This is a quiet issue with everyone at the Thunderbolt’s base, the Cube. White Widow spides on them. Ant-Man has a strange kink about watching women eat. There are extended conversational pieces that read pretty similar to Brian Michael Bendis’ material. Down-time issues are not an invention of Brian Michael Bendis, but he certainly pioneered a new style of “all talk” issues.
We learn in this issue that Ghost believes Norman Osborn would let any of them die if it would advance his interests, which really is not a surprise. What is a surprise is that this is news to Headsman.
A few issues ago, when Headsman stormed Barack Obama’s plane dressed as Green Goblin, Ghost says that the Bat-Glider was faulty and if Ghost hadn’t fixed it, Headsman would have died. The nice thing about this sequence is that we see that Ghost is becoming a character with some definition and depth.
The team then goes undercover at an opera in Madripoor where Mister X is in attendance–with his date, Tyger Tiger. He is their next target. Their mission is to make it look like he was murdered. In reality Osborn believes that X wants to join the team, but nobody can know that.
The Thunderbolts fight him until everyone leaves the operahouse, and then leave a fake body behind, so that the world will think he is dead.
Despite that the layouts, script, and art all are clearly designed to mimic the very successful and similar work of Bendis, this is a strong issue. Diggle is doing a good job on this book. The fact that editorial is developing a “Bendis style” for these dark-and-cynical team books isn’t really all that different from the old Stan Lee/Jack Kirby days.
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