“Justice, like lightning…” With those words, 1997’s Thunderbolts #1 shocked the Marvel Universe. The new superhero team — Citizen V, Songbird, Techno, Meteorite, MACH-1, and Atlas — made their debut months earlier in the pages of The Incredible Hulk #449 by writer Peter David and artist Mike Deodato Jr., picking a fight with the eponymous Green Goliath in the Arizona desert. After Earth’s mightiest heroes sacrificed themselves to save the world from the villain Onslaught, the Thunderbolts reappeared to fill the void left by the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.
In Tales of the Marvel Universe #1, a one-shot comic from Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley, the Thunderbolts garnered the public’s approval as they rescued civilians in the aftermath of the Onslaught attack. (The vanished heroes were reborn in a pocket universe and would eventually return.) In the meantime, this “world without heroes” was left to be defended by what one police officer derisively called “mutant terrorists, kids, and outlaw vigilantes” like Spider-Man and the New Warriors, who endorsed New York City’s newest champions.
Busiek and Bagley’s Thunderbolts #1 came with an asterisk, so to speak, because these new heroes weren’t heroes at all. Instead, they were the Avengers archvillains known as the Masters of Evil: Baron Helmut Zemo (Citizen V), Screaming Mimi (Songbird), the Fixer (Techno), Moonstone (Meteorite), the Beetle (MACH-1), and Goliath (Atlas).
While that reveal wouldn’t come until behind closed doors on the last page of the first issue, readers learned early on why the T-bolts took the name “Thunderbolts”: Citizen V explained it was inspired by a poem by the 17th century poet Thomas Randolph, who wrote: “Justice, like lightning, ever should appear; To few men ruin, but to all men fear.”
“Our hope is that we can be that lightning — that justice,” Citizen V told the press. Asked why the Thunderbolts didn’t call themselves the Avengers, he explained: “The Avengers can’t be replaced, and we don’t presume to try. We wouldn’t think of usurping their name or record — whatever reputation we deserve, we’ll earn through our actions.”
Although they didn’t usurp the Avengers’ name, they did take over Four Freedoms Plaza, former home to the Fantastic Four, as their base. As the pretend heroes took on such foes as the Wrecking Crew, the Mad Thinker, the Enclave, and the new Masters of Evil, some of the Thunderbolts began to genuinely reform, including Atlas and new couple Songbird and MACH-1. Helen Takahama, an idealistic electric-powered hero called Jolt, joined the team, but was unaware of the Thunderbolts’ secrets.
Once the missing heroes returned to Earth (in Heroes Reborn: The Return), Baron Zemo unmasked the Thunderbolts as the Masters of Evil, who then battled the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. The Thunderbolts became outlaws, but their next leader helped reform the team: Hawkeye, who was a reluctant costumed criminal before he was an Avenger.
Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*, which stars Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova/Black Widow, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, David Harbour as Aleksei Shostakov/Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell as John Walker/U.S. Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost, Olga Kurylenko as Antonia Dreykov /Taskmaster, Lewis Pullman as Bob Reynolds/the Sentry, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, is now playing only in theaters.
“Justice, like lightning…” With those words, 1997’s Thunderbolts #1 shocked the Marvel Universe. The new superhero team — Citizen V, Songbird, Techno, Meteorite, MACH-1, and Atlas — made their debut months earlier in the pages of The Incredible Hulk #449 by writer Peter David and artist Mike Deodato Jr., picking a fight with the eponymous Read More