By: Jeff Parker (writer), Kev Walker (penciller), Terry Pallot (inker), Frank Martin Jr. (colorist)
The Story: Who let the trolls out—who! Who, who, who who!
The Review: Some titles focus on doing one kind of story really well, and that’s fine. If you have the right talent and affinity, you can find an infinite source of material from even the one kind. For my part, I’m a big fan of the titles that open themselves up to as many different kinds of stories as possible. Maybe it’s the incredibly diverse cast of characters, or the time-traveling arc we’re in now, but Thunderbolts feels like one of those titles where anything can happen.
If there’s any one line that encapsulates the spirit and tone of this series, it’s Fixer’s exclamation, “If Excalibur can really cut through anything…then [King Arthur’s] about to crack open the Habitat and spill out all the Nexus of Reality swamp water!” It takes a special kind of writer to put down that line with just a hint of self-aware irony, but it also takes a special kind of book for that line to actually have some peril to it.
Not only does Parker have fantasy and sci-fi collide head-on, he also blends comedy and tragedy in equal measure, often side-by-side. Once again, Boomerang’s impulses lead the wrong way, resulting in far greater havoc than even he anticipated. The monsters and demons chained in Camelot’s dungeons turn out far less cute and far more violent than their initial puppy eyes led you to believe, and while Boomerang gives them their freedom for a while, it’s very short-lived—literally. Boomer’s haplessness makes the scene amusing, despite its grisly nature.
So not only does Boomerang inadvertently screw his fellow prisoners, he also screws Camelot’s only hope of survival by extinguishing Merlin’s trump card. Here we have a slightly different kind of Merlin than the one featured in Demon Knights. This wizard comes across more menacing, and makes no effort to hide it (“I am more like [these beasts] than the men of Camelot. They would slay me as well if they saw my true nature.”), but he’s also less inclined to interfere with fate. And so, rather than take revenge on the Thunderbolts for their actions, he helps them on their way, wanting nothing more than to face Camelot’s doom in peace.
On the other hand, call me cynical, but I found his seemingly innocent inquiry into the workings of their time-travel a bit suspicious. He catches on to the magical structure of the process very quickly, and it seems a bit too much of a coincidence that by his advice the ‘bolts make it back to the relative present, only to find it much altered. But then, you can’t expect to go traipsing about time and not change something of history. It’ll be very entertaining to see the team face up to an apparently legit version of themselves.
Walker is an all-rounder kind of artist, bringing enough cartooniness to make the story’s humor work, particularly anywhere Troll and Mr. Hyde are concerned (“Troll have dragon!”). Most of the time, his figures look sketchy, with either simplified or exaggerated expressions. But every now and then he’ll pour all his effort into detailing a single image, like his close-up of Merlin, and it’ll look like the work of a completely different artist. Once you get used to these switch-ups, they become very effective.
Conclusion: Goes by a bit too quickly, but it sure delivers a lot of enjoyable material. Parker’s just having a good time, and Walker’s partying with him; you’d do well to just breeze along for the ride.
Grade: B+
– Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: – I’m pretty sure I would fork over good money for a Troll and Mr. Hyde spin-off. I’d throw in another dollar if we can get a pet dragon in there, too.
– I share Moonstone’s sentiments about Lancelot; I always thought he was kind of a jag, too. Bros before ‘ho’s, Lance, come on!
Grade
Conclusion