Thunderbolts #1 by Jackson Lanzing & Colin Kelly, Geraldo Borges, Arthur Hesli, and Joe Sabino is in many ways, a sequel to their fantastic Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty, but also a fantastic first issue in its own right. Set after the events of Captain America: Finale, this follows the Winter Soldier forming a team in order to put the final nail in the coffin on the Red Skull’s reign of hate.
To kick things off, Geraldo Borges and Arthur Hesli’s art is great. There’s a lot of good expressions here during conversations, and very kinetic action, but what stood out to me most of all were all the moments in the dark, where silhouettes took over and so much was shrouded in darkness. Those are used extremely effectively here, and I cannot wait to see how else the art team adds onto this in the issues moving forward. Joe Sabino’s lettering is also great as per usual. One thing that stuck out to me was the censoring of the lines. Instead of what comics usually do and adding grawlix, they’re instead redacted, really replicating that “Top Secret Mission” vibe, which adds to the reading experience.
If you know me, you know how much I loved Lanzing & Kelly, et al.’s time on Captain America. Sometimes a little exposition-heavy, yet maintaining a focus on the story they want to tell and making sure to say it in the best way they possibly can. That rings true here too. Sometimes that exposition is a little heavy-handed, but examples of this are few and far between, and if you can look past it the rest of this bangs so hard. One of my favourite things about Sentinel of Liberty was just how quotable these characters are, not in the “written for social media” kind of way, but in the “that was COOL” way, and Bucky has quite a few of those here.
The other thing I do appreciate is, like in the current Captain America title by J. Michael Strazynski, this book does not shy away from calling Nazis what they are. I feel like Marvel recently had an issue with actually making a statement on the fact that Hydra is in fact a Nazi organization, and I’m glad that this book is very heavy-handed with that. They’re Nazis, they’re evil fascists, and they need to be eradicated. During a time like now, it’s very important to recognize that, and I’m glad that this is something this issue does not let go of…
Except for one moment, where it does.
It’s very minute, to be fair, and is just a short conversation in one panel. As Bucky goes to recruit Sharon, she brings up how one of the members of the team, Valentina, was formerly known as “Madame Hydra”. If you’ve read Secret Warriors, then you know why. If you didn’t though, it reads a lot like a reminder that even in certain Marvel books now, Hydra is just treated as “just another supervillain faction” from whom people can just defect. On one hand, while it was good to acknowledge, I feel like it’s one of those things that should have been worded better, or even an editor’s note telling people to go read that book would have been nice. Even so, it is good that they maintain what Hydra truly is, and I hope that remains for the rest of the series.
Besides that though, I really like everything else. The pacing rocks, the character beats rule, and I like how even as this book takes everything seriously, at times it does find some place for humor. That 9 panel grid near the end, phew. So cool.
Thunderbolts #1 is out today, and if you liked Sentinel of Liberty – which, if you don’t, come on now – then absolutely pick this up. They’re cooking.
“…Tonight, the Red Skull must die.”
