PENANCE: RELENTLESS #1Written by Paul Jenkins
Art by Paul Gulacy
I'm not quite sure what to make of this issue. It seems to contradict everything going on in Ellis' Thunderbolts, but at the same time seems to take place concurrently.
For instance, Penance is obsessed with numbers in this issue. He is writing them in books and always mumbling about them to himself. They seem to relate to how much time has passed since the explosion in Civil War, but the end of the issue seems to imply they meant something more. This seems great and all, but there has been absolutely no mention of this in Thunderbolts or any other Penance appearances.
Further, it shows Robbie out and about, having coffee in town, which he has been doing regularly enough for a waitress to take an interest in him. He also has a fully stocked bedroom with furniture and pictures and lights. Jenkins explains the bedroom in dialogue, but when the most recent Thunderbolts issue showed he was nowhere near ready for something like this, it makes me wonder when this issue takes place and what prompted the sudden change from Ellis' interpretation.
Finally, Robbie has been sort of on the team voluntarily and wants to serve on it as his penance for his involvement in Stamford, hence his name. Yet, this issue has him plotting some bigger plan, which seems to involve Dr Doom, as he had a member of a Latverian terrorist cell take a message to their unnamed leader, which I assume to be Doom. When did he develop this desire to seek out others or to hatch some sort of covert plan? Is this after Ellis' current arc, which appears to be building up to a Scourge of the Underworld infiltration of the T-Bolts base and foreshadows Robbie becoming a Hulk level threat? There's far too many unanswered questions here for my liking. If it is after the current Ellis' arc, the characters featured and structure of the base imply nothing has happened since then.
The issue itself was well written and the art was serviceable. I am intrigued enough by the whole numbers obsession and curious as to what is going on with Robbie, but I am also very wary as to the need for this miniseries and how it fits into the current Thunderbolts run. The issue is worth a check, but you might want to wait a bit to see how this fits into everything. Nothing worse than spending money on a book that ends up being completely forgotten and has no lasting impact on the character. If you are interested in the Penance character at all though, this issue gives you a lot to sink your teeth into.
Verdict - Check It
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