"Justice, Like Lightning" / Thunderbolts Appreciation 2023

[Sutekh]

Damn shame that Rita's been one of the few who's stayed dead, these days.

Rita had a brief and memorable appearance in Dead Avengers, a Chaos War mini-series in which Swordsman, Vision, Captain Mar-Vell, Deathcry, Dr. Druid and Rita played a role (as 'dead avengers' who had to save the living ones, during the event, when the living fell unconscious and only the spirits of the dead could fight to defend them). It was even implied that she escaped her fate, flying off in a Quinjet at the end, which seems like something a dead spirit wouldn't be able to do, but who knows if that was real or not...

I feel like I'm betraying Melissa Gold, whose turn as Songbird I loved, but I liked Rita DeMara way more than 'Screaming Mimi,' and if Rita became Songbird instead, back in the day, oh heck yeah!

[Digifiend]

Considering her powers, she would've replaced Atlas, not Melissa.

[Digifiend]

Between the original and the most recent run of Thunderbolts, I don't think I've read more than an issue or so. What cliffhanger are you talking about?

The recent one was Zub's second run. His first one a few years ago had the classic roster, with Winter Soldier instead of Baron Zemo, and ended, like I said, with Secret Empire. The cliffhanger was that Jolt was shrunken down due to overexerting her powers, and taken away by Ghost, who if I remember right had been believed to be an ally, but wasn't. Zemo attacked the team causing them to split into two factions. The more heroic side has been mostly absent since, though Melissa did cameo in Busiek's The Marvels.

[Kurt Busiek]

Damn shame that Rita's been one of the few who's stayed dead, these days.

It'd be easy to bring her back -- if I remember The Crossing correctly, she died in a "near future" that never actually wound up coming to pass, which could be talked around without great difficulty. It was just too much on top of what we had to do to get the rest of the Thunderbolts into place; too many explanations too early on.

So we revamped Screaming Mimi instead.

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[Kurt Busiek]

Considering her powers, she would've replaced Atlas, not Melissa.

No, she'd have replaced Songbird.

We didn't even figure Songbird out until it was clear we had no other reasonable options for another woman in the initial team.

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[Sutekh]

No, she'd have replaced Songbird.

We didn't even figure Songbird out until it was clear we had no other reasonable options for another woman in the initial team.

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And with Songbird, you really struck gold. From the posting I've read here and on other forums (like the old M&M game forums), she's probably the most individually popular character from the original team, although Moonstone and Zemo have their fans (as much for who they already were, and mostly remained, than for how they developed as Thunderbolts).

Thanks for the great team and the fun twist!

[Digifiend]

No, she'd have replaced Songbird.

We didn't even figure Songbird out until it was clear we had no other reasonable options for another woman in the initial team.

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Well, like I said, Yellowjacket's powers were too similar to Goliath's. It wouldn't have made sense for them both to be there. By picking Screaming Mimi instead you ended up with a more diverse lineup. It worked out for the best.

[ComicNoobie]

Well, like I said, Yellowjacket's powers were too similar to Goliath's. It wouldn't have made sense for them both to be there. By picking Screaming Mimi instead you ended up with a more diverse lineup. It worked out for the best.

Well that doesn't stop Ant-Man and Wasp from being on teams together, and there are things that make them different. The same could have been true for Yellowjacket and Atlas on a team together. Atlas can't fly and Yellowjacket doesn't get tougher skin when growing, so there were ways to make them different. Also wasn't it said she would have been in Songbird's spot?

With that said I'm glad we got Songbird out of it. Melissa is now a well known staple for the Thunderbolts. But if she wasn't dead I wonder if Rita could have joined a future iteration of the team, she could certainly could have used the exposure and her character was one that went back and forth on good/bad sides.

[Digifiend]

There was never anything stopping that. Characters get resurrected all the time, it's surprising she hasn't been.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Rita would have made an interesting addition, IMO.

She could have been an ace in the hole instead of part of the public team.

But then, a heel turn on her part would hardly have been surprising.

And yeah, weird she's not yet been resurrected.

[Frontier]

Rita would have made an interesting addition, IMO.

She could have been an ace in the hole instead of part of the public team.

But then, a heel turn on her part would hardly have been surprising.

And yeah, weird she's not yet been resurrected.

The Ant-Man family could use more ladies!

[Kurt Busiek]

Well, like I said, Yellowjacket's powers were too similar to Goliath's.

You mean like when Giant-Man and the Wasp were both on the Avengers?

It wouldn't have made sense for them both to be there.

It'd have worked fine.

By picking Screaming Mimi instead you ended up with a more diverse lineup. It worked out for the best.

I think it did too, but I don't think having Yellowjacket and Atlas on the team would have been too similar. We'd have focused on the stuff they do that's different, and on their very different attitudes and personalities, and it'd have worked just fine.

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[Kurt Busiek]

Thanks for the great team and the fun twist!

Our pleasure.

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[seccruz]

Our pleasure.

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I really loved your work on Moonstone and Songbird.

[Kurt Busiek]

I really loved your work on Moonstone and Songbird.

Thanks. It was all a lot of fun to write, and I'm glad it worked for you.

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