Faith in Monsters, Part 3

The Thunderbolts — Moonstone (Karla Sofen), Songbird (Melissa Gold), Radioactive Man (Chen Lu), Swordsman (Andreas Von Strucker), Bullseye, Venom (Mac Gargan), and Penance (Robbie Baldwin) — have returned from their first mission under the command of Norman Osborn. Norman is furious with the team for how they almost bungled the capture of Jack Flag, an unregistered superhuman.[1] If it wasn’t for Bullseye, the only one on the team who has to work covertly, Flag would have gotten away.

Moonstone, however, disagrees with his assessment saying that in order to win over the American public that have to make unregistered heroes seem as dangerous as possible, and make it appear that it is no easy task. She says that public perceptions could shift if they simply overpower a foe and drag them into custody. Instead, they were publicly recorded being attacked by Jack Flag, getting injured, and that he almost managed to get away. This makes the law just, it also makes other unregistered heroes who watched the conflict think that the Thunderbolts are pushovers, which will also work in their favor. Songbird disagrees, saying that this strategy won’t work because they aren’t acting as a team. As smart as Karla is, she is just not a team leader. A real leader would get to know and trust her teammates so they could work in tandem to take down Jack Flag. That didn’t happen, and that’s why they almost failed. She questions all of Moonstone’s orders in the battle, pointing out that she didn’t even fight because she was more interested in a sexual encounter waiting for her back at base.

Melissa then protests Karla’s leadership, saying that she didn’t put her heart and soul into making the Thunderbolts work only for them to be killed on live television because of bad leadership. Karla makes a point of saying that the Thunderbolts are not her team anymore and they are no longer a group of former villains seeking redemption anymore.[2] In Moonstone’s mind, the only things that matter are psychology, politics, and ratings. With that, Osborn concludes the meeting and says they’ll go over the footage of the battle in the morning.

Norman then meets with Radioactive Man in his private office to speak in private. Chen wishes that Osborn had some of the guards come with him. Norman says that, due to their agreement with the Chinese government, Chen is not to be treated as a criminal. Lu understands this, but thinks it is unfair to his teammates. He then asks why he is being forced to wear a radiation suit out on the field. Norman explains to him the ignorance of the average American, saying that seeing a radioactive Chinese man beating up white American superheroes is bad for optics. The suit is to blurs Chen’s racial identity and it also silences any concerns people may have about ambient radiation. When Lu asks why they don’t just educate their people, which makes Norman laugh. He says the suit will remain for the time being until focus testing changes. That’s when Chen tells Norman that he thinks Songbird should be leading the team. Norman disagrees, saying Melissa’s heart has no use on the new team, courage does. With that, he ends the meeting.

Norman then checks in with his secretary and asks to see the list of superhumans that are flouting the law. One of the names makes him laugh manically for a moment. Composing himself, Norman tells his secretary to get the Commission on Superhuman Activities on the phone so he can get approval on their next target.

Meanwhile, the media storm surrounding the team continues swell. On SF NET, the most popular show is Who Wants to be a Thunderbolt? Hosted by comics legend Stan Lee, it features would-be superheroes competing for a spot on the team. The talking heads are also continue to debate the both sides of the registration argument. The White House also issues a statement regarding Norman Osborn’s criminal past. The press is told that the President is aware of this, but believes in second chances.[3]

Back at Thunderbolts headquarters, Norman Osborn checks in with Venom in the locker room. As Mac Gargan withdraws the symbiote into his body, Norman asks him how he is doing. Mac talks about how cold and hungry he feels all the time since bonding with the alien creature, but admits that he doesn’t want out, in fact not only can he not believe he has gotten himself into this situation he also can’t believe he lived so long without the symbiote.[4] He then checks in on Bullseye who is chained up in his cell. The assassin goes on a rant about why he kills so many people. Bullseye believes that he becomes stronger with every kill. This delusion goes so far as to make him believe that killing enough people he will be ending more lives than God can create, thus making himself a god himself and God’s only friend. Osborn is disturbed by this and tells the guard standing outside Bullseye’s cell to forego his usual bathroom breaks for the next 24 hours.

Later that day, in Jillian Woods wakes up to realize that it is noon and her one night stand from the night before is still in bed with her. After assuring him he performed well the night before, Jillian says that she has to cut things short as she has a job interview in a few hours. As her fuck-boy goes to brew them up some coffee, Woods opens her closet to figure out what to wear. Hanging among the various outfits is the costume she wears in her alter-ego, Sepulcre.

While at the nearby Navajo reservation, Jason Strongbow reminisces with a friend about his days as the superhero American Eagle.[5] When asked why he is going on this trip down memory lane, Jason says that something about the registration doesn’t sit well with him. His friend suggests that the best thing Strongbow could do is to burn the costume and put his superhero career behind him so he can live to a ripe old age. His friend, an African-American, points out that Jason is the wrong colour to sign up for registration and he’d be doing things to make things safer for affluent white people. Strongbow eventually makes up his mind, telling his pal that he intends to shove the registration act up the government’s ass.

Later, at the First National Savings & Trust, some armed men are forcing are forcing the janitor to open up the bank so they can set up a bomb to blow the place up. They assure the elderly cleaner that they’ll let him go when they finish their job. They are lying, but beofre one of the goons can literally stab the guy in the back, they are attacked by the Steel Spider! He takes down the would-be bombers hard and fast. With them all incapacitated the Steel Spider tells them to tell other crooks that he’s still around.

Little does the Steel Spider know that his job is going to become much more complicated. This is because Norman Osborn has just got clearance from the CSA to go after the Steel Spider. As Norman gets off the phone he begins repeating the Steel Spider’s name over and over until he starts calling him Spider-Man instead and begins laughing like a lunatic.[6]

Recurring Characters

Thunderbolts (Norman Osborn, Songbird, Moonstone, Radioactive Man, Swordsman, Venom, Penance, Bullseye), Steel Spider, American Eagle, Sepulcher

Continuity Notes

1. This story takes place after the passage of the Super Human Registration Act (SHRA) in Civil War #1. The law requires superhumans to register with the government or be branded as outlaws. The Thunderbolts were tasked with apprehending unregistered superhumans in Thunderbolts #110. They just barely managed to capture Jack Flag last issue.

2. The Thunderbolts were originally formed by Baron Zemo from former members of the Masters of Evil, as seen in Thunderbolts Annual 1997. Initially the team were merely posing as heroes as part of a scheme to take over the world. However, by Thunderbolts #12, the group had decided to legitimately reform. The core ethos of the group since has been one of redemption for past crimes.

3. Norman Osborn’s checkered past is the fact that he was the criminal known as the Green Goblin starting back in Amazing Spider-Man #13. The public first learned that Osborn was the Goblin when Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich released his book, Legacy of Evil as seen in Spider-Man: Legacy of Evil #1. However, Osborn would later discredit this in Spectacular Spider-Man #254. Ultimately, Osborn outed himself during the events of The Pulse #5. Just like a wealthy snake, Osborn will later be able to walk back his Goblin identity a second time in Thunderbolts #129-130.

4. It is mentioned here that Mac Gargan was previously the Scorpion, a role he took on way back in Amazing Spider-Man #20. At the time of this story, Mac had only recently bonded with the Venom symbiote. This happened in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #10. This will remain his status quo until Siege #4.

5. Jason Strongbow recounts how he fought a villain called the Cobalt Tomahawk to save the local casino. As of this writing (November, 2023) this battle has yet to be depicted. Given how the recounting is rife with offensive stereotypes about Native Americans, I somehow doubt that it ever will either. He does make an offhand comment about how Tomahawk repurposed an old suit of Cobalt Man armor, referring to it as a knock-off Iron Man. The first suit of Cobalt Man armor, first seen in X-Men #31, had a strong resemblance to Tony Stark’s iconic armor. Later iterations of the suit, however, are a little less on the nose.

6. The Steel Spider and Spider-Man do have a very loose association. Prior to becoming the Steel Spider, Ollie Osnick tried to be a supervillain called Kid Ock until Spider-Man convinces him to go on the straight and narrow in Spectacular Spider-Man #72. After this, Osnick reinvented himself as Spider-Kid and tried to become Spidey’s sidekick, as seen in Amazing Spider-Man #263. After that he reinvented himself as the Steel Spider in Spider-Man Unlimited #5.

Topical References

• When Norman Osborn talks about how ignorant the average American is (and, NGL, he’s not wrong) he says they think Hollywood is run by liberals, kids are making bombs while their parents watch reality TV, that there were Weapons of Mass Destruction hidden in Iraq, and that North Korea is coming to nuke them. This whole speech is a commentary on the socio-political climate around the time this comic was published in 2007. Some of these references have since become dated. Particularly the part about WMD’s in Iraq. This was the justification for the United States to invade Iraq in 2003 in the early days of the “War on Terror”. Despite these assertions, investigations found that Iraq’s WMDs were destroyed in the 1990s.

• Usually, appearances of real life individuals in the Marvel Universe is considered topical. However, Marvel Comics Creators all exist in the Marvel Universe in the relative prime of their lives. As such, Stan Lee’s appearance here should be considered factual, even after the real life Stan Lee died in 2018.

The Initiative Reading Order

Civil War: The Initiative #1, Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #13, 14, 15, 16, 17, Thunderbolts #112, 113, 114, 115, Omega Flight #1-5, Moon Knight (vol. 3) #13, Captain America (vol. 5) #26, 27, 28, 29, 30, New Avengers #27, 28, 29, 30, 31, New Warriors (vol. 4) #1-8, Black Panther (vol. 4) #27, 28, 29, 30, Iron Man: Agent of SHIELD #15, 16, 17, 18, Avengers: The Initiative #1, 2, 3, Fantastic Four #547, 548, 549, 550, Punisher: War Journal (vol. 2) #6-11, Mighty Avengers #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Sub-Mariner (vol. 2) #1-6, The Order (vol. 2) 1-4, Penance: Relentless #1, 2, 3, 4, 5