Caged Angels, Part 2

Doctor Leonard Samson arrives at Thunderbolts Mountain in order to do a psychological analysis of Penance (Robbie Baldwin).[1] His patience is tested the entire time as he has had to have his paperwork checked over seven times just to get into the secure facility. Once he is finally inside, he is greeted by Norman Osborn. For a brief moment, Samson has a sudden fantasy of pummeling Osborn to death for his past crimes committed as the Green Goblin.[2]

Norman extends a warm greeting, but Samson is not impressed. He is told that Karla Sofen — aka Moonstone, who Samson has fought in the past — will get him whatever he needs.[3] Leonard is unimpressed with this and demands a secure room where he can work with Robbie alone. When Karla advises against this, Len can sense that something happened prior to his arrival. After some pressing, he learns how she had to blast him into a wall in order to stop him from killing one of the captured superhumans they had in the holding cells.[4] When Samson is finally taken to the room and sees Robbie’s bruised face Len has another sudden fantasy of turning his anger on Karla. He orders everyone out of the room once more, despite the warnings about his safety. Karla states that Robbie has exhibited Hulk-level strength, something Samson says he is perfectly capable of dealing with.

Once they are alone, Leonard sits down at the table with Robbie and tries to get him talking. Samson recalls that they have met a few times in the past back when Robbie went by Speedball.[5] Len recalls that Robbie was always joking and laughing. At the time, Baldwin had told him that if he couldn’t find the fun in everything then there was no point bothering with anything. Samson figures that this cavalier attitude was what led Baldwin and the rest of his New Warrior teammates to star in their own reality TV show.[6] However, this led to the Stamford Incident and the passage of the Super Human Registration Act (SHRA). Leonard points out something that nobody had said since that awful day: That such a tragedy could have happened to any hero, not just Robbie.

This finally gets Robbie talking, and he asks why Leonard has come to see him. Samson explains that Tony Stark is worried about Baldwin, particularly after his performance in Arizona.[7] Baldwin suddenly remembers Samson and how he used to work on treating and frequently fought the Hulk.[8] When Robbie asks if Samson has come to fight him, Leonard responds by asking Penance if he wants to get hurt by him.

Meanwhile, Songbird (Melissa Gold) and Radioactive Man (Chen Lu) are returning from recovering rogue superhuman Mindwave from Las Vegas. As was reported, Mindwave attacked police officers before surrendering and came willingly when the Thunderbolts came to collect him. Norman Osborn finds this suspicious as he is the latest in a number of unregistered superhumans who drew their attention only to abruptly surrender. He orders Melissa and Chen to report to him as soon as Mindwave has been locked up.

Back in the meeting room, Samson produces a ceramic knife that he smuggled in through security. Reiterating that he thinks that Robbie just wants to hurt himself, he hands the knife over to him while he explains his theory on the matter. Len believes that Robbie is a textbook case of a cutter, that he processes pain in a different way than normal. By cutting himself and seeing himself bleed, Robbie gains access to his powers and the rush of beta endorphins remind him of his carefree days as Speedball. Still, Robbie tries to hide what he is doing, hence why he has spikes inside his Penance costume, so that he can cut himself out in the open without people seeing or reacting to it. Len tells Robbie that his handlers are afraid that this behavior has gotten out of control and that he’s liable to kill himself sooner or later. However, Samson knows better, telling Robbie that he cuts himself to feel alive and that he has become addicted to the pain. Samson then says that while Robbie believes that he is doing penance for the Stamford disaster, in reality, people only see him as a creepy addict whenever they aren’t laughing about how pitiful he has become.

The Doc then lays out that Moonstone and the others are aware that Robbie is becoming stronger and they are trying to exploit him and treat him as nothing more than a dog needing training. This upsets Robbie and he asks Samson why he is saying such mean things. Leonard explains that he is the only one who can without Robbie hurting him. Len then goads Robbie into trying to hurt him. Baldwin responds by taking the knife and cutting a gash across his chest. This allows him to unleash a powerful blast of kinetic energy that wrecks the room, but Samson weathers the attack and is still standing. Baldwin is shocked to hear Samson laughing at the attempt. After composing himself, Len tells Robbie that this proves that he is the only person who can withstand his power and therefore is the one person he can be honest with and worry about harming. Putting his arm around the young man, Leonard then suggests they cut the superhero melodrama, get some beers and find a room with a TV where they can sit and just be a couple of normal guys for a while.

At this same time, guards are bringing Mindwave down to the holding cells. They are annoyed that he has nothing much to say to them and they lock him up without incident. His cell is next to three other captured combatants: Caprice, Bluestreak, and Mirage.[9] All three are telepaths and the reason why they have allowed themselves to be arrested is so they can pool their abilities and slowly push everyone within Thunderbolts Mountain to the brink of insanity and kill each other.

In the hanger, Songbird has private council with Radioactive Man and she expresses her concern about the rest of the team. As far as she can tell, she and Chen are the only sane members of the group.[10] Chen, however assures Melissa that they won’t have much to worry about for too much longer. Eventually, Moonstone will have recovered from her injuries to return to a leadership role and one of their unstable teammates will implode while on a mission, without Bullseye to back them up things will fall apart quite easily.[11]

Meanwhile, Norman Osborn has returned to his private office and demands that his secretary bring him his pills. She informs him that they are in his desk drawer. Osborn storms into his office and goes digging for his pills. In the top draw he is shocked to find his Green Goblin mask staring up at him![12]

Recurring Characters

Thunderbolts (Norman Osborn, Songbird, Moonstone, Radioactive Man, Swordsman, Venom, Penance, Bullseye), Caged Angels (Bluestreak, Caprice, Mirage, Mindwave), Doc Samson

Continuity Notes

1. Penance was once the carefree hero known as Speedball. That was until he and his fellow New Warriors were responsible for the explosion in Stamford, Connecticut, the inciting incident that led to the passage of the SHRA in Civil War #1. Apparently the lone survivor, Robbie was used as a scape goat and dragged through the legal system. After a series of near death experiences and beatings, Robbie discovered that his powers now only activated when he was in pain. He reinvented himself as Penance, with armor that had spikes on the inside to atone for the lives he was responsible for. See Civil War: Front Line #1-10.

2. Norman Osborn began operating as the Green Goblin way back in Amazing Spider-Man #13. However, the general public did not become aware of this until The Pulse #5. After being apprehended, Osborn was given a chance to redeem himself by commanding the Thunderbolts in Thunderbolts #110.

3. Samson fought Moonstone way back in Incredible Hulk #229.

4. Penance almost killed Hellrazor last issue had Moonstone not stepped in to stop him.

5. Although Doc Samson says they have met once or twice during a major event all Earth’s heroes usually find themselves drafted into, whatever incident he is referring to has yet to be recorded as of this writing in November 2023.

6. The New Warriors were short-lived reality TV stars as seen in New Warriors (vol. 3) #1-6. This dynamic ended when most of the team was blown up in Stamford in the aforementioned Civil War #1.

7. The “Arizona incident” was when the Thunderbolts went after Steel Spider and got in a three way battle with American Eagle and Sepulcher as well. See Thunderbolts #112-115.

8. Samson is best known for trying to cure Bruce Banner of becoming the Hulk, dating as far back as Incredible Hulk #141. Samson’s conflicts with the Hulk are extensive and have either led to temporary solutions or outright failures.

9. Got ourself a parade of obscure characters with names shared by other characters in the Marvel Universe. Lets break it down:

   • Caprice was once a trainer for the Scourge of the Underworld program, as seen in US Agent #1-4. She was captured by the Thunderbolts last issue.

   • This Bluestreak should not be confused with Don Thomas, the original Bluestreak. At the time of this story, Thomas had been dead for years after being killed by Scourge back in Captain America #318.

   • 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.

   • Mirage is also a new individual and should not be confused with Desmond Charne, the man who also called himself Mirage. Like Bluestreak before him, he was killed by Scourge in Captain America #320.

   • It is unclear why Caprice’s co-conspirators all named themselves after past Scourge victims, it’s kind of a weird flex but whatever. Oh, in case anyone is interested the dead namsakes of Caprice’s allies will all later be resurrected in Punisher (vol. 8) #5.

10. It is mentioned here that Swordsman has a tanned piece of his sister’s skin wrapped around the hilt of his sword. Per Uncanny X-Men #200, Andreas Von Strucker and his twin sister Andrea are mutants who could generate blasts of bio-energy. However, this power could only be accessed when the two were in physical contact with one another. Recently, Andrea was killed by Baron Zemo, as seen in Citizen V and the V-Battalion #3, seemingly cutting Andreas off from his powers for good. That is until he tanned a piece of her skin and wrapped it around his sword, as explained in New Thunderbolts #17. While his sister will remain among the deceased, a clone of her will turn up in Thunderbolts #122.

11. Moonstone was injured when American Eagle shot an arrow through her wrist in Thunderbolts #114, while Bullseye had his neck snapped and mind friend in the following issue. Bullseye, however, will be restored to normal by issue #121.

12. Osborn has been taking medication to treat his bi-polar disorder, however the two medications conflict with one another, as seen in Thunderbolts #111. Worse, as we learned in issue #113, Moonstone has replaced some of his pills with placebos as part of a plan to push Osborn over the edge so she can take full control of the Thunderbolts.