THUNDERBOLTS #61

By: Arnold T. Blumberg
Date: Thursday, February 21, 2002

My God, how did this thing make it to 61 issues? That's pretty impressive considering the entire series was based on a one-joke premise. In the absence of the universe's greatest heroes, a bunch of third-rate villains that few people remember band together and pose as heroes with the goal of upsetting the missing heroes' power base and achieving mastery by providing services rather than overtly subjugating the masses. A nice idea, decently executed, but the joke was over a long time ago. Now it appears the series sustained itself by exploring the fallout from that plan and the revelation of the truth. These former villains are now would-be heroes on the road to redemption. Again, not a bad idea, but you don't see THUNDERBOLTS topping anyone's list of Eisner Award nominees, so you might wonder how it manages to limp along while superb series like SPIDER-GIRL get cancelled. What's wrong with people?

Ah well. Here we are then. Clint Barton, alias Hawkeye, or the man with the most feared first name in comic book lettering (try to write it out and you might see what I mean), is working undercover with a trio of supervillains while S.H.I.E.L.D. tracks their every move. Songbird is recruited to bring them in, but her mind is on the Thunderbolts and Graviton. They're a world away, literally, on Counter Earth, facing a series of crises that even former supervillains may not be able to overcome. Evidently we're meant to really feel for these erstwhile thieves, killers, and world dominators, but sadly, I can't muster up much sympathy. Besides which, they were always pretty ineffectual as bad guys anyway, so how likely is it that they'll make decent heroes? Did I mention SPIDER-GIRL was cancelled?

Elsewhere, Baron Zemo has decided that he wants a new body to replace his old one. You see, he's trapped in holographic form right now, and with another Counter Earth version of himself running around hatching pseudo-Nazi plans for mayhem and destruction, guess who our Zemo thinks he'll nab as his new body? Yup. So anyway, about this whole SPIDER-GIRL thing...

Ahem, sorry. The artwork is pedestrian, the plotting a bit too convoluted and the cast about as sprawling as can be. Everyone seems to be giving it their all, but that's just not enough to combat the malaise that drips from every page. This is Marvel at its most routine, and it's probably time to put this one out of its misery. And hey, with a slot now open in the publishing schedule, may I recommend bringing back a certain female wall-crawler?

THUNDERBOLTS

Grade: C-

Issue: No. 61

Author(s): Fabian Nicieza, Patrick Zircher, Al Vey

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Price: $2.25