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Quick Summary--"Ditch"
Six weeks have passed since the end of #12, and lots has happened in the gap: M.A.C.H. IV has left the team! Songbird has dismissed Blizzard from the team! Songbird has asked to have Joystick taken into federal custody! The team has battled the U-Foes, Mister Hyde, and AIM! At the Commission on Superhuman Activities, Dallas Riordan likes what she sees and deems the team "one we can work with." On the other hand, Henry Peter Gyrich finds the New Avengers to be a collection of "outlaws, assassins, and psycopaths"--a team that must be stopped.
The issue opens with the "leaner" Thunderbolts (Songbird, Radioactive Man, Photon, Joystick, Atlas, and Speed Demon) taking on the female Dr. Spectrum we first glimpsed last issue. Speed Demon (who served with a different Dr. Spectrum on the Squadron Sinister) reveals that he has some knowledge of Dr. Spectrum's prism's power. Suddenly, the prism stops working, and the Thunderbolts capture Dr. Spectrum.
Over at the CSA, Gyrich and Riordan convince Carol Danvers to go along with their plan to have the New Thunderbolts take down the New Avengers.
Dallas heads to Brooklyn to Thunderbolts HQ to let Songbird know what the CSA has in mind. While there, she has a chance to catch up with Atlas, who tells her that he didn't mean to reclaim the portion of his ionic energy that she was using (an action that has forced her back into a wheelchair).
Later that evening, MACH IV is flying through Manhattan, considering a career as a solo hero, when he runs into the Fixer. The Fixer says he has an offer for Abe, but the details are left for next issue.
The Avengers are lured to Sandy Hook, New Jersey by a ersatz Red Ronin. Once there, they are attacked by the Thunderbolts.
Meanwhile, Joystick is breaking into Avengers Tower on an undisclosed mission. She's confronted by Spider-Woman, who apparently defeats her (based on Spider-Woman's comments at the beginning of the book).
Finally, back at the CSA, we see that Gyrich, Riordan, and Carol Danvers are being helped by... HENRY PYM?!?
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Commentary
- This was a really strong issue. Only one issue into Year 2, and Fabian has already fulfilled several of my wishes for this year!
- So, why did Dr. Spectrum's prism stop working? Could this be further intervention from Zemo? It's consistent with his desire for the team to be perceived as heroes but consider themselves failures.
- I was glad to see Carol Danvers expressing reservations about this plan; I'm still a bit surprised that she's going along with it. Also, it's not completely clear just what the plan is. Are the Thunderbolts supposed to take the Avengers into custody? Just rough them up a little? Tell them to submit to the CSA or disband?
- Between New Thunderbolts and Cable & Deapool Fabian Nicieza has become the king of the guest star. Check out the list for this issue: The Fixer! Dick Cheney (or someone who looks a lot like him)! Henry Peter Gyrich! Carol Danvers! Dallas Riordan! Red Ronin!!!! Woo-hoo!
- The most startling guest star was, of course, HANK PYM! Great Googly-Moogly, I didn't see that one coming! It will be interesting to see exactly what his role with the CSA is. I hope he hasn't suddenly become extremely bitter toward the Avengers or something like that.
- The caption at the end of the issue warns that this fight will have a "nasty" conclusion. Hmmm... "nasty." Someone dies? Someone is maimed? Here's an idea: Blizzard arrives in the middle of the fight with the Avengers, anxious to prove himself worthy of being a Thunderbolt. Things go horribly wrong, however, and Donnie gets killed in the melee. (In this issue We see Dallas warn Atlas that his ionic energy powers have "never been a good fit." Is this foreshadowing that Erik will lose control and accidentally kill Donnie?)
- As a good issue of Thunderbolts should do, this issue raised lots of interesting questions. What is Joystick trying to steal from Avengers Tower? What is the Fixer's plan? Is he working for Zemo? There's an assassin in the Avengers? Is that confirmation that Ronin is Elektra? Is there a superhero HQ in the Marvel Universe that Joystick can't break into? (Last issue it was the Baxter Building.) Did Songbird ask Joystick to break into Avengers Tower in the hopes that she would get taken into federal custody as a result?
- Grummett's art is top-notch as always, but Sandy Hook, New Jersey looks like one of the most boring places on the face of the earth. I know the idea was to take the fight away from civilians, but there's virtually no background for the fight scenes. There's some grass, or some water, or some sky, but nothing to frame a scene or make the fight interesting to look at. The characters could be fighting in a vacuum and things wouldn't look much different. Too bad there wasn't an abandoned amusement park or some such around.
I'm anxious to see how everything turns out in #14!
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