Thunderbolts: Burning Down the House

Thunderbolts (2006) (Collected Editions) #6

by Andy Diggle, Roberto De La Torre (Artist)

Writer Andy Diggle (Losers, Green Arrow: Year One) and penciler Roberto De La Torre (Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.) shake up Marvel's most unpredictable team! The events of Secret Invasion have taken Norman Osborn out of Thunderbolts Mountain... and when the cat is away, the mice will play! Bullseye owes Songbird big time - and now it's time to settle up!

Collecting: Thunderbolts 126-129,132

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

112 pages, Hardcover

First published July 29, 2009

About the author

Andy Diggle is a British comic book writer and former editor of 2000 AD. He is best known for his work on The Losers,Swamp Thing, Hellblazer, Adam Strange and Silent Dragon at DC Comics and for his run on Thunderbolts and Daredevil after his move to Marvel.

In 2013 Diggle left writing DC's Action Comics and began working with Dynamite Entertainment, writing a paranormal crime series Uncanny. He is also working on another crime series with his wife titled Control that is set to begin publishing in 2014.

Reviews

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Thunderbolts run is penned by Andy Diggle, and he's not really a favorite of mine. Looking back at my reviews, most of his stuff just hasn't clicked with me. Still, I'm always open to being surprised, so I dove into his Thunderbolts.

The initial arc focuses on the fallout of Norman's team, and the first half of this book is intense. Songbird's desperate fight for survival against Moonstone and Bullseye is genuinely gripping, and it gets even more terrifying when Venom enters the chase. This part is definitely the strongest.

Then the book shifts gears and introduces a new Thunderbolts lineup, and honestly... these guys are total losers. None of them are really grabbing me. Maybe Yelena Belova (you know, the other Black Widow). But beyond her, this new crew feels pretty weak, and I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of them don't make it and die by the end of this run.

So, a really strong opening half and a just okay second half make this a decent, solid three out of five. Nothing particularly special, though.

[Relstuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picks up right after Secret Invasion as Norman Osborn works to take over what remains of Shield. How does he convince the president he's the man for the job? How about staging a fake assassination attempt while setting up a Thunderbolts team he can continue to use?

[Gavin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Diggle steps in...not as good.

Adios Venom, Bullseye, moonstone, swordsman, Songbird, Radioactive Man, hello to Ripoff Black Widow, 3rd Ant Man and other Z-Listers...

Norm gets President approval after setting up Doc Samson for the attack on Air Force One.

[Sonic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though I was a fan of Diggle's work on "The Losers" series that might have just led me to expect more than what was delivered. This book certainly started out strong, but just seemed to ,... wait NOW I remember they built up some story-line that was WHAT?!? to be continued/concluded ELSEWHERE??? in "Dark Reign: Deadpool/Thunderbolts"

Yes,

... Lame.


I love seeing Osborn in this role and I love it that his helpers are psychos like Bullseye, but I think this series could have benefitted from watching Gail Simone's "Secret Six" Series, which was supported by excellent dark humor, and where the characters could be villains and losers and still interesting characters.

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm reading this as part of my Venom/Carnage/symbiote readthrough. You don't have to. You shouldn't.

There is barely any Venom in this volume despite the back cover image. It's for the best. This is a completely watered down, over-plotted, under-written continuation of Warren Ellis's run on Thunderbolts. Im glad this is the last volume with this particular team, as I don't want to read any more about these characters.

This is a run-of-the-mill, D-list, anti-hero team book. What if, instead of being offensive, The Boys, Volume 1: The Name of the Game was just boring? What if there was an Avengers run where a bunch of characters you were beginning to care about started being written drastically differently, turning on each other with little provocation, and then just sort of drifting to a shrug of an ending? (I'm sure that precise Avengers book exists, I just can't currently think of it.)

There's nothing offensively bad about this book. It's just a mediocre story that also suffers from the muddied color pallete that was prevelant in pretty much every Marvel book of the era. The Jock Venom treatment on the back cover is the only interesting part of the whole book. It's not even a So Bad It's Fun or So Bad It's Infuriating book, it's just forgettable.

[Iranoctis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diggle und de la Torre bringen den düsteren Stil von Ellis und Deodato erfolgreich zurück, präsentieren Osborn effektvoll mit abgeschossenem Skrull-Wrack vor dem Washington Memorial und feuern generell aus allen Rohren gegen die Manipulationen der Mächtigen - Dark Reign eben. Aber auch das Persönliche, besonders von Songbird, Moonstone und Radioactive Man wird gekonnt in Szene gesetzt. Problematischer sind die neuen Thunderbolts-Mitglieder, Black Widow (2), Ant-Man, Paladin, Headsman und Ghost können an der Stelle noch gar nicht die Tiefe ihrer Vorgänger haben, aber spätestens Ant-Mans erster Auftritt zwischen Black Widows Brüsten ist eine peinliche Bauchlandung. Trotzdem wird hier ein starker Start in die Zukunft eines neuen Teams geliefert.

[Irene · Rating 2 out of 5]

Osborn cleans house and ties up loose ends; inadequately and moderately amusingly. This is a book that just doesn't get it quite right.

Half the book is the old crew having a battle royal, which should have been a massive climax of all the plot threads and build up going to an explosive close, but it feels rushed and unsatisfactory. There are some fun scenes but it doesn't amount to much.

Then there's the recruitment of the new Thunderbolts team and a mission, which falls utterly flat and feels like it goes nowhere. I fundamentally question the composition if thus book. It's jumbled and halted all at once.

[Terry Murphy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mostly bland affair that does very little with the wealth of characters it has.

It neither advances the Dark Reign storyline from the vantage point of the villainy, or reveals much about the antagonists.

Tepid storytelling that only rises somewhat in the last issue where we get a tiny glimpse at Daken.

Skippabble and utterly forgettable.

[Arturo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Songbird kicks ass and shines, as Norman send the team after her.
A new expendable team is introduced, like em or hate em.
This volume collects a story in a middle of a transition. ..beware.

[Holden Attradies · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really like the story that was in here, every page was pretty wonderful. But, and this is a big but that drops it down to a 2 star rating, as a single book it was atrocious. The new Thunderbolts team should have been something that started in their own volume, and having the start of a story here but continued in another book (Deadpool/Thunderbolts) but than another issue or two of content after that story just seemed like shity placement for that issue. I'm sure the story of Mr X. joining their team could have very easily been placed at the beginning of the next volume instead of thee nd of this one.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

This volume was disappointing. There are a few issues in the beginning with Songbird running escaping from the team that's out to kill her. It's great watching her, a character whose lasted this long through regime change, take all those A-level villain down. But once she's gone, the story is far less interesting. The villains chosen to replace the roster are unrecognizable and I couldn't have cared less about them. I'll read the Deadpool crossover, and then the one after this, only to see how Songbird's story goes, but this was a letdown compared to the rest.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thunderbolts has always been an intriguing series. Here, we get the transition to the team's next incarnation. Norman Osborn, who some claim is over used, is shown in all his evil genius here. He's cold and calculating. The new team is an interesting collection of psychopaths highlighted by Ghost. He's so much fun to read. Andy Diggle does a great job weaving stories together and has a great grasp on these "less than honorable" characters. While I thought the coloring or inking was a little too dark, the art was really good. Overall, a very good read.

[Lissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

After Warren Ellis' awesome Thunderbolts run, I suppose it's normal to be disappointed in what follows. Gage's take on the Thunderbolts during Secret Invasion was enjoyable, but Diggle's is mediocre (at best) in this trade. The team is missing its witty banter, which kept the book entertaining to the extreme. Instead, it's replaced with a lot of splash and gore, but very little substance. The characters feel like flat renditions of themselves.

[Sheila · Rating 2 out of 5]

Underwhelming.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am surprised how much Marvel has been able to do with this concept. This is from a stage when they were doing pretty good!

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short book whre Osborn consolidates his position, and tries to get rid of the people he dosn't like from the Thunderbolts. Some nice confrontations here.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

A return to the high artistic and writing standards of the Ellis era. I would have preferred more continuity of characters, but the story here is interesting and well told.

[Drew Nevis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to have to find out how the team got to this point, but the story in this book was cool.