You know, Thunderbolts is a weird damn book to have an almost complete run of.
I quite liked the first 30 or so issues that Busiek did. Then Nicieza's run was, overall, mediocre, but managed to do something brilliant just often enough to keep me from quitting.
I DID quit after the first two issues of that fucking Fight Club reboot they did after Nicieza left. (I read an interview with Joe Q once where he described that as the worst decision he'd ever made as EiC -- and given that this was before One More Day, he was probably right.) I think that arc only last four issues, meaning I'm only missing two issues of the whole series.
The next reboot was more Nicieza, so again, it was so-so but good enough.
The Ellis run was great, and more importantly it was the biggest shakeup in the book's history. (Well, except the aforementioned shitty Mexican wrestler arc.) This is a team that, by its nature, CAN'T have a stable status quo; if you're not a nutjob, you probably shouldn't be a Thunderbolt.
So, okay -- #126 is another shift, some team members leaving, new ones presumably coming, and at least one old character coming back: Dallas Riordan is apparently on the Senate DHS Committee now.
The problem is that it's not very accessible. Dallas showing up isn't really a problem as her history with the team doesn't play into the story at all (you wouldn't even know it was her if Norman didn't address her by name), but the story DOES rely heavily on the Ellis run. This is a two-parter, so maybe #128 will be a good jumping-on point with the new roster and whatever else.
At any rate, it's a good story, though I didn't care much for the art. The characters are well-presented; Moonstone is the standout of the issue as she says what we're all thinking to Robbie, but Norman's almost equally engaging. Wheels in wheels; he's got a master plan and it's going to be very interesting seeing what it is.
The point is, it's a good issue; lots of shit happens and it's got me looking forward to finding out what happens next. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Diggle's work.
But not more of de la Torre's. Sorry, de la Torre.
Predictions:
Norman and Venom stay, because they're the two biggest-name characters in the book.
Moonstone stays, because she's the most interesting character in this issue and it would be lame if they stuck her in a coma for two years again.
Bullseye stays and Songbird goes, UNLESS Bullseye's lying and [spoiler]Norman didn't put him up to this[/spoiler], in which case all bets are off. It's difficult to imagine Songbird staying on the team if Bullseye's telling the truth and [spoiler]her ace in the hole is gone[/spoiler]. I'd lay pretty good odds of her joining up with Dallas and trying to fight back if she leaves, though.
Robbie goes. If Songbird goes, he teams up with her to strike back.
Radioactive Man goes. [spoiler]In fact, he already did.[/spoiler]
Swordsman is a wildcard. He saw this coming, and [spoiler]is the most likely candidate to show up and save Songbird next ish[/spoiler]. As long as he's got a body full of nanobots he can't leave, but there could be a solution to that. Death would be an obvious one.
As for new members? Hard to say. Smart money's on introducing more A-list villains (say, from the Avengers or X-Men rogues gallery), though I think the team works better with B- and C-listers. (Norman's the only A-lister who's interesting; Moonstone and Swordsman are way more fun than Venom and Bullseye.) Course, it doesn't have to be all villains at this point, either; anyone in violation of the SHRA is a candidate. Punisher, for example, is a longshot but would fit right in with this version of the team.
I wouldn't be surprised if one of the original team showed back up; between Dallas's appearance and Songbird looking at the original team photo I think there's some foreshadowing to that effect. The one I'd like to see again is Fixer; Atlas was fun but too dumb and whiny (though he's the one with a connection to Dallas). More than one would be pushing it though.
