Why Ask Why?

Now

Following the death of Photon (Genis-Vell), the Thunderbolts have decided to reunite with their founder, Baron (Helmut) Zemo who has a plan to shape the future.[1] The team has set up operations inside Zemo’s other dimensional “Folding Castle” which utilizes pockets of time and space to provide “rooms” suited to each member of the team. Songbird (Melissa Gold) goes to check on how her teammates are settling in.

She first pays a visit to Radioactive Man (Chen Lu), whose room is a traditional Chinese garden. While Chen appreciates the gesture, he questions why Zemo is doing all of this. Melissa tells him that she hasn’t been told anything herself. However, this is a lie…

Several Months Ago

This is because Melissa was visited by Baron Zemo prior to the reformation of the Thunderbolts.[2] Helmut had come to Melissa in order to win her trust, something that he hadn’t been able to do between most of the team being exiled on Counter-Earth and then fighting the Avengers.[3] To try and convince her to join his cause, he took Melissa to his Folding Castle and offered her a “room” that led to the most expensive condo in Manhattan. However, Melissa isn’t quick to trust Zemo, particularly after he stole the Moon Stones from their teammate Moonstone (Karla Sofen). Zemo insists that the Thunderbolts are needed for what is to come and implores her rejoin the team when Abner Jenkins comes calling to recruit her.[4]

Now

Chen Lu expresses his lack of trust of Zemo, particularly given his past association with his family.[5] However, he pledges his allegiance to Songbird, saying that he will follow her no matter what. He promises that, for the time being, he will patiently wait and see what happens now that Zemo is back with the group.

As Melissa leaves to check on the others, Chen’s words make her think back to the past once again.

Then

Zemo has been patiently working on his plan while also creating portals to ideal living spaces for the Thunderbolts. When Melissa visited him next, he had created a portal to a farmhouse in Wisconsin. It is in fact that Josten family farm where both Atlas (Erik Josten) and his brother the Smuggler (Conrad Josten) grew up together. She is amazed by how Zemo can use the Moon Stones to snatch bits of time and space and stitch them all together. However, she accuses him of plotting to take over the world, and asks him what’s the point of having all this power when he doesn’t know what to do with it.

Now

Erik and Conrad Josten have been spending the past few days getting reacquainted with one another. Conrad wants Erik to get over the guilt he is feeling. However, the elder Josten brother feels horrible that Conrad nearly lost his life after joining the Redeemer program and nearly dying in a battle with Graviton. Conrad tells Erik to stop it because he joined up with the Redeemers on Erik’s behalf to ensure that his brother got pardoned for his past crimes.[6] However, Erik points out that Conrad’s situation was part of a pattern of recurring behavior where Erik tries to do good, only to find himself screwing up. He wonders if he’ll ever been good enough to be a true hero. That’s when Melissa walks in and tells Erik that they will make sure he stays on the straight and narrow.

Atlas is surprised to see Songbird as he figured she was still mad at him for previously trying to kill Genis-Vell, and later helping Zemo to save his brother.[7] Melissa agrees that she is still mad at Erik, but she can understand why he did the things he did. She tells him that moving forward he’s just going to have to work twice as hard to earn back her trust. When Erik questions what happens if he can’t do that, Melissa tells him that he can only find that out by trying.

Then

After finishing his petition to Melissa, Zemo shows her that he has a portal open to Empire State University, where she is studying. He tells her that she is free to come and go whenever she wants as he doesn’t want to force her to join his cause. Helmut insists that he wants to save the world, not rule it. He then pulls off his mask, revealing that he has healed his face since it was horribly burned during a battle with the Avengers.[8] Melissa realizes that Zemo wears his mask in order to make people believe his face is still scarred. Helmut admits that he is using this as a psychological trick, saying that a scarred Zemo is presumed to be a vengeful one, yet one striving to steer his fellow villains on the path of redemption.

Now

In Zemo’s lab, the Fixer (Norbert Ebersol) and Mach-IV (Abner Jenkins) are working on repairs to Abner’s flight suit. They are joined by the team’s newest recruit, Nighthawk (Kyle Richmond) who is having a hard time with them accepting Baron Zemo into their ranks. Abe and Norbert try to assure Richmond that they can trust Zemo, saying that they know him better than Nighthawk does.[9] Melissa enters the room just as Kyle wonders out loud if joining the Thunderbolts was a mistake. She is inclined to agree, angering Nighthawk who realizes that the team only needed him for his money.[10] When Melissa confirms this, he takes offense and takes off, telling them that if this is how they’re trying to become heroes they’re going to need all the luck in the world.

Melissa then meets with the Blizzard (Donny Gill) who is still raw with her over her previous decision to kick him off the team.[11] She tells him that Donny wasn’t ready for redemption until he was able to do the right thing without anyone telling him, something that took her a long time to learn herself.[12] She tells him that she doesn’t care if he’s still pissed off at her as long as he uses that anger to prove her wrong.

Then

Melissa found herself returning to Zemo and he used his Moon Stones to show her glimpses of the future. He is uncertain if these events will actually happen or if these are only a potential or alternate realities.[13] One of them is an image of Zemo and Melissa kissing, which Songbird dismisses as merely one of Zemo’s fantasies.

Now

Melissa then heads to the training room where Zemo and Joystick (Janice Yanizeksi) are in a sparring match. Zemo relishes the exercise, much to the delight of Joystick. When she suggests they fool around in the shower later, Zemo turns her down flat out. This prompts Janice to blast him with electricity and decide the battle is over. Zemo is surprised by this, but Melissa explains that everything to Joystick is a competition that she has to win. Zemo figures this makes sense, revealing that Joystrick’s powers no longer require the assistance of technology, stating that she has become the living embodiment of action.

As the two walk off, Melissa’s mind drifts back again….

Then

During Melissa’s subsequent visit to Zemo’s Folding Castle, she learns that he has spent six weeks here while little time has passed in the real world. This is told to her during an exercising session. Suddenly, the piece of equipment that Melissa is working with begins to fall apart. That’s when Hemlut leaps in and shoves Melissa out of harms way, injuring himself. This comes as a surprise to her, but Zemo reiterates how important her future is to saving the world. Touched by the fact that Helmut would risk his own life to save her Melissa finds herself kissing him, thus starting the romance she previously said would be impossible.

Now

Zemo is now kissing Melissa in the hallway, but she stops him because she doesn’t want any of the others to see as it will complicate their mission. She reminds him that they still have work to do as Zemo plans on meeting with the leader of Russia and she still needs to interview the Swordsman (Andreas Von Strucker). Zemo doesn’t think this is necessary because he’s known Strucker since he was a child, but Songbird disagrees. Particularly since Zemo is the one responsible for killing Andreas’ sister.[14] Strucker has set himself up in a fancy apartment with a Hydra logo adorned on the wall. He tells Melissa that he has it there to remind him of what he needs to do: become the exact opposite of everything Hydra stands for. As Andreas is drinking a martini, Melissa tells him not to hit the bottle so hard as they are about to go on a mission to secure an old Soviet weapons depot in Moscow. She then convinces him to pour his drink down the drain since drinking before a mission is something he used to do.

As Melissa re-enters the Folding Castle, she is met by Radioactive Man, who has recalled something from their battle with Photon. Chen remembers how Melissa called Zemo by his first name, something that she wouldn’t have done given their tumultuous history. Now that he has adjusted to their new hideout he has also attuned his abilities so that he can see the tachyon particles created by this dimensional tesseract. He notes that those around Melissa indicate that she has been here longer than the rest of the team. Having deduced that Zemo and Songbird have been working together, Chen demands to know why they have been planning on all of this from the very beginning.

Then

During one of his glimpses into the future, Zemo shows Songbird visions of the future. With the United States government enacting Super Human Registration Act, there will be nobody but the Thunderbolts around to tackle the real threat and prevent the Guardian Protocols from happening. With all the cards laid out on the table, Melissa agreed to join Zemo’s mission.[15]

Now

When confronted with the truth, Melissa is surprised when Radioactive Man angrily asks why she loves Zemo. Melissa surprises him by saying that she doesn’t love Helmut. In fact, she is only playing along because the world will need the Thunderbolts and what they stand for. More importantly, they need Zemo to save the entire world. The reason she is getting as close to Zemo as possible is so that, when the mission is accomplished, she can kill him.

Recurring Characters

Thunderbolts (Baron Zemo, Songbird, Moonstone, Atlas, Mach-IV, Fixer, Radioactive Man, Joystick, Blizzard, Swordsman, Smuggler, Nighthawk)

Continuity Notes

1. This all happened last issue, where were you?

2. The Thunderbolts had fallen apart following the events of Avengers/Thunderbolts #1-6. Abner Jenkins eventually reformed the group in New Thunderbolts #1.

3. Melissa and the rest of the Thunderbolts were split up for months, with Zemo and the rest of the team being stranded on Counter-Earth. See Thunderbolts #58-75.

4. Which Abner “succeeds” in doing in New Thunderbolts #1, completely unaware that Melissa was working for Zemo.

5. Chen is referring to the fact that he was a founding member of the Masters of Evil, a group first formed by Helmut’s father, Heinrich Zemo in Avengers #6. During his time on the team, Chen and his allies were defeated by the Avengers.

6. The relationship between Erik and Conrad is actually quite complicated, particularly around the time that Conrad became the Smuggler. The details:

   • As explained in Thunderbolts #17, the Josten family was ruined after Erik became a supervillain, causing the family farm to fail. Conrad ran away from home and went into hiding for a number of years.

   • He resurfaced as the Smuggler, a member of the Redeemers (a team of government sponsored similar in theme to the Thunderbolts) in Thunderbolts #47. In that same issue, Erik’s ionic form was disbursed during a battle with Scourge, something he wouldn’t recover from until Thunderbolts #56.

   • Meanwhile, the Thunderbolts went on to secure presidential pardons on their own by exposing a government conspiracy to wipe out all superhumans in Thunderbolts #50.

   • Conrad and the Redeemers were mostly wiped out during their battle with Graviton in Thunderbolts #55-56. Conrad actually ended up getting trapped in the Darkforce Dimension until he was freed last issue.

   • Conrad stating here that he joined the Redeemers to clear Erik’s name rings false. During his time in the Redeemers he was depicted as hating his brother and was seeking to redeem his family name. One could assume that Conrad is lying in order to spare his brother’s feelings, perhaps because he is grateful for being rescued by Erik.

7. Atlas feared that Genis would screw things up for the team when he tried to join up in New Thunderbolts #1, nearly beating him to death. Genis ultimately was reborn in issue #6, but his growing insanity proved to be a threat to the entire universe, forcing Zemo to kill him last issue. Atlas prevented the other Thunderbolts from intervening because this would also save Conrad’s life.

8. Helmut’s face was horribly scarred in Avengers/Thunderbolts #5.

9. The Fixer points out here how Nighthawk had the Hulk as a teammate. He is referring to the Defenders a team that Nighthawk joined in Defenders #14. At the time, the Hulk was a founding member of the team when it first formed in Marvel Feature #1.

10. When the Thunderbolts reformed in New Thunderbolts #1, it was only made possible thanks to money Abner was taking from Hydra. That money was later cut off when the team stopped the terrorist group from attacking New York. The group got by when Speed Demon stole money from the Shocker in issue #8. Later, when he tried stealing from Kyle Richmond, it led to the Thunderbolts asking Nighthawk to join the team so he could personally fund them. See New Thunderbolts #15-16.

11. When Songbird took over leadership of the Thunderbolts in New Thunderbolts #13, the first thing she did was kick Donny off the team because she never really liked him.

12. Melissa states here that she learned to do the right thing for herself during a period where she and the Thunderbolts were separated. This was during the time most of the team was stranded on Counter-Earth. Melissa was left alone and she and Hawkeye eventually formed a new team until her comrades returned to their proper home. See Thunderbolts #58-75 (again).

13. Most of these glimpses of the future are events that have already happened or will happen in future issues. Some are kinda indistinct or I don’t recognize them, but here are the deets:

    • The Smuggler being freed from the Darkforce Dimension happened last issue.

    • We have a scene of Baron Zemo fighting Captain America, which will happen in Thunderbolts #105. According to Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #5, this is actually an alternate reality where Zemo kills Captain America. It has been designated Reality-92299.

    • We see a scene of the New Avengers attacking the Red Ronin robot. This was a trap set for the team to lure them into a battle against the Thunderbolts, which happened in New Thunderbolts #13-14.

    • The Grandmaster knocking over chess pieces shaped like the Thunderbolts and the Squadron Sinister. The Grandmaster has been seeking to take control the Wellspring of Power with the Thunderbolts as his only opposition, as we’ll see in Thunderbolts #106-108.

    • Swordsman confronting his father, Baron Strucker happened in New Thunderbolts #17.

    • The romance between Zemo and Songbird was revealed last issue.

    • We also see a scene where Moonstone (in her original costume) fights Gladiator of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard. As of this writing (October, 2023) this event has yet to be depicted. So either it has yet to happen, or only happened in an alternate reality. However, at this time (Oct, 2023) it has yet to be assigned an reality number.

14. Zemo did exactly that in Citizen V and the V-Battalion #3. Andrea Von Strucker will eventually be cloned and this clone will turn up in Thunderbolts #122.

15. What Zemo sees is the enactment of the Super Human Registration Act, which will spark a civil war in the hero community (See Civil War #1-7), leaving the world vulnerable when the Grandmaster and the Squadron Sinister attempt to seize control of the Wellspring of Power, as will be seen in Thunderbolts #106-108. The Guardian Protocols are an alien pact that would bring destruction on any world that threatened the existence of the universe. See Thunderbolts #106 for all the details.

Topical References

• It is stated here that Zemo is going to visit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. As I write this (October, 2023) Putin has been the President of Russia since 2012. Despite this, reference to him here should be considered topical as he will eventually be replaced by someone new eventually, either by some kind of election, death, or retirement.