Thunderbolts: Marvel's Most Wanted

Marvel Two-In-One (1974) #54, 56

by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Roger Stern

The Thunderbolts promised to carry on the proud tradition set forth by such brave and noble super-powered teams as The Fantastic Four and The Avengers. Little did the world know, however, that the Thunderbolts were actually super-villains disguised as new heroes. Now come the true origins of the Thunderbolts, in their original super-villain identities. Collecting Avengers #21-22, Captain America #168 and #192, Incredible Hulk #228-229, Marvel Two-In-One #54 and #56, and Strange Tales #123 and #141-143.

Genres: Comics, Fiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1998

About the author

Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.

With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Corny super villain origin stories.....yay.

[Simon Belfast · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good ol' silver age goodness. Actually the most of the stories in this book are good silver age stories. But to look at them in respect of Thunderbolts, it really shows why they were chosen by Busiek. All of the six characters and their respective arcs are representatives of interesting villain driven stories:
1. Phoenix - Deconstruction of good and evil;
2. Moonstone - Femme Fatale;
3. Beetle - Comedy;
4. Screaming Mimi - Cute but dangerous;
5. Fixer - Smart;
6. Power Man - Deconstruction of dumb strong villains.
Well it is a little bit of exaggerating but it is still a silver age, so... The problem is that some of the stories here are really hard to understand without context and what's the point of this book if I have to go to Wikipedia for the context. Good comics, average compilation. So in the end it's fine read but nothing more. Read only if you are interested in the history of Thunderbolts (obviously... Look at the title of the book). - 6/10

[Tom Malinowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a treat to see the first appearance of the villains - Baron Zemo (the younger one), Goliath, Screaming Mimi, The Fixer, Moonstone, and the Beetle. Some of their appearances were as early as the 60s. Awesome introduction by Busiek on why he picked these particular villains who would pose as heroes as the Thunderbolts. Nice blast from the past and insight.