Thunderbolts #13
In the Courts of Kosmos!
Outed as former members of the Masters of Evil, the Thunderbolts have just assisted the Avengers and Fantastic Four in stopping Baron Zemo from conquering the world.[1] However, Meteorite pledges to surrender her team to the authorities they are suddenly teleported away by parties unknown.
The team appears in the Kosmos Dimension. Surrounded by Kosmosian warriors they are ordered to surrender under orders of the Primotur of the All-Hive, Jekuakkekt. However, that’s when Vizier Keka'Akeluak recognizes Atlas as the “Intruder from Beyond” and orders the guards to subdue them. Swarmed by soldiers, the Thunderbolts are able to make a hasty retreat thanks to their superhuman abilities. They manage to flee across the country side where they witness the locals are engaged in some kind of violent civil war and find a place to hide in bizarre forest.
There, Atlas tells the group that he is certain that they are trapped on Kosmos. He explains that criminals from this dimension once tried to invade Earth in the past, with one of them clashing with the original Ant-Man and Wasp early on in their career.[2] Erik recounts how he encountered the people of this dimension shortly after the Avengers messed with his size changing powers.[3] A criminal from this dimension contacted him and offered to restore his lost powers. However, this was all a trick to use Goliath as a power source for a planned Kosmosian invasion. Luckily, Giant-Man was able to thwart this plot and rescue Goliath from Kosmos.[4] However, the encounter left him in a coma and he was quickly kidnapped back to Kosmos again until he was recently freed by Baron Zemo, just prior to his formation of the Thunderbolts.[5] Unfortunately, he doesn’t recognize any of their captors, explaining that he wasn’t in the best of mental health when he was kidnapped.[6]
Still, they haven no idea why they were kidnapped nor if this is a precursor for another invasion on Earth. Trapped for the time being, the Thunderbolts decide to set up camp for the night before figuring out their next move. After scrounging up some wildlife to eat, Mach-1 pulls Songbird aside to express his concerns about how she is becoming more aggressive in battle.[7] However, before she can provide an explanation she notices someone spying on them and uses her solid sound powers to nab them. This intruder turns out to be Jikekt, the first born of the Primotur and the next in line for the royal throne. He had followed the Thunderbolts to their hiding place because he was curious of the humans from another dimension.
Meteorite asks Jikekt why his people are trying to capture them. The youth explains that it has something to do with a message from the future. It warned them that someone they refer to as the “Blue Man” will come from the Earth dimension and enslave the Kosmosian people. This warlord will then force them to construct an army of Growing Men who were then stashed in various eras of Earth’s past. In order to warn the Kosmosians of the present day, their future counterparts planted a beacon in one of those Growing Men to send a warning. As it turns out, the Growing Man in question was the one that the Thunderbolts had recently fought.[8] The Thunderbolts know exactly who Jikekt is talking about, the time traveler known as Kang the Conqueror. He goes on to say that once this beacon signal was received it deeply upset the entire country. Kosmosians demanded swift action but Jekuakkekt was reluctant to wage war with another dimension. Soon rebellions started to break out pressuring Jikekt’s father to act. Since the “Intruder from Beyond” was present when the Growing Man was destroyed it was assumed that he and the Thunderbolts were in league with Kang and arranged to bring them to Kosmos to stand trail.
Hearing all of this, Erik decides to take responsibility and tells the others that he will turn himself in alone. Jolt disagrees with this and suggests that they all surrender together, having confidence that they can convince the Primotur that they are not affiliated with Kang in any way. Meteorite agrees that this might be the wisest course of action especially when they return with Prince Jikekt unharmed as an offer of good will. Despite Karla’s agreeance with te plan, Jolt is suspicious of her due to her tendency to manipulate others and worries how reliable Meteorite will be in the future.
Soon, the Thunderbolts surrender and are brought before the Primutor once more. As the gathered crowd call for the humans to be executed immediately, Jekuakkekt takes council from Keka’akeluak his Vizier and Tikuak the leader of the royal guard. While the former insists that this situation requires further examination, the latter thinks they should be killed right away. Jekuakkekt decides to err on the side of caution and orders the Thunderbolts imprisoned until they can be interrogated further regarding their knowledge of the “Blue Man”. During this debate, Meteorite is paying very close attention, particularly to the actions of Keka’akeluak.
The Thunderbolts are then locked in a cell in the dungeon below the palace. There, Atlas apologizes for getting them in this situation and gets down on himself for hurting others.[9] While the others are busy cheering Atlas up, Meteorite uses his phasing powers to leave their cell.[10] Sticking to the shadows and high places, Meteorite finds the chamber of Vizier Keka’akeluak. She noted by his behavior that he has aspirations to be more than just an advisor to the king and suggests that they work together and make a deal.
Recurring Characters
Thunderbolts (Meteorite, Atlas, Mach-1, Songbird, Jolt), Jekuakkekt, Jikekt, Keka’akeluak
Continuity Notes
The Masters of Evil have been posing as heroes since Thunderbolts #1. Their true identities were exposed in issue #10. They helped stop Zemo’s plot to take over the world in issues #11 and 12.
Ant-Man and the Wasp fought the so-called “Creature from Kosmos” back in Tales to Astonish #44.
Goliath has fought the West Coast Avengers many times but the battle he is referring to here was in Avengers West Coast #92.
Goliath was used by criminals of Kosmos in Avengers #379-382.
Lastly, Goliath was freed from the Kosmos dimension by Zemo in Thunderbolts Annual 1997.
Atlas laments about how he recently betrayed Baron Zemo. He is referring to turning against him after Zemo tried to murder Jolt in Thunderbolts #12.
Songbird’s sudden change in demeanor is a complex situation. The details:
Melissa got her start as a criminal called Screaming Mimi and was a member of the Grapplers, a group of all female wrestlers in the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation who also moonlighted as mercenaries for hire starting in Marvel Two-In-One #54. The group later drifted apart when their leader, Titania, was murdered by Scourge in Thing #33. At the time she was ruthless and amoral.
Mimi later started working with Angar the Screamer starting in Avengers Spotlight #28 until Angar was seemingly killed in Thunderbolts Annual 1997 (he’ll be back in issue #49). Angar’s death shook Mimi to the core, making her meek and defenseless.
Since joining up with the Thunderbolts, Melissa has been both insecure and frightened on missions. This moment is the start of a regression for her as she drifts back into her more aggressive Screaming Mimi persona. This started in Thunderbolts #8 and carry on until Thunderbolts #21.
The Thunderbolts fought a Growing Man that was recovered by Hydra in Thunderbolts #5. As explained in Avengers Forever #9, Kang will go on to enslave the Kosmosians in his native era in the 40th Century.
Atlas mentions how he hurt Dallas Riordan. She was the Thunderbolts’ liaison to the mayor’s office in New York starting in Thunderbolts #2. She and Atlas hit it off, even going on a date in issue #6. She was shocked when the team was outed as the Masters of Evil in disguise in Thunderbolts #10. When he tried to apologize to her in the following issue, she was less than happy to hear from him.
Meteorite has always had the ability to become intangible, starting in Incredible Hulk #229. She states here that she had to stop using this ability when she joined up with the Thunderbolts starting in Thunderbolts Annual 1997. This was part of an effort to obfuscate her true identity.
Topical References
When observing the Kosmosian realm, Atlas says that it looks like something out of Star Wars. A reference like this would typically be considered topical. However, now that Disney owns Marvel and Lucasfilm and their properties this would no longer be the case due to brand synergy.
