The Thunderbolts #20
The Thunderbolts take on the new Crimson Cowl and Masters of Evil, deciding to make their mark as superheroes. It does not go well. They seem to be saved by Dreadknight, a C-lister who wants to join them, but he’s got a secret.
I could easily grade this as a part of a larger saga about the new Masters of Evil, although it makes more sense to go issue by issue, especially considering how this title connects to what;’s going on in other books.
It highlights one thing Kurt Busiek does very well. He takes the strategy of being a superhero differently. Moonstone sees a moment when she might be able to take credit for a victory and that ends up backfiring. There’s a challenge against her leadership, and it seems like the kind of conversation you could have in a sports or corporate drama. This team is interesting because it hasn’t calcified into anything yet. The characters have been on a journey that isn’t yet defined the way other long-running series on, so we don’t know who’s going to find redemption, and if anyone’s going to fall short.
I’ll note that the team isn’t called superheroes. I do like the term “super-fugitives” for a group that isn’t supervillains any more, but aren’t as respected as the Avengers or even the Defenders.
The new Masters of Evil make sense as recurring villains, and they’ve got personality.
I knew Dreadknight mainly from a mid Spider-Man story, and I had no idea where his arrival was going. It seemed like a potentially interesting dynamic of a villain disappointed in his work trying to seek out a chance at being one of the good guys, and since I don’t know offhand what Dreadknight’s been up to since 1998, I didn’t really know whether he’d join the team, or how that would work. Although there’s a twist to it that I knew was coming, but I didn’t know how they would get there. And when it happens, I’m pleased.
A
Captain America & Citizen V Annual ‘98
With Karl and Barbara Kesel helping with plot and script, Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley feature a showdown between Citizen V and Captain America. Baron Zemo returns to his father’s headquarters in the Amazon to uncover Particle X, a World War 2 weapon, with Techno’ help. The new Citizen V strategizes against him, and is mistaken for the baron by Captain America. Cap quickly realizes what’s going on, we get a flashback with the original Citizen V, and an origin for the new one, before the big team-up complete with strategies, a missile, a heroic sacrifice, a last minute save and an okay status quo for a major villain.
This is a decent idea for an annual, because the story is compelling to readers of Captain America- who presumably like the idea of a showdown between Cap and one of his top enemies- and the Thunderbolts, who want to see what Zemo’s up to while his former teammates are facing a different challenge. These team-up annuals didn’t always work (I didn’t care for the Thor/ Silver Surfer or Amazing Spider-Man/ Devil Dinosaur ones) but this one is a good example of how it could further both series in a story that wouldn’t work as well as a Thunderbolts two-parter.
They make good use of the setting, which builds on the character’s history, and makes this comic a little different. I like the conflicts between Baron Zemo and Techno, and it’s not about morals, but about patience and whether it’s worth doing particular things for appearances’ sake. The flashback story is okay. I’m sold on Citizen V’s Peggy Carter the moment she meets Cap. We seem to get some answers about the new Citizen V, although there are still some mysteries, and with the quality of the story so far, I’m looking forward to it. This is new territory for me, so I’m happy that I don’t know what’s happening next or how this is going to resolve itself.
A-