Shawn Hill:
Luke Handley:
“Faith in Monsters, pt. 6”
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Mike Deodato, Jr.
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Shawn Hill: To start, I’m pleasantly surprised at the consistency of this title. I’ve felt a couple of the issues were more filler than not, but I’m really surprised to still find a superstar team like Ellis and Deodato remaining on the title for half a year. Maybe that’s not saying very much, but seeing them taking the radical new direction seriously helps me take it seriously, too. I was really worried about character assassination when this run began, but Ellis hasn’t done that.
Luke Handley: I agree. Though there have been some issues that were better than others, Ellis and Deodato have produced a strong first half year’s worth of stories. I am slightly puzzled as to why these first six issues were billed as a six part story-arc; the series has felt more like an open-ended ongoing title and that’s definitely a good thing in my book. The problem with billing it as an arc is that it also leads to the feeling that some of the middle issues were filler material, but viewing the whole as one ongoing story somehow makes them feel less so.
Hill: In fact, with this issue, it’s clear that he’s assembled a team of Thunderbolt adversaries in Phoenix, AZ who look suspiciously like the good guys, while Songbird and Radioactive Man are hemmed in by their more violent and amoral teammates. Penance is still a big question mark, sadly ineffectual for the reasons Chen explains in one of the many raw sequences in this issue.
Handley: Having said [the above], this issue is without a doubt my personal favourite of the run thus far. I think one of the bigger doubts I initially had about this relaunch was how could Ellis make us care and root for this team of psychotic mass murderers? Answer: he’s not. As you stated, American Eagle and Sepulchre are the “heroes” of this issue. It is odd to be reading a book in which the title characters are not only villains but villains that you want to see take a beating. Whether this was Ellis’ intention all along or not I don’t know, and I’m sure some people might view this as a flaw, but I really enjoyed watching the new T-Bolts get the smackdown they deserved.
Hill: The smackdown here mostly happens to Bullseye, and it is well-deserved. Sepulchre and American Eagle acquit themselves admirably, but skirmishes won’t win the war, and they know it. If any part of this feels like an arc conclusion, it’s that a lot of inevitable outcomes play out this issue, resulting in high casualties and injuries. Wherever the Thunderbolts go next, if the Goblin regroups, it won’t be quite the same team he employed and reorganized six issues ago.
Handley: This issue definitely makes the point that this new incarnation of the Thunderbolts has some serious problems that will force Osborn to re-assess where they go from here. I do like the way in which Ellis has, for the most part, remained faithful to each member’s established persona. After almost reaching redemption and falling in love with Hawkeye, Moonstone has returned to her scheming, bordering on evil ways a little too easily, but then again she’s more interesting this way. Radioactive Man was a pleasant surprise this issue, and it’s nice to see all the work Fabian Nicieza put into redeeming him wasn’t for naught.
Hill: Yes, while he’s kept Melissa and Chen Lu as relatively responsible, he’s let Karla Sofen become completely opportunistic and unsympathetic, and hasn’t bothered to do much with Venom because... well, what can you do? Still, he hasn’t made either character stupid to fit them into the new regime; he’s just let their worst natures out.
Osborn has been a bit repetitive, but I like him behind the scenes, pulling the strings, and creeping everyone out. He’s gathered a team of vipers, and he should hardly be surprised when they start scheming for dominance. This issue, even Melissa plays to her audience, outright lying to Bullseye to create a distraction, knowing the trouble he’ll cause. She inadvertently leads to a resolution for his problematic presence on the team, but unfortunately, she doesn’t anticipate Venom’s actions, which are just as unpredictable.
Handley: Songbird suffers a rather abrupt reality check this issue. Though she’s seen what these new bloodthirsty T-Bolts are capable of, she obviously still believed that her team was redeemable and that she could reclaim some measure of control. By trying to do so, she’s inadvertently responsible for the death of Bullseye’s handlers and despite attempting to calm things down with American Eagle and Sepulchre, all she gets for her efforts is a face full of pavement.
THE moment of the whole issue though, for me, is American Eagle, Jason Strongbow, kicking the holy crap out of Bullseye. His warm-up speech is pretty hardcore, and I turned the page to the opening of the hostilities with much trepidation, fearing what might follow. However, as Jason points out, Bullseye may be a master in the art of killing and fare well against non-powered chumps like Daredevil, but he ain’t all that against someone with superpowers. The way Eagle casually slaps Bullseye around the face then pummels him had me shouting “Hell yeah!,” even after his adversary is electrocuted and paralysed. And the panel with Bullseye’s neck giving way with the ominous “CRACK” just crowned it all. Some may say this isn’t the behaviour of a real hero. I say Bullseye is a psychopathic jerk and should have been put down for good!
Hill: Ellis loves gritty dialogue, doesn’t he? “What happened to the first shot?” pleads Bullseye and Strongbow answers simply “I lied” as he beats him to a pulp. Some might find this beatdown to be just macho posturing, but I don’t think that’s the point. I don’t recall it ever happening to Bullseye before, and not from such an unexpected source. Bullseye’s fate is gruesome, but these are very desperate times, and what recourse do heroes have when assassins, monsters and insane criminals are thrown at them? Definitely one of the many highlights of a very intense issue.
Handley: I’d also like to mention the Steel Spider’s performance this issue. He takes on, and for a while holds his own against, two of the T-Bolt’s most powerful members. He is finally taken down, as Venom borrows a move from DC’s villains with one of their patented arm removals. Ow! But he highlights just how ineffectual these ex-villains are when working as a team. Though I did really enjoy this issue, something needs to happen to make me want to see the Thunderbolts actually improve and triumph, because at the moment I’m backing the other guy every time.
On the art front, I think this issue marks a new high for Deodato. Though I found his style immediately appropriate for this title, this time around he really goes to town with the action sequences and pulls off some stunning visuals, such as Sepulchre unleashing the Darkforce, Bullseye getting fried, or anything with Venom in it. It’s dark, gritty and right. I can’t think of anyone else who could carry this book so well. The beauty is also in the detail; the look of fear in Bullseye’s bloodshot eyes just before Jason Strongbow lands the final punch almost made me feel sorry for the guy.
Hill: I agree with you on Deodato, Jr. He’s outdone himself on this title. He’s delivered everything Ellis’s scripts ask for and more. It’s so great to see him on a title that plays to his strengths, with a script that requires a level of realism mixed with moments of extreme violence and action. He fills each scene with telling details, from the sweat on Sepulchre’s face when she takes off her mask to the X-ray skeletons on view when Radioactive Man lets loose a power burst.
Handley: Best read I’ve had in a long time. Once again, we have an issue for which it appears we both agree on most things. Need to find something we disagree on …
Hill: I’m sure we will someday!
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