Thunderbolts: Life Sentences

(This story takes place between Thunderbolts #52 and #53)

Title: “Life Sentences”

Writer: Fabian Nicieza

Penciller: Charlie Adlard

Inker: the cute titles they gave out prevent me from knowing who did what.

Colors: the cute titles they gave out prevent me from knowing who did what.

Editor: Tom Brevoort

Clint Barton walks through the cafeteria line. A guard pokes him in the back of the head and reminds him there are no tights or fancy mansions now. Barton got twenty years, ten with good behavior, but because every inmate there hates his guts he knows that it was more like a death sentence without a set execution date. As they walk back to their cells Boomerang trips Barton from behind and then calls for a fight. Every inmate nearby piles on Hawkeye. The guards stand back as a little violence is condoned to release frustrations. Hawkeye tries to make sure that none of them have a shiv, but then as suddenly as the beating began it ends. The inmates all get up and walk back to their cells.

Inside the monitoring room, a hidden Moonstone watches Hawkeye’s beating. She finds the fact that they stopped before Hawkeye was dead odd. As she flies out she wonders why she keeps going to see him. She wonders if she is truly in love with Hawkeye. Moonstone returns to Graviton’s base. M’Reel starts to yell at her for leaving without answering Graviton’s proposal. Graviton stops him and says that she was offered opportunity not enslavement. He asks what her answer is.

In Burton Canyon Colorado, Abe Jenkins works at his new job. His boss compliments his good work. Abe thinks about how much more he enjoys this job than the job that originally frustrated him enough to become the Beetle in the first place. It’s the end of the day and his boss throws him the keys to lock up. He tells Abe to come for a beer if he wants to. Abe keeps working, but when he is writing up his own activity reports he notices that the other guys’ activity sheets are inaccurate. He wonders if they are stealing the extra material they took out but didn’t log or if it was just an honest mistake.

At Abe’s and Melissa’s apartment she sits wondering why she stole that necklace from the store. She realizes that the thing isn’t even good enough to fence and that even if it was she doesn’t know any fences in the area. Suddenly some glasses shatter and Melissa wonders if it was her powers that did that. She had thought her powers damaged and that the only reason they worked was because of Techno’s machinery. She had thought she was powerless without them, but now she wonders. Abe returns home from work. He asks if she had any luck finding a job. Melissa flips out on him and storms out of the apartment. Melissa runs into Captain Marvel.

In Seagate Prison, Hawkeye sits in his cell listening to the barbs of his other cellmates. They say that Hawkeye is lucky that Mentallo stopped them today. Hawkeye wonders why Mentallo would help him. He remembers some Avengers training and clears his mind. Mentallo appears before Hawkeye on a mental plane. Mentallo says that Hawkeye need not bother clearing his mind. Mentallo says that he is as easy to read as a book. Hawkeye says that he hates mindscapes. Mentallo links Hawkeye’s mind into the body of one of the guards that is watching the tube in which Mentallo is being held. He says that ever since Justin Hammer found a way to wake him mentally that even though his body is immobile his mind is on unlimited “yard privileges”. Hawkeye asks Mentallo if he knows that Justin Hammer is dead. Mentallo says that is why he is talking to Hawkeye. Mentallo returns Hawkeye to his own body. Mentallo says that he can prevent the other inmates from killing him if Hawkeye helps him escape from Seagate.

It is nighttime on the beach and Moonstone is having Graviton create a sand sculpture out of individual grains of sand. Graviton creates a yin yang symbol. Karla says that it signifies his search for balance. Karla says that she was curious about Graviton and how he is always losing. Graviton says that he does not need to be reminded of his failures. He says that he came to her because she made him aware of his lack of purpose. She asks what that means and he says it would be something worthy of his power. She asks him what that would be. Graviton says that he doesn’t know. Karla tells Graviton to build a blind sculpture. She covers his eyes from behind and asks if she can get a rise out of the sand as well.

The next morning Melissa still didn’t come home. Abe goes to work anyway. He starts to tell his boss about the other two guys’ activities sheets, but gets interrupted when they come in. Abe heads out to check on the bank’s on-line systems. Later when he returns, after the other guys have gone out, Abe approaches Bill. He says that he thinks that one or both of the other guys are skimming materials and selling them elsewhere. Bill says that it sounds like good money and asks Abe if he wouldn’t be interested in getting in on the action as well.

Genis and Melissa sit in a diner across the street from the department store that Melissa stole the necklace from. Genis asks her what she is going to do. Songbird says that she doesn’t know and wishes he would stop acting like her conscience. She asks him why he even cares. Genis says that his cosmic awareness lets him see what people might become. Melissa asks if she becomes queen of the universe or something. Genis just says that he thought she could use a friend. He tells her that avoiding her insecurities by stealing and lying isn’t going to help her feel better about herself. He says that she is only punishing herself that way. Genis tells Songbird that he knows she was using her sonics to try and influence him. Songbird says that she wasn’t even really aware of it herself. He says that he knows that, and that she didn’t really control him she only nudged him the way he wanted to go. She says that she isn’t allowed to use her powers anymore anyway. Genis mentions that the store is

At Seagate Prison it is weight lifting time. Some of the lifters try to kill Hawkeye again. Hawkeye uses more force than necessary to fend them off. He is trying to send a message to the others. The guards step in and blast him with an electrified nightstick. On the ground the guard leans over to Hawkeye and says, “Welcome to every day of the rest of your life.” Hawkeye decides that he has no choice but to accept Mentallo’s deal or he will die there in prison. Hawkeye tells Mentallo that they have a deal.

Graviton makes a blind sculpture of the planet. Karla asks Graviton what he wants to do with their planet. Graviton reshapes the planet’s face into a representation of his own face. He asks what she thinks of his worldview. She represses the urge to call him an insecure, pathological, delusional egomaniac. She tells him that he is very ambitious, but that she is wary of any goal that by accomplishing it would destroy the people that he is trying to conquer. M’Reel says that with Karla’s help they can do it without deaths. Karla asks what Graviton would do with the Earth after he conquered it. Graviton says that what would be a better question is what THEY would do. The Earth now has two faces: Graviton’s and, on the other half, Moonstone’s. Karla says that is a good question.

Melissa walks out of the department store after putting the necklace back. She walks up to Genis and warns him not to say anything cute. She thanks him for caring, but says that she didn’t put it back for him or for her. Genis says that he knows that and flies away. He says that he will see her later. Melissa says, “Y’know cutie, for someone who knows so much you sure are afraid to share it.”

Abe’s boss and his co-workers ask him if he is with them or not. Abe says that he isn’t and then does some fast moving. He gives the other guys a low-level shock to stun them. The police are there and Abe’s boss says that it is his word against Abe’s. The police say that Abe came to them last night with his suspicions. Abe even rerouted the security camera feed to the Burton Canyon police department. He says that they have the whole thing on tape. The cop asks Abe what his name is and says that it is the same name as that M.A.C.H.-2 guy. Abe says that he knows how every guy named Ted Bundy must feel. The cop says that he did a very brave thing. Abe says that it was pretty stupid too because he is now unemployed. The cop says that with SHIELD up at Mount Charteris that they could use somebody to facilitate their communications systems. He asks Abe if he is interested.

Abe returns home and finds that Melissa has cleaned the apartment. She says that she finally got off her butt and did something. She says that she never tried to be normal before. Abe says that it’s hard. She says that it doesn’t seem to be hard for him. He says that he thinks he just wants it more. He says that he lost his job today and then got a new one with the police. Melissa says that is weird and then adds that she got a job at the Vibe Music store selling audio equipment. Abe kisses her cheek and says that he is proud of her. Melissa kisses him full on the mouth. Abe asks if she has gotten over the “whole skin thing”. She says that she doesn’t know if she ever will be, but that she is okay with the “whole heart thing” and that is all that matters.

While Melissa and Abe make dinner Moonstone watches Graviton hone his power and Hawkeye sits alone in prison while Mentallo laughs.

Traitors rating: 7 out of 10

The writing is excellent and the story flows naturally. The art is pretty lousy, but not completely awful.