Thunderbolts vol. 2 #8

Title: “A Shock to the System”

Writer: Fabian Nicieza

Penciller: Tom Grummett

Inker: Gary Erskine

Colors: Chris Sotomayor

Editor: Tom Brevoort

Abe writes a letter to Carol Danvers telling her how Songbird has quit the team. He confesses to Carol that he was being funded by Wolfgang von Strucker. He says that Melissa found out about it and that is why she quit. He stops and deletes everything. He writes that everything is going fine, and that he knows with more time that he knows their cohesion will get better. He says that Captain Marvel remains a mystery and writes to Carol that since she was so close to his father that he was hoping that she might talk to him. He lies and says that Melissa has asked to take a leave of absence after the injuries she has sustained during recent battles. He writes that he knows that once she is healed up that he knows she will be itching to get back into the good fight.

In Newark, New Jersey, the Bolts are fighting Bartoc’s Brigade. Atlas is incredulous. Blizzard asks if Bartoc’s Brigade aren’t tough. Erik starts to say that he guesses so, but then says that they really aren’t. Beetle tells Erik not to get over confident. He tells Speed Demon to watch out for Machete’s explosive blades. Speed Demon says that he has to be kidding him. He asks if he should call him Abe or MACH IV even though he is in his old Beetle armor. Radioactive Man suggests to Abe not to engage Bartoc’s Brigade at such close range and that he and Photon could easily stop them. Bartoc says that they could if it weren’t for the pesky civilians. Bartoc tells Joystick that he is guessing she doesn’t care about the civilians at all. He asks her if later he could show her some of his unique savate techniques. Joystick tells Bartoc to choke on some “freedom fries”. She says that she wanted to fight Zaran since he is supposed to be some kind of weapons master. Machete asks Bartoc if Joystick’s truncheons are energized. Bartoc says that they are. Machete says that so is his blade. Bartoc says not to engage her, but that Machete should provide them with a distraction. Machete says that his late brother said Bartoc was a master strategist and said for him to trust him and so he will. Machete turns to fire into the crowd. Speed Demon says that he is on it even though saving a bunch of rubberneckers is a waste of his talent. Chen Lu tells Sanders to keep back and that he is releasing a radioactive surge to melt the knives. One of the knives goes into Blizzard’s leg. Blizzard misfires and hits Joystick in the leg. She falls into Beetle and Beetle falls into Atlas. Atlas falls over toward Radioactive Man. Abe thinks about how they were cocky and unprepared. He thinks about all the things that he should have done differently. He thinks about Songbird telling him that it would never be right with him. Genis appears. Atlas asks if Genis is finally going to get his pretty hair dirty. Genis says that he doubts it. Genis tells Bartoc to release the hostages or he will incinerate him. Bartoc says that of course he would, but asks what about the innocents they have. Genis says, “Speed Demon” and instantly Bartoc’s Brigade’s weapons are in Speed Demon’s hands. Genis blasts them all unconscious. Sanders asks Gill if he is okay. Gill says that he is, but that he feels like an idiot. Sanders says that he is one. Genis tells the police that Bartoc and his brigade will be unconscious for several hours and that they will remain nauseous for several days. The woman that Zaran was holding captive kisses Speed Demon on the cheek and thanks him.

Later at the hideout, Gill asks if anyone wants to work out. Sanders is playing himself on a foosball table. Erik and Joystick are playing a video game on the television. Erik says that they will join him when they are done. Sanders asks Gill if he has plans for later. Gill asks if he is talking about the heist. Sanders says that he isn’t and that Gill isn’t either. Gill mentions to Sanders what he did last night and how the nurse reacted to him. Speed Demon asks what about it. Gill says that he can’t be a super villain and a superhero. Sanders asks why he can’t. Gill walks out and says that if anyone cares to join him. Joystick asks if the chill in the air is supposed to happen when he walks into the room. Erik says that Donnie is like he used to be and that he is always worried about screwing up. He says that Abe will work on him and to look at what he did for him and Mel.

Gill stands outside the tech bay as Abe calls Melissa while continuing to try and fix his MACH IV armor. Abe gets Mel’s machine. He says that it has been a few days and that he was hoping she had a chance to cool off. He says that Erik was okay with what made her so mad. He starts to talk about his armor, but then he starts cursing at the armor when something goes wrong and ends the call to Melissa. Blizzard keeps walking.

He gets to the training room and finds Genis and Chen Lu inside. He asks if they are going to be done soon. Chen Lu says that it will be soon. He tells Genis that he still maintains an instristic control over individual photons in the radiation spectrum. Genis asks why it feels so different and why he looks so different from before. Chen Lu says that the photons he is accessing are not from the “here and now”. He says that they are from somewhere and somewhen else. He says that when Genis was injured that he wove a protective cocoon of interspatial matter. He says that he believes that those energies he incorporated into his being reborn resulted in his changes. He says that it is as if O-negative blood were infused into a B-positive body. He says that it will function, but not without complications. Genis asks what they do now. Chen Lu says that Genis needs to continue exploring the changes he has undergone and that they need to clear the floor so Donald can use it. Gill says that he was actually wondering if Radioactive Man could help him track someone.

Hours later in the apartment of Herman Schultz… the Shocker, Herman is working on his gauntlets. Speed Demon suddenly appears and asks Herman if he was singing to Kelly Clarkson. He asks him if he could be any more of a woman. Herman tells him to shut up and asks if he is in. Sanders asks what the job is. Herman says that there is a mansion on Long Island with a trip switch alarm. He starts to go on, but Sanders tells him not to worry about the details. He asks what the score is. Herman says that it is money being laundered. A Swiss bank looking to keep old Nazi accounts quiet. He says that it is five million. Sanders says that is a nice score and for them to go do what they have to do.

At the department of Homeland Security, two guards walk Melissa to the office of Dallas Riordan. She thinks about how she hasn’t seen Dallas since the Thunderbolts broke up. She walks into the room and Dallas is sitting watching Thunderbolts coverage on the news. Melissa thanks Dallas for seeing her. Dallas asks if Melissa wants to talk about Erik. Mel asks how she knew. Dallas, now back in her wheelchair, says that she can call it a hunch.

In New Orleans, Monica Rambeau listens to Thunderbolts coverage as she works. She hears that Bartoc’s Brigade was stopped by Photon. She asks if she just heard something about Photon.

Long Island at night, Shocker stands waiting for Speed Demon. He asks why it is always the fast guys that are late. Speed Demon arrives wearing his old Whizzer costume. He says that it took a few runs through the rinse cycle to get the mothball smell out of his costume. Shocker asks why he is wearing that. Sanders says that he is just keeping the apples and oranges in different baskets. Shocker says that isn’t a bad idea. Sanders says that believe it or not that Blizzard came up with it. Shocker points out the generator. He says that he will knock out the perimeter alarm, but that it is on a cascade switch and that one alarm triggers the next relay. Sanders asks if he is going to outrun the relay before it reaches the main alarm station. Shocker asks if he is ready for this since he is such a good guy now. Sanders says that what he is… is a “conflicted hero”. Shocker blasts the alarm. Saunders makes it to two switches before he spots the ice covering the third. Sanders turns to see Blizzard riding and ice ramp toward him. Gill tells Sanders that he isn’t going to let him do this. Sanders asks how Gill found him. He tells him to go back to the warehouse and wait for him. He says that he will explain it all later. Gill fires an ice blast at Sanders and says that this is wrong. He says that he won’t let Sanders screw up the Thunderbolts. Sanders realizes that Gill planted a bug in his Whizzer uniform so he could follow him. Gill says that he asked Chen to irradiate his belt just enough so that he could track him. Sanders asks if his belt is radioactive. He tells Gill he is an idiot and asks if he couldn’t just use an electronic transmitter. He says that he wasn’t going to be hard on Gill, but now he isn’t going to leave enough of Gill to make a sno-cone. Sanders hits Blizzard over and over until he drops to the ground. Sanders says that he is sorry, but that is what he gets for butting into his business. Sanders hits the main alarm off and wonders how he is going to get Shocker in there without seeing Blizzard and all the ice.

Sanders runs Shocker into the building and asks how he found out about this place. Shocker says that he learned about it during his last stint in jail. He says that there was a guy that talked about laundering money. Shocker says that he promised him ten percent of anything he tipped him off on. Shocker blasts the safe. He says that the best part is that no one is getting hurt. He says that this is old money that has been hidden away for sixty years. He says that they are untouchable. He says that the bank doesn’t want anyone to know that the money exists so they won’t try and track it down. Sanders says that he is going to clean up and make sure that there are no traces of them around. He says that he will meet Shocker at his place in an hour. Shocker asks if Sanders trusts him not to run with the money. Sanders says that he does, but that even if Shocker ran that he couldn’t run fast or far enough.

An hour later, Gill wakes up upside down tied off the end of a bridge. He has a sticky note on his forehead that reads, “Thanks for trying SD”.

Shocker stands in his apartment looking at the money. He says that this is better than Constrictor winning that lawsuit and that he earned this. Suddenly Shocker hears Lt. Stone from Code Blue. He says, “No way… no way!” He turns and realizes that there is no money or gauntlets in his place anymore. He realizes that means that there is no evidence against him. He announces to Sanders that he could kiss him right now if he didn’t want to kill him.

At the hideout, Abe looks at all the money and asks Speed Demon how much it is. Sanders says that it is five mil. Abe asks where he got it from. Sanders says that he took it from someone that needs it less than they do. Abe asks Sanders if they knew about their funding. Sanders says that Strucker told him about it when he hired him to spy on them. Chen Lu says that he told everyone else. Sanders asks if after Abe used a psycho Nazi maniac as a money source if he really wants to press about where this money came from. Sanders walks out and Abe looks at Chen Lu. Chen Lu starts to walk out. He says that he believes that Abe is trying to do a great good, but asks how many pieces of his honor he is going to forfeit in order to do so. Alone, Abe looks at the money and thinks about how it will pay for rent on the warehouse for the rest of the year and would buy them some heavy-duty workout equipment. Suddenly, Chen Lu comes flying back into the room through the wall. Abe turns and sees Namor standing in the hole Radioactive Man made. Namor says that Atlantis demands vengrance. He says that Radioactive Man must stop the plague he has unleashed on his realm or he will die.

Traitor’s rating: 9 out of 10

I’m really enjoying Speed Demon in this series. He seems to be this team’s version of the Fixer. He’s a man that knows how to get things done. I’m very interested to see where Sanders is going with his end of the redemption. He’s still obviously wading in the darker end of the pool. Dallas being devoid of ionic energy seems very telling to me. Grummet does another superior job. I think I actually am starting to enjoy the art more than the writing… and that’s saying something.

Review and picture by the Leader

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