Thunderbolts #126

Andy Diggle comes onboard with this issue, along with Roberto De La Torre on art. I'm really pleased with how seamlessly Christos Gage and now Diggle have continued the feel of Ellis' excellent run on this title. Part of what makes it so cool is just how much I HATE the main cast. Osborne is a jerk, Moonstone is manipulative and petty, and Bullseye is just cruelty in human form. In that lineup, Swordsman and Venom almost seem like the most rational guys around. This is definitely a changing of the guard issue. We see Chen Lu shipped back to China, which probably saves his life. Robbie Baldwin is taken out in a demeaning fashion too, but Diggle saves the worst for Songbird. Songbird has long been the fan-favorite of the title, if for no other reason than she has the strongest morals on the team. We see how out of her element she is by the end of this issue. I'm really hoping she's just written out and not... taken out permanently.

De La Torre picks up where Deodato left off. We know De La Torre likes using Tommy Lee Jones after he modled Dum Dum Dugan on him in Iron Man, and he gets to keep doing it with Osborne. His Venom looked really on-model with Deodato's Venom too. In short, if you liked the book under Ellis and Gage, there is just more to like now. It also shows just how little I care about what happens in Secret Invasion. This is post-SI, and I barely even bothered to look for clues. I don't want to know about Wasp dying until I have to, I guess.

Good