Thunderbolts #21 – Review

by Charles Soule (Writer), Carlo Barberi (Artist), Israel Silva, James Campbell, Thomas Mason (Colorists)

The Story: The team tries to find a way out of hell as the Punisher tags along with Elektra for a job.

The Review: It must be hard, yet ecstatic to be Charles Soule right now. While his workload keeps on getting bigger, his general popularity is on the rise as well, with a creator-owned comic as well as several DC and Marvel titles under his belt. Getting a lot of appreciation from many fans, there seems to be little that the writer cannot do, tackling supernatural, humor, cosmic and many other subgenres rather well. Not all of his titles are equal in terms of quality, but 2013 was a year which made him a well-known quantity as far as many were concerned.

One title which did get better, yet not as much as other titles under his reins, was Thunderbolts, the team of killers with popular characters like Deadpool, Punisher and Red Hulk. While the title did get a lot more focus and got a much needed amount of levity and humor despite its rather grim concept, it never went as well as the handle Soule has on titles like Swamp Thing or Red Lanterns. However, any writer can improve with each issue, even if it is by just a little bit.

This issue, as far as it goes, is an enhancement over the previous one, decidedly going for stark contrasts in term of ideas, going for delightful black humor and a certain amount of nonchalance through what could very well be a horrific story. Much of the comedy here pass in the way the characters interact, with the sense of normalcy of Ghost Rider, through the jokes of Deadpool to the constant curiosity of Venom.

The way this unseemly team bickers and try to adapt to such a harsh environment makes for a rather amusing tale, with Soule earning points for his characterization of Johnny Blaze, a man who has resigned to his fate a long time ago, one who decided not to give a crap anymore and not take more than he needs to. The rest of the team is also certainly entertaining as well, with many traits that are well used, such as the tough attitude of Red Hulk or the always planning Red Leader. Much of every character here, from Mephisto to the team in hell are simply fun to read, with their inability to actually work as a team being one of the better aspect of this book.

The use of the larger events of the Marvel universe is also rather good too, as fans of obscure continuity should definitely be pleased. The pact that Red Hulk made with Mephisto, who the actual ruler of hell is and what Johnny Blaze has been up to is something that is definitely pleasing for fans of the Marvel universe at large.