Thunderbolts Omnibus, Vol. 1

Thunderbolts Omnibus

by Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern, Joe Casey

Justice ... like lightning! When the Avengers and Fantastic Four fall, new heroes emerge to protect the Marvel Citizen V, Meteorite, Songbird, Atlas, Techno and Mach-1! But in one of the greatest shocks in comic book history, these Thunderbolts are really the Masters of Evil in disguise! With Baron Zemo leading them into battle, what is the scheming villain's endgame? How long can they keep their secret hidden? And when the truth is finally revealed, will the Thunderbolts return to type -- or have their brief lives as heroes inspired them to change? Collecting writer Kurt Busiek's complete, fan-favorite run! Thunderbolts (1997) #0-33, Thunderbolts Annual 1997, Distant Rumblings (1997) -1, Incredible Hulk (1968) #449, Spider-Man Team-Up (1995) #7, Heroes For Hire (1997) #7, Captain America & Citizen V Annual 1998, Avengers (1998) #12, and material from Tales of the Marvel Universe (1997) #1

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

1200 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2021

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

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, this was a nice surprise.

What starts as a bunch of villains disgusting themselves as hero to trick the public to eventually take over shit turns into a team of villains trying to eventually do good to honor the name Thunderbolts and actually turn over a new leaf.

That's what works best too because the first arc was fun and over the top but it's actually the weakest arc for me. The one following it with the Thunderbolts trying to be good but can't seem to work together as they lack a central leader is both intriguing and well done. Then we get a unlikely leader in the hero Hawkeye. A person who was once a villain to the Avengers only to become one of their biggest members.

This series has a lot of heart. Characters like Jolt really help bring up this series as she's the hopeful beacon this group needs. The dynamic between everyone is also great. Zemo being a main villain, despite over the top and silly, is still really fun.

If I had to say one negative sometimes the art is WAY too busy and way to 90's. But other times I love the design.

A 4 out of 5.

[OmniBen · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review) 2.5/5
This kind of typifies everything I dislike about superhero's and superhero comics, without every actually being terrible. First off, I only made it through about half of this before I called it quits, realising that I was only going to be getting more of the same the longer I read. Hoping for some Uncanny Claremont era characterisation, some Batman levels of grit or realism or some Alan Moore Swamp Thing levels of world building and mythos was only going to lead to frustration and disappointment. This is essentially your average superhero fare. Average characters, fighting average villains, all done rather averagely. Busiek is certainly a competent writer for the most part, and getting a book full of Bagley art is nice, if for consistencies sake if nothing else. As stated, nothing about this is dreadful by any stretch, but nothing is particularly interesting or engaging either. The 'twist' at the end of the first issue meant nothing to me, I guess you had to be there at the time, but what built out from that could have been outstanding, but it just never raised to the heights of many other runs, when given something monumental to work off. And the fact that this commits one of my cardinal sins when it comes to superhero comics, the page after page of fight scenes with page after page of pointless, cheesy, unnecessary dialogue. I'm fine with wordy comic stories. I prefer them in fact, but when a third of your book is fight scenes, which were usually difficult to follow and a bit bland I must say, you can only read the same cheese so many times before it gets old.
There was certainly potential here, but it just never rose to the occasion for me. The characters were mostly flat and not terribly well fleshed out, at least to the extent that I like or prefer. There really were too many crossovers and more popular character cash in appearances as well. I would have loved for Busiek to have taken some C and D list characters and rose them to greater prominence, although nothing here was ever going to do that for me. If you grew up on this, you'll likely remember it more fondly. But if you're a little more discerning when it comes to your superhero stories, there isn't too much here to get excited about. 2.5/5


OmniBen.

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember this getting a lot of praise when it came out and Busiek has always been a solid writer. While it still feels like a 90's book (and maybe earlier than that with some of the dialogue) I still found it entertaining. It's straight-up superhero stuff with the main twist being who these characters really were.

Busiek spends time endearing the reader to these characters to make you like them despite their past. For the most part it works: there is a sense of wanting them to succeed after the events of the first 12 issues. However, I still never connected with any of them the way I bond with my favorite heroes. There's a certain amount of empathy for the Thunderbolts and a desire for them to succeed, but not enough, for me at least, to want to continue reading about them. Somewhere around year 2 I got bored and was ready to move on to something else. Bagley's art doesn't help: I appreciate his panel compositions but don't care for his anatomy. He's very consistent and very quick, so he's able to be on a book for a long stint which I do like.

One of Busiek's strengths is taking small bits of Marvel history and building off of them or intertwining stories around previous events. This used to be commonplace in Marvel Comics, creating a connected universe, but sadly that isn't done much anymore. Overall, he did an excellent job of taking C level characters and building a new superteam around a unique concept.

[Lucy Batson · Rating 3 out of 5]

These introductory Thunderbolts stories are more like a 3.5, making them one of the "worst" things Kurt Busiek has ever done that are still very enjoyable. The "villains in disguise" angle was novel, and there were lots of good ideas on display after that concept was (very quickly) ditched to make way for Baron Zemo's master plan. This is solid Marvel storytelling, and one of the highlights of the Heroes Reborn/late 90's Marvel.

[John Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

14 years ago (Feb 1997), I bought issue 1 of the comic. The solicitations made it look fairly generic, but Kurt Busiek had done good work on other titles (e.g. Untold Tales of Spider-Man Omnibus) so I decided to give it a shot. The end of that issue completely took me by surprise, and I'm really glad that I read it before I saw any spoilers.

When the last page revealed that these characters were really super-villains, I didn't recognise them all. I was mainly familiar with the Beetle (from various Spider-Man comics) but I'd never heard of Screaming Mimi. However, that's ok; you don't need to know any particular backstory.

I recently read an article: Please Stop Saying 'Who?' Every Time A Celebrity Line-Up Is Announced. The writer made an interesting point that if everyone in the audience recognises a few of the celebrities then nobody actually needs to recognise them all. In this case, recognising one villain was enough to have the desired effect.

Based on the first issue, I bought the rest of the series in monthly format. Later I replaced those issues with the first 2 paperback collections (Thunderbolts Classic, Volume 1 and Thunderbolts Classic, Volume 2), and now I've replaced those paperbacks with this hardback omnibus. So, I think that says something about how much I like the story!

Physically, this book has been nicely put together. I did the usual approach to stretch the binding (i.e. I put the book on its spine then opened pages from the back/front alternately until I got to the middle). When I then read through the whole book from front to back, the inner lining stayed straight. I didn't notice any significant gutter loss; in particular, there aren't many double page spreads in this story, and the spreads that do appear are clear to read (e.g. the 25 villains in issue 25).

That said, it's also quite a heavy book (like most omnibuses). If I'm reading a paperback novel or looking at a tablet, I'll hold it up in my hands. In this case, I had to rest it on my lap. If you do the same, you'll probably want to take a few breaks, but I think that helps the story. It's similar to the recent discussions about "WandaVision": if you watch one episode per week, you can speculate about what comes next, whereas if you binge the whole series in one day then there's no real suspense. For this comic, I remember chatting to friends between monthly issues and making predictions about what would happen. I don't think you need to wait a month, but if you're new to the story then putting the book down for an hour or so between issues might be good, particularly in the first 1/3 of this collection.

On the whole, I think there's a good balance between action scenes and "talky plot". Some of the fight scenes can get a bit repetitive (particularly if you read several issues in quick succession), but the series was paced to read well in a monthly format, often ending on a cliff-hanger.

For instance, looking at issue 6, we see MACH-1 standing on top of an aeroplane, hoping to land it from the outside. 2 pages later, he meets his teammates, having successfully landed the plane off-panel. A few pages after that, Citizen V issues an ultimatum to the city, saying that the Thunderbolts won't provide any more aid unless they're given security clearance. So, I can understand why the story needed to hit that "beat" on that page.

Thinking of comics like The Authority that came a few years later, there was a tendency towards "decompressed" storytelling. These were very much "paced for the trade", i.e. they read well in a collected edition but could be a bit unsatisfying if you read one issue in isolation. "Widescreen" was another adjective that got used a lot. Nowadays, the pendulum has swung back towards the centre a bit, i.e. most writers will have an eye on the eventual collection but they're also aware that the series needs to last long enough to get that.

Looking at Tom King's run on Batman (2016), his first issue is almost entirely given over to a plane rescue. I'd honestly describe that as cinematic, and I would have liked to see that here. However, I also realise that it's not really fair to compare the Thunderbolts story to a comic that was published 19 years later.

When I reviewed Avengers Assemble, Vol. 1 (by the same writer), I mentioned that the issues should have been put into a different order; in particular, an annual was included in the hardback in publication order, but this didn't follow the internal timeline for the characters. Also, when there was a 4-part crossover, that book only included 1 issue, with no recap pages for what happened in the other 3 instalments.

By contrast, this omnibus does a lot better. The issues are rearranged, so that issue 1 of Thunderbolts comes before the Hulk issue where the team technically first appeared. Also, while there are no direct crossovers, there are significant appearances in other titles (Spider-Man Team-Up, Avengers, Heroes For Hire) which are included here. Basically, the focus is on the story rather than an arbitrary set of issues.

As a side note, that means that issue 3 doesn't start until 140 pages into this collection! I.e. the first 2 issues plus tie-ins would fill up a standard sized paperback collection on their own. It's not a problem, but it amused me when I realised that.

There are a few art mistakes, e.g. where a character has the wrong hair colour or a speech bubble is pointing to the wrong person. It would have been nice to fix them for this edition, but it's not a big deal.

Speaking of the story, be aware that there are some plot points/mysteries set up in this book which aren't explained. E.g. "Why did Dallas Riordan become the Crimson Cowl?" However, they are addressed in later issues, so you can either read them now (e.g. in digital format) or wait until omnibus 2 is published in 2022.

There's some bonus material in the back of the book. The articles/interviews are bit repetitive, but they're interesting to read for historical context. I also enjoyed seeing the parody of a Hostess fruit pies advert again, although it might have less impact if you've never seen the original adverts that it's referencing. (Via old Usenet discussions, I heard that this was originally done as fan-art and shown to the writer at a convention, then he liked it so much that he arranged to have it included in the monthly comic.)

According to the back cover, this comic has a T rating, which means: "Appropriate for most readers, but parents are advised that they might want to read before or with younger children." That raises a question of what content is acceptable for an "all ages" comic; re-reading this story in 2021, a few bits felt a bit jarring to me, and I think that might be due to a shift in cultural values (or my awareness of certain issues) in the years since it was originally published. I think it's significant when the same event can occur in the real world, e.g. the difference between shooting lasers or bullets. I'd be inclined to rate this as "T+ Teens and up".

Nobody swears in this comic. However, there's a scene where Tiger Shark refers to Jolt (an Asian-American) as "slant eyes", which is basically a racial epithet. If you look at the Marvel MAX imprint (aimed at adults), characters do swear, and you can argue that this makes the dialogue more realistic. However, if you want to edit the content to suit a wider audience, where do you draw the line?

Some characters are killed, but it's typically off panel and/or bloodless; there's no gory violence.

Likewise, there's no sex, but there is some (implied) nudity. Most of that is a deliberate choice by the characters involved; the grey area is in issue 25, when the Thunderbolts knock out some of the Masters of Evil and steal their costumes to impersonate them. Jolt makes a comment that Joystick will probably wish she'd worn underwear that day, and we see the naked Joystick lying in in a pile of other unconscious villains (male and female) with strategically placed limbs to conceal certain areas from the reader. I wouldn't put this in the same category as "revenge porn" or anything like that, and I think it's significant that Jolt is also female (rather than a man stripping off a woman's clothes), but it's still a bit unsettling to see this played as a joke rather than a moral dilemma.

Some of the artwork has a tendency towards "cheesecake" poses, e.g. female characters are in positions where we can see their bum and breasts at the same time. Some of that could be justified as a character choice (e.g. Moonstone definitely uses her sexuality to manipulate Techno in issue 12), but in other cases it's just a choice of "camera angle" by the artist, which is where we move into "male gaze" territory. However, in general I like Mark Bagley's artwork: it's clear, and I always understand what's going on.

I think the most controversial issue is that there are few threats of rape. Looking at issue 11, Baron Zemo has used a mind control satellite to brainwash people. When Atlas supports Zemo, Zemo says: "Once the world is subjugated, he can have anything he chooses - even the Riordan woman, if he still wants her!" This came just after Dallas Riordan had shouted at Atlas for betraying her trust, so I think the important question is whether she wants him; Zemo's implication is that she won't have a choice. This turns out to be a moot point, since Zemo is defeated.

Later, in issue 27, a flying man grabs a woman off the street and says "Wanna join the Mile High Club -- without a plane?" In theory, that could be viewed as asking for consent, but since he'd put one hand over her mouth I think it's more of a threat. Those characters are never shown again, so it's not clear what actually happened afterwards.

I think it's worth emphasising that these threats are all made by the antagonists, and it makes sense for bad people to do bad things. However, I'd like to see a reaction in the comic, to emphasise that it's a bad thing.

On a lighter note, issue 27 also has a scene where 3 flying people rob a comic shop. The way they're drawn, this is obviously a cameo by The 3 Geeks; it's out of character for them, but these are presumably their Earth-616 counterparts, and it was nice to see. I'm guessing that the staff who chase after them (named as "Bri" and "Lar") are based on real people, but I don't recognise them.

One of my favourite scenes is from the Spider-Man Team-Up issue (rather than the main series). When the Thunderbolts are mind-controlled, MACH-1 has to snap Zemo out of it, which he does by appealing to Zemo's pride. "How does it feel for a member of the master race -- one of the rightful rulers of the world -- to be a slave?! To be nothing?!" Just to be explicitly clear about this, I am emphatically not a Nazi, and I don't share Zemo's views at all. However, I liked the idea that those views came in useful. It was also fun to see MACH-1 slapping Zemo around before he regained his senses.

More generally, the big theme of this book is redemption. The initial premise is that villains pretend to be heroes, then they wind up enjoying it because people are cheering for them, writing fan-mail, etc. So, it's understandable that they'd be motivated to reform. However, the problem comes when they get outed. As a reviewer put it at the time (when these issues were originally published): "Being a hero sucks when nobody likes you." So, that's the real dilemma: will they do what's right for its own sake, or will they only do it when they get praised for it? They don't always make the right choice, but I think they do what's true to their characters.

[Terrance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly hailed for its first issue (which, if it's already spoiled cuts into the enjoyment), this is a fairly fun and incisive look at the thin line between heroes and villains, but I prefer Busiek's other work with Astro City for that kind of story. The rest of the series didn't live up to that first issue.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of my love for Busiek's Thunderbolts must be dated nostalgia, because upon a re-read in omnibus format I definitely felt that it was only a younger me that enjoyed this run in full. The initial arc where the Thunderbolts are introduced to the Marvel universe still holds up strong, with the inter-team dynamics being some excellent writing work. There are a few sub-factions found in the Thunderbolts, with individual members all seeking differing goals. Citizen V and Techno seek domination through subversion, Meteorite seeks true legitimacy, MACH-1, Songbird & Atlas seek redemption, and Jolt remains oblivious. It's stellar work, and definitely shows why the Thunderbolts was such a brilliant title in the 90s.

But after a while, the book does feel quite stale unfortunately. Hawkeye joining the team later on does inject some life again into the book, but there is something lost once the Thunderbolts are outed to the world at large. And while many people are fans of Bagley's artwork, I've never been able to connect with it. Perhaps this reads better as a monthly title rather than a binge read as a giant tome of a book, because I did find myself pretty bored after the first arc.

[***Dave Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the series when it first came out, so was pleased to pick up the Omnibus, re-collecting all of Busiek's run on the book. It's not Busiek's greatest work, but at the time it made Marvel's Onslaught Era more tolerable, and in retrospect is solid (if sometimes repetitive) writing, and nicely taking the on the task of portraying villains playing heroes and not being sure which they prefer. Mark Bagley, already a good talent, honed his craft on this series as well. Definitely a fine read, now and into the future.

[Zachary Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Difficult to discuss this book without giving away spoilers. Busiek is one of the strongest marvel writers of the nineties and this also features art by Mark Bagley (my all time favorite spider-man artist). This series starts off very strong and ended up surprising me with how much I enjoyed it. Plenty of character drama and growth in between the action. I will be picking up volume 2 (not written by Busiek) to see where the story goes.

[Craig W · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best premises of any comic that I have read. The first 12 issues in particular are all bangers, but the quality remains very good throughout the book, including the introduction of Hawkeye as team leader. Great stuff!

[Rob Marney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly good soap opera with superheroes, thanks to a great premise. The villains are pretty lame, and the last arc kinda gives up on the premise to be basically West Coast Avengers, but there's just enough there to be interesting throughout.