New Thunderbolts #4
Sword and Claw
Enemy of the State continues from Wolverine (vol. 3) #21…
There is a civil war going on between Hydra factions. One such splinter group, calling themselves the Dawn of the White Light, have brainwashed the mutant hero known as Wolverine (Logan) and unleashed him on their foes.[1] He slaughters his way through a group of Hydra agents that are loyal to Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker. The last man standing vows that their leader cannot die. Logan admits that it is true that Strucker cannot die, he is going to find out if he could be killed.
Elsewhere, the new Swordsman is finding out that killing Strucker is easier said than done. Even though he has been impaled through the chest with a sword, the Baron is still alive, thanks to the Death Spore virus coursing through is veins.[2] Strucker demands to know who this new Swordsman is, since the original mercenary went by that name has been dead for years.[3] All the Swordsman will say is that he wants to make sure the Thunderbolts succeed.[4] As the two fight, the Swordsman gets his spare blade under Strucker’s neck. The Baron warns that decapitation could expose all of Manhattan to the Death Spores in his body. The assassination attempt is being observed from a nearby rooftop by the Purple Man (Zebadiah Killgrave), the Swordsman’s employer. Before the Swordsman can complete his mission, Wolverine comes barging into the room and lunges at Strucker.
Meanwhile, at Thunderbolts HQ at the Brooklyn Navy Shipyard, Abner Jenkins is scrambling his Mach-IV armor because he only has one suit.[5] New recruit Speed Demon (James Sanders) doesn’t know what the hurry is since they just saved the UN Building from destruction and are heroes. Bored with the inaction, he speeds off to find something to do. The Radioactive Man (Chen Lu), another new recruit on loan from the Chinese government, offers his assistance. Speed Demon checks with Blizzard (Donny Gill) Joystick (Janice Yanizeski) if they want to go and get drunk at a local stripclub. Both agree to tag along for something to do. However, when they go to tell Abner and Chen what they are doing, Jenkins protests. He reminds the trio that they still have warrants out for their arrests for their past crimes. They aren’t to go out until Abe’s parole officer pulls some strings. When James complains about this, Jenkins reminds him that it could be worse, he could be in the hospital like Songbird (Melissa Gold).
At that moment, Melissa has woken up from her coma and finds that Atlas (Erik Josten) is waiting by her bedside. He tells her that they saved the UN Building, but she screamed herself raw in the process. He admits that his ionic powers seem to fluctuate with his temperment and Melissa decides to question him about the sudden return of his powers. Particularly, if they returned before or after he said Captain Marvel (Genis-Vell) went after the Fathom Five. He says he doesn’t know, and assures her that they didn’t come back until after Genis left. Melissa says she believes him, but isn’t fully convinced.[6]
At that very moment, off the coast of New Jersey, a tour boat has found a group of dolphins swimming in the ocean. The tourists then spot a strange glowing object amongst floating in the water. The tour guide doesn’t know, but he can see a body inside.
Back in New York, the battle between Baron Strucker and Wolverine rages on. The Swordsman turns to join the battle and pauses to pick up a necklace that he recognizes from a Berlinghoff auction of Atlantean artifacts from six years prior. When Logan goes in for a killing stroke, the Swordsman blocks it with his sword. The weapon doesn’t break from Wolverine’s claws because it is coated in an Adamantium alloy like his claws. He then charges the weapon with electricity, shocking Logan into submission. When Strucker asks why the Swordsman has now started trying to save him, the would-be assassin says that he realizes that he’d rather deal with the devil he knows than the one he doesn’t. When Wolverine recovers and starts attacking again, the Swordsman tries to warn him that eliminating Strucker could kill everyone in the city, the brainwashed mutant says that that’s exactly what he hopes for.
While Swordsman holds Wolverine at bay again, he tells Strucker to run for it. The Baron, however, refuses to flee and grabs hold of Wolverine with his Satan’s Claw gauntlet. Swordsman tries to reason with Wolfgang, telling him that if he kills Logan he’s no less a puppet than the feral mutant. Strucker then agrees to let Wolverine go, but tosses him over the balcony instead. Swordsman leaps off after him and fires the rope line from one of his swords. The blade impales Wolverine through the stomach — something his mutant healing factor can fix — so he doesn’t fall to his death. The two break their fall and land on a nearby rooftop. Exhausted after his ordeal, the Swordsman asks what Wolverine’s next move is and hopes it’s a fancy dinner. Logan only says that he never liked the Swordsman.[7] Since his primary objective is done, the Swordsman flees, telling Wolverine that he hopes that he breaks his brainwashing soon. The Swordsman then returns to Killgrave to report back to him. After getting all the details, the villain forces the Swordsman to bow before him and later has him clean his boots with his tongue.
Back at Thunderbolts HQ, Abner has gone to meet with his parole officer. With their leader gone, James and Janice take it as their cure to leave. When Chen asks why they would risk their freedom like this, he gets laughed at as they leave. Donny finds himself conflicted, but gives in to peer pressure from the others and leaves with them. While at Ceda-Sinai Hospital, Melissa looks out her hospital window wondering what happened to Genis, as his Cosmic Awareness should have prevented him from being harmed. Erik Josten sits in a bar not far away drinking his worries away.
Abner, meanwhile, keeps his meeting with his parole officer Carol Danvers (aka Warbird). When she asks him who has been financing the new Thunderbolts, he lies to her as well, saying that he has the backing of a wealthy white collar crook he met in prison. Before she can get another answer out of him they are ambushed by Llyron. As Caro changes into Warbird, the rest of the Fathom Five emerge out of the waters of the East River and begin laying waste to the Brooklyn Bridge.
… Enemy of the State continues in Wolverine (vol. 3) #22.
Recurring Characters
Thunderbolts (Mach-IV, Songbird, Atlas, Speed Demon, Joystick, Radioactive Man, Blizzard), Wolverine, Swordsman, Warbird, Hydra (Baron Strucker), Llyron, Purple Man
Continuity Notes
For more on Wolverine being brainwashed and what happens to him you’re going to want to follow the mainline stories in the Enemy of the State storyline which is chronicled in Wolverine (vol. 3) #20-31.
Strucker was seemingly killed by this Death Spore virus way back in Strange Tales #158. However, rather than death, he was resurrected years later and his body has been fueled by the virus ever since, as seen in Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (vol. 3) #20-21.
They are referring to Jacques DuQuesne, the original Swordsman. First appearing in Avengers #19, he was a mercenary for hire that clashed with the Avengers until he reformed in issue #114. He sacrificed his life during a battle with Kang the Conqueror in Giant-Size Avengers #2. As of this writing (October, 2023) he still remains among the deceased.
Baron Strucker was revealed to be financing the Thunderbolts as per New Thunderbolts #1. Swordsman was sent to go after Strucker by Purple Man in the following issue. The true identity of this Swordsman will remain a secret until New Thunderbolts #17. He is Andreas Von Strucker, Wolfgang’s son.
Abner’s flight suit got wrecked last issue. Mention is made here how the team is seeking out the terrorists known as the Fathom Five. The Thunderbolts clashed with them in issue #2.
Atlas actually got his powers back before and actually tossed Genis into the ocean in New Thunderbolts #1, so he’s lying here. Genis survives and will be back next issue. We’ll learn that Atlas got his powers by stealing the ionic energies he shares with Dallas Riordan, as revealed in New Thunderbolts #13.
This is, of course, a clue as to the true identity of Andreas Von Strucker. If you’ve been living under a rock for the past 50 years, you should know that Wolverine’s enhanced senses ensure that he never forgets someone’s scent. Wolverine would have got Andras Strucker’s scent the first time they met, which was in Uncanny X-Men #200.
Topical References
Blizzard states that he needs to find a Home Depot to buy new freon coils for his suit. This should be considered a topical reference as Home Depot is a real world company.
When talking about going to the stripclub, Speed Demon says “It’s Miller Time!” which is the slogan for Miller Lite. This should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world product.
Enemy of the State Reading Order
Wolverine (vol. 3) #20-21, New Thunderbolts #4, Wolverine (vol. 3) #22, New Invaders #6, Wolverine (vol. 3) #23, 24, 25, 26, New X-Men: Academy X #13, Wolverine (vol. 3) #27, 28, 29, 30, 31