Thunderbolts #169 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (writer), Kev Wacker (penciller), Terry Pallot (inker), Frank Martin Jr. (colorist)

The Story: The Thunderbolts arrive in Camelot to prove that chivalry is, in fact, dead.

The Review: While liking a character (or characters) isn’t always necessary for a piece of fiction’s success, it sure does help.  If you can at least empathize with the protagonists to a sufficient degree, you’re willing to follow along with them through most things, even less than inspired storylines.  In the case of the Thunderbolts, they’re actually very easy to like, so at times the plot feels quite secondary to their character work.

For one thing, you can’t help liking the ‘bolts because they project more of a hapless quality rather than overt evil or malice.  Whereas DC’s Secret Six went out looking for trouble, the Thunderbolts seem like they just fall into situations where misunderstanding leads to their bad behavior.  Take this issue.  The whole conflict arises essentially because Troll hears what she thinks are the sounds of Norsmen and attacks accordingly, only to discover it’s the Black Knight.  Unfortunately, she lacks the ability to express her chagrin, and so the row goes on.

On the other hand, sometimes the team really does bring trouble upon themselves, though less out of desire than sheer stubbornness, as in the case of Boomerang.  Though he proudly claims himself a “bad guy,” his actions here seem more like those of an “idiot,” as Fixer calls him.  You know the old joke about whether someone’s brave or stupid?  Boomer lives the joke, insisting on keeping an enchanted sword, even in the face of a legendary king, his many knights, and wizard.

Hopefully he gets a clue that just because he’s got electric boomerangs in this primitive period doesn’t mean that the folks he’s challenging are defenseless.  Actually, I can tell you right off that he won’t have a choice but to acknowledge the might of his opponents, as Merlin proves that what Camelot lacks in tech, he more than makes up for with incredibly potent magic, one that overcomes even Satana’s power.