Credits

• Writer: Fabian Nicieza
• Penciler: Tom Grummett
• Inker: Gary Erskine
• Colorist: SotoColor's J. Brown
• Letterer: RS & Comicraft's Albert Deschesne
• Assistant Editors: Lazer, & Sitterson
• Associate Editor: Andy Schmidt
• Editor: Tom Brevoort

Quick Summary--"The War at Home"

At the end of last issue, the Thunderbolts (Songbird, Genis/Photon, Radioactive Man, Atlas, Joystick, and Nighthawk) were joined at their Richmond Ranch hideout by Andreas Strucker, the new Swordsman. The Swordsman was being pursued by Moonstone, who unleashed a powerful bolt of energy on the team.

Somehow, the Thunderbolts are saved from Moonstone's blast and sent to a desolate alien environment. The team speculates that Genis transported them despite his unconsciousness.

Back at the ranch, the rest of Zemo's team (MACH-IV, the Fixer, Man-Killer, Blackout, and Blizzard) confront Moonstone, asking her why she killed the Thunderbolts. She turns on them, and they realize that she is still catatonic, but is somehow acting anyway. After a short battle, Helmut Zemo shows up and pacifies Moonstone. Zemo explains that the Thunderbolts are not dead. In fact, it was Zemo who saved them from Moonstone's attack; he sent the team to the Microverse.

Meanwhile, at the headquarters of the Commission on Superhuman Activity in Washington D.C., Dallas Riordan and Henry Peter Gyrich monitor Zemo's actions. They wonder what they will do if Zemo betrays them and they have to take him down. Also, we learn that Carol Danvers has quit her job at the CSA to return to being a fulltime superhero.

Back in the Microverse, the Thunderbolts and the Swordsman share with each other the bits of information they have and debate their course of action. Joystick again suggests killing Genis (so that he won't destroy the world). Nighthawk is shocked by the idea and reminds the team that they're supposed to be heroes. Joystick knocks him out to shut him up.

Zemo begins probing the Microverse to find the Thunderbolts. At this point, Genis awakens and leads the team back out of the Microverse to face Zemo's team. Zemo's team is convinced that Photon must be killed to save the world; Songbird instructs her team to do everything in their power to save Genis. Of course, this leads to a huge battle between the two teams.

During the battle we learn that a mistake of Zemo's has led to Genis's current instability. Apparently when Genis was reconstructing himself after Atlas's brutal attack, Zemo used the moonstones to help him. But Zemo, being inexperienced in the use of the moonstones, took matter from the Big Bang at the beginning and the end of the universe. So, Genis's existence is an anomaly that "collapses photonic activity in both the past and the present." [Yeah, I'm not sure I understand that, either....]

In the midst of the battle Zemo reveals that Atlas's long-lost brother, Conrad Josten, is trapped inside Blackout. Zemo tells Atlas that if Atlas will keep the Thunderbolts busy while he finishes off Photon, he will free Conrad. Atlas considers for only a second before accepting Zemo's offer.

Zemo shows the Thunderbolts that every future in which Genis is not killed the world ends. Zemo proceeds to separate Photon's physical form into "different pockets of time" and then disperses those pockets across the Darkforce dimension. Zemo's final proclamation is, "He will never be seen again."

Atlas is elated at being reunited with his brother, but the Radioactive Man demands to know why Zemo has been manipulating them. Zemo says, "I'm glad you asked," but we have to wait for next issue to find out his answer.

Finally, we see Zemo and Songbird talking several days after the fight. Zemo says that his sin (the mistake which cost Genis his life) will ultimately lead to the salvation and redemption of the Thunderbolts. Helmut and Melissa kiss and walk off together.

Commentary

• It makes me enormously happy that a book like Thunderbolts can survive for 100 issues in the current comics market. This is high-density, old-school storytelling at its finest.
• It's kind of funny to look at the questions I asked at the end of last issue. Fabian answered almost all of them in this issue. (Man-Killer was indeed empowered with Pym Particles, Genis's death *was* coming in #100, and the Conrad Josten subplot paid off to boot! We also learned that Moonstone hasn't really recovered, she's just being animated by Zemo.)
• New questions raised by this issue: How long have Zemo and Songbird been working together? (Fabian has said that this will be made clear in #101.) Counting Zemo's team, there are now something like fourteen possible members of the T-Bolts floating around in this book. How many will stick around? I predict that Moonstone will return to the hospital, since she is apparently just being animated by Zemo.
• How about Blackout? He's brain-dead (Atlas says fully dead), so I don't think he'll be sticking around. (On the other hand, in this issue we learn that he hates Moonstone, so maybe Fabian has plans for him.) Maybe Conrad Josten will become the new Blackout. It would be a more fitting name for him than "Smuggler."
• And Nighthawk? He seems like an odd fit for this team. With Zemo and his moonstones back, the team doesn't really need Nighthawk's backing.
• Still no sign of the Grandmaster, Speed Demon, Hyperion, or Doctor Spectrum. I'm sure it won't be too long until we see them again.

Up next: I have no idea!