Hrrm.
So I read the second issue of this series and I have to say... I think they missed the point of this.
The original Thunderbolts were super villains pretending to be heroes, right? Well, they kept that tradition with super villains pretending to be law-enforcement superheroes, as an excuse to kick the crap out of real heroes (and whatever agenda Osborne might have for the future), so that's quite nice, it's a good way to take advantage of the post-Civil War Marvel universe. I like that.
What I don't like however, and where I think the series falls down is this - Jack Flag is far, far better than the entirity of the Thunderbolts. Yes, Osborne is cool, and the super villains are cool, but come on - where was your heart lying? Did you want the Thunderbolts to beat Flag? Or did you want Flag to escape?
I definately wanted Flag to win.
And then I thought - well... why not have the series be about third-tier no-name heroes like Jack Flag. Each arc, however many issues it would be, one, two, six, what-have-you, focuses on a superhero like Jack Flag. A rather unknown superhero without much support, on his own, trying to save people in a world where the government sends supervillains to maim him and send him to jail. And the arcs focus on them, with the Thunderbolts as antagonists. You could even have the series have a longer, slowly building arc as a couple of these heroes start banding together to take down the Thunderbolts in a more pro-active stance.
I mean think about it - the first two issues show the crippling of Jack Flag at the hand of these terrible Thunderbolts, all from his point of view. They not only cripple him, they make a spectacle of it and then spin it to their advantage. The next arc is one issue on poor El Aguila, and he goes down too. Stingray. D-Man. Jolt. There's loads of these guys. And maybe after two or three arcs, finally, one of them gets away.
I think that would work. The alternative, and I would hope the series would head this way, is that the Thunderbolts take on really powerful heroes that truly challenge them, like Thor or Hulk or Spider-Man. But that list is very short, and those characters so charismatic... I think it's a mistake to base a series on villains who's sole purpose is to beat up weak, selfless superheroes. I think the reverse, a series about weak, selfless superheroes trying to do the right thing, and getting hunted down by government-sponsored supervillains and murderers would be far more exciting.
But that's me, I suppose. I think the series is alright - but I think the focus of it is wrong.
