A Return To Thunderbolts!

Last month I started reading Thunderbolts again, taking the place of Batman on my order (see last post). So far I love being back in the Thunderbolts world. The team dynamics and psychology of the ‘ex-cons’ makes for a fantastic read and is true to the titles original intention, former villains trying to turn over a new leaf and becoming heroes. I soon found myself confused however by the changing cast and the motives of the various characters and I think my exploration into the titles back issues and the convoluted order of my reading are to blame.

The first issue I ever read was # 3 given to me by a friend many, many years ago. I didn’t think much of it at the time. I didn’t read comic books back then and I quickly forgot about it. However, I was re-introduced to the title last year when I added the entire list of Siege titles to my order. None of the characters were familiar, but the likes of Ghost made it a very enjoyable read. Again I forgot about it until I saw that it was being given a new direction in the shape of Luke Cage’s ‘reformed’ prisoners. Juggernaut, Man-Thing, Songbird, Mach IV, how could I pass that up? It seemed a sign to me, so I picked the title up again and I was not disappointed. I know look forward with eager anticipation for the week when Thunderbolts comes in.

Not content with my one issue a month I raided my local comic store, Classic Comics, and dove into the Thunderbolts history. And here is where my confusion began. It seemed that some faces kept re-occurring. Songbird, Mach IV and Atlas popped up on more than one occasion. Theirs were characters that maintained a fairly consistent allegiance and motive. But it was in the shifting nature of the other characters that I found myself confused. I did not read the back issues in any order or reason. I bought whole story arcs at a time jumping forward and back in the continuity. One issue, Swordsman is acting on behalf of the Thunderbolts and in the next he is attempting to bring them down. Is Baron Zemo being good here or is he reverting back to his evil ways? Was he ever good to begin with? I don’t know. So far it hasn’t affected my reading of the current continuity but I fear it may do so in the future. Perhaps a more systematic method of reading is in order, starting right back were it began, at #3.

Why I Dropped Batman

About six months ago I added Batman to my monthly order at my local comic book store. I had found Tony Daniel’s blog during one of my browsing sessions and fell in love with his depiction of the Dark Knight. I had been meaning to delve into the world of Batman comics for a while. The recent films had renewed my love of the Bat and I was interested in his comic book presence. So Batman earned a place in my exclusively Marvel lineup.

Unfortunately, Batman’s time in my list was short lived. At first I loved Daniel’s work, even to the extent of buying a few back issues, but it soon became apparent that beyond his artwork there was nothing there for me to keep him around. Don’t get me wrong. The action, pacing and all that jazz were great. But the dozen or so issues that I read gave me an insight into the true nature of my comic book interest. I was there for the superpowers.

I do not doubt the effectiveness of Batman in his defense of Gotham City. He is a more than capable defender against the many evil characters that Gotham’s streets present. But after careful reading I realized that what the Batman comics were missing most of all were the world-threatening powers and politics that draw me to the likes of the X-Men, Hellboy and the Avengers.

The X-Men defend humanity against a myriad of powerful enemies wielding god-like power while at the same time defending their own against the prejudices of those that they seek to defend. Hellboy ensures that the power struggles and magical threats of the paranormal world do not spill over into the real world. And don’t even get me started on the number of world-threatening enemies that they defeat on a daily basis. And what qualifies all of these characters to protect us from these threats are their own powers and abilities that they use in such spectacular and amazing ways that we are stunned in awe of their…… awesomeness.

Batman is a detective. A man. A caped and masked man, but a man nonetheless. Sure he faces some terrible foes. Killer Croc is still one of favorite characters of all time. But I shudder to think what would become of poor Batman if he were faced with the likes of Ultron, Magneto, or if he got on Hulk’s bad side. I am pretty sure he would be demolished in an instant. I’m sorry if I offend any fans, but Batman, as a comic book, holds no interest for me. And that is why I removed batman from my list and replaced it with Thunderbolts.