This miniseries explores the transition of Speedball into Penance–a move from one of the absolute worst characters in the Marvel Universe into one of the most interesting. Paul Jenkins, a fantastic comic book writer, was responsible for that initial transformation and he uses this book to explore the character more deeply. I know Penance is really a D-list character who most of the world know nothing about, and his “S&M” motifs will probably never allow him to go mainstream, but I think of what Jenkins did with Robbie Baldwin as similar to what Chris Claremont did with Wolverine. Both were fairly unimaginative characters who could have become generic footnotes until someone else came along and unleashed awesome potential.
This mini starts with Norman Osborn discussing the character’s background–how he (as Speedball) and the New Warriors’ negligence led to Nitro blowing up a school bus full of children. That, in turn, led to the Superhuman Registration Act. Nitro escaped. Robbie Baldwin was arrested and imprisoned, where his guilt ate at him. In his cell, he writes simple math formulas over and over, every day.
Norman Osborn visits him to find out what the numbers mean, and Baldwin’s personal form of crazy recognizes Osborn’s own “blind spot brand” of crazy. The use of strange numbers becomes a theme through the series used to underscore the relentless nature of Penance’s new character.
We then move headed. The Thunderbolts go after a bunch of Latverians–believing that they know where Nitro is hiding–and because the trio have some nuclear launch codes. Nitro had been held in Atlantis, but after that city was destroyed in the recent Sub-Mariner miniseries, the U.S. Government has assumed he went with the Atlanteans to Latverians.
Penance goes rogue on the mission and becomes a true badass.
Incidentally, the Latverians are the “Terrible Trio,” who we haven’t seen in a long time. Penance takes them all out, steals the launch codes from them, and allows Harry to escape–telling him to tell Dr. Doom to release Nitro to the Thunderbolts within 24 hours, or else he will blow Latveria off the map.
Penance goes after Dr. Mendel “Robot Master” Stromm next. Note that Robot Master, like Speedball, was created by Steve Ditko. As he trashes all of Dr. Stromm’s treasures, Penance keeps saying the number, “One.”
He forces Stromm to tell him how to use the codes to launch the nuclear missles.
Wolverine goes after Penance, realizing what he’s doing, and catches him in the nuclear silo. Their interactions are interesting–it’s a good issue that builds momentum. Penance refuses to stand down, they fight, and Penance stays three moves ahead of everyone else. He tells Wolverine that he wanted Wolverine to follow him because he knew who follow…His teammates in the Thunderbolts.
They race after Penance, who has already initiated the launch sequence. The Thunderbolts fail to stop the countdown but when it gets to zero…
…There’s no launch. All of it was just so Robbie could steal their plane.
Penance invades Latveria and almost causes an international incident.
He is even able to outsmart Doctor Doom. He catches Nitro, and tortures him. He cuts off his hand. He even forces him to wear his “needle costume.”
That’s the end of this series, and it’s fantastic. I’ve read people trash this book and I can’t understand why. It definitely left me wanting more.