The Thunderbolts are now wanted, after having been exposed as a group of villains masquerading as heroes to hide a plot by Zemo to take over the world. On the run from SHIELD, who is not interested in hearing that they are trying to go straight, they consider taking on yet another collection of fake identities. But instead, they’re attacked by The Lighting Rods.
The Great Lakes Avengers, too, have a new name. SHIELD has recruited them to take down the Thunderbolts.
The fight is fun. The T-Bolts win, knock out all the GLA, put on their clothes, and trick GW Bridge into thinking they’re the “heroes” hired by SHIELD.
That is excellent: A team of villains who posed as heroes but now really are heroes knock out a bunch of heroes to pose as those heroes.
In the background are the last remaining unrepentently evil Thunderbolts: Fixer and Zemo. Fixer was blown up recently and now occupies a robot body–and he cooks up a new, fleshy one for him that is a clone of Zemo.
But Zemo shoots it.
This book is so much fun to read.
After watching his former subordinates beat the GLA, Zemo lures them out of hiding again with a fake Hulk. Just as he is preparing the next step in his plan, we see that there is a new Citizen V.
Only like everyone else in this book, he’s not really Citizen V. Hulk is a robot, the Lightning Rods are the GLA, the GLA are the Thunderbolts, and the new Citizen V is…
Zemo’s own son?!?
We don’t learn this new Citizen V’s identity in this story because Zemo flees when he can’t defeat him.
Meanwhile, the robot Hulk is fatally broken, but Graviton shows up.
As do the GLA, once again. The two teams fight Graviton.
Eric Josten has had his own adventure during this involving the death of his brother back in his home town.
And he returns by literally stomping Graviton.
But in the end, they defeat Graviton with words.
Yes, that is a little anticlimactic, but it’s also funny–and this book is consistently tongue-in-cheek.
17 has dummy if this goes into that issue