I Stand With The Thunderbolts!

While there have been a number of times when comic book "gods" have been bested or otherwise humbled by mortals, it's hard to imagine a scenario more brutal than the one we witnessed in late 1986, when Hercules of Olympus was set upon by the Masters of Evil--a rebranding of the classic super-villain group from the earliest issues of The Avengers, this time led by the son of Baron Zemo and with more members added to their ranks.

Unlike the Sinister Six, Zemo's group has obviously embraced the tactic of attacking their foe(s) en masse--and despite their mob mentality, they've also demonstrated that they're adept at intelligence gathering and willing to follow Zemo's carefully laid-out plan. In this case, one of their members, the Wrecker, has bought a few rounds for Hercules at a local bar and goaded him into anger by exposing his growing rift with the Avengers' chairwoman, the Wasp--which later leads to Hercules abandoning his monitor duties at Avengers Mansion in order to accept an offer from a charming woman to join her on a midnight cruise (said woman secretly being in the employ of Zemo), leaving the mansion deserted, and vulnerable.

All of which leads to Hercules disobeying orders and tackling the Masters on his own following their invasion of Avengers Mansion. Even being (thanks to our young lady) thoroughly inebriated and drugged, Hercules gives a good accounting of himself--but the tide is turned against him when the powerhouse known as Goliath (Erik Josten, the former Power Man) steps in and delivers a thrashing that sets up Hercules for one of the most savage beatings of his immortal life.

The road to recovery was likely a difficult one for Hercules (it wasn't so easy for the Avengers, either!). But when he's back in circulation and learns from a news report that the heroes known as the Thunderbolts have been revealed to be former members of the Masters of Evil, he comes looking for Josten (now the Thunderbolt called Atlas) in the Colorado rockies--and his intentions are clear from the moment of his explosive arrival!

Noting the date of this story, it took just over twelve years (our time) for Hercules to at last be on the cusp of some measure of retribution for the trauma he suffered at the hands of the Masters. But since the Wrecking Crew and Mister Hyde never transitioned to the Thunderbolts, it looks like Hercules has settled on the one member he can still hold accountable for the beatings he took--the mocking and insolent villain who struck from behind and then watched, grinning and laughing, as his compatriots beat Hercules to within an inch of his life (if that). But as for Atlas, the jury may be out as to whether he'll be the one who goes down in this fight!

We also discover in this story that Hawkeye, having infiltrated the Thunderbolts, has sympathized with their efforts to turn their lives around and decided to stay and lend his expertise to them as team leader, in the belief that they can be reformed. So this crisis turns out to be an important hurdle of trust for him--not simply in how he deals with Hercules, a longtime ally, but in demonstrating to the team that he believes in them and is willing to step into the line of fire on their behalf.

Under the circumstances, his first thought--to try to defuse the situation with Hercules--is a sensible approach to take, given that he knows Hercules from their Avengers days and is something of a friend to him. But Hercules is impetuous on the best of days--and in Atlas, he doesn't see the potential for heroism that Hawkeye does. He only sees a villain who has not paid for his crimes--and whose personal debt to himself has not been settled.

With that, and despite Hawkeye's warning that their actions in defending Atlas will only escalate this conflict, the T-bolts leap to Atlas's defense--a time-honored response in the comics world that I have no doubt the Fantastic Four or the Avengers would give under similar circumstances. That's not to say that Hawkeye didn't make the right call--only that Jolt's words were the ones her teammates felt obliged to support.

It's also interesting to note during this struggle that writer Kurt Busiek has a decent line on the character of Moonstone, the only other Thunderbolt present who was part of Zemo's Masters of Evil and whose psychological astuteness is often her weapon of choice in dealing with a foe. Here, her prickling words to Hercules are meant to distract him into hesitation and thus provide Hawkeye with another chance to get him to cease and desist; but it's Hawkeye who turns out to be better qualified in reading how Hercules is likely to react.

But to Josten's credit, he steps up to not only run interference for his team, but to speak the only language that Hercules will listen to in his current state.

Each of these men has a certain foundation on which to defend their actions in this battle. Atlas admits he doesn't have a leg to stand on where his past actions are concerned*, but nevertheless feels obligated to defend his comrades whom Hercules has already announced he'll move on to next--while Hercules sees this situation only in black and white, leaving no room for gray areas such as loyalty or friendship on the Thunderbolts' part--least of all their desire to turn over a new leaf.

*There is no official pardon in the offing for the Thunderbolt members, which relagates them to the status of fugitives--currently leaving them with no option but to let their case play out in the court of public opinion.

But things swing their way significantly, when Hawkeye demonstrates where his loyalties lie and puts himself on the line for those he's been frank with about his desire to help. The moment becomes the foot in the door with the Thunderbolts that he was hoping for--and for his new crew, a sign that he has their best interests at heart.

Except for what he's accomplished with and for the T-bolts, there is no silver lining here for Hawkeye, who has effectively burned his bridges with the Avengers as well as the law (and certainly with Hercules) but, on the other hand, has had his character expanded as a result because of the choice he's made here; while for any new Thunderbolts reader, Busiek has taken advantage of the momentum the book has built with its first 21 issues, not only with the addition of Hawkeye but by having these former hardened criminals make reasonable decisions that take into account their lawless pasts (which in this issue includes Mach-1 turning himself in for the murders he committed when he was the Beetle), rather than simply continuing to deceive the public. It's not an easy wire at all for this kind of book to walk--and Hercules may be the tip of the iceberg as far as complications from the past which these people will have to face.

Thunderbolts #22 Script: Kurt Busiek Pencils: Mark Bagley Inks: Scott Hanna Letterer: Liz Agraphiotis