Thunderbolts: Worldstrike

Thunderbolts (2023) #1-4

by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing

A strike force team led by the Winter Soldier that deliver justice like lightning, the Thunderbolts are ready for action!

A revolution is coming! Bucky Barnes assembles a strike team to take on the world’s most nefarious power players — the ones whom everyone believes to be untouchable. The Thunderbolts are on a mission to upend the status quo — and no one is too rich, too powerful or too connected to escape a team that delivers justice like lightning!

Thunderbolts (2023) 1-4

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

136 pages, Paperback

Published June 25, 2024

Reviews

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Far better than expected, a truly entertaining read for me, and it was a real nice surprise Marvel finally depicting again real Nazis instead of the watered-down Hydra villains we've seen in comics and movies until recently.

It's a shame this latest incarnation of the Thunderbolts as covert specialists taking down villains didn't last, it had the potential for a truly gripping run.

'Nuff said.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wasn’t, as I was expecting, another miniseries about Luke Cage’s NYC-based, officially sanctioned Thunderbolts team but a story about a whole new group of Thunderbolts, organised and lead by Bucky Barnes.

I was not disappointed. This book was great, crazy, Nazi-hunting, kaiju fighting action.

To quote USAgent ‘This was great. More, please.’

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a real bummer that Thunderbolts: Worldstrike wrapped up after only four issues because it's an absolute blast.

Watching Bucky Barnes assemble a crew of heavy hitters like Black Widow and US Agent to go after the Red Skull was fantastic. We got Nazi hunting, Kaiju battles, crashing Kingpin's party, and a relentless pursuit of the Red Skull. While its shortness might prevent it from leaving a huge mark, the sheer fun factor is undeniable.

Honestly, I wish this had been expanded to a 12-issue run or something similar. As it is, it's a solid 3.5 out of 5 for me, but I'll happily round it up to a 4 on Goodreads.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously I’m here because I’m obsessed with Thunderbolts*, and I’m so glad I did! So weird but so much fun - the bonus chapter at the end really cinched the 5 stars for me, it was the perfect piece of Bucky lore and acts as a great epilogue/filler for the post credit scene in CA:TWS where Bucky is in the museum.

Don’t go in to comics expecting it to always make sense - Bucky’s weird new liquid arm thing is bizarre, and I didn’t expect Val to be… the way she is but just go with it! 😆

5 stars

[Benjamin Kimble · Rating 3 out of 5]

Following a very good run on Captain America Sentinel of Liberty Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing have Bucky Barnes assemble the Suicide Squ- I mean Thunderbolts! That’s the entire book. Bucky assembles his squad. I really felt like they wanted to do something cool and I like all the characters in this book but I got to the end and felt that nothing had happened. All they do is take out the Red Skull and say wow we’re so great time to do justice like lightning. I can tell they really wanted this run to be longer but having a boring setup arc doesn’t really help them get to that. Geraldo Borges is a fine artist and what he does works for telling the story they tried. I really wanted to like this book but couldn’t get into it.

[Lily Keller · Rating 4 out of 5]

The team up was a little odd (hello why was Alexei here??), I’m guessing that was done to get the MCU fans in on it too, but other than that it was pretty solid. Would’ve appreciated it if literally anyone to address the massive Nat/Alexei elephant in the room. It wasn’t the most fantastic or mind blowing or poetic comic I’ve read but it was really fun. Also it had Alpine :)

[Alex Sarll]

A miniseries left somewhat marooned by delays to the film it lines up with; hell, maybe it could even have been a series, though the diminishing length of Thunderbolts runs (200-odd issues, 30something, 10, 5, and now 4) suggests that if anything we're more likely to get a one-shot next year. Certainly it feels like it could have used a little more room to breathe; there's an obvious appeal to using a heist structure, getting each mission done in one issue even as they escalate towards a bigger goal, but most of them have enough moving parts that they felt a little crowded, and I wondered whether the Nextwave two-parter structure mightn't have been ideal. Not least because it feels like a natural fit for the caper approach – just put the cliffhanger on the obligatory moment when the plan goes out the window and leave the reader to wonder 'Bloody hell, how are they going to get out of this one?'

Of course, sometimes the reader might have no chance of guessing the solution because they've completely forgotten eg that the Black Widow has a symbiote now (yes, I know she's on the cover, but I took that for one of the various secondary Spiders, given the team are only introduced gradually). Because this may be arranging a line-up to mostly match the MCU version, but it's not really finessing the characters or trying to play down the distinctive strangeness of the Marvel Universe proper, instead very much leaning in to the state of the toybox at the time of publication. Not least in playing off Bucky's status quo as of the end of the writers' Cap run – an end I didn't reach because the series had been getting on my nerves. So I might not have picked this up had I read the blurb. But while there were signs of the glib, flashy, default post-Whedon stuff that wound me up there, their Thunderbolts also had moments reminding me why I'd been impressed by them earlier, not least with their Kang mini (they really don't have much luck when it comes to cross-media synergy). Hell, I was always likely to be an easy sell for a story about friendship as told with American Kaiju.

But mention of American monsters brings us to the third world in play here, because as well as mirroring the MCU, it's also understandably exercised by our own benighted timeline. Having Bucky go after the Red Skull makes perfect sense given the characters' history, but also provides an excuse for lots of reminders that Nazis are bad – a theme which, not so very long ago, I would have dismissed as stating the obvious, but where approximately half of the USA does apparently need a reminder. So having the Skull described as a living podcast, or the way he somehow keeps coming back – yeah, that works. I also appreciated the sense that, as against a while back where even other supervillains treated the Nazi ones as a bridge too far, that cordon sanitaire feels like it's fraying here, statements not borne out by behaviour, even if this was one of the areas where a little more space might have helped get the point across better. Still, if nothing else we'll always have the painfully, perfectly 2020s line "No, I think the future of fascism is going to be in crypto"

[☮ morgan ☮ · Rating 4 out of 5]

bucky barnes, my beloved.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compact, heist-focused Thunderbolts run that puts some fun characters on the team. Sure, it was probably intended to be a movie tie-in, but it stands on its own two feet quite well. Each issue is a pleasant caper, all building to a fairly surprising conclusion (Even in Marvel comics, with all their cosmic weirdness, it's not often the big battle at the end is a straight-up kaiju fight). I'd read another mini-series with this gang.

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thunderbolts: Worldstrike is the kind of comic that isn’t outright terrible, but it never gives you a real reason to care. The plot is about as generic as it gets—another world-ending threat, another team of heroes trying to stop it, but without any real stakes or emotional weight. The story just kind of plods along, hitting all the familiar beats without ever doing anything exciting or memorable. There’s no real tension, no surprises, and no strong character moments to latch onto. It feels like a story that exists just to fill a publishing slot rather than something with any passion behind it.

The artwork is equally "meh." It’s not bad, but it’s not particularly striking either. The action scenes lack impact, the character designs feel uninspired, and the panel layouts do little to add any sense of energy to the story. There are a few decent splash pages, but nothing that really sticks with you after you put the book down. It’s all just… fine, which unfortunately matches the overall feel of the comic—passable but completely unremarkable.

More than anything, Worldstrike just feels bland. There’s no spark, no creativity, and no real reason to recommend it over any other Thunderbolts story. If you’re a hardcore fan of the team, you might find something to enjoy, but for everyone else, this is an easily skippable entry that fails to leave an impression.

[hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

a re-read to prep for watching the movie even though i know it won't be comic accurate. still incredibly in love with natasha and bucky's relationship, i'm so glad they finally got back together in this comic. i like the idea of the plot - destroying nazis is always a classic route for marvel comics. i just think the character choices are a bit odd. why is alexei here. i hate the man and so do nat & bucky

[alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

uh, yeah!!! haven't read a comic in a hot minute (try 3-4 years, if we're excluding graphic novels unrelated to marvel/dc) so it took me a little bit to really get into but i persevered for my main man (bucky). didn't really jam with the writing so well - it all felt a bit clunky - but i think each issue was well enough paced to make something of an enjoyable story in the end. art style also not really my thing given the semi-vagueness but oh well.

[Myah · Rating 3 out of 5]

i think i would have enjoyed this more if i knew the backgrounds of more of the characters. but yay buckynat!

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

Competently written and illustrated. I would have read more if there had been. The last issue is a Dark Reign tie in for Winter Soldier and should arguably be read first.

[Alex Jiménez · Rating 4 out of 5]

yelenatbucky throuple truther series

[3r1nette · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

une lecture qui reste anecdotique : c’était ni excellent, ni mauvais. c’est fou comment à chaque fois que j’ouvre un comic, je suis aussi perdue aux niveaux des intrigues/actions/passés/dev des persos. c’est une galère sans nom. les dessins étaient chouettes, l’action sympa même si je n’ai pas été comblée par les scènes de combat (à part une planche ou deux) PAR CONTRE, j’ai bien aimé qu’on se concentre sur la santé mentale de bucky, surtout sur le dernier chapitre !

[Gwen · Rating 2 out of 5]

i got buckynat back so i guess this was okay

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This definitely is one of the most action-packed comics I have read so far this year! The stakes/tension were high as Bucky recruits White Widow, Black Widow, U.S. Agent, Red Guardian, Shang Chi, and Sharon Carter to take down the Red Skull in Latveria. I especially love the designs of the fight scenes/the color palette of each panel. The darker reds indicates the severity of the blood loss characters take. It made my stomach churn with fear for the characters that we love but that was the intention the artists were going for in order to build the suspense. I also loved how well the characters meshed together in terms of personality, fighting skills, and chemistry. It never felt too forced or rushed, it had the right amount of emotional core and action!

While the characters all worked well, I wish there was a lot more time to develop the story in how they are able to take down Red Skull. There might’ve been other explorations to how the characters ended up in the next comic (e.g. references to Captain America Finale #1) however I wanted a lot more development and pacing was rushed into the well-executed action scenes and allow the characters to really talk to each other and really let there personality shine through the dialogue instead of showcasing it through the fighting sequences.

This sequence was executed well in the Devil’s Reign: Winter Soldier issue. The way the writer is able to perfectly capture Bucky’s thoughts and struggle for peace after years of brainwashing. The way the art and dialogue match perfectly together, the action packed sequence where the spotlight is only on Bucky and Wilson Fisk as they fight for survival of their own minds. This was by far my favorite issue to read, along with the Thunderbolts comic as a whole!

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writer duo Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly enlist artist Geraldo Borges to draft a movie-accurate team of antiheroes with Thunderbolts: Worldstrike. Designed as a tie-in to the announced Marvel Studios film, this version of the squad features the rising stars of the screen in their current comic incarnations. Having smashed a centuries-old spy ring, Bucky Barnes decides to use his ill-gotten intel for a brutal mission - eliminate the Red Skull once and for all. The first op goes to plan, with Bucky landing the killing blow on the body of Aleksander Lukin; this causes a backup of the war criminal to activate deep underground in the Latverian homeland of Doctor Doom. Needing more allies to pursue the madman, Bucky adds both Widows, the Red Guardian, Shang Chi, and even the U.S. Agent to his growing squadron. After robbing Kingpin and foiling a Kaiju attack, the new Thunderbolts invade the Skull’s base for a fiery showdown. Lanzing and Kelly are up to task in assembling a film crew from comic book inspirations, deftly sidestepping continuity minefields with creative solutions. Though their handling of Bucky is excellent, the shortened issue count and need to juggle excess cast members does hinder the reading experience. The dark and often muddy art from Borges does not help matters, and is often saved by the brightly-colored costumes and backgrounds. Thunderbolts: Worldstrike aims for the wallets of cinema fans, but misses the mark on what could have been an explosive new chapter for this globe-trotting team.

[Scott Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story and art are solid, and the volume is fast-paced and fun. If you know what you're in for--which given the characters on the cover and Bucky's recent turn as "The Revolution" in the Captain America books an attentive comics reader would--than this delivers exactly that

My favorite part? Kelly & Lanzing dispense with all the time either "justifying" a strike first mentality, or moralizing concern about whether or not it's right. These characters are presented as, and act like, a black ops team that happens to have superhuman abilities targets bad guys with superhuman abilities and the straightforwardness and clarity with which that issue is approached makes the book far more fun and far less tiresome than several more mainstream titles which have had characters take a more proactive approach and then spend the entire book endlessly debating the morality of the approach they've chosen. Granted that can be made the effective central question of a run, or even a book--Remender did it so effectively with his take on X-Force years ago--but most of the time it reads like tired, obligatory drivel that gets in the way of the storytelling--no matter which side the creative team comes down on. Props to this group for being about the story being told and then getting on with it and letting the reader choose whether or not to enjoy it.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I should downgrade this to a 2 star review, but it was mildly entertaining. Frankly for me this very short novella became about trying to redeem a bunch of characters who have been poorly treated by editorial and writers recently.

Kelly's last Captain America arc 1) didn't work for me 2) failed characters such as Bucky and Peggy Carter. The only positive that I recall is giving Sharon Carter a new identity and purpose.

Here Kelly is giving Bucky, and other characters a new purpose.

He's going to take the resources from his time fighting the century war and use them to hunt down and take out forever the Red Skull. The Skull is pedestrian and overused.

Trying to return some character to Shang-Chi, Bucky, Sharon and even the Red Guardian deserves a little credit.

And, the whole concept of American Kaiju was fun .

[Shelby Fielding · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is kind of a pulpy, bat-shit story; especially when you have a panel in which Bucky Barnes becomes a giant-sized version of himself to a fight a Kaiju possessed hero. It's a little ridiculous, still there's a charming rhythm and old-fashionedness to the story that is kind of charming. I will also add that Jackson Lanzing's art is pretty fantastic. There's a looseness to his art that expands amidst battle and gives it this stormy feeling in which the winds of action kind of sweep up the panel. Then the direction of panels is incredibly fantastic, but the story itself is rudimentary and seems to primarily exist as a Bucky Barnes love letter. There's nothing wrong with that, but not my preference per se.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was super bummed when Kelly and Lanzing's Captain America run ended, but Thunderbolts has arrived to make me feel better, like lightning. That's how that saying goes, right?

A squad of Thunderbolts looking oddly like the soon-to-be big screen incarnation unite to deal with four enormous problems on their way to taking on the Red Skull. There's a lot packed into these four issues, with each one being an individual mission in its own right as well as building up to the finale. It's great storytelling, and packed with little character moments that made me smile too.

Thunderbolts is a book that thrives on reinventing itself, but I'd love to see these guys together again.

[Jessi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again I find myself reading the ebook copy of a comic I already own physically. I don't know why, sometimes I find the ebook from the library and it's easier than going through my shelves and drawers looking for the paperback.

I really enjoyed this, the banter between Bucky and everyone was fun. Nice to see Doom and Fisk, and Skull...though I loathe them all. Really fun seeing Shang-Chi in this. Glad to catch some time with Black Widow and her symbiote, I gotta catch up with that story.

Also good to know that Devil's Reign was included in this.

Fun fun time and I wanna read more.

[mercwithamouth · Rating 1 out of 5]

obviously just an ad for the thunderbolts movie that’s out in a couple months above anything but also has to keep in line with 616 canon at the same time so any new readers thinking this has any relation to the movie or is an introduction of any kind will be confused and mislead. there’s multiple tie-ins going on (symbiote black widow, revolution rebrand, white widow, etc. etc.) and the plot had me snoring along with a boring, generic artstyle and bland borderline cringey dialogue. if they wanted to promote via comics why not simply make another prelude to (insert mcu movie) comic? waste of time. i’m so sick of this forcing movie-comic synergy shit

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the run and I really hope they continue you it. I’d love to see this team in the upcoming Blood Hunt event. I bet they’d kick some serious ass. Always love seeing Nazi’s get the ever loving shit beat out of them. You would think we wouldn’t need to be reminded that Nazi’s are awful people but this world always reminds you that some people need that reminder. Really liked the art and story of this comic.

[Rahul Nadella · Rating 2 out of 5]

These four issues was not enough with this version of Thunderbolts. Thunderbolts hits like a bolt of lightning: fast, furious, and charged with creative intent. Bucky gathers his new team, all of whom have been through some changes, and makes a shocking play against the surprise villain. Thunderbolts makes a convincing case for taking a chance on its team of Marvel B-listers with an solid closing of this miniseries that mixes action, espionage and mystery.

[FrontalNerdaty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marvel can be really frustrating some times. They introduce a decent idea/ set up then don’t let it get a chance to become a ‘must read’.
This is the case here. The team is decent, the story is good but none of it ultimately matters in such a short run. 4 issues is not enough time to do a story justice and it’s all the more frustrating here given the strong character line up and art throughout.

2/5

[Sarospice · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a rather good Captain America run, the characters of Winter Soldier and The Destroyer find themselves assembling a Thunderbolts team that looks close to the MCU movie version coming out. If this is the story I'm on board. I liked all the interactions here, and with a tweek of purpose this could be a fun team title, which there are not many of today. Also, put Shang Chi in the film. He was an interesting addition here.

[Phobean]

Forgot I'd read this until I was on my Hoopla account and it was still checked out to me. Striking colors and panel-work. A few more women on the team than usual. A strange sleepwalking sequence featuring a murderous villain. Baddies coming back from the dead over-and-over, and "goodies" trying to vanquish them FOREVER, using guns and bombs. This 100% doesn't work, but somehow the heroes keep trying it. I guess that's pretty much it.