Thunderbolts Classic, Volume 1

Thunderbolts Classic

by Kurt Busiek (Writer), Peter David

Justice, Like Lightning!

When the world's heroes disappear, a new team rises to take their place! Meet the Thunderbolts: Citizen V! Techno! MACH-1! Songbird! Meteorite! Atlas! But what dark secret are these heroes hiding? Read the stories that changed the way the world looks at redemption! Guest-starring the Hulk, Spider-Man, Black Widow and Franklin Richards!

Collecting: Thunderbolts 1-5, -1, Annual '97; Incredible Hulk 449; Spider-Man Team-Up 7; and material from Tales of the Marvel Universe 1

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

210 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 2011

About the author

Kurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.

Busiek did not read comics as a youngster, as his parents disapproved of them. He began to read them regularly around the age of 14, when he picked up a copy of Daredevil #120. This was the first part of a continuity-heavy four-part story arc; Busiek was drawn to the copious history and cross-connections with other series. Throughout high school and college, he and future writer Scott McCloud practiced making comics. During this time, Busiek also had many letters published in comic book letter columns, and originated the theory that the Phoenix was a separate being who had impersonated Jean Grey, and that therefore Grey had not died—a premise which made its way from freelancer to freelancer, and which was eventually used in the comics.

During the last semester of his senior year, Busiek submitted some sample scripts to editor Dick Giordano at DC Comics. None of them sold, but they did get him invitations to pitch other material to DC editors, which led to his first professional work, a back-up story in Green Lantern #162 (Mar. 1983).

Busiek has worked on a number of different titles in his career, including Arrowsmith, The Avengers, Icon, Iron Man, The Liberty Project, Ninjak, The Power Company, Red Tornado, Shockrockets, Superman: Secret Identity, Thunderbolts, Untold Tales of Spider-Man, JLA, and the award-winning Marvels and the Homage Comics title Kurt Busiek's Astro City.

In 1997, Busiek began a stint as writer of Avengers alongside artist George Pérez. Pérez departed from the series in 2000, but Busiek continued as writer for two more years, collaborating with artists Alan Davis, Kieron Dwyer and others. Busiek's tenure culminated with the "Kang Dynasty" storyline. In 2003, Busiek re-teamed with Perez to create the JLA/Avengers limited series.

In 2003, Busiek began a new Conan series for Dark Horse Comics, which he wrote for four years.

In December 2005 Busiek signed a two-year exclusive contract with DC Comics. During DC's Infinite Crisis event, he teamed with Geoff Johns on a "One Year Later" eight-part story arc (called Up, Up and Away) that encompassed both Superman titles. In addition, he began writing the DC title Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis from issues 40-49. Busiek was the writer of Superman for two years, before followed by James Robinson starting from Superman #677. Busiek wrote a 52-issue weekly DC miniseries called Trinity, starring Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Each issue (except for issue #1) featured a 12-page main story by Busiek, with art by Mark Bagley, and a ten-page backup story co-written by Busiek and Fabian Nicieza, with art from various artists, including Tom Derenick, Mike Norton and Scott McDaniel.

Busiek's work has won him numerous awards in the comics industry, including the Harvey Award for Best Writer in 1998 and the Eisner Award for Best Writer in 1999. In 1994, with Marvels, he won Best Finite Series/Limited Series Eisner Award and the Best Continuing or Limited Series Harvey Award; as well as the Harvey Award for Best Single Issue or Story (for Marvels #4) in 1995. In 1996, with Astro City, Busiek won both the Eisner and Harvey awards for Best New Series. He won the Best Single Issue/Single Story Eisner three years in a row from 1996–1998, as well as in 2004. Busiek won the Best Continuing Series Eisner Award in 1997–1998, as well as the Best Serialized Story award in 1998. In addition, Astro City was awarded the 1996 Best Single Issue or Story Harvey Award, and the 1998 Harvey Award for Best Continuing or Limited Series.

Busiek was given the 1998 and 1999 Comics Buyer's Guide Awards for Favorite Writer, with additional nominations in 1997 and every year from 2000 to 2004. He has also received numerous Squiddy Awards, having been selected as favorite writer four years in a row from 1995 to 1998,

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thunderbolts #1 - Kurt Busiek & Mark Bagley present one of the most surprising super-team concepts during one of Marvel most creatively soulless periods in the company’s history.
Incredible Hulk #449 (also reprinted as Thunderbolts Prelude #1) with material from #450 - This was actually published prior to the first issue of the team’s ongoing title as a teaser to get readers interested and wondering who this team was. There’s not much to this, but it’s still a nice way to introduce the team.
Tales of the Marvel Universe #1 (excerpt) - Another fun short teaser.
Thunderbolts #2 - This story illustrates just how overrated The Mad Thinker really is. If he couldn’t sleuth-out who the Thunderbolts were, he’s not all he’s cracked up to be.
Spider-Man Team-Up #7 - Pretty much just a typical team-up kind of story. But it does work well into the larger story of the Thunderbolts.
Thunderbolts #3-4 - Thunderbolts vs the Master of Evil? Oh this is fun. A new recruit to complicate things even more. The Black Widow is suspicious. Arnim Zola … yeah, this is great fun.
Thunderbolts Annual ‘97 - This is an excellent way of detailing how the Thunderbolts formed, and Busiek really gives the reader reasons to care about these characters.
Thunderbolts Distant Rumblings #-1 - Another lovely flashback story, with more details of the early lives of our Thunderbolts that fleshes out their motivations.
Thunderbolts #5 - Some typical Marvel stories, with Thunderbolts twist. Busiek isn’t firing on all cylinders like he does with Astro City, but this is pretty close. Busiek takes a bunch of looser villains and gives them backstory and turns them into a group of fascinating and interesting characters. Brilliant.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a strange comic in a way because in some ways it feels like it's stuck in the 90's, but also not?

Kurt Busiek decides to create a new powerful team of superheroes after the Avengers and Fantastic Four are wiped out by Onslaught. So the Thunderbolts start wiping out bad guys, saving people, and being, well, heroes. But by the end of issue 1 you find out they're actually supervillains posing as heroes to get the trust of the community.

Zemo being the piece of shit, but somehow interesting, leader helps this series a lot. His plans to dominate and control the world is ever so hitler, but he makes for a compelling bad guy pretending to be good. The rest in the crew range from interesting and dealing with personal issues of wanting to keep being bad, while love relationships, and others like the Thinker being pretty boring as ever.

Overall, lots of fun moments and inner turmoil for our "heroes" to deal with help elevate a series. It's a bit overly wordy at times, and the art varies, but it's undeniability fun. A 3.5 out of 5, I'll bump it to a 4.

[Brian Garthoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thunderbolts is, if nothing else, a wacky detour during a time when Marvel killed off everyone in Onslaught and then crammed a bunch of awful redesigns and creative teams that didn’t work out into their lineup, only to relaunch a second time a year later.

At best, Thunderbolts is a a cheesy adventure full of 90s goodness/badness. And at worst, a wordy distraction that can be skipped entirely without any real consequence. Volume one is a mixed bag, but I’m enjoying it more than I am not. Seems like Busiek had to remind readers every issue that they are bad guys masquerading as heroes, but I’m interested to see how it intertwines with the Heroes Returns Avengers specifically, since he penned both at the same time.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Been feeling the urge to read some post-Onslaught Marvel so I'm giving the Classic Thunderbolts another shot. It's pretty fun, in an old-fashioned sort of way. Not quite as sophisticated or swift moving as current comics, nor as concise.

It's like watching X-Files but with fewer Mythology episodes and more Monster of the Week episodes - done super-villains posing as super-hero style.

Read much more like a children's comic book also. None of this Marvel's-for-adults-attitude. Part of its charm I suppose. So much vibrant, rich and bright colors! That's a wonderful change from 20-teens comics.

[Tym · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daring for its time, I’ve always loved Thunderbolts and this re-read is simply re-affirming my initial feelings. The Avengers, the Famtastic Four and various others have disappeared, many think them dead. The criminals of New York rejoice! It’s a new era with sparing few heroes left to save the day. Out of nowhere a powerful new team emerges and gains the public trust. Who are they? The Thunderbolts, but all is not as it seems.

[Daniel Sevitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember reading the first issue around the time it came out. In the last few moments before the Internet robbed the world of ever being surprised again, it succeeded in being genuinely gasp-inducing. It's all downhill from there. The art is too bright, the dialog too weak and the thought-bubble monologuing way too daft. It's a great artifact of a well-executed launch campaign, but it's hard to imagine how Marvel managed to sustain this through almost 200 issues.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only decided to read the Thunderbolts Classics because I'm a completionist, since they feature quite prominently in a few Avengers comics from the same era, just before they Disassembled. Reading about the T-bolts is not at all necessary to understand what's going on with the Avengers, but I recommend it.

I found these comics a lot more fun than the Avengers, who are most of the time a bit dumb. Busiek is also in charge of writing this but it feels fresh and entertaining. I don't know if it's because he had more freedom to write these characters, but his characterisation is more believable. I already know how it ends, who gets redemption, who returns to their ways, but I'm still interested in reading how they got there.

Again, the art is also done by Pérez. I'm simply not a fan, but it's very usual 90s-2000s Marvel. You just have to put up with it to read the stories. And there are people who love it. Thankfully, some of the issues were drawn by Mark Bagley, whose art is more stylised, and those I did enjoy.

[Greg (adds 2 TBR list daily) Hersom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read. There's a lot of the cheesy elements that I love and hate about the 90's era of comics.

[Odo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5.0

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reprints Incredible Hulk (2) #449, Thunderbolts (1) #-1, 1-5, Annual ’97, Tales from the Marvel Universe #1, and Spider-Man Team-Up #7 (January 1997-August 1997). Meet the Thunderbolts! After the death of the world’s heroes in the battle with the superhuman Onslaught, the Thunderbolts rose up to fill the void left by the superheroes. Meteorite, Mach-1, Citizen V, Techno, Atlas, and Songbird appear to the perfect team...but appearances are deceiving. The Thunderbolts are actually the Masters of Evil and Citizen V (aka Baron Zemo) has a plan to conquer the world. Playing heroes and being heroes are two different things and the Thunderbolts try to win the public, they find being heroes isn’t always easy. The problem is further compounded by the arrival of Jolt…a teenager who isn’t privy to the Thunderbolts true motives.

Written by Kurt Busiek (with Peter David), Thunderbolts Classic—Volume 1 collects the first appearance of the characters in Incredible Hulk (2) #449 (January 1997) and their subsequent appearances in their own title, Tales of the Marvel Universe, and Spider-Man Team-Up. The series was an instant success and the first four issues were previously collected as Thunderbolts: Justice Like Lightning.

I thought the Thunderbolts were a great concept. It wasn’t about villains trying to turn over a new leaf, it was about villains actually plotting against the world who happen to begin to change. The fact that not all the characters feel this change really adds an interesting dynamic to the story.

This story is mostly a building story. I even remember while reading the comic that I could figure out how a storyline could be remained past the world knowing the Thunderbolts’ identity. Here the identities are protected, but events are already building that indicate that identities will be discovered. Be it Hulk’s recognition of Meteorite (Moonstone), Spider-Man’s questioning of Mach-1 (the Beetle), Black Widow’s suspicion, or a slip-up by Techno (the Fixer), the Thunderbolts plan are already sliding.

Jolt is a problem. Not only for the Thunderbolts but for the comic. Jolt is kind of the Jason Todd of the group…I really just don’t like her. She’s too peppy and too gun-ho to the cause. I think the idea of adding a character to a team that has a secret plot is genius, but I wish that it had been an established character and not a hip teen sidekick.

Thunderbolts is a fun series. It is smart and feels like a comic book. I didn’t always love Busiek’s run on Avengers, but I did love him here. It is nice to see that the series is remembered in a great Classic collection. Thunderbolt Classic—Volume 1 is followed by Thunderbolt Classic—Volume 2.

[Malcolm Fraser · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my on-ramp to the world of Marvel Unlimited and Marvel Comics, which I've studiously ignored for most of my life. It's time to give them a go, aided by the House To Astonish podcast series.

This first set of issues is ... well it's total nonsense, but once you give in to that then it's pretty good fun, very soap opera-inflected, lots of balls being juggled, I look forward to seeing how this first year of stories ends.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

In its time, I’m sure this premise was entirely groundbreaking, with the idea of villains *pretending* to be heroes, and perhaps put on the path to redemption as a result. Today it’s still a well written story with great characterization and interesting plots going forward. I also really appreciate the comprehensiveness of this collection, including all the ephemera from the time.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loved the first issue when it was published. Never really checked it out again until Ellis' run. This was a little clunky and slow. I'll probably check out the next volume, but am not chomping at the bit to do it.

[M.T. Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dated by today's standards but really, REALLY good for its time.
The characters were pretty strong and some of them (like Zemo and Songbird) later grew quite a bit from what was established here.
A fun read.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gasp the Thunderbolts are Reeeeeeaaaaaallllly...

[Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

So on the surface, the idea of a team of super villains posting as a team of superheroes is an interesting concept, especially when circumstances warrant that the usual superhero teams aren't available. (The "classic" Thunderbolts, as collected here, were a response to the Avengers and Fantastic Four "dying" at the end of the Onslaught event.) Of course, the twist was absolutely necessary to sell the book--if the Thunderbolts had been the new Avengers, the title would have been The New Avengers or some such thing. But Kurt Busiek (he of the brilliant Astro City ) knew that there would have to be some sub-narrative to sell a super hero book from a publisher who had set the gold standard of superhero books with various Avengers titles. I had not read any of Busiek's work since I had finished reading Astro City, and since a recent Captain America trade I had recently read referenced Baron Zemo's time with the Thunderbolts, I decided I had to give it a read. Unfortunately, the copy I received from the library had huge chunks of pages ripped out of it (there is a special place in hell for people who do this.) so even though I referenced reading this in the No Escape review, I had to get a non-damaged copy and finally have finished it about a month later.

Perhaps because I know what Busiek is capable at his best, this volume fell a little flat for me. Perhaps with the context of future collections, I will appreciate this more, since it's obvious from the beginning that there are the villains who are going to stay villains and the villains who probably won't. As we know from all publisher related events like Onslaught, eventually the Avengers will come back, which will likely hasten the revelation that the good guys in Thunderbolts are actually the bad guys. How that story arc goes down will likely amend my view of these early issues of the book, so ask me when I read that.

Again, there isn't anything wrong with "classic" Thunderbolts, and the main premise is one of Kurt Busiek's usual "same story from a different perspective" sort of thing. I think that perhaps Busiek was more adept at these sorts of things in Astro City because it was his universe and he could do what he wanted. When it comes to Thunderbolts the shadow of the return of the Avengers looms large over the narrative, since Zemo's crew is one of their greatest enemies, and eventually, there has to be a reckoning.

[Myrmidon · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Anche la saga di Onslaught ha fatto anche cose buone", potremmo dire: tra queste, l'aver preparato il terreno per una serie regolare dal concept davvero intrigante, Thunderbolts.
Con gli Stati Uniti (e il mondo in generale) privi dei Vendicatori e dei Fantastici Quattro, apparentemente periti durante lo scontro con Onslaught, la gente si sente inerme di fronte alle minacce costituite dai supercriminali ancora a piede libero, i quali ovviamente intendono approfittare dell'assenza degli eroi più potenti della Terra e della "Marvel's first family".
New York stessa, a seguito della distruzione causata dalle Sentinelle comandate da Onslaught, viene saccheggiata da un gruppo di sciacalli, che stanno peraltro rapendo superstiti per ragioni sconosciute.
Ma a fermarli sopraggiunge un nuovo gruppo di supereroi: Citizen V (nipote dell'omonimo personaggio attivo durante la WWII), Mach-I, Songbird, Atlas, Meteorite e Techno.
Questi, raggiunti più tardi da giornalisti fuori dalla loro modesta base, affermano di essere eroi appena entrati in attività, senza alcun contatto con il governo e desiderosi di dare una mano in questo periodo disperato. Dopo aver sconfitto la Squadra di Demolizione, il nuovo gruppo viene preso in simpatia dall'opinione pubblica.
Ma in realtà i Thunderbolts non sono affatto ciò che sembrano: i membri del team, infatti, non sono altro che supercriminali ben noti per avere in passato militato nei Signori del Male, e il loro leader, Citizen V, altri non è che il Barone Zemo, il quale ha progettato di fingersi degli eroi, approfittando della situazione di emergenza, così da conquistare la fiducia della popolazione e del governo, ottenere i privilegi che furono dei Vendicatori e sfruttarli per conquistare il mondo!
Ma se alcuni dei Thunderbolts iniziassero a trovarsi più a loro agio come eroi, rispetto alla loro precedente carriera criminale? E quando un personaggio del tutto ignaro delle loro macchinazioni si unirà al gruppo, questo comprometterà la buona riuscita del loro progetto?

[Brian Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

My daughter is a huge fan of Songbird from her appearances in Avengers Forever, so we pulled out my old Thunderbolts issues. This initial volume is... OK. The series gets better later, but this is hampered by the need for not just a lot of set up but by the somewhat disjointed publication sequence, with a first issue, then a guest appearance in Hulk, then a 8 page back up story, then a team up with spider-man, then back to their own book. It's all fine, but its left feeling a little off kilter, which hurts some of the characterization.

The premise (deeply reminiscent of Busiak's prior and more obscure Liberty Project for those into 1980's deep cuts) is clever, and we just got volume 2 to fill in a gaps in my collection, so I'm interested to see where this went before I picked it up again later.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a former comics reader, I'm aware of the Thunderbolts but had never read an issue previously. I thought that this was an enjoyable collection that gave a great introduction to a new team of superheroes. It provided a succinct backstory for all of the major characters, showcased what they could do, and built up future adventures and storylines. The book also has a great hook that I haven't described for those who have never read the story. It is easy to spoil, even by browsing reviews, so reader beware. If I had access to more volumes of this comic, I would check them out. I enjoyed the writing throughout by Kurt Busiek and the art of Mark Bagley, the principal illustrator of most of the issues.

[Gaëlle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Donc ouais j'ai décidé de me replonger aux origines de pas mal de chose et celle des Thunderbolts m'intéressait. Une bande de vilain qui se fait passer pour des héros pour finalement en devenir, ça me plait. Et puis j'ai une affection toute particulière pour le personnage de Songbird. Et j'ai en effet beaucoup aimé toute la genèse de l'équipe et ce malgré quelques choix très discutables !

[Brandon]

A decent read that hinges on the twist in the first issue, which was remarkably kept a secret at the time. Interesting to read this, thinking about all the variations of the theme the Thunderbolts team ends up going through over the years.

[Jonathan Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slightly cheesy at times, but it all comes together to make such an incredible (very 90’s) story. I miss this roster..

[Nuri · Rating 4 out of 5]

SO CHEESY SO GOOD and obviously way ahead of its time.

Mach-1 has the coolest “power” though. A human fighter jet? Who’d’ve thought

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

'90s Marvel fun.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Simon Belfast · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine beginning of interesting story with original premise. - 6/10

[Steven W · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a ton of fun. I love the idea of villains posing as heroes. Good stuff!!

[Gary Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great Marvel Readthrough, pt 92

[Tri · Rating 3 out of 5]

6

[Marshall Weiss · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️