Post by goldenfist on Oct 28, 2007 0:25:38 GMT -5
Thunderbolts is consistently one of the best books Marvel puts out monthly. Issue #117 proves this expertly: raging inter-team politics, delightfully flawed characters, and razor-sharp scripting are all on display here, and every month I somehow manage to love this title more. The way Ellis builds new, twisted machinations each issue to compound the old ones is a joy to watch. Half the fun is the anticipation of the fallout and guessing exactly whose face(s) it's all going to blow up in because, to be honest, you'd be hard pressed to find more than one or two characters in this book who don't deserve to be flayed alive.
The bulk of this issue is given to Doc Samson's psych evaluation of Penance (d**n that Peter David, thanks to him all these are the only gigs Samson gets!). Now, I'll go on record as saying I think Penance is the single worst idea anyone has ever had at Marvel and I wish Robbie Baldwin would either be killed or... no, I just wish he'd be killed. I have a sneaking suspicion Warren Ellis agrees with me since he's been publicly making a mockery of the character within Thunderbolts's pages and it's been up to creator Paul Jenkins to actually do anything with the character. That said, though, I didn't hate the Samson/Penance session. It was a little overdone, but I have faith it's leading somewhere. The opening sequence interlaced with Samson's daydreams was initially jarring but hugely effective. Take note, Bendis: This is why we don't need the thought bubble. Also intriguing is the plot brewing amongst the recent detainees in Thunderbolts Mountain. Like I said before, it's another monkey wrench in the Thunderbolts works and the payoff is going to be spectacular.
I'm no fan of Deodato's art style, but I can accept that I'm in the minority on that point. To be fair, he matches the tone well enough and I'd much rather have his work over, say, a more cartoony artist. I just wish his photo referencing weren't so blatant and his linework wasn't so muddy. I'll take him on the strength of basically everything else about Thunderbolts and acknowledge that it could be worse, but I'm not 100% visually satisfied.
There's no excuse for not reading this book. You're invited to like these characters as much as you're invited to hate them. Either way, you're treated to one of the best ongoing stories out there month in and month out.
Review score 9.3 Outstanding
Does anyone agree or dsiagree with the review.