Unstable Elements!

Since the apparent death of the Avengers, their former headquarters has been secured by SHIELD.[1] Inside, G.W. Bridge briefs one of his agents on the current whereabouts of Baron Zemo. While SHIELD knows he escaped from prison and spent some time at his castle, the notorious criminal has gone to ground leaving the spy agency to wonder what his plans are.[2] Bridge suspects that Zemo is putting together a new Masters of Evil team, despite two recent break outs at the Vault and the appearance of a new team suggesting the contrary.[3] Bridge wonders where Zemo is hiding out, unaware of the fact that he and the Masters of Evil are hiding in plain sight as the new superhero team known as the Thunderbolts.

Meanwhile, at the Four Freedoms Plaza, Techno is examining Atlas to learn the new limits of his powers. Techno determines that Erik used to change size using Pym Particles. However, it seems as though that Josten was purged of these particles when he was liberated from the Kosmos dimension and now his size-changing abilities are fueled entirely by his pre-existing ionic powers.[4] Apparently, this also restored Erik to human form instead of being an being of pure ionic energy. Atlas is happy to hear this because this means he will be able to have children in the future if he wants. Techno is surprised to hear this admission and asks if Atlas’ relationship with Dallas Riordan is getting to that point.[5]

This conversation is being secretly observed by Citizen V, aka Baron Zemo, and it annoys as he sees Atlas’ relationship with Dallas as a threat to his master plan. Checking on the others, he spies on Mach-1 and Songbird who are delighted by the volume of fan mail they are receiving for their heroics. This bothers Zemo as he worries that the team is getting to like masquerading as heroes a little too much. He then checks in on Meteorite who is helping Jolt set up her new room in their brand new headquarters. Annoyed by this, Zemo calls Meteorite to his office. He out right accuses her of trying to betray him by encouraging the team to embrace their new heroic personas, the relationship between Atlas and Riordan, and imposing Jolt on the team, the latter of which has forced the Thunderbolts to keep their facades up 24/7.[6] Meteorite denies all of this, reminding him that she is stuck working with him after they broke her out of the Vault when she wanted to serve out her sentence. When it comes to Jolt being brought onto the team, Karla points out that they wouldn’t have had to do it had Zemo not insisted on broadcasting their battle with Arnim Zola on live television.

With his master plan teetering on ruin, Zemo contemplates arranging for Jolt to meet and “unfortunate accident”. Karla quashes that idea as it could negatively impact their image if it appeared the Thunderbolts couldn’t protect their most popular member. With regards to the rest of the team, the Baron decides to up their training schedule and arranging for them to take time off in their true identities for a time to remind them of who they really are. Karla finds this interesting after Zemo recently scolded Mach-1 from keeping stolen goods during a bust.[7] Their discussion is interrupted when they get a priority call from Dallas Riordan about a priority crisis.

Citizen V calls the team together for a video conference with Dallas. She shows them footage of the Verrazano Narrows where a Dutch freighter called the Zandvoort was sunk by unknown superhumans. Worse, the city just received a note threatening that the same thing will soon happen at Madison Square Gardens and LaGuardia Airport. Agreeing that these are serious threats, Citizen V pledges that the Thunderbolts will get to the bottom of this. He decides to split the team up in two groups with Mach-1, Techno, and Meteorite going to LaGuardia while he, Jolt, Atlas, and Songbrid check things out at the Gardens.

Arriving at Madison Square Gardens, Citizen V and his team are ambushed by the Elements of Doom, creatures that are the living embodiment of each of the elements on the Periodic table. They are confronted by Phosphorous, Scandium, Barium, Colbat and Hafnium who try to bar them from entering the Gardens. Simultaneously, Cabon, Disprosium, Erbium, and Cadmium have attacked a commercial airliner as it is attempting to land at LaGuardia. They have seriously damaged the air craft just as Techno and his team arrive on the scene.

Back at the Gardens, Jolt recognizes the Elements of Doom as creatures that the Avengers had fought in the past.[8] They quickly realize that the Elements have trapped a crowd of bystanders in the amphitheater to die and then unless the United Nations accepts their demands they will continue killing humans until they get what they way. Jolt refuses to let anyone die and, remembering her chemistry, uses a firehose to spray Sodium with water. This cause the Element to explode with enough force to shatter Iron, who was using his mass to block the entry into the amphitheater. Inside they are horrified to see the gaseous Chlorine, Thallium, Nobelium, and Arsenic trying to gas their victims to death.

At the same time, the other team manage to force the Elements off the plane. However, without a flight computer the commercial airliner will crash. Techno figures he can land the plane but will need computer guidance. That’s when Mach-1 suggests wiring his flight suit into the airliner so that he can land the plane instead. The gambit pays off and Techno’s team head to Madison Square Garden to the help the others. By this time, Atlas has been punching holes in the wall to add more ventilation to the room while Jolt tries to get people to safety. Songbird tries to dissipate the gaseous Elements but can’t come up with a solid light construct powerful enough to do it. That’s when Techno arrives and shows her the blue prints to an aircraft turbine, which she is capable of replicating within seconds and blows the deadly gasses out of the Gardens. With their plot foiled, the remaining Elements retreat, but they vow to strike again very soon.

When the Thunderbolts return to their headquarters at the Four Freedoms Plaza, Citizen V contacts Dallas Riordan to inform her of what happened. He tells her that if his team had access to the Avengers files they would have been able to handle the situation much better. When she reminds him that SHIELD isn’t budging on releasing this data, Citizen V tells her that the Thunderbolts refuse to work with the city any further until their demands have been met. This shocks everyone else on the team, and Meteorite thinks this development is ripe for her to exploit.

Recurring Characters

Thunderbolts (Citizen V, Atlas, Meteorite, Mach-1, Songbird, Techno, Jolt), Dallas Riordan, SHIELD (G.W. Bridge), Elements of Doom (Arsenic, Barium, Cadmium, Hafnium, Iron, Sodium, Thallium, Zirconium)

Continuity Notes

1. At the time of this story, the Avengers and Fantastic Four were believed to have sacrificed their lives in Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1. However, they were actually transported to a pocket dimension where they are living reimagined versions of their past lives. They will eventually be found and returned to their proper reality in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1-4.

2. For more on Baron Zemo’s recent escape from prison and what he was up to at his old hideout, see Thunderbolts Annual 1997. What he was doing was setting up the Masters of Evil to disguise themselves as the Thunderbolts as part of an ambitious plan to take over the world, as explained in Thunderbolts #1. SHIELD and the world at large will learn the truth in issue #10.

3. The two break outs at the Vault they are referring to happened in Thunderbolts Annual 1997 and Heroes for Hire #1. It was the one in the Thunderbolts annual that was explicitly used to recruit for Zemo’s team in the way of springing Moonstone from prison. The new incarnation of the Masters of Evil, led by the mysterious Crimson Cowl, appeared in Thunderbolts #3.

4. Originally, Erik Josten underwent an ionic energy bombardment to become Power Man way back in Avengers #21-22. More recently, he had been given the ability to change his size by Karl Malus in Iron Man Annual #7. Erik spent time a prisoner in the Kosmos dimension following the events in Avengers #379-382 until he was freed by Baron Zemo in Thunderbolts Annual 1997.

5. According to Wonder Man (vol. 2) #14, the process that turns people into ionic beings also makes them impotent as they are mate entirely out of ionic energy. Atlas has been hitting it off with Dallas Riordan, the Thunderbolts’ liaison with city hall, the two went on their first date together last issue.

6. After assisting Jolt in capturing Arnim Zola, Meteorite convinces Zemo that bringing her on the team would enchance their public image and help further sell their fraud. See Thunderbolts #4.

7. When busting a jewel thief, Mach-1 kept his stolen loot, as seen in Thunderbolts #3. When he showed this off to Zemo he was pretty pissed.

8. The Avengers fought the Elements of Doom in Avengers #188.

Topical References

• 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 were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. They have subsequently been replaced by the Freedom Tower.