Thunderstrike #5 Review

Tagged with: Avengers  Thor  Thunderstrike  Tom DeFalcoThunderstrike #5

Tom 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...Thunderstrike #4 Review

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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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Thunderstrike #1 Review

Tagged with: Avengers  Thor  Thunderstrike  Tom DeFalcoThunderstrike  #1

SPOILER WARNING- Here there be spoilers.

Dipping a rare toe into the waters of Marvel, and rarer still reviewing one of their comics, I decided to give Thunderstrike a whirl. I was both excited and a bit concerned seeing this title was coming- I liked the character in his own series, and when he stood in for Thor for a time, and they gave him a rare thing in comics- a noble hero’s death that seems to have stuck. So, I was curious to see what they were doing with this, and I wasn’t disappointed.

The story starts with a fight going on at the Maria Stark Academy, where the on-looking kids are commenting that the new kid is a “psycho” and a “rabid dog.” The fight is broken up, and the new kid is revealed to be Kevin Masterson, son of the late Eric Masterson, Thunderstrike. Kevin has apparently had a long string of disciplinary issues since his father died. He’s also gone from a huge fan of superheroes in general to thinking they’re all showoffs and glory hounds (he’d get on great with J. Jonah Jamieson). Kevin avoids serious trouble only because of his step father, Bobby Steele, former NFL player, turns on the charm with the other kid’s father, a fan. Steele, formerly a jerk back in the Thor/Thunderstrike days, has matured some and offers some decent advice to Kevin, who receives it with all the grace of a sullen teen.

Kevin reflects on his father’s death, the futility of being a hero, and his particular disdain now for Thor. His musings are interrupted when Sharon Carter shows up to take him to visit Steve Rogers. Steve has something for young Kevin- his father’s enchanted mace, also called Thunderstrike. He’s disappointed when he picks it up and nothing happens- no “magic kablam” as he puts it. Disappointed once again, he leaves, as Rogers and Carter discuss the recurring theme about Thunderstrike- the world still needs heroes.

Kevin sulks along the street, grousing that all heroes get to come back from the dead except his father, when his ruminations are interrupted by the Rhino attacking a police van. Despite his earlier contempt for heroes, Kevin tries to help free a woman and her baby from a flipped over car as fire threatens them. After much tension building, there’s a discharge of power, and we see what appears to be the late hero Thunderstrike, holding the saved baby and looking very confused. There’s an interlude with some unknown man being made aware of the sudden mystic energy in Manhattan and sending a “strike team” to retrieve whatever it is for his collection, and an Asgardian being sent to Midgard in response to the same thing.

Meanwhile, Thunderstrike fights the Rhino, as Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter get the alarm and send for the Avengers. Marcy, Masterson’s ex-wife, sees the fight on the news and faints. Rhino knocks our hero into a building, who finally sees his reflection. The hero is stunned, exclaiming “The mace! It somehow transformed me into Dad?” There’s a brief second feature which is a recap of Thunderstrike’s history, told by Sif to a Valkyrie who is assigned to go instruct Kevin in the use of the mace, and warn him about some vague doom approaching.

What I liked and what I didn’t:

I am very relieved they didn’t bring Eric Masterson back. I like him, he was a great character, but he died well, and I really do believe perpetual resurrections cheapen the sacrifice a hero makes. It’s like dying in a video game, it doesn’t really matter. I don’t really care for Kevin as an agnsty teen hero-hater, but I can see how it would happen, it’s a progression that makes sense. His complaint about almost every other hero coming back from death is wholly justified, and of course a kid would feel that loss when it’s his father even more deeply.

It seems like they are dumping a lot on Kevin at once, especially for what I told is a limited series. He suddenly has his father’s heroic legacy to handle, as well as whatever the Valkyrie is coming to warn him of, the Rhino, and this mysterious collector in New Jersey. Give the poor kid a break. Hopefully, this will all be sorted out in short order, and Kevin will grow into the inheritance he has received. Personally, I’m betting on some kind of reunion with his father, however temporary, a ghost or a dream or something, in the near future.

A COMIC BOOK BLOG RATINGProsCons It’s not Eric, the supporting cast is back a lot to deal with at once and Kevin as a hero hater Rating80%

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This post was added on 6 Dec 2010, 11:34 by Wayland who has contributed 196 posts to this blog.

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