Gaze upon me, mortals, and tremble! For I am the brute that walks!
THE SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN #2
NICK SPENCER (W) • STEVE LIEBER (A)
Cover by ED MCGUINNESS
Variant Cover by PHIL JIMENEZ
• With superior villains come superior problems as the year’s sleeper hit continues!
• Out of bail and aiming to stay out of jail, Boomerang must get his cronies on target – but does the PUNISHER have them targeted already?
• Nick Spencer (AVENGERS) and Steve Lieber (HAWKEYE) continue this most evil exploration into the Marvel U!
Everytime I see Boomerang’s still wearing that belt buckle, I get a little happier.
From Thunderbolts #57, one of my favorite sequences in the series.
Abe Jenkins became a supervillain to gain respect, and a superhero to earn redemption. He’s saved the world, served prison time, and had his appearance altered. All of that had been to get to here—retired from super-business, settling down with a nice girl, and making an honest living. And suddenly here comes Baron Zemo to tell him that was never the point. The life he dreamt of is an illusion; the life he’s led is his true destiny.
This is a theme in the book that transcends the whole “good guys and bad guys” business. People like Abe—or Zemo, or Songbird—aren’t meant to be normal, they’re meant to endlessly strive and struggle and challenge everything around them. Thunderbolts don’t rest in heaven or earth, they’re always wandering in-between.
TIME FOR A SCREAMING MIMI SPECIAL
I was flipping through Thunderbolts #171 and I started wondering whether Songbird killed this guy.
It seems pretty cut-and-dried that she left Doctor Dorcas to die after allowing his monsters to attack him. But Dorcas had already escaped death before by turning into a human starfish. I’m not even sure he can be killed.
Kei, though, actually comes across as more monstrous because he’s just a regular guy. You could meet a man like Kei in real life, which makes it more upsetting to learn that he was capable of being paid to sleep with Songbird as part of a ruse to kidnap her. So I think Melissa would be justified in killing him. He’s committed some very heinous crimes, there might not be enough evidence for a trial, and on top of all of that he betrayed her personally.
On the other hand, Songbird said way back in T-bolts #14 that she’d never killed anyone, and there’s no sign of that changing by #171. If anything, her ethics on that subject would only be stronger after being trained by Hawkeye and then training other Thunderbolts herself. So when she had no code against killing she also never had a reason to kill, but now that she has a very good reason she’s bound by a very strong code. That’s an interesting dilemma, but it can only stay interesting while Kei is breathing and Melissa has both options on the table.
Troll is too cute for her own good.
Super-Villain Team-Up presents Baron Zemo and Vladimir Putin
Reason #30594 why being Mr. Immortal isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Zemo’s ass has spoken, and woe betide any man who ignores it.
GPOY.
