Thursday, March 15, 2007

Thunderbolts #112

Thunderbolts #112
I have a lot of problems with this series. Primarily, I'm not sure if Warren Ellis is dead serious with his portrayal of these Thunderbolts, or whether he is having a bit of fun at Marvel's expense. It certainly wouldn't be the first time. First, we'll get the boardroom scene at the beginning of this issue where the new Thunderbolts seem to be no different than the New Warriors were when this whole mess started - it being all about the ratings and such. Then Ellis will spoof on "Stan Lee's Who Wants to Be a Superhero?" and I'm back to thinking that he's joking. Then I'll think he's serious as he has a locker room scene with Mac Gargan being introspective. And then Bullseye will be completely psychopathic insane and I think Ellis is kidding again. I really don't know what to make of this series, so I don't feel that I can really give it an honest rating. For now, I'm staying with EH, but if I'm ever able to definitively conclude that Ellis is joking and sticking this whole series in Marvel's face, I'd be able to up that to GOOD. If, on the other hand, he's dead serious, this series is ASS, no two ways about it. So, if you think you know what's going on here, then good for you. Take the rating that suits you best. Otherwise, EH.

1 comment:

NucleonSaber said...

The book HAS to be a joke. If Ellis is trying to be serious, he is clearly incompetent.

I cannot like this book simply because the characters are not the characters (if that makes any sense). The girl running around in the Songbird costume only bears a passing resemblance to Melissa Gold; Moonstone has apparently decided to pretend to be dumb; Radioactive Man has been replaced by a different Chinese man; Andreas von Strucker has lent his costume to a friend; and so on.

Also, the book shows a complete disregard for a lot of continuity. I am not talking about the intense character development we saw in the first 110 issues of T-Bolts - Ellis has shown in almost all of his Marvel work that he doesn't care about things like that. I am talking about specific, clear, on-panel events that Ellis seems to have no knowledge of.

The book sucks donkey testicles. Seriously.