Thunderbolts #148

"Lightning in Shadows" by Jeff Parker (w) & Declan Shalvey (a)

Thunderbolts is another of those titles that is perennially on my "will cut when the bad issues start" lists. (Aside: I know I say that about a few books, but that's because I'm poor. It's tough justifying 10 books at $4 each, when any of them aren't scintillating reads!) I picked it up from issue 1, then dropped it after a couple of years, and started to pick it up again when Warren Ellis took over. Jeff Parker has since taken over, and Mr. Parker is one of my favorite new writers. I loved "Agents of Atlas," and he gets the benefit of the doubt. Plus, I enjoyed his WordBalloon interview, which gives him some slack as well. Funny dude.

Lightning in Shadows does a surprising thing: takes a big event, which I know nothing about and care even less, and manages to develop the ongoing plot of the series while telling a story inside the event. I still can't tell you what this whole "Shadowland" thing is about - something about Daredevil and ninjas in New York City, but I don't care enough to research it - but I enjoyed a glimpse into Luke Cage's past (the appearance of thought-dead Lacy Kimbro), and I enjoyed the very relevant comparison of Cage and Norman Osborne, the Thunderbolts' former caretaker.

It's true, more than Cage wants to admit: he's using the federally-employed convicts on a personal mission. This isn't Avengers business; this is Cage trying to help a friend. While I personally can approve of that, I also can understand how starting down this very slippery slope can lead to some unintended, negative consequences. The interesting bit, though, is that the Thunderbolts are not fooled or deceived; they know that they are being used for non-federal business and that they will likely get in trouble for it. It doesn't matter to them because they get to beat the crap out of someone.

The prison scenes, where the T-bolts are eating dinner in the general population, were interesting as well. I'm not sure who this "Gunna" woman is, that is the creepy focus of the women's cafeteria; this is likely act one with the loaded gun. They'll use her in a similarly disturbing manner later on. The men's cafeteria is much less sinister and much more overtly violent, as one would expect, and watching the male Thunderbolts sit there and take it was entertainingly uncomfortable. I don't think that I'm used to rooting for a bad guy to do something violent and nasty to somebody, and I don't like the feeling much, which is why this scene absolutely worked and was wonderful to read. Making the reader uncomfortable with their feelings like that is a masterstroke. Taking the guy with the spork, using Cain Marko's body as a visual obstruction? Even better. That's a great visual moment.

The end of the comic was a big fight scene, with NINJAS! We love ninjas. Ninjas are fun. Ninjas are cool. There's no bad ninja fight scenes. They're like zombies: use them lots, because they're awesome. These ninjas seemed to be much better than the average cannon fodder ninjas, as they take down Songbird and the Fixer kind of quickly. This action sequence felt a little bit like the first contact with the bad guys in "Aliens," the one where the team got their butts kicked for the first time. That kind of chaos, confusion, bullets and flame flying everywhere... that's awesome.

Not awesome enough for me to buy extra comics because of Shadowland, but still pretty awesome. Very well done, particularly considering this is an event tie-in book.