Warning! This post contains a PREVIEW for Thunderbolts #2
In a new preview for Marvel Comics' Thunderbolts, the latest version of the team led by Hawkeye is already proving to be a mistake. Currently, they've done just as much harm to the city of New York as they've done to help it, and it's causing the city's new mayor Luke Cage a pretty big headache. While the former Power Man didn't want Wilson Fisk's Kingpin to have the last word on the Thunderbolts' legacy with the Devil's Reign event, Hawkeye is going to have to whip his team into serious shape to honor the team's legacy the right way.
During the Devil's Reign crossover event, Wilson Fisk outlawed all superhero activity in New York when he was still the city's mayor. Fisk then replaced the city's heroes with a sanctioned team known as the Thunderbolts who were really just villains for hire. Now that Devil's Reign is over with Kingpin's defeat and escape from New York, Luke Cage has since taken over Fisk's mayoral duties. However, many of Kingpin's laws are still in place such as the one outlawing superheroes, putting Mayor Cage in a difficult position given its popularity.
While Cage's answer was to recruit a new team of heroes to be New York's sanctioned Thunderbolts led by Hawkeye, things didn't turn out so well in Thunderbolts #1 from Jim Zub and Sean Izaakse. Although the team was sent to take down Fisk's team of villains who were still at large, the result was a large amount of collateral damage as well as Clint Barton taking down the U.S Agent (who in truth was working for the FBI undercover). Now, the new preview or Thunderbolts #2 sees Mayor Cage and Hawkeye holding a press conference, and it's pretty clear that New York isn't sold on the new team. Here are the preview pages and synopsis for the upcoming issue:
- THUNDERBOLTS #2
- COMMUNICATION ISSUES
- Who is Eegro the Unbreakable? How will his strange power help New York's only official superhero team battle their enemies and balance their budget? Read on and discover, True Believers!
Clearly, Hawkeye is really bad at public relations. As such, New York is still unable to decide if these new Thunderbolts are any better than the old ones, which is a terrible first impression to make right off the bat. This means that Barton's top priority going forward will be to work on the team's image. However, it also looks as though Hawkeye and the Thunderbolts will be getting a new team member in the form of Eegro the Unbreakable, a small gremlin-type creature who doesn't seem capable of all the destruction seen on the new cover art where he towers over burning skyscrapers.
While the preview teases that Eegro will somehow be able to help the team with their budget, Hawkeye and his new allies will still have to prove that they can be the heroes New York is looking for. At the moment, they're simply the only ones legally qualified. The full Thunderbolts #2 will release on September 28th.