I haven’t read an issue of Jeff Parker’s Thunderbolts run in awhile, something caught my eye in this issue though that I just had to see for myself. Through ways I’m unfamiliar with due to not reading the series a group of Thunderbolts has been going through time. During this time travel they somehow end up during the period in which Jack the Ripper first appeared. Lately I’ve been hit or miss with Jeff Parker’s work at Marvel as of late so this was a wild card in how much I’d end up liking this issue. Declan Shalvey’s art is relatively new to me though from what I have seen of his work I’ve liked. I wasn’t sure how Thunderbolts would fare just walking in blind as a lapsed diving into the midst of a larger story, surprisingly enough though it fared better than expected.
Nicest part about the issue is the recap page gives you a loose idea of what’s going on in Thunderbolts for the most part. Oddly enough the Jack the Ripper story is mostly contained within it’s own world. Even if you aren’t following the Thunderbolts proper you can appreciate what Parker is doing. Shalvey’s first page with Satana and Mr. Hyde set the tone for this issue. In the first half of the issue it’s the Thunderbolts in disguise with the detectives looking for Mr. Hyde and Santana. As Moonstone explains to the detectives what’s going on, you’re filled in on what’s going on with the series to this point. I’m still unfamiliar with some of the new characters but this was immensely helpful.
Outside of being lost with some small story points here and there the main Jack the Ripper story is handled fairly well. There’s a suitable amount of dread going on as to just what the traveling Thunderbolts team unleashed by going back in time. Clever use of Mr. Hyde’s history too, even bringing in the concept of Ripperologist to the plot. The team interactions at times left me a little cold just because I hadn’t been reading this series. By the end of the issue I have to say I wanted to see just where Parker is going to take the Jack the Ripper because this isn’t going to end pretty by any means.
There’s mostly good in this issue of Thunderbolts, one being the Jack the Ripper story is so far handled well and I am interested in seeing where it’s going to go. As a lapsed reader to the series and if any new readers did pop into this issue, it’s okay on the new reader friendly front. Jeff Parker was creative in how he played the team within the period. Declan Shalvey’s artwork fits this story well. You can see that there’s a lot of fun to be had with this concept. Two factors came into play one that I’ve been big into the TV series Whitechapel that got me curious about this issue. The second factor is this title is in the danger zone sales wise. I’m glad I grabbed this issue and that it was overall mostly okay in the new reader front was a pleasant surprise.I’ll be checking the next issue for sure just to see how this story fares. The possibility is there that I could be back in the fold of reading Thunderbolts one more. We’ll have to wait and see.
