Comic Book Crisis of Faith - Warren Ellis' Thunderbolts

Long time readers will remember my Comic Book Crisis of Faith articles, but as I have not featured a new one in a long time, I want to give everyone a general introduction as to what they are. The crisis of faith is in regards to the many high quality or high profile books that you may or may not be picking up. I basically set out to review a new creative team's run on the book, like I did with Grant Morrison's Batman, or the launch of a new series, such as my Immortal Iron Fist and Blue Beetle articles. I go over the pros and cons of each book or creative run and give my verdict on whether or not the title is all hype or worth picking up. This return of the Comic Book Crisis of Faith focuses on Warren Ellis' work on Marvel's critically acclaimed Thunderbolts title.

With the return of Comic Book Crisis of Faith, I have to point out that I have changed the format of the review. I've broken the article up into several smaller sections, each focusing on specific points, like the summary, my opinion and so on. On top of this, I'm using far more images than my previous articles and I feel I've done a much better job breaking up the article so it does not appear to be just a big wall of text. I'm curious to hear everyone's opinon on the new format and, of course, on the Thunderbolts comic as well, so feel free to comment and let me know what you think. With that said, hit the jump for a full break down of the new creative team's first story arc.

What is it?

WARREN ELLIS' THUNDERBOLTS
"Faith In Monsters"
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Mike Deodato
Thunderbolts Issues #110 to 115

Venom, the lethal protector! The enigmatic Moonstone! Bullseye, the man who never misses! Songbird, mistress of sound! Chen Lu, the Radioactive Man! Swordsman, master of the blade! The mystery man called Penance! And Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin! They're America's newest celebrities, ready to take to the skies at a moment's notice in pursuit of those secret, unregistered superhumans hiding among us! They're the All-New, All-Deadly Thunderbolts - making the world a safer place for ordinary people one would-be costumed hero at a time! In the wake of Civil War, Warren Ellis and Mike Deodato present a dark and disturbing take on Marvel's Most Wanted, where the line between hero and villain is difficult to find - if it exists at all!

What did I miss?

Nothing! While the book retained its old numbering, this is very much a new and unique reading experience that is only superficiously related to the previous creative team's work. These first six issues of Ellis and Deodato's run are the perfect jumping on point. Everything you need to know is spelled out for you in the first couple issues of their run.

What's it about?

Coming out from the fallout of Civil War, Ellis' run began by featuring a new roster and direction for the Thunderbolts team. Led by Norman Osborn, the new director of the Thunderbolts, the new team is composed of Songbird, Venom, Bullseye, Penance, Radioactive Man, Swordsman and the team's field leader, Moonstone.

Using a massive propaganda campaign funded by the US government, the Commission on Superhuman Affairs controlled team enjoys a large degree of public support unheard of by the previous Thunderbolts team and in spite of the numerous known murderers and psychopaths present on the roster. Bullseye is the only member that is kept secret from the general public and is only deployed under extreme circumstances.

While the team has finally gained the public acceptance it has always wanted, the motives of many members for doing so is hardly altruistic. Both Venom and Bullseye have no desire to become heroes or redeem themselves and have joined only to inflict pain and suffering onto various superheroes with the prospect of no jail time or reprecussions for doing so. Ellis has chosen to revert both Moonstone and Swordsman to their more villainous ways, ignoring the previous creative team's characterizations. Both have allied with each other in order to take down both Songbird and Norman Osborn for their own personal benefits with Moonstone wanting control of the Thunderbolts and Swordsman desiring the clone of his dead sister that Osborn holds over his head. Songbird and Radioactive Man both stay with the team to try and prevent it from becoming a shell of its former self and to try and reign in monsters like Bullseye and Venom. Penance is the only team member who joins of his own free will and is psychologically broken from his role in the destruction of the town of Stamford in Civil War and is serving his 'penance' as a member of this team. Each team member is laced with deadly nanites, with the exception of Penance and Moonstone, in order to keep them in check and under the government's control. If they fall out of line, the nanites are activated and can lead to paralysis or even death.

Throughout the first arc, the team engages in several public displays of force against D-list heroes, such as Jack Flagg and Steel Spider. These battles are spun by the media to paint the T-bolts in a positive light and hide the horrific acts the team engages in, such as the crippling of Jack Flagg by Bullseye or Venom's eating of Steel Spider's arm. These fights are further spun to show just how dangerous unregistered heroes are and why America needs teams like the Thunderbolts to police other heroes. This political aspect is heavily prevailent throughout the book.

What do I think?

Much like I said in my review of Grant Morrison's Batman, I hate referring to a fairly long running book like Thunderbolts as Warren Ellis' book. But, much like Morrison's Batman, Ellis' presence dominates this book. His writing elevates the mostly second rate characters portrayed, bringing new life to underused and forgotten characters and truly makes this book his own. On top of this, Ellis has taken this formerly poor selling book and completely retooled it, changing both the characters and focus of the title. Gone are the D-list former villains struggling for a chance at redemption as they try to become heroes. The few remaining characters here are barely the same characters from the previous creative team. All the former subplots and characters have been replaced with Ellis' team of villains and assorted misfits coerced or outright forced to join this Initiative team.

However, this is where the strength of this new book lies. While I hate how they basically kicked the old creative team out the door and completely retooled the series, I cannot judge this book based on my previous enjoyment of the old creative team's work. I do, however, wish they had renamed it or restarted it with a new number one, but the high quality and even higher sales of the book post-Civil War makes it hard to fault them for not doing so.

Despite the use of several big name villains, like Venom and Bullseye, Ellis has done an commendable job featuring several Z-list characters in his run on Thunderbolts, like Steel Spider and American Eagle, and even goes so far as to make them credible threats to the team. These former laughing stocks are a major focus in the story and the final battle royale of this arc featuring these characters will go down as one of the best superhero melees I have ever seen in a comic book.

The only complaints I can come up with for Warren Ellis' work is the insanely decompressed pace he is employing and the excessive political overtones present in the book.

Decompression is becoming a standard in most comics these days, especially over at Marvel, but this series suffers from it far more than any other. However, this might be attributed to his need to establish the team as the final climactic fight scene and the first issue of the next arc both seem to flow and read at a much better pace than the opening issues.

As for the excessive political overtones, I feel Ellis gets too caught up in his anti-American analogues present in this book and I am saying this as a non-American. The full page spreads for the propaganda ads and newscasts, which are prevalent in just about every issue, further compounded the decompressed feel of the book as a monthly title. Many seem to blatantly reflect the current state of the US and the war in Iraq and, while many books benefit from these metaphors and analogues to real life events, I feel Ellis falls into the trap of expressing his own personal views at the expense of telling the actual story at times. While I can fault him for these two things, neither impact my enjoyment of this book and Ellis manages to craft an excellent reading experience and Thunderbolts remains the best Initiative book to date.

I can't discuss this book without mentioning the excellent artwork by Mike Deodato. He has produced, arguably, the best work of his career in his relatively short run on this title. He employs a much more realistic style here compared to his previous works. Where other big name artists employ very static, pin-up-like action scenes, Deodato's fight scenes are fluid and dynamic. Also, while Ellis brings new life to the many D-list "villains" the Thunderbolts are forced to track down, Deodato does an incredible job depicting them as credible threats. Steel Spider has never looked more menacing or capable than he has in this series and it's all thanks to Deodato's excellent pencils. My only complaint with his work is his choice of Tommy Lee Jones as his model / reference for Norman Osborn. Every time I see Osborn, I am immediately pulled out of the book as I am reminded of Jones.

Verdict - Must Read

As I stated earlier, Thunderbolts is the best post-Civil War Initiative book to come out of Marvel. Both Ellis and Deodato are putting out some of the best work of their careers. While I have some grievances with the displacement of the previous creative team, I have to give credit where credit is due. The first arc started slowly, but finished very strongly and the first issue of the next arc looks to continue to build on this momentum. If you haven't given Thunderbolts a try yet, do yourself a favour and pick up this trade or the back issues as soon as possible. You won't regret it.

Like this review? Interested in this book? Purchase Thunderbolts by Warren Ellis, Vol. 1: Faith in Monsters from Amazon.com and help support The Weekly Crisis!

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