Thunderbolts #2
Deceptive Appearances
Since revealing themselves to the public, the Thunderbolts have been on a roll. After battles with the Rat-Pack, Wrecking Crew, and the Hulk, plus helping with the post-Onslaught disaster relief the team has been gaining in popularity. The team has made headlines again for recently taking down the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime.[1]
Watching the coverage are Atlas and Citizen V. When asked if he thought they’d get this popular so quickly, Citizen V admits he hadn’t. What the public doesn’t know is that the Thunderbolts are secretly the Masters of Evil disguising themselves as heroes in a time of need as part of a plan to take over the world.[2] Citizen V, secretly Baron Zemo, thinks back to the day he witnessed the Avengers and Fantastic Four sacrifice their lives in the final battle with Onslaught.[3] It was the event that sold his new idea to the Masters of Evil to begin with.
He’s snaped back to the present when there is a report about how a new memorial to the lost heroes will be unveiled by Franklin Richards — the son of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman — in Central Park later that day. Also watching this news report is the Mad Thinker who is incarcerated at the Vault prison. He finds this new development perfect for his plans and begins transmitting mental commands out of the prison.[4]
Meanwhile, Songbird and Mach-1 are out practicing combat maneuvers. Mach-1 commends Songbird for mastering her sonic mantle. When the two take a break, the two reveal the real names to one another. Abe takes this moment of trust as an opening to kiss Melissa. She reacts negatively, using her sonic scream to knock him away. She then flies off telling him not to follow and that she can’t let anyone get close to her again.[5]
The next day, Citizen V is overseeing Atlas as he reinforces their damaged headquarters in an abandoned pizza parlor. That’s when Techno comes barging in complaining about the accommodations again and how he needs a fully stocked lab to work with. Meteorite interrupts his rant by grabbing him by the throat. She reminds him that part of their mission is to earn the trust of the public by appearing to be a grass roots group of superheroes struggling to get by, something they won’t be able to do if Techno suddenly has a fully stocked lab.
Later in the day, the mayor of New York City holds a press conference to unveil a memorial statue commemorating the loss of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. The statue was designed by Alicia Masters and is being presented by her and Franklin Richards, the son of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. Watching from the sidelines in the Mad Thinker who unleashes his Awesome Android to destroy the memorial statue. When the android makes its attack, the mayor orders his assistant — Dallas Riordan — to contact the Thunderbolts.
Elsewhere, a young girl named Hallie Takahama continues to languish in a cell ever since she was abducted from the ruins of New York City. Since her capture she has been experimented upon by inhuman creatures. She is wondering when he agony is going to end when the creatures come for her again and drag her out of her cell kicking and screaming.[6]
Back in Central Park, the Thunderbolts arrive on the scene to stop the Awesome Android. Outnumbered, the machine then splits into five duplicates so it can better fight the team of heroes. The android duplicates are also able to adapt to the heroes abilities making them more than a match for the Thunderbolts. Watching from the sidelines the mayor of the city is losing confidence in this new team of heroes, but Dallas is certain that they’ll turn things around. That’s when one of the androids nabs Franklin Richards and takes off, with the other duplicates ceasing their attack and retreating as well. Songbird and Mach-1 follow after them and Melissa manages to uses her solid sound constructs to encase Franklin in a protective bubble and pull him to safety. They then retreat to the ruins of the Four Freedoms Plaza with the rest of the Thunderbolts to hold off the Awesome Android and its duplicates.
Inside, they are surprised to discover that the Fantastic Four’s former headquarters has been stripped bare. Franklin explains that his grandfather had cleaned out all of the equipment shortly after Onslaught in order to prevent it from falling into the hands of the government.[7] Outside, the Mad Think grows impatient because the battle is taking too long. Activating a jet pack he flies into the Four Freedoms Plaza and confronts Citizen V. He has figured out that the Thunderbolts are a lot more skilled than they present themselves and demands to know who they are. Citizen V doesn’t reveal anything and in the ensuing battle destroys the Mad Thinker’s robotic body. With its destruction the Awesome Android also falls inert, ending the battle.
In the aftermath of the battle, the mayor and Dallas Riordan arrive at the FF’s former headquarters to commend the Thunderbolts. Citizen V explains how the Mad Thinker used a robotic body and how he could be anywhere, even incarcerated. The thing is, Citizen V doesn’t know since his start up group doesn’t have access to things like the National Crime Information Center or the Interpol Super-Villain Database. That’s when the mayor comes up with an idea, suggesting that the Thunderbolts set up operations in the Four Freedoms Plaza, promising that the city will help fund the group and get them the crime fighting equipment that they need. This has to be arranged through Franklin Richards’ legal guardians, but the young boy thinks it is a good idea and something that his parents would have wanted.
Watching everything from the sidelines Meteorite is pleased to see that everything seems to be going according to plan. However, she then notices the rest of the team chatting it up with the cops and Atlas getting pretty chatty with Dallas Riordan. She suspects that her fellow Masters of Evil are actually starting to enjoy playing heroes and perhaps this might be a hinderance to their plans.
Recurring Characters
Thunderbolts (Citizen V, Atlas, Meteorite, Mach-1, Songbird, Techno), Mad Thinker, Awesome Android, Helen Takahama, Dallas Riordan, Alicia Masters, Franklin Richards, Circus of Crime (Ringmaster, Human Cannonball, the Great Gambonos, Princess Python)
Continuity Notes
In short order, this recap of events covers the loss of the Avengers and Fantastic Four in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1, the Thunderbolts’ debute in Thunderbolts #1, their battle with the Hulk in Incredible Hulk #449, relief efforts in Tales of the Marvel Universe #1. The news report also mentions the last time the Circus of Crime was in town, which was in Spider-Man Team-Up #5.
The true identities of the Thunderbolts was revealed last issue. The general public won’t learn the truth until issue #10.
The Avengers and Fantastic Four seemingly gave their lives to stop Onslaught in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1. In reality, they were transported to a pocket dimension by Franklin Richards where they are currently living reimagined versions of their past lives. They will be discovered and returned to their proper reality in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4.
The Mad Thinker has a cybernetic link in his brain that allows him to project his mind out into robot bodies on the outside, even when incarcerated. This has been the status quo since Amazing Spider-Man #242.
The reason why Songbird is afraid of a romance with Abner is because her last relationship with Angar the Screamer ended when Angar was fatally shot by police during a robbery as seen in Thunderbolts Annual 1997. He won’t stay dead for long and will return as the sonic entity known as Scream in Thunderbolts #49.
Hallie was kidnapped last issue. In Thunderbolts #4 it is revealed that she was kidnapped along with others to be experimented upon by the geneticist Arnim Zola.
Franklin’s grandfather being Nathaniel Richards, father to Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic. He stripped out the Four Freedoms Plaza in Tales of the Marvel Universe #1.
Topical References
The TVs in this story are all depicted as CRT models. This should be considered a topical reference as this is an obsolete technology.
The original twin towers of the World Trade Center are depicted as part of the New York City skyline in this story. This should be considered a topical reference as these buildings would be destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. They have subsequently been replaced with the Freedom Tower.
The mayor of New York City is depicted as Rudy Giuliani who was mayor of New York from 1994 until 2001. His appearance here should be considered topical.
Dallas Riordan tries reaching the Thunderbolts by calling their pager. Pagers were messaging devices that were prominent in the days when cell phones were expensive and didn’t have very good service. This should be considered a topical reference as pagers have become mostly obsolete once cell phones became common place.