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.