"Targeted for Death!" Thunderbolts 38 (May 2000)
"Black Hearts" Thunderbolts 39 (June 2000)
"V for Vexation!" Thunderbolts 40 (July 2000)
"Tug of War!" Thunderbolts 41 (August 2000)
(2000/05/03)

Reader Rating: Above Average

Roll Call: Atlas, Charcoal, Hawkeye, MACH-2, Moonstone, Songbird, Techno/Ogre

Summary: Citizen V seeks help from the Thunderbolts to escape from her employers, the V-Battalion. When Citizen V is revealed to be Dallas Riordan and abducted by the real Crimson Cowl, the Thunderbolts enlist help from the Sandman to pursue the Battalion to their European base.

Also: The Thunderbolts' stalker is identified as Scourge as he battles Baron Zemo in South America; the Kree warrior woman inside Moonstone draws her off Earth; Abe and Melissa deal with the change in their relationship; Techno continues with his experiments on someone who looks strikingly like Jolt, manifests a human-like body, and discovers an "insidious gambit" perpetrated by the Crimson Cowl through Man-Killer; Gyrich and his Roxxon contacts try to distance themselves from Omega-32; and Andrea Sterman is hired to investigate one of Scourge's killings. The Penance Council of the V-Battalion are revealed to include the Destroyer, Goldfire, Iron Cross, Nuklo, and Topspin. Silver Sable is not present, but is shown in a couple of flashback panels.

Continuity: Zemo's face-off with Scourge ends with the Baron's apparent decapitation. His survival will ultimately be explained in "City of Hope" (2002/07/01). The Cowl's "insidious gambit" is finally explained in "Becoming Heroes" (2002/08/01). Katrina considers the possibility of joining the T-Bolts for the first time.

Comments: The Zemo/Scourge battle is a secondary plot to this four-issue arc, but it takes up most of "Black Hearts," and is the best fight scene in Thunderbolts history.

Previous Thunderbolts Next
Previous Barton Next
Previous Burlingame Next
Previous Ebersol Next
Previous Gold Next
Previous Jenkins Next
Previous Josten Next
Previous Riordan Next
Previous Sofen Next
Previous Takahama Next
Previous Van Horn Next
Previous Zemo Next
TOC * Home

This page was revised on December 27, 2004