Thunderbolts #104 — Nick Peron

Jul 5

Jul 5 Thunderbolts #104

Taking Civil Liberties, Part 2

Civil War continues from Civil War: Front Line #4…

With the passage of the Super Human Registration Act (SHRA), the superhero community has been torn in half sparking a civil war. The government has asked the Thunderbolts to go after villains and convince them to join the cause. Baron (Helmut) Zemo complies, but this is because he has been gathering an army in secret for weeks to stop the Grandmaster from obtaining the Wellspring of Power, and can now do so out in the open.[1]

Now the Thunderbolts have gone out to different locations across the United States to help train their new army and conscript more supervillains. In San Francisco, Mach-IV (Abner Jenkins) leads the three new Beetles against the Eel and Porcupine. Fixer (Norbert Ebersol), Blizzard (Donny Gill), and Joystick (Janice Yanizeski) and Quicksand have travelled to Portland to take down the U-Foes (Vector, Vapor, X-Ray, and Ironclad). A team consisting of Songbird (Melissa Gold), Atlas (Erik Josten), and the Smuggler (Conrad Josten) are in Philadelphia to take down the Mongoose.

These battles are all being observed remotely by Henry Gyrich of the Commission on Superhuman Activities and Dallas Riordan of the Department of Homeland Security. While Gyrich had his reservations about enlisting the Thunderbolts for this task, he has found himself pleasantly surprised with how well they are doing in the field. However, Gyrich doesn’t trust them. They both present the latest captures to the Joint Chiefs of Staff to show them how successful Operation: Justice Like Lightning is going. While most — like the Beetles — are eager to join up, those who are more reluctant are tagged with a subdermal phase-shift locator created by the Fixer. If one of the conscripted villains gets out of line or tries to escape they are immediately incapacitated and teleported back to their holding facility.

The only question the Join Chiefs have after the presentation is what the CSA and Homeland plan on doing with the supervillain army once the current crisis is over. Dallas explains that they plan on making the villains continue to serve as agents of the United States government. They then show the additional benefits of having the Thunderbolts on their side. Particularly the assistance from the Radioactive Man (Chen Lu), who has been working alongside Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) and Yellowjacket (Hank Pym) to come up with the infastructure of the SHRA.[2] They have also seen promise in the new Swordsman (Andreas Von Strucker). The only member of the Thunderbolts who continues being of concern to them is Baron Zemo. Gyrich tells the Chiefs that they are unsure if he truly wishes to save the world or if he is a threat to it.

At that moment, Baron Zemo is leaving his Folding Castle to visit Reed Richards and the other scientists. Before passing through the portal, Zemo puts on his mask to hide the fact that his face has been healed.[3] He has come yo provide his knowledge used to create his Folding Castle so that Richards and Pym can utilize these discoveries in the construction of a massive superhuman prison. However, Yellowjacket makes his lack of trust in Zemo known. Helmut counters, but pointing out how Hank had previously blackmailed the Thunderbolts into attacking the New Avengers. Pym has offers up justifications, but Zemo only sees it as an opportunity to turn the screw a little.[4] Mister Fantastic interrupts this squabble, since they need Zemo’s help to stabilize the portal they need to open. As he provides his figures, Helmut says he can’t wait for the day when Pym can fully trust him. Yellowjacket admits that he can’t either, but says that today is not that day. With his work done, Zemo opens a portal back to his Folding Castle and leaves. When Zemo leaves, Hank admits that he is more worried about Zemo now that they are on the same side because of the potential risks of trusting an old enemy.

When Zemo returns to the Folding Castle, he finds Songbird’s team waiting for him. They have successfully captured Mongoose and she provides an update about the other teams in the field. Zemo is pleased and quickly runs down what Mongoose’s options are now that he is captured. Realizing that he doesn’t have a whole lot of choice in the matter, Mongoose agrees to join the growing Thunderbolts army. As Atlas and Smuggler show Mongoose to his room, Zemo has a brief moment to privately counsel Melissa. He is pleased with how the superhero civil war has provided him the opportunity to gather an army of supervillains for their coming battle with the Squadron Sinister and the Grandmaster. When Songbird points out that they might not let him keep this army once the fighting stop, but Helmut assures her that he is about to secure an important ally in this fight.

However, he doesn’t get a chance to tell her as Mach-IV and the Beetles are returning from their mission with the Eel and Porcupine as prisoners. Moments later, the Fixer’s team returns with the U-Foes all captive as well. When Zemo asks X-Ray if he they have been read their rights, he enlists his entire team. When Joystick asks if this is enough for their growing army, Zemo tells her that it is not nearly enough and that they need more.

Meanwhile, those who have been enlisted into the Thunderbolts army are taking to a training facility in Desert Flats, New Mexico. Here, the Swordsman trains them in combat and on this day he is working with the Cobra, the Ox, and the Unicorn. He is trying to teach them the importance of teamwork. However, when the Ox scoffs at this notion and comes charging at him, the Swordsman easily takes him and the Cobra down. He then points his sword at the Unicorn and warns him that if he fires his energy horn, he’ll shoot off his “third eye”. This entire exercise was done for the benefit of observers “Snake” Marsten, as well as Bushmaster and and Rattler of the Serpent Society. They also scoff at the idea of teamwork and when the new Blacklash and Whiplash show up to mock him he accepts their challenge to a battle.[5]

The fight is stopped when Zemo and his team teleport onto the compound. He summons all the captured villains together and tells them that they should be proud because they are all part of something important. Helmut tells them that this is the start of what he thought the Thunderbolts. Dozens of supervillains have been recruited onto the team at this point. However, one new recruit — Doctor Octopus — wants to know what is in it for them to continue serving in the Thunderbolts once the SHRA conflict settles down. Zemo tells Octavius that he will have the opportunity at redemption and the freedom to humiliate his former foes as they have always humiliated him. This response is satisfactory to Otto who has nothing more to ask.

With that Zemo teleports back to Manhattan for a very important meeting. Waiting for him in a derelict building are Captain America, the Falcon and Hercules. They have agreed to meet with Zemo, but don’t entirely trust him. Helmut assures his old friend that he comes offering Cap salvation and the chance at redemption and, most importantly, he has come to show them how to break their captured comrades out of the Negative Zone prison.[6]

Recurring Characters

Thunderbolts (Baron Zemo, Songbird, Moonstone, Atlas, Mach-IV, Fixer, Radioactive Man, Joystick, Swordsman, Smuggler), Thunderbolts Army (Batroc the Leaper, Beetle (Quinn), Beetle (Robichaud), Beetle (Vaughn), Blacklash, Black Mamba, Boomerang, Bushmaster, Doctor Octopus, Eel, Killer Shrike, King Cobra, Mongoose, Snake Marsten, Ox, Quicksand, Rattler, Slyde, Tatterdemalion, Ufoes (Vector, Vapor, X-Ray, Ironclad), Unicorn, Vermin, Whiplash, Procupine, Smiling Tiger, Ajaxis), Speed Demon, Mister Fantastic, “Yellowjacket”, Dallas Riordan, Henry Gyrich, Secret Avengers (Captain America, Falcon, Hercules)

Continuity Notes

Zemo has been preparing the Thunderbolts for a battle with the Grandmaster and the Squadron Sinister since Thunderbolts #101. This final showdown will happen in issue #106-108. This story takes place during the Civil War event which takes place primarily in Civil War #1-7 and various other titles (see below).
The man who appears to be Yellowjacket here is actually a Skrull spy named Criti Noll, who took Hank’s place circa House of M #1 as seen in Mighty Avengers #17. This will be revealed during the course of Secret Invasion #1-8.
Zemo’s face was horribly burned in Avengers/Thunderbolts #5. We learned he had healed his face in Thunderbolts #101. He is hiding this from most everyone so they think that he has something to redeem.
“Yellowjacket” previously blackmailed the Thunderbolts into attacking the New Avengers back in New Thunderbolts #13-14. Here, he tries to justify the move by saying he had a right to test the new team out as a founding member. The real Hank Pym was a founding member of the Avengers way back in the first issue of their original series.
Here, the Swordsman refers to his opponent as the new Blacklash. This is because the original Blacklash (Marco Scarlotti) had just recently died in Iron Man (vol. 3) #28. As of this writing (October, 2023) Scarlotti is still considered among the deceased. The identity of this Blacklash remains unrevealed time of this writing.
The knowledge that Zemo imparts to Cap’s resistance allows them to break into Prison 42 as seen in Civil War #6-7.

Topical References

Blacklash accuses Swordsman of going all “Oprah” on them. This is a reference to former talk-show host Oprah Winfrey who, at the time this story was published, was at the height of her career. As of this writing (October, 2023) she has mostly retired from her show, only doing the occasional high profile interview and running an entire television network. That said, this should be considered a topical reference as her name can be replaced with a more contemporary example.