THUNDERBOLTS #164

Review by: TheNextChampion

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Story by Jeff Parker
Art by Kev Walker & Terry Pallot
Colors by Frank Martin
Cover by Joe Quinones

Size: 0 pages
Price: 2.99

When the last issue of Thunderbolts hit, technically the .1 issue, I claimed this was one of the best titles for Marvel right now. It’s still not a wrong statement because Jeff Parker and Kev Walker (one of the artists) has been making this one of the most fun and consistent books for the company the last year. With this new arc of the Thunderbolts being stuck in time, WWII to be exact, it offers a lot of promise and some good old Nazi killing. Sometimes though, a good book can miss a step or two. While this particular issue isn’t bad by any means, it certainly feels like a ‘speed bump’ in a hectic street.

What worked for me in this issue is some of the small, character moments Parker was able to pepper out. You got Satana acting crazy, and sexy, as always and I love how Boomerang is so happy to be in a WWII costume. I also like how Dr. Hyde is taking a liking to Troll because of how similar they are. Kinda like how Juggernaut was starting to gel with everyone, Mr. Hyde is starting to bond with the members of the Thunderbolts which is always good. Most of this issue is a lot of talking heads and explaining just what the hell is going on. We get the typical ‘How do we not ruin the future’ speak here which in hindsight I like in time travel stories but it happens so frequently Parker adds really nothing to it. Of course the crazy moments with Zemo more then makes up the endless exposition involved here. Then you have Kev Walker’s art which looks….different. I guess that’s the best to describe it because it doesn’t look as similar to his previous work. It looks a lot sketchier and sometimes his figures don’t look the same. Mr. Hyde is the best example and look how inconsistently he’s drawn panel to panel; just doesn’t look right. He delivers always with the action and there’s more then enough Nazi’s getting shot or BBQ’d. But again the inconsistency of these pencils bothers me a bit too much here.

For the most part this is a solid issue as always for Thunderbolts. Jeff Parker has a great handle on all of these characters and I’m always a sucker for a time travel story. But the endless exposition and real lack of excitement like previous issues did hamper it for me a bit. The worst part is that Kev Walker’s pencils really don’t look the same here. Not bad, but different enough were the difference is too noticeable. By no means am I going go overboard with this less then stellar issue of the series, I just hope we go back to ‘crazy’ next time.

Story: 3 - Good
Art: 3 - Good

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