Thunderbolts #173 – Review

By: Jeff Parker (story), Declan Shalvey (art), Frank Martin Jr. (colors)

The Story: Fixer takes self-loathing to a whole new level.

The Review: There are two common paradoxes that nearly always pop up in these time-travel stories.  In one situation, the future folks seemingly alter the past, only to realize their alterations were necessary anyway.  The other mind-boggler is when the future folks meet their past selves, interact with them, and return to the future, realizing their actions in the past were meant to happen—and yet with no memory of ever having met themselves in the past.

The first paradox already popped up in #167, where the Thunderbolts realized by their actions that they were “Jack the Ripper.”  Here, with all this Thunderbolt-on-Thunderbolt action, the second paradox almost has to be in the making, as we have all kinds of interference happening, to the point that Centurius officially declares their history “destroyed.”  They observe, however, that none of them have yet disappeared or been transformed by their meddling, meaning the changes will most likely catch up to them if and when they return to the present.