Thunderstrike #16
Grudge Match!
Carl “Crusher” Creel, aka the Absorbing Man, has just discovered that his girlfriend Titania has been stealing behind his back even though she promised to go straight.[1] Carl is deeply upset because this could land them in trouble with the Avengers again and land themselves in jail. Breaking down into tears, Titania tells him that she can’t kick the habit because she is still haunted by the fact that she has defeated her in the past. Seeing how upset Titania is, Creel holds her close and promises her that he’ll do everything he can to help her get the monkey off her back.
Meanwhile, Thunderstrike has brought Stellaris to Avengers Headquarters. There, he has Giant-Man run her through a combat simulation so they can get a scan of her armor and learn its full capabilities. She complies with their request, but finds the idea of fighting against automations for no reason a waste of her time. Once Giant-Man has finished his scans of Stellaris in action he is shocked to discover that her form is not giving off any life-sighn readings for some reason.[2] However, before he can look into this any further they are interrupted when Thunderstrike is told there is a call waiting for him. It turns out to be the Absorbing Man who has called Thunderstrike to ask for help.
At that moment, Bobby Steele, is relaxing in a whirlpool after a practice with the New York Smashers. He is interrupted when one of the other players tells him that the coach wants to see him. This is the moment Bobby has been dreading as there has been talk about how he is going to be traded to another team in California. Sure enough, that’s exactly what the coach came to talk to him about. This trade is all due to the fact that Steele has been in a slumb recently. After the meeting, Bobby returns to the locker room and punches a locker in fury. He was the one who brought the Smashers multiple winning seasons and made the team what it is today. He views this trade as a betrayal to his years long devotion to the team. He blames it on all the corporate suits that run the team and vows that he will make them pay.[3]
Meanwhile, Thunderstrike has met up with She-Hulk for lunch where he asks her to help him with the Absorbing Man’s problems. Apparently, Creel wants She-Hulk to have one last one-on-one fight with Titania to prove once and for all which one is the stronger of the two. When hearing about this scheme, She-Hulk thinks Thunderstrike is crazy for even suggesting the idea. However, he explains that this might be the only thing that will allow Titania to retire from a life of crime. He also says that a controlled fight would be better than just waiting for Titania to attack her again as they wouldn’t have to worry about innocent people getting hurt in the process. She-Hulk decides that she’ll at least talk to the two of them but won’t commit to fighting until she’s sure there’s nothing fishy going on.[4] Their conversation is then interrupted by the arrival of Stellaris who tracked down Thunderstrike looking for something fun to do. After Stellaris introduces herself to She-Hulk, Thunderstrike tells her that he has important business to do.
Just then, at a bar called Red Eyes, some crooks are talking about their plans to rob Malachi Technologies. This is overheard by a stoolie who races to a nearby payphone to tip off Bloodaxe.
At that same time, Thunderstrike and She-Hulk meet with Absorbing Man and Titania on the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. However, the two heroes don’t want the battle to take place here as innocent people can be harmed, to this end, Thunderstrike uses his enchanted mace to teleport them elsewhere. As the dimensional vortex opens, Stellaris arrives on the scene and follows Thunderstrike and the others through it. They all appear out in the middle of a testing site in Nevada.[5] When the Absorbing Man sees Stellaris he assumes that Thunderstrike is trying to pull a fast one on them and attacks the hero. While Eric fends off Creel, Titania attacks She-Hulk. Stellaris comes to Thunderstrike’s aid, but is caught off guard when the Absorbing Man takes on the properties of her energy blasts to fend her off.
Back in New York City, Doctor Gary Paretsky is following Jackie Lukas. He has been trailing her for a while and is noting that she has been acting strange recently. When she enters Salon Steele. He has been curious of her ever since she abruptly left Eric Masterson’s recent house warming party and hopes that he can stop and talk to her on her way out of the women’s locker room.[6]
In Nevada, the battles rage on and while at first it appears as though Titania is beating She-Hulk with her own strength, her costume gloves being to rip revealing that she is wearing cybernetic gauntlets to further boost her strength. While not far away, the Absorbing Man takes on the properties of the Earth itself to grow to titanic size. This isn’t much of a match for Thunderstrike who topples the giant by using his enchanted mace to split open the ground and create a chasm big enough to swallow up Creel. Meanwhile, She-Hulk turns tail and runs from Titania, making her opponent think that She-Hulk has gone coward. However, She-Hulk is merely luring Titania to a nearby rock outcropping. Evading Titania’s next blow, She-Hulk’s gambit pays off when her opponents hand gets stuck. She then hits Titania in the face hard enough to send her flying.
Titania ends up crash landing into Thunderstrike, knocking him off his feet as the Absorbing Man — having reverted back to his normal form — crawls out of the chasm. Seeing that his beloved Titania is hurt, Carl grabs Stellaris and tries to use his absorbing powers on her. However, he discovers that something about Stellaris is far too alien for him to mimic and it breaks his mind causing Creel to collapse to the ground in the fetal position. Seeing how Stellaris is just as shocked as everyone else, Thunderstrike realizes that there are things about her past that not even Stellaris knows about.
While back in the city, a group of men in snake themed costumes have successfully raided the Malachi Technologies building. They are being observed from the rooftops by Bloodaxe. They see these men as merely lackies for some bigger fish and decides to follow them to find out who their master is an eliminate them for good.[7]
Recurring Characters
Thunderstrike, She-Hulk, Titania, Stellaris, Giant-Man, Bloodaxe, Bobby Steele, Gary Paresky
Continuity Notes
The Absorbing Man decided that he wanted to go straight in Thor #436. Unfortunately, Titania has developed kleptomania and has continued to commit robberies, as we’ve seen in Thor #447-448.
This, and Abosorbing Man’s attempts at mimicking her powers later this issue raise the question as to Stellaris’ true nature and origins. This mystery is deepened further next issue when she admits that she has no memories of her past. As of this writing in November 2022, these mysteries have remain unresolved.
Bobby Steele has been doing poorly on the Smashers since around Thunderstrike #1. He tried to regain his former glory by doing steroids but this made him violent and paranoid and he kicked the habit in issue #8. There has been talk about Bobby being traded since Thunderstrike #12. His temper tantrum here is a red herring to trick readers into thinking he’s secretly Bloodaxe. However, it’s later revealed to be Jackie Lukas in Thunderstrike #22.
She-Hulk details her history with Titania, stating that during their first encounter Titania and the Wrecking Crew nearly beat her to death. That was in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #7. She-Hulk also mentions that Titania has tried to attack her on a number of other occasions since then, but She-Hulk has won every fight. See Solo Avengers #14, and Sensational She-Hulk #49.
A footnote here says “remind us to tell you how Eric knows about this place!”. Thunderstrike was cancelled before this could be revealed and as of this writing (November, 2022) this has never been explained. I highly doubt it ever will either. Eric probably knows about it because he designed it for the military or something due to his job as an architect.
The party that Gary Paretsky is referring to was in Thunderstrike #9. The same story that revealed that Bloodaxe is somebody close to Eric Masterson, but not who. Paretsky has been asking about Jackie Lukas since Thunderstrike #13. This sequence is yet another clue to readers as to the identity of Bloodaxe. Thunderstrike #22 reveals that Paretsky always knew that Jackie was Bloodaxe as he saw he recover the weapon from Eric Masterson’s closet at the party they both attended. Why he kept this to himself instead of going to the cops right away or telling Thunderstrike is a product of bad writing I’m sure.
We’ll find out next issue that these men are under the employ of Seth, the Egyptian god of death.
Topical References
The Red Eye bar is depicted as being cloudy inside from all the cigarette smoke. This should be considered a topical reference as indoor smoking became illegal in the state of New York in 2003.
Bloodaxe’s telephone is depicited as having a built in answering machine that records messages using a cassette tape. This should be considered a topical reference as this is now an obsolete technology.
Krask Force
Daredevil is swinging through the city and as he passes the Krask and Krask law office his radar senses pick up the aura of pure evil.[1] This stops him dead in his tracks and he begins scanning the area to see what he can pick up. That’s when he senses the presence of his old friend Foggy Nelson and tracks him as he goes inside.[2]
Foggy is representing the city of New York in the hopes of settling a lawsuit Krask and Krask has filed against the city. Present is Marcus Stone of the NYPD’s Code: Blue since the Krask brothers (Kevin and Kenneth) blame the tactical unit for damages done to some of their properties during a battle with a rogue Doombot.[3] The city wants to settle for the original amount listed in the lawsuit, however the Krasks want to increase the damages after hearing about the destruction caused during Code: Blue’s recent attempts to stop the Thermal Man.[4]
As the legal proceedings are underway, Daredevil sneaks into the Krask building to try and find the evil he detected. Meanwhile, Marcus Stone tries to defend what his team does and thinks that the Krasks are just trying to extort money from the city. Foggy agrees that perhaps going into deposition would be the next best step. However, things get ugly when one of the Krasks mocks Stone’s superior, Captain Kelly Conklin, for getting suspended. However, before Stone can rough him up, the room is struck by a surge of energy. It then takes on the appearance of Kronin Krask, the father of Kenneth and Kevin, who has long believed to have died a few years back. Using his psionic powers to shut down all communications and seal off the building. Krask is furious that his sons have been misusing his company since his demise.
The elder Krask explains that everyone thought him dead after he failed to take control of Thor’s body many years earlier.[5] However, his mind was transferred into the ultra-oscilloscope device that was used in the mind swapping device. It was later stored away with nobody suspecting that it contained the mind of Krask himself. It was kept in the basement for years until it finally broke down, freeing Kronin’s consciousness. With his mind now able to interface with electronics he now intends to use his newfound power to manipulate a massive stock market crash that will wipe out the entire financial system of the United States.
Meanwhile, the mayor of New York City is holding a press conference where he is announcing that Code: Blue is being disbanded. He explains that the cost to run such a division is too prohibitive and relying on the city’s superhero population will resolve problems at no cost to the city. That’s when word gets out about Krask’s threat to crash the stock market. The mayor has Jim Young — the man spearheading the initiative to shut down Code: Blue — to call the Avengers for help. Hercules is the only member around to answer the phone and when he can’t grasp the concept of an immaterial foe threatening the economy, Herc hangs up on him. That’s when Chief O’Grady pressures the mayor into doing a complete reversal and reinstatement of Code: Blue.
With Marcus Stone trapped inside the Krask building, Shelly Conklin is reinstated so she can lead the team into getting into the building. With Mother Majowski running support from headquarters, the team forces their way inside the building. There they try to use high tech gear to stop Kronin Krask but not even an assist from Daredevil can stop the energy being. Reunited with his team, Marcus Stone grabs a radio from Conklin and uses it to order Majowski to call in Code: Grey for a back-up.
Code: Grey, as it turns out, is a group of New York City’s finest administrative minds. They include Charlie Pike, a CPA that manages the city payroll; Tom Jeffers the city’s representative on Wall Street; Woodrow Truesmith, a city attorney that deals in laws and regulations; and lastly Trudy Kockenlocker, the public utility commission’s chief engineer. Using virtual reality helmets, the team downloads their minds into the Krask computer database. There, the pool their abilities together and flood Kronin Krask with so much data that he is overwhelmed. Soon, Krask’s consciousness is stored on a piece of removable data storage in order to isolate him from any online systems.
With the elder Krask defeated, Foggy Nelson returns to the bargaining table with his two sons. Threatening to release their father again the force Kevin and Kenneth to agree to a substantially smaller settlement far short of their original asking price.
A few days later, Code: Blue celebrates their reinstatement and are pleased to hear that Jim Young has since been demoted to a low ranking position in the Bowery. As Marcus and Shelly leave the party, the two wonder about their futures now that Code: Blue is here to stay. Shelly is contemplating going back to a desk job or staying on as an active member of the team. Marcus on the other hand has been given an ultimatum from his wife: retire or she will divorce him. As they are discussing this a process server arrives to give Marcus divorce papers from his wife.[6] As it turns out, he waited too long to make up his mind and his wife is going ahead with their separation. When Shelly asks Marcus if she’ll see him on Monday, he confirms that he’ll be there.
Recurring Characters
Code: Blue (Marcus Stone, Rigger Ruiz, Mad Dog Rossitano, Fireworks Feldstein, Mother Majowski), Daredevil, Foggy Nelson, Chief O’Grady, Jim Young, Hercules
Continuity Notes
The narrative here briefly recaps Daredevil’s origins from Daredevil #1 (obviously).
It should be noted that, at the time of this story, Daredevil has estranged himself from Foggy. This is because he faked his own death and assumed a new identity. See Daredevil #319 through 345 for that whole sordid affair.
The rogue Doombot was stopped in Thunderstrike #13.
Code: Blue stopped the Thermal Man’s rampage last issue.
Kronin Krask attempted to take control of Thor’s body back in Thor #172. Per the Sliding Timescale that happened about six years prior to this story.
When we first met Marcus Stone in Thor #403 he was on the road to retirement. However, when pursing the Rock Troll named Ulik in Thor #414 he decided to stay on the force as there was a need for officers to take on super-human threats. This led to the formation of Code: Blue in Thor #426. Apparently Marcus’ wife accepted this until Thunderstrike #13 when she first made her ultimatum to him.
Topical References
Lot of outdated office technology on display in this story including computers with CRT monitors, fax machines, and CDs being used for data storage. These should all be considered topical as they are obsolete technologies.
It is stated here that the lawsuit filed against the city by Krask and Krask is seeking damages in the ballpark of 12 million dollars. They balloon that to 50 million. Then at the end of the story, Foggy talks them down to a paltry 500k. Adjusting for inflation this would be a cost of 24 million, 100 million, and 1 million in 2022 money respectively.
One of the camera men filming the mayor’s public address is wearing a baseball cap with the CNN logo on it. This should be considered topical as CNN is a real world television station.
Jim Young is specifically stated as being made part of the Bowery Clean-Up Committee. At the time of this story, the Bowery had been on the decline for decades. The 1990s saw the area undergo revitalization and gentrification. Since this process has long since concluded, reference to Young being part of a Bowery “clean-up” should be considered topical.