Caged Angels, Part 1

Norman Osborn, director of the Thunderbolts, and Karla Sofen (aka Moonstone) flip through the news networks to find out how his team is trending. Top stories include a memorial for Captain America that was broken up by police,[1][2] a new innovation created by Yellowjacket to scan for superhumans at the airport,[3] a story about charges against the Thunderbolts for their treatment of Steel Spider were dropped. The government is also choosing to do nothing about American Eagle, due to his status as a Native American who operates primarily on his Navajo Reserve.[4] There is also the issue raised by a governor of Vermont who insists that government registered superhumans should not be deployed in foreign territories. Osborn did an interview where he argued that superhumans registered with the government were soldiers. This leads to a story about the Thunderbolts, as the media informs its viewers that Songbird (Melissa Gold) has taken over leadership of the team as Moonstone recovers from injuries, and that Penance (Robbie Baldwin) has also been pulled from active duty. The story then shifts to accusations of prisoner abuse at Prison 42 in the Negative Zone.

On this last point, Osborn is annoyed that the had placed the once deceased Captain Marvel in charge of the prison, much to Norman’s annoyance.[5] Norman tells Karla that his only concerns over this might be that people may start listening when prisoners complain about the conditions of the temporary holding cells in Thunderbolt Mountain. Their discussion is interrupted when Norman’s secretary calls in to confirm that Doctor Leonard Samson has agreed to come and psychologically analyze Penance.[6] Karla is not happy with this because she absolutely hates Samson.[7] However, Osborn assures her that Samson will have restricted access to the facility, just long enough to deem Penance insane so they can finally get rid of him. He reminds her that Samson is a failure, as he never was able to properly deal with the Hulk. Norman then changes the subject to how Karla’s arm is healing, as he wants he back out in the field before Songbird can taint the Thunderbolts with her moral code.

That’s when they get a call from Robbie’s current psychologist, Doctor Kenyon, who says that Baldwin has stabilized himself and is being released from his cell. This won’t do for Norman, so Karla suggests that they walk him past the holding cells on his way back up. As anticipated, when Robbie walks past the cell of Hellrazor — the most recent Thunderbolt capture — the villain thanks Baldwin for inspiring him.[8] He brags about killing a bunch of innocent people and signing up for the government to make some real money. Hearing this, Robbie grabs a pen from the jacket pocket of Kenyon and stabs himself in the chest with it. This causes enough pain to activate his powers and unleash a powerful blast that shatters the door to Hellrazor’s cell and knock him flat on his ass. Robbie then enters the cell and begins beating on him. When the guards come to try and stop the fight, he uses his powers to incapacitate them all.

That’s when Norman and Karla comes down to see what all the commotion is. Sofen blasts Robbie from behind, causing him to hit the wall with enough force that he’s knocked out. Osborn then picks up a rifle and prepares to shoot him in the head. Karla stops him, pointing out that Baldwin managed to do Hulk level damage, something they didn’t know he was capable of. She convinces Norman to spare Robbie’s life as they can manipulate him into being a Hulk-level threat that they can control. This convinces Osborn, but he wants more security on detail from now on.

Meanwhile the rest of the Thunderbolts — Songbird, Radioactive Man (Chen Lu), Swordsman (Andreas Von Strucker), and Venom (Mac Gargan) — have tracked down Kendra Louise Price, an unregistered superhuman named Caprice.[9] Surprisingly, Caprice surrenders without issue, making Songbird highly suspicious of her. On the flight back, Venom addresses his displeasure that Melissa threatened to feed Caprice to him in order to try and make her surrender. Songbird justifies this by reminding Mac that he ate part of Steel Spider. This is a good intimidation tactic ever since, so she intends on using it. Gargan is still upset, telling her that he’s not the one who keeps eating people, it’s the Venom symbiote.

While in Las Vegas, another unregistered superhuman named Mindwave shows up at a local police station. He tells the officer at the front desk that he has come to express his displeasure with the Super Human Registration Act. He then unleashes his telekinetic powers on the cop and the other officers that are drawn into the room by his attack. Mindwave quickly overpowers them all and when he has everyone at his mercy, gets down on his knees and puts his hands behind his head and surrenders![10]

Recurring Characters

Thunderbolts (Norman Osborn, Songbird, Moonstone, Radioactive Man, Swordsman, Venom, Penance, Bullseye), Mindwave

Continuity Notes

1. This story takes place after the passage of the Super Human Registration Act, in Civil War #1. It requires all superhumans to register with the government or be considered outlaws. The Thunderbolts have been charged with apprehending those opposing registration since Thunderbolts #110. This law will remain in place until Siege #4.

2. This story also takes place following the alleged death of Captain America (Steve Rogers) in Captain America (vol. 5) #25. In reality, Rogers was hit with a chronal bullet that will cause him to relive his life over and over until he is saved, see Captain America: Reborn #1-5.

3. This is not the real Yellowjacket, but a Skrull impostor named Criti Noll, who took his place circa House of M #1. This will be revealed in Mighty Avengers #17. This was all ahead of a planned invasion of Earth by the Skrulls which will be documented in Secret Invasion #1-8.

4. The Thunderbolts recently clashed with Steel Spider and American Eagle as they were unregistered superhumans, as seen in Thunderbolts #113-115. Moonstone was injured during this battle.

5. Captain Mar-Vell seemingly returned from the dead in Civil War: The Return #1 and was put in charge of Prison 42. He had previously died of cancer, as seen in Marvel Graphic Novel #1. This is actually another Skrull impostor named Khn’Nr who as will be revealed in Captain Marvel (vol. 6) #5. See below.

6. Penance was once the hero named Speedball, he was the apparent lone survivor of the Stamford Disaster that led to the passage of the SHRA. As such, he was used as a scapegoat and dragged through the system. After failed assassination attempts and abuse, he discovered his powers now could only be activated by pain. Reinventing himself as Penance, he sought to atone for those who died in Stamford. He has spikes on the inside of his suit and when he’s not wearing it is causing self-harm. See Civil War: Front Line #1-10.

7. Moonstone has an axe to grind with Samson because he defeated her on her first outting with super powers, as seen in Incredible Hulk #229.

8. At first glance, you might mistake this Hellraizor as Denton Phelps, who first appeared as Hellrazor in Marvel Team-Up #87. However, Phelps was killed in Captain America #319. A profile on Hellrazer in Avengers: Roll Call #1 states that the man seen in this story is as yet unidentified (that is still the case as I write this in November, 2023). If this is Phelps or somebody new remains to be verified.

9. Don’t know who Caprice is? Well she’s another one of those deep cut characters they rolled out as cannon fodder post Civil War. She previously appeared in US Agent #2-4 and was revealed to be the one who trained the various assassins collectively known as the Scourge of the Underworld. It has been theorized and later copied without any fact checking at the Garbage Database that Caprice may have been the Scourge assassin who posed as Golddigger back in Thing #33. However, this has never been confirmed in universe or in any handbook for that matter.

10. Mindwave is a new character who first appeared last issue as well. He shouldn’t be confused with Mind-Wave (with a hyphen) who was a Scourge victim who died in Captain America #319.

Topical References

• Norman Osborn states that Mar-Vell had died “years ago”. Marvel Graphic Novel #1 was published in 1982, while this story was published in 2007. Per the Sliding Timescale, this would have happened roughly six years prior to the main story.