The 2023-2024 run of Thunderbolts comes to a conclusion in Thunderbolts #4 with the team heading to Latveria for a final confrontation with Red Skull.
Before getting into the nuts and (thunder) bolts of the issue, one thing about the series needs to be addressed — it was way too short.
This series which finds Bucky Barnes (aka The Winter Soldier, aka The Revolution) leading a team of Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, Red Guardian, Destroyer, Black Widow (complete with Spidey symbiote), White Widow, Shang Chi and US Agent to take down the final remnants of Red Skull is an excellent take on the Marvel anti-hero team since 1997. It’s got terrific artwork and action, there’s clever-storytelling and the dialogue is crackling. Never once did the series feel like a backdoor promotional tool for the forthcoming MCU film, nor did it feel like it was trying to cheaply capitalize on that film’s existence.
In Thunderbolts #4 all of those positives are here, and ramped up to 11. The extremely clever twist featuring Doctor Doom, the bone crunching action and the wrap-up that allowed the team to be more relaxed and let their personalities shine was a terrific way to end this run.
However, each issue (in particular Issue #3) were too quick of a read. The threat of Red Skull and his remaining forces are touched upon, but their insidiousness is never fully explored in this series (although it feels like it was elsewhere). Characters jump in and out of this four-issue series with little explanation.
Red Guardian is absent for two issues, then shows up for the final showdown. Shang Chi is introduced in Issue #3, already working with Bucky to recruit US Agent and American Kaiju. Where was Kaiju this issue, by the way?
A longer issue run would’ve allowed for characters to dip in and out, have a little backstory as related to being recruited, etc. Also, four issues to tell this story is way too short — especially when it includes iconic villains like Red Skull, Doctor Doom and Kingpin at various points. Things just ultimately felt a bit rushed.
These frustrations mainly come from the fact that this run was so enjoyable. You want to spend another 10 pages with these characters. You want more issues with them. The dynamic of this team is so much fun. The action is thrilling. The story is well-crafted espionage at its finest. You want to read more, and get into it with this group of lovable villains and misfits as each page turns.
There is hope, given the ending of the issue that we will see more of this group down the road. And quite frankly, this writer would love to see more. Let’s explore the inner workings of the team, their thoughts and traumas and issues, let’s have the action be even grander, let’s incorporate more villains and other iconic Marvel characters into the stories.
Thunderbolts is a terrific limited run series that is 100% worth picking up the four individual issues, or waiting till its collected in a trade paperback (thinking about it — it’d make a great single read-through).
Thunderbolts #4 is available at your local comic book shop.
