Thunderbolts: Uncaged Omnibus

Thunderbolts (2006) (Collected Editions) #10-17

by Jeff Parker (Writer), Kevin Walker (Illustrator), Greg Land (Cover Art)

A new era for Marvel's ever-evolving, always-controversial team! The most dangerous criminals on Earth are now all in one hellish prison, and the only way out is through rehabilitation and contribution to society via the Thunderbolts program - under the leadership of the steel-hard-skinned Avenger named Luke Cage! So bring on the first Juggernaut! Crossbones! Ghost! Moonstone! And…Man-Thing?! Can Cage restore the Thunderbolts' tarnished heroic potential? And when new recruits are called, who out of the Marvel Universe's vast pool of powerhouse criminals will make the cut? Then, when the T-bolts end up lost in time, a new group steps in to replace the Dark Avengers! You can be sure that the two troubled teams are on a collision course! Collecting THUNDERBOLTS (1997) #144-174 and #163. 1, DARK AVENGERS (2012) #175-190 and material from ENTER THE HEROIC AGE #1.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Superheroes

1192 pages, Hardcover

First published December 5, 2023

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Reviews

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, this is my fourth damn Thunderbolts Omnibus that I'm tackling, and a pattern's emerging: these books seem to dwindle down by the end. Now this one has Luke Cage stepping up as the leader for this Thunderbolts crew. And I gotta say, the premise of him hitting up a prison to handpick guys he thinks he can actually reform? Fucking brilliant. A dude like Cage, who got railroaded into prison himself, is the perfect guy to try and steer these scumbags onto a better path.

What I absolutely loved was how this run kicked off. Luke Cage comes across as a total badass, no question. On top of that, we're introduced to some seriously twisted motherfuckers in this crew, like Crossbones, one seriously sick bastard. I also dug the fact that Man-Thing gets a little love, and we see the return of some OG Thunderbolts like Songbird and Mach-5.

So yeah, the beginning is top-notch. It's basically Cage having to wrangle these characters, including the goddamn Juggernaut, and trying to make them work as a team. Of course, it's gonna get messy, silly, and a whole lot of fun. And those first two, maybe even three arcs? Freaking gold. They feel somewhat grounded, with these natural stories of villains actually trying to do some good.

Unfortunately, we eventually stumble into the time-traveling bullshit that I personally can't stand. But I gotta admit, for the most part, the Thunderbolts handled it decently enough in the early stages. But as we go deeper and deeper into the past, and half the team gets split up, it just keeps going downhill and never recovers.

And then we crash-land into the Dark Avengers arc, which eats up the last ten to fifteen issues, and these guys just feel like a bunch of throwaways. The first half of that ain't terrible, with some genuinely entertaining moments and decent character development and goodbyes to the old crew. But then, the very last seven issues or so? This damn elseworld story leaves this Omnibus just floundering at the end.

Overall, I'd say this Omnibus is a fun ride. It's definitely worth reading, especially for that first half, which I think is some of the best Thunderbolts material I've read. But at the same time, that seriously lackluster ending makes it a tough sell. The highest I can go is a three, maybe a generous 3.5. It kind of falls in line with the Thunderbolts Volume 2 Omnibus – some seriously high points, but ultimately dragged down by some of the more stupid moments.

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series, great to read it all in one big chunk, Parker gets that the Thunderbolts are a mix of villains forced to do good and villains trying to redeem themselves, with most somewhere in between, but ultimately they form their own brand of loyalty and purpose together. This is packed with action and adventure and great ideas and terrific characters of all stripes, awat from and sometimes under the shadow of the clashes between the big-gun heroes and villains, love Kev Walker's art in particular, and this goes all the way through so that even the appalling Dark Avengers manage to get their one single shining moment.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the original run, where a bunch of villains pretended to be heroes and were changed in interesting ways by the experience. Years later, we get a new run where a bunch of villains get Suicide-Squaded, which feels pretty dull, then go on a Cross-Time Caper (the final chapter of which was missing due to a printer error on my book), which is fun enough but runs long, then get replaced by a new group of fake Avengers who have all the personality of a bag of cotton balls. It wasn't a waste of time, but I don't think I got my money's worth from a $125 omnibus.

[Loki · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most enjoyable eras of Marvel's favourite misfits, now in one (enormous) volume. A wonderful trip down memory lane.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Falls apart at the end with the Dark Avengers era, but otherwise really compelling superheroics that is strongly differentiated from Suicide Squad after starting with a similar premise.

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parker does an amazing job of keeping the story fresh and interesting and surprising over the entire run, which is no small feat. A really fun run of modern superhero comics.