The Wellspring of Power has been unleashed upon the Earth giving everyone superpowers and throwing the planet into chaos. In order to get things back under control, Baron (Helmut) Zemo — lead of the Thunderbolts — has used his two Moon Stones to reconstitute the Grandmaster (En Dwi Gast).[1]
With the task now done, the two foes than engage in a fight to the end with the other Thunderbolts — Songbird (Melissa Gold), Mach-IV (Abner Jenkins), Fixer (Norbert Ebersol), Atlas (Erik Josten), Radioactive Man (Chen Lu), Blizzard (Donny Gill), Swordsman (Andreas Von Strucker), and Smuggler (Conrad Josten) — watch from the sidelines. Throwing up a solid sound shield to protect her teammates from the powerful energies unleashed, Melissa tells Chen that they are going to stop both Zemo and Grandmaster no matter what.
In Chicago, a group of the Thunderbolts army — villains conscripted onto the team under the auspices of the Super Human Registration Act (SHRA)[2] — have decided that it was every man for themselves. However, their field leader — Doctor Octopus — is contacted by the alien Overmind (Grom). The telepath informs him that they have to keep fighting as all those unaffected by the Wellspring will start falling if everyone doesn’t do their part. Overmind then reaches out to Captain America (Steve Rogers) in New York City while he tries to contain the chaos with the rest of the renegade heroes opposing the SHRA.[3] He tells Cap that the time has come for him to use the trust that Zemo placed on him. He then reaches out to Iron Man (Tony Stark), Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards), and Yellowjacket (Hank Pym) to do the same.[4][5]
Back in Germany, Songbird orders the team to stand by and wait for Zemo to defeat the Grandmaster and prepare to fight Helmut when he succeeds. Fixer and Mach-IV try to get readings of the energy sources but there is too much to get a proper reading. Swordsman, meanwhile, finds Joystick (Janice Yanizeski) — who had betrayed them to the Grandmaster — and threatens to run her through if she doesn’t help.[6] Seeing that she isn’t getting what En Dwi Gast promised her, she assures him that she will do whatever it takes to survive. That’s when the Overmind contacts Melissa telepathically and tells her that everything is ready, despite the incredible strain on his mental powers. She then tells Grom to do it.
This entire time, Zemo and the Grandmaster have been evenly matched, their final conflict a perpetual stalemate. That is until the Overmind contacts Zemo and informs him that he has all parties are ready and willing to transfer their power to him in order to stop En Dwi Gast and shut down the Wellspring of Power. With his attention diverted, Helmut is struck by a bolt of energy from the Grandmaster that is powerful enough to shatter one of his Moon Stones. It takes all of Zemo’s concentration to keep it together while he orders the Overmind to connect him to the others. As they all channel their powers into Baron Zemo, Captain America prays that Zemo won’t betray them.
The surge of power is sudden and powerful to the point where it overloads and strips away the Smuggler’s power suit. It also begins affecting the ionic powers of Atlas and starts shoring out the Fixer and Mach-IV’s technology. With Songbird unable to erect a powerful enough sonic shield, she orders the Blizzard to encase them in a protective barrier of ice. As Zemo takes in all this power, the Grandmaster scoffs at his attempt to try and defeat him. However, Helmut reveals that he has also absorbed all of the Grandmaster’s power. Realizing that he is now powerless, En Dwi Gast is killed when Helmut pulls out a gun and shoots him between the eyes.[7]
With the battle over, Zemo tries to figure out what to do with the sudden surge of power still under his control. While he is distracted, Joystick prepares to attack him from behind. However, she is stopped by Speed Demon (James Sanders) who has arrived on the scene after the Wellspring restored his powers and healed his broken legs.[8] He quickly snatches Janice’s baton and knocks her out. That’s when a surge of energy arcs out of Zemo and zaps Sanders into unconsciousness. With their protection melting, the other Thunderbolts are also at risk of harm. The Radioactive Man uses his powers to try and absorb the brunt of the power surge, but suddenly all of their powers are stolen. The only Thunderbolt left standing is Songbird.
She confronts Zemo and notices that one of his Moon Stones is in pretty bad shape and asks him if he can still close up the Wellspring of Power and restore everything to normal. Zemo assures her that he can, but that is a concern for later because there is so much good he can do with the power that is now in his hands. Melissa reminds him that this is the very thing that Helmut was trying to prevent — someone with all the power of the Wellspring — as it will prompt the Guardian Protocols to be activated and put Earth in the crosshairs of an alien armada bent on maintaining order in the universe.[9]
Seeing that Zemo won’t give up the power willingly, Melissa uses her ace in the hole to stop him. She unleashes a sonic scream of such intensity that it shatters his Moon Stones. This causes all the energies to get sucked back into the Wellspring. Unable to control it, Zemo is sucked into the portal.[10] Both Songbird and Radioactive Man are about to join him, but they are caught by Atlas, who has grown to giant size. Unwilling to let his friends suffer the same fate as Helmut, Atlas begins growing as large as possible in the hopes of using his body to plug the portal, but the energy begins ripping him apart until he is nothing left but pure ionic energy.
Recurring Characters
Thunderbolts (Baron Zemo, Songbird, Moonstone, Mach-IV, Fixer, Atlas, Radioactive Man, Blizzard, Swordsman, Smuggler), Grandmaster, Joystick, Speed Demon, Overmind, Doctor Octopus, Captain America, Falcon, Hercules, “Daredevil”, Mister Fantastic, Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, “Yellowjacket”, Beetle (Robichaud), Pretty Persuasion, Eel (Lavel), Whirlwind, Mongoose, Vapor, C, Killer Shrike, Porcupine (Gocking), Boomerang, Batroc, Tatterdemalion, X-Ray
Continuity Notes
Zemo disbursed the Grandmaster’s body in Thunderbolts #106, the same issue the Wellspring’s power was unleashed.
Although this story is not branded as such, it takes place during the Civil War event, which was chronicled in Civil War #1-7. According to the Marvel Chronology Project, this story takes place between issues #5 and 6 of that event. These villains were enlisted in Thunderbolts #103-105.
The man fighting alongside Cap dressed up like Daredevil is actually an impostor. As seen in Civil War: Choosing Sides #1, Matt Murdock convinced Iron Fist (Danny Rand) to pose as the Man Without Fear in order to distance Murdock from his alter ego.
Baron Zemo convinced Captain America and Iron Man to help him during this crisis in Thunderbolts #103 and 105 respectively.
The man who appears to be Hank Pym here is actually an impostor as well. As per Mighty Avengers #17, he was replaced by a Skrull spy named Criti Noll circa House of M #1. This is part of a coming Skrull invasion of Earth that will be chronicled in Secret Invasion #1-8.
Joystick was revealed to be working to betray the Thunderbolts in issue #102. She then revealed her duplicity in issue #106. The Grandmaster promised to make her his champion so she could have the challenge of fighting opponents from across the universe, an appealing proposition for a gambling addict like her.
Except the Grandmaster doesn’t really die here, as per Avengers Annual #16, the Elders of the Universe are immortal. He turns up alive again in Hulk (vol. 2) #10-12. One could assume that once Zemo relinquished his power at the end of this story all of the Grandmaster’s power was channeled back into him, restoring him to life.
Joystick broke Speed Demon’s legs in Thunderbolts #102. He was healed last issue.
Zemo laid out the threat posed by the Guardian Protocols last issue, where were you?
This is not the end of Baron Zemo, he’ll end up getting thrown through time and space, living the lives of his ancestors until he is reborn in the present. Check it out in Thunderbolts Present: Zemo Born Better #1-4.
Topical References
Seeing the Grandmaster’s death body, Joystick quips that he looks like an extra on CSI. She is referring to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, a police drama series that focused heavily on forensic science techniques. The series ran from 15 years from 2000 to 2015. It also spawned four spin-off series. The most recent CSI: Vegas is (time of this writing) is in its third season. That said, this should be considered a topical reference because, as a real world television series, this reference will eventually become dated at some point and a more contemporary example could be used in its place.
Melissa references the slogan “Is it live or is it Memorex” This was an advertising slogan for Memorex brand cassette tapes. The campaign suggested that the audio quality of their cassettes was so good you’d swear you were listening to live music. The advertising campaign feature jazz musician Ella Fitzgerald, and depicted her singing at such a high pitch to shatter a wine glass. This campaign ran from 1977 to 1979. This should be considered a topical reference because of how dated it is, there is likely a more contemporary example that could be used in its place.
