Credits

• Writer: Fabian Nicieza
• Penciler: Tom Grummett
• Inker: Gary Erskine
• Colorist: Chris Sotomayor
• Letterer: RS & Comicraft's Albert Deschesne
• Assistant Editors: Schmidt, Lazer, & Sitterson
• Editor: Tom Brevoort

Quick Summary--Purple Reign, Part Three: Living Lies

Things are back to normal after last issue's "House of M" tie-in--The Purple Man controls Manhattan and it's up to the Thunderbolts to figure out how he's doing it and how to stop him.

As this issue begins Blizzard, Songbird, and Photon (Genis) are battling some of the Purple Man's mind-controlled minions: Justice, Firestar, and Dr. Spectrum. In the midst of this battle, Atlas pulls himself back into corporeal form. (He was disintegrated back in #10.) His teammates find the reconstituted Atlas to be surprisingly confident and focused.

More of the Purple Man's lackeys arrive, so the outnumbered Thunderbolts retreat to an abandoned subway tunnel beneath the city. There they join MACH-IV (still recovering from being run through at the end of #10) and Speed Demon, who is trying to figure out how to neutralize the pheromones with which the Purple Man has laced the city's water supply. The Radioactive Man is apparently helping Speed Demon, while Joystick is away stealing one of Reed Richards' analyzers from the Baxter Building.

Eventually the team confronts the Purple Man at his hideout (the Avengers Tower, of all places). Photon uses his god-like powers to show the Purple Man just how small and insignificant he is, inducing a mental collapse that incapacitates him.

In the aftermath of the battle we see several interesting personal exchanges. Songbird tells MACH-IV that she'll remain on the team only on the condition that she be the new team leader. Atlas apologizes to Photon for beating him within an inch of his life (while supposedly under the control of the Purple Man), only to be surprised when Photon tells him that he knows that Atlas is immune to the Purple Man's powers. And finally, we learn that the Purple Man is being controlled by Baron Zemo, whose goal was for the Thunderbolts to be seen as heroes but to feel like failures, making them "ripe for the picking."

Commentary

• Much of the fun of this issue is the huge number of guest stars Fabian and Tom include. To name a few: Dr. Spectrum (who we may see more of in the future), Firestar, Justice, Namorita, Nova, Spider-Woman, the Wizard, the Vulture, Scalpel(*), the Fantastic Four, Overmind(!), Captain America, plus a few I couldn't quite make out. (*Bonus points if you know where Scalpel last appeared.)
• One of the things I loved about the original Thunderbolts series were the mysteries and surprises. Zemo's return at the end of this issue is a surprise, but not entirely unexpected. I mean, if there's a mystery bad guy manipulating the Thunderbolts, who's the most likely candidate? Zemo. That said, his return to this book is a welcome turn of events. It was good to have some time away from him, but it's good to have him back. The first year of the new series has been all over the place; here's hoping things get a little more focused from here.
• So, why does Zemo want the Thunderbolts to be in their current state? Is he planning to return and reclaim the leadership of the team for himself?
• I found the final battle with the Purple Man to be a little bit anti-climactic for a couple of reasons. First, Genis defeated him rather easily. Second, the Purple Man escaped! I suppose the latter point makes it easier to work out the continuity difficulties raised by the PM's appearances in New Avengers. Fabian does a nice job of explaining those away here. (It helps that Zemo also has god-like powers right now....)
• What? No Swordsman this issue? What's up with that?

Overall this issue does a nice job of wrapping up some of the plot lines from Year 1 of the book while simultaneously setting the stage for Year 2.