Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Artists: Chris Batista (p), Rich Perrotta (i)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Plot:
The book opens with Baron Zemo making it clear that he's willing to sacrifice his home Earth to the Void, in order to save Counter-Earth, and he sets about helping Anomaly make this a reality. Meanwhile, Moonstone isn't quite ready to go along with Baron Zemo's plan, and as such she turns to the others for advice. As is the case in most of these no win scenarios we see the Jolt is able to come up with a plan that will allow them to defeat the Void without destroying either Earth. We then see than this plan is not without its dangers, as it will require Jolt & Atlas to expel amounts of energy that the Fixer's calculations show they simply aren't capable of generating without killing themselves. However, ever the villain we see the Fixer keeps this last bit of information to himself, and the group begins to put their plan into action, while Moonstone heads in to keep Baron Zemo from jumping the gun in his bid to save the more easily conquered Counter-Earth. As the Thunderbolts set out to transport the Void's vessel off-planet, effectively severing its connection to both Earths, we see that the extreme energy drain serves to split Eric from Dallas, while Jolt is completely drained and is left behind on Counter-Earth. Meanwhile the rest of the team finds themselves transported back to Earth, where they are greeted by an unexpected welcoming committee.
Comments:
A pretty exciting finish to the other half of the Thunderbolts split adventure, as we see Baron Zemo's team becomes entangled is a plot that could very well destroy an entire world. Now I'll admit that there was never any doubt in my mind that if a world had to be sacrificed it would've been the Counter-Earth, as I imagine this book would've been part of Marvel's new "must have" program, if Fabian Nicieza had been given the go ahead to destroy the Marvel Universe. However, I did enjoy the way that this story set it up so that when the choice of which Earth to destroy was placed before Baron Zemo, he automatically choose to sacrifice the one that he had already tried & failed to conquer numerous times. I mean this is a great Baron Zemo moment, and even though he gets behind the third opinion that involves the destruction of neither world, the simple fact remains that Baron Zemo had made his choice, and was actively planning the death of an entire world, with his choice of which world to destroy based entirely upon which world offered him the best power base to operate from. My only quibble with this issue is that it tries a little too hard to make Baron Zemo look heroic when he decides to abandon his original plan.
This issue also does a pretty good job of playing with its other cast members who are sitting on the fence when it comes to the question of their villainous nature. My personal favorite section of the issue would have to be the moment when MACH-3 confronts the Fixer over the idea that he knew that they didn't have enough power to pull off their plan without killing Atlas & Jolt. This one little scene is a great glimpse at the differing mindset that exists between these two, as the Fixer is still operating from a villain's mindset, while Abe's incensed state leaves no doubt he's a true blue hero. There's also some nice exchanges involving Moonstone as she makes her way between Baron Zemo and the rest of the team, and tries to figure out which side she's going to throw her support behind. In fact Fabian Nicieza almost manages a moment of comedy as we see Moonstone lets Jolt in on what Baron Zemo's plans are, and the young hero goes into full rant mode. As for the rest of the group, there is pretty big changes that play out in this issue, as one member of the group looks to lose their powers, while another is left behind on Counter Earth. The issue also ends with Hawkeye & Baron Zemo's groups finally getting a face to face meeting.
Chris Batista turns in another pretty solid issue, while there are some visuals that just felt wrong, like the smile on Baron Zemo's face when he greets Moonstone, or the expressions on the faces on Songbird & Hawkeye's faces as they see who has emerged from the void, for the most part that art on this issue holds up remarkably well. The art details the story in a pretty clear, easy-to-follow manner, as we see Baron Zemo's efforts to destroy a world are nicely visualized though the use of those two spheres, and the uncertainty of Moonstone's face is well presented. Now I was a momentarily surprised by the idea that Atlas had suddenly increased in size, as to tell the truth I'd forgotten this was his main power, because I don't think it's been used once after he made his return from the dead. In any event, the art does a nice job of showing us the team preparing for action, and when they start to carry out their plan, it also does a pretty solid job of making the action feel edge of your seat exciting. It also didn't hurt that after the Fixer confesses that the strain will probably kill Jolt & Atlas, the art nicely plays up the idea that Atlas is quite literally being ripped apart by the energy drain.
Final Word:
A pretty solid finish to the Counter-Earth adventure, as Fabian Nicieza displays a good understanding of the idea that this team is made up of former criminals, and some of them aren't nearly as reformed as their teammates. Baron Zemo is especially evil in this issue as we see he's perfectly willing to sacrifice an entire world to secure a power base, and while his change of heart was a little too mawkish & overly sentimental for me to buy into, I enjoyed the opening look at how utterly evil Baron Zemo could be to be completely turned off by the happy ending that was tacked on to the character. The issue also offers up a great little scene where we see the Fixer isn't quite as heroic as one would like, as he's willing to sacrifice his teammates to save himself. In the end the question of which Earth would be destroyed was a non-issue, as Fabian Nicieza doesn't even destroy Counter-Earth, but the character moments were enough to keep me from being too disappointed by the rather uninspired finish.
What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!