Thunderbolts #12 Review

Thunderbolts has been among the weaker titles of the Marvel NOW lineup. But with a creative team change comes hope for improvement. And that hope increases with the knowledge that Charles Soule is the one taking the reins of the series. Soule has already done great work on Swamp Thing, and his first issue of Red Lanterns last week suggested that that series is destined for better days. Thunderbolts #12 is very comparable to that first issue. Aside from the fact that both series feature angry people who enjoy killing, Thunderbolts #12 is another example of Soule starting off his run without rocking the boat too much. This doesn't read like a drastically different series, but the improved characterization alone is a good sign.

Soule doesn't even touch most of the book's ensemble cast yet. This issue, which serves as an epilogue of sorts to Daniel Way's previous story arc, focuses almost exclusively on Punisher. Frank becomes aware that Elektra didn't actually kill her terrorist brother as she claimed, and so he sets out to finish the job she wouldn't. This issue delves into Frank's mindset more than any previous chapter. It's a bit of a weird transition after reading the eerily silent Frank of Greg Rucka's Punisher run, but one that feels true to the driven killing machine he is. Soule also employs a slightly nonlinear narrative to help spice up what might have been a pretty traditional Punisher tale. I do wish there was a bit more focus on the romance between Frank and Elektra and how this mission affects it, but hopefully there will be more on that front before long.

Appropriately, Steve Dillon returns to illustrate the further adventures of the Marvel character he's become most closely associated with. I wasn't a huge fan of Dillon's work on the first arc of Thunderbolts. His laid back style just isn't well-suited to many other Marvel characters, particularly the more outlandish ones like Red Hulk. But for an issue stocked solely by gangsters, assassins, and Frank Castle, Dillon is an ideal fit.

It's tough to judge the series' ongoing prospects when Soule's first issue is so limited in scope. But this is easily my favorite issue of the current volume, so that has to count for something.

Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com