues out there right now.

[Ammar Al Subahi]

Well...there's the colorscheme....the fact that he's protecting The T-Bolts...and in next issue he's fighting Wolverine... could it be that

Hand took Clint's corpse and ressurected it, but Clint fought against the brainwash and won, so now Hydra are sicking Wolverine against Clint?

[Attok12]

I don't want to burst anyone's bubble, but Nicieza has already confirmed online that the new Swordsman is NOT going to be either Hawkeye or Nomad.

[Ammar Al Subahi]

Originally posted by Attok12
I don't want to burst anyone's bubble, but Nicieza has already confirmed online that the new Swordsman is NOT going to be either Hawkeye or Nomad. :~( :~( :~( :~( :( :# :# and :tasky: just for the kicks of it

[Kire]

I find this to be strange. On all three issues so far, I've read the first few pages, hated them, put the comic down, came back a few hours later, read the rest of the comic, and loved it. The story is good, I just have no idea why I hate the beginning of each issue.

[Walt Kneeland]

I think what REALLY got me on this issue was in the "Previously" text on the first page... "...They repulsed the Atlantean attack, but...Erik Josten, who had lost his size-changing powers, suddenly grows to fifty feet tall and secretly beats Genis to death!" Now, this COULD just be "hyped" text, or slightly more than 'solicitation' text copy/pasted here AS a "previously page"...But I've held some hope since the first issue regarding this character's development. And I would hope this text is wrong, but...I suppose we'll have to wait til next issue. :(

However, overall, I enjoyed this issue. Aside from the price, it's probably one of my favorite books--though I'll echo the above statement: sometimes just browsing the book or first starting to read it, I won't like it; but once I go through and read the whole thing, and contemplate it a bit...it's a real gem.

...and on another random thought: Obviously, the numbering system's been continued, and included a numbering indicating 6 issues beyond # 75, even though 76-81 of the previous series had nothing to do with these characters.

A moment of personal enlightenment: wasn't the Avengers/Thunderbolts mini 6 issues?

Bingo...accounts for the 6 issues gap. :D (and that's right where I'll be filing the mini, the next time I get my collection actually sorted properly).

'nuff of my ramblin' for now,

~Walt

[ohiogtd]

I agree with Kire. I thought the first few pages of and hated it. I think its that I don't like much the old comic technique of having people talking to one another about things they already know just to get us up to speed. For example, in #3, that Queen lady is telling another one of her group about the powers of the Fathom Five. If they are both in the group, wouldn't they know this already? It just feels forced. I don't want to become part of the comics and this makes me feel like they are creating a scene just for me -- to get the audience up to speed. I'd rather they do that on a preface page or let me figure it out on my own.

But you're also right that once it gets going, it is really good. I've always been a fan of Nicieza. He has a nice mix of comedy and action and drama. His dialogue is usually pretty realistic apart from the above.

Grummett's work is awesome. And Soto is great on the coloring.

One question -- how can Songbird talk and create sound at the same time? And another -- wouldn't her sound walls fall apart when she takes a breath? I mean, you only produce sound when you exhale.