Thunderbolts, Volume 2: Caged Angels

The second half of Warren Ellis' time on Thunderbolts is a more isolated story, but in my opinion a more interesting one. Further issues arise with the team thanks to injuries sustained and Penance's mental issues, and things start to get ugly once they capture a bunch of telepaths without restraining their abilities properly. Soon teammates are turning against each other and pretty much only working for themselves, their dark natures properly awakened by psychic prodding. Things really start to hit the fan once Norman starts to really lose it and unleash his inner Goblin. It's an interesting little story, dark and violent as expected while still lined with intelligence and a bit of humorous levity. As humorous as a story of a bunch of psychopaths turning on each other in a closed space can be, anyway. The really cool stuff Ellis has done with Bullseye continues to pay off as I realize how much Colin Farrell's lackluster portrayal of him as made me underestimate the character. The conclusion isn't terribly climactic, and being a comic it of course has to leave several loose threads for the next writer to deal with, but it was a solid, fun read, and pretty darn quick. I don't know if I'll be reading anyone else's Thunderbolts, but I'd definitely like to check out more of Ellis' work.

Thunderbolts, Volume 1: Faith in Monsters

So this is about the darkest thing published by Marvel I've ever seen. The Thunderbolts are a sanctioned group of former (or not) super villains, and when Warren Ellis took over the book post-Civil War they were assigned to round up unregistered heroes and bring them in. Norman Osborn is the director, generally able to keep his composure but prone to a fanatical vendetta against Spider-Man. His team is a mix of villains both familiar and strange, although the book does a good job of giving you background on all of them. The manipulative Moonstone and psychotic Bullseye stand out in this volume, though they all have opportunities to be crazy and dangerous. Faith in Monsters covers a couple different attempted missions which generally don't go so well, as Moonstone is more concerned with making things look good for the camera than having solid team tactics and more damage gets done than good. I wasn't really familiar with any of the heroes they went after, but again, time is spent making sure everything's in context and makes sense. There's some pretty solid writing and dialogue throughout, and the art is nice and fits the book's dark tone. Ellis would only be on for one more volume, but he made good use of his time with the title.