Thunderbolts #27-30
Teen Thunderbolts Zolt and Charcoal face a new challenge: high school, courtesy of Hawkeye’s efforts to make the team more legitimate. Gravitron gives ordinary people the power to fly, as long as they’re willing to use it to commit crimes and get him his cut. Hawkeye tries to use the resources of the defunct superteam the Champions, but this draws the attention of former member Archangel, who helps the team against Gravitron, not that it makes a difference. As a result, the teens not allowed on missions are the only ones who can stop a mass murderer with a super-powered army.
Gravitron’s plot is a good one. Ordinary people with superpowers in thrall to a madman is a decent challenge for a superteam. He’s abusing the opportunity the way you would expect from a former scientist with no morals to speak of.
The dynamics with the Thunderbolts are solid. The soap opera stuff works, building on what’s been established with the characters. Female members keep trying to make out with Hawkeye for different reasons. Atlas finds a former enemy working as a bartender, and enjoys the camaraderie, while still suspicious of how it may end up.
The series has major Claremont/ Byrne X-Men vibes, which is fine because that’s probably the best Marvel team book ever. It’s also appropriate for a series about a superteam on the run. As Archangel notes, the X-Men were feared and hated because of how they were born. The Thunderbolts are feared and hated because of all the terrible things they’ve done.
A
This would be a decent story to adapt into a movie, just to a superhero team reacting to overpowered civilians.