Thunderstrike #5Tom DeFalco brings the Thunderstrike miniseries to a close with “The Storm and the Sacrifice.” The vast majority of the issue is a huge fight between Mangog on one side, and the Avengers, Thunderstrike, and Gruenhilda on the other. Mangog is incredibly powerful, and even shrugs off an attack from Iron Man that rerouted the New York City power grid through his armor (and then blacked out the city).
Eventually, Thor creates a warp in space with his hammer to send Mangog away, but the creature resists, revealing he’s powered by hate and anger, both of which are broiling inside Thunderstrike, still upset over his father’s death, which he blames Thor and the other Avengers for. Kevin finally understands what his father did, and leaps forward to shove Mangog through the rift, falling through himself. Thunderstrike is saved with a clever use of Mjonlir, especially the “returns to Thor’s hand when thrown” part of the enchantment. Kevin and Thor make a degree of peace over Eric’s death. Steve Rogers offers Kevin a place at the Avengers’ Academy, which he agrees to think about. After a quick stop at the hospital to check in on step-dad Bobby Steele, the issue ends with Thunderstrike and Grunny getting a rematch with Rhino, who got away from them back at the beginning.
What I liked and what I didn’t:
DeFalco has a good feel for this character. While I didn’t like the non-stop whining and raging of earlier issues “My Dad’s dead! It’s your fault! I hate you!” and variations thereof, Kevin grew a bit during this series. Going from loathing heroes and not being able to accept his father’s sacrifice to doing the same thing himself, just luckier than his father was, is a giant step. I also like that it didn’t end with Kevin immediately accepting both Thor’s apology or the Academy placement. He’s working through his feelings, and with something as major as the death of a parent, and the resentment of years carried around with you, it makes sense it would take a while to shake. I am also encouraged by the end box of “The end… for now.” I’m hoping he comes back soon. The Grunny/’Strike banter, with her calling him “Mort” is a nice consistent touch throughout the story.
I don’t really have any big dislikes here. It was a good story, the heroes won believably, and everyone stayed in character. There was some character growth, but not unbelievable amounts.
My prediction is we’ll see Kevin again, not so sure about Grunny. I like her, but if he goes the guest star route, supporting cast frequently doesn’t make that leap. Maybe in one of the Avengers books, Avengers Academy, or Thor, but I suspect he’ll pop up again soon.
I really liked this mini, it was a nicely done tale of heroes, heroism, and its cost. Hey, comic writers? This is a pretty good blueprint of how it’s done.
A COMIC BOOK BLOG RATINGProsConsMangog’s defeat, Kevin’s growth, everything wrapped upnothing that I saw Rating100% You might also like...
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Thunderstrike #3 ReviewBy BlogsdnaTagged with: Avengers Thor Thunderstrike Tom DeFalcoLeave a ReplyClick here to cancel replyYour name (Required)
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This post was added on 29 Apr 2011, 13:22 by Wayland who has contributed 292 posts to this blog.
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