Thunderbolts (2013) # 25

Cover Artist: Paco Diaz
Published: June 2014
Original Price: $2.99

Title: untitled
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Paco Diaz
Letterer: VC's Joe Sabino
Colorist: Isreal Silva
Editor: Jordan D. White
Editor-In-Chief: Axel Alonso

SYNOPSIS
Floating down the Rio Patuca River in Honduras, the Thunderbolts have just saved the life of a woman named Helen that is now holding a gun to Ross' head. When she realizes she's outgunned by the team, she gives up and goes into the boat's cabin to speak with the General. She's angry because she's the person who told Ross about the artifact and she never heard from him again; he responds by saying he's there to find his missing men, not the artifact. The boat is attacked by the tentacle monster living in the river, which starts breaking the ship to pieces. Ghost Rider snags a nearby tree on the shore with his chain and holds the boat in place through the attack while the other Thunderbolts escape to shore. Before Ghost Rider can flee the boat himself, the Red Leader whispers an incantation that transforms the Rider back into mortal Johnny Blaze. The creature grabs Blaze with its tentacles and rips him to pieces, seemingly killing him. While the Punisher is unimpressed with Blaze's sacrifice, Ross orders the rest of the team into the jungle toward the artifact.

They come to the remnants of a village, which their criminal guide Cordoba says was once a peaceful place until Ross' first team of men came. The skeletal remains of the villagers are disfigured, turned into monsters. The team bunk down for the night, with most of them pairing off: Ross and Helen, Castle and Elektra, and Cordoba and the Leader, leaving Deadpool on sentry duty. Cordoba tells the Leader that he saw what he did to Blaze, and the Leader knows that Cordoba's men have been shadowing them ever since they left the river. Sterns tells Cordoba that they should partner up and will tell him how best to kill the Thunderbolts, starting with Deadpool. Cordoba tricks Deadpool into eating a poison frog that knocks him unconscious, but when the mercenaries advance to kill the other heroes the Leader yells out a warning. Cordoba escapes, though the Thunderbolts kill most of his men.

The Thunderbolts come across an ancient temple, the artifact waiting inside. Ross, Helen, Castle, and Elektra enter the temple, with the Leader left behind as their radio guide and Deadpool as his bodyguard. Deadpool runs off into the jungle, while within the temple the team splits up to cover two possible pathways. Outside, the Leader destroys his radio, cutting the team off from his directions. Elektra and the Punisher stumble into a trap, where Elektra saves Castle from a barrage of poisonous darts. One of the darts hits Elektra in the leg, paralyzing her, while the floor opens up to drop them into another trap. The walls of the room begin to close in on them, with the helpless Elektra tells Castle that this is the best way she's ever died, in his arms.

ANNOTATIONS 
The Red Leader most likely learned the spell that incapacitates Ghost Rider during his dealings with Mephisto in Thunderbolts (2013) # 21.

REVIEW
One Thunderbolt falls in the line of duty while another betrays the team in this second chapter of Charles Soule's final story-arc!

"Well. I don't think any of us were expecting that to happen." You said it, Deadpool, you said it. Johnny Blaze meets his rather gruesome end six pages into this issue, and while it certainly looks convincing, it obviously isn't. For one thing, Ghost Rider s still on the covers for upcoming issues, and Soule wouldn't dare add him to the team just to kill him off in such an inglorious manner (would he?). Of course not, there's a twist coming next issue, that much is plain as day. The important part here is that the team believes Blaze is really dead. The Thunderbolts, particularly Ross and Castle, have some interesting reactions to their teammate's death. Ross is saddened, treating Johnny as a fallen soldier, while Castle just calls Blaze "stupid" and is totally ungrateful for his life being saved. That does, of course, fit the Punisher to a tee; in fact, I can't see any of these characters beyond Ross caring if any of them took a dirt nap (well, yeah, Castle and Elektra care about each other, can't forget that).

That's a relationship I have never bought into, Castle and Elektra are both honestly too damaged to form any kind of bond outside of "fellow soldier/warrior". This issue, though, helps to sell me on their connection, though. The ending cliffhanger, particularly, is a great scene. Elektra is as much of a monster as Deadpool or the Punisher, but Soule actually makes her act like a human being in love. Naturally, the next creative team plans to have the Punisher turn on his teammates, right when I'm starting to like his partnership with Elektra. I'm still waiting to see Matt Murdock's reaction to the Castle/Elektra dynamic, though.

Not surprisingly, the Red Leader makes his bid to betray the team while also selling out Cordoba. Samuel Sterns is one of those hyper-intelligent characters that are very difficult to write well, because he has to be several steps ahead of everyone else while still making a case for why the Punisher just doesn't put a bullet in his head. He's the freaking Leader, of course he's going to turn on you, and it goes back to Ross' arrogance and belief that he's a hero (which Venom put a spotlight on in his farewell issue). I think Sterns has become a great character under Soule's watch, but I still want to see Ghost Rider come back next issue and send his ass straight to Hell.

Paco Diaz, who also turns in a great cover for this issue in place of Julian Totino Tedesco, continues to be a much better fit for the series than previous artists. He has a great handle on each character and his action scenes are well-choreographed and exciting to read. He does a kick-ass rendition of Ghost Rider, and I love that he's combined the outfits of the 70's Blaze jumpsuit with the 90's Ghost Rider chain and spikes. Jesus, though, Johnny's death looks brutal, and it definitely sells the idea that Blaze is now demon squid food.

I am highly enjoying this arc; Blaze's "death" was genuinely surprising, the characterization for every member of the team is done exceptionally well, and the artwork looks fantastic. Just don't fret, Ghost Rider fans, things can't be how they seem...

Grade: A+

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