Thunderbolts #14
Casualties of War!
Kidnapped from to the Kosmos Dimension, the Thunderbolts have been imprisoned pending a trail to determine if they are in league with Kang the Conqueror, a time traveler destined to enslave the Kosmosians in the future.[1] While the team waits for the trail, their leader Meteorite uses her phasing powers to escape her cell and meet with Vizier Keka’Akeluak. The Vizier has aspirations to replace Primotur Jekuakkekt as leader of the realm, and Meteorite has struck a deal with him to get her and her team back home.
Jolt is visited by Prince Jikekt, who befriended the Thunderbolts prior to their surrender. He tells her that the civil unrest that has been plaguing his world has only intensified as the people demand that the humans be put to death. When Meteorite returns by phasing in through the ceiling, Jolt feigns having a headache to get Jikekt to leave.[2] When Karla asks if Jolt was trying to manipulate Jikekt into helping him, Hallie is shocked and says it wasn’t like that. Meteorite — now deciding to go back to calling herself Moonstone — takes a moment to apologizes to Hallie for being so manipulative before. She wants a fresh slate between the two of them so they can work with each other to get back home and face the justice that is waiting for them.[3][4] When Jolt asks Karla if she has a plan to get them home, she tells her that it’s more like a hunch.
Suddenly, the alarms begin to sound as rebels storm the castle as the civil unrest in the nation is growing stronger. Under the advisement of Vizier Keka’Akeluak, Primotur Jekuakkekt has the Thunderbolts recalled from their cell for an audience with him. The Primotur offers the Thunderbolts their freedom if they agree to help quell the rebellion. While the team agrees, Jolt notices that both Moonstone and Keka’Akeluak are acting mutually smug and wonders what is really going on.
Soon, the captain of the royal guard, Tikuak, orders the rebel leader L’Klekk’Tak to cease his rebellion or suffer the consequences. When the rebel leader refuses to comply, the Thunderbolts are deployed to deal with the rebellion. As the team fights the invaders they discover that they utilize Pym Particles in their weapons, making projectiles grow to massive size, or to inflate their foes until they physically burst. In the air, Mach-1 and Songbord work together to deal with attackers on the high ground, but Melissa’s reversion to her more aggressive Screaming Mimi persona deeply concerns Abe.[5] They then joined by Moonstone who orders the pair to follow her back to the palace where they meet with Keka’Akeluak and begin finalizing their deal.
Meanwhile, on the battle field, Jolt and Atlas fight their way through the enemy forces until they reach their leader, L’Klekk’Tak. Just before Jolt knocks him out he mentions something about how he was instructed to attack the city by Keka’Akeluak, however she isn’t entirely too sure if that is who L’Klekk’Tak was referring to since the Kosmosian names are hard to decipher.
At the same time, Moonstone, Mach-1, and Songbird confront Primotur Jekuakkekt. Karla orders Abe to kill Jekuakkekt as his death will put Keka’Akeluak in charge and he will return them home. However, Mach-1 can’t bring himself to do it because he’s not the same person he was when he was the Beetle. He believes that killing Jekuakkekt is wrong. With no time to waste, Moonstone gets annoyed and fatally blasts the Primotur instead. With the rebellion crumbling, Vizier Keka’Akeluak informs his people that the Primotur was murdered by L’Klekk’Tak and that he will be taking over rule of the kingdom until Jikekt becomes old enough to take the throne. Jolt doesn’t believe this because she was with L’Klekk’Tak at the time the Primotur was said to be murdered. Moonstone tells Jolt to drop the subject because it is none of their business as Keka’Akeluak is their ticket home.
The Vizier is true to his word and as he escorts the Thunderbolts to the teleportation device that will return them to their proper dimension he explains that he will tell his people that they were executed in order to appease them and hopefully end the violence. As the team is teleported away, Jolt makes eye contact with Jikekt one last time and is confident that he suspects that something isn’t right either.
The Thunderbolts appear in the middle of the Colorado Rockies where Jolt confronts Moonstone about what happened to Primotur Jekuakkekt. She suspects that Karla murdered him and points out that they may have tipped off an invasion of Earth from Kosmos. Moonstone denies anything of the sort and has Mach-1 and Songbird vouch for her by lying about what happened. Karla then reminds them that they can deal with Kang and the Kosmosians later, now that they are back on Earth they have more immediate concerns since they are wanted fugatives.
Meanwhile, at his Mexican castle Baron Zemo recovers from his injuries sustained in the fight against the Thunderbolts.[6] Techo uses a regeneration tank to mend Zemo’s broken bones and even offers to restore his damaged face.[7] Zemo refuses this last offer as he wants to keep the scars as a reminder of who he is and what he endured.[8] As he emerges from the tank, Zemo asks for an update on the Thunderbolts. Techo reports that SHIELD hasn’t detected them for for some time now and they are assumed to be dead. The Baron says that if that’s true then they should be grateful because if they aren’t once he is done with them the Thunderbolts will wish they were dead.
Recurring Characters
Thunderbolts (Moonstone, Atlas, Mach-1, Songbird, Jolt), Baron Zemo, Techno, Primotur Jekuakkekt, Jikekt, Keka’Akeluak, Tikuak
Continuity Notes
As explained last issue and will be further expanded upon in Avengers Forever #9, in the 40th Century, Kang will conquer Kosmos and force its people to build his legion of Growing Men. These Growing Men were then hidden in various points and places in Earth’s past. The future Kosmosians managed to warn their people of this future enslavement and planted a beacon in one of the Growing Men that would warn them when it was reactivated. This Growing Man was recovered by Hydra and destroyed by the Thunderbolts in Thunderbolts #5. This triggered the beacon, prompting the Kosmosians to kidnap the Thunderbolts in issue #12. After a brief escape, the team surrendered last issue.
Jolt acts surprised to see Karla using her phasing powers. 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.
Moonstone convinced Baron Zemo to allow Jolt to join the team in Thunderbolts #4. She used this time to emotionally manipulate Joly by forming a familial bond. A rift between the two formed once the Thunderbolts were outed as former members of the Masters of Evil in Thunderbolts #10.
Prior to being kidnapped and brought to Kosmos, the Thunderbolts had assisted the Avengers and Fantastic Four in stopping their former leader, Baron Zemo, from conquering the Earth. Following that battle, Karla decided that her team would surrender to the authorities for whatever punishment was due to them. See Thunderbolts #11-12.
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.
In Thunderbolts #6 it was revealed that SHIELD had bugged Zemo’s castle in an effort to try and smoke him out. This issue explains that Techno has used a scrambler device to hide their presence from these scanners.
Zemo suffered many broken bones at the hands of Moonstone in Thunderbolts #12.
Baron Zemo’s face was horribly scarred after he fell into a vat of boiling Adhesive X during a battle with Captain America in Captain America #168.
Topical References
Atlas refers to L’Klekk’Tak as a “Darth Vader looking spud”, referring to the primary antagonize in the original Star Wars trilogy and countless other forms of ancillary media in that franchise. A reference like this would usually be considered a topical reference, now that Disney owns both Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm, this would actually be considered a case of brand synergy instead.
