King in Black: Thunderbolts #1
- WRITER
- Matthew Rosenberg
- Artist
- Juan Ferreyra
- Letterer
- VC's Joe Sabino
- Cover Artist
- Israel Silva, Bernard Chang, Kyle Hotz, Ron Lim, Dan Brown
- Publisher
- Marvel Comics
- Price
- 3.99
- Release Date
- 2021-01-13
- Colorist
- Juan Ferreyra
As the Marvel Universe continues to be rocked to its core by the King in Black, a new iteration of the Thunderbolts is formed to navigate the symbiote-infested streets of New York City on a vital mission to turn the tide of battle against Knull, the dark god of symbiotes. Crafted by Matthew Rosenberg and Juan Ferreyra, the opening issue of this three-issue miniseries works best when it blends electrifying action and its sharp sense of dark humor to cut its own path into King in Black.
Picking up from the events of King in Black, Mayor Wilson Fisk agrees to put aside his differences with the superhero community and hire an ensemble of supervillains to help retake the city from the symbiote monsters Knull has unleashed on Earth. With a team of familiar foes at his disposal, the Kingpin gives the motley crew an ultimatum: Go on a key mission to strike out at Knull or receive a terminal payout. And with the symbiotes rapidly taking over Manhattan block-by-block, this impromptu Thunderbolts team discovers they have dove headfirst into the apocalypse as they wonder if they can trust each others' lives on what is quickly shaping up to be a symbiote-fueled suicide mission.
Rosenberg has a knack for writing the more working-class figures, heroes and villains alike. Of the heroes in the Marvel Universe, this team really is tailor-made for his strengths. The opening to this debut issue has quite a bit of exposition, but once the action gets going as the team hits the streets, the narrative clicks into place, providing a villain's man-on-the-street perspective of the symbiote invasion as it continues to consume the planet. The group chemistry established by Rosenberg works well, especially as the dialogue veers into dark comedy, and fortunately, Rosenberg doubles down on this often. This is one of the more eclectic Thunderbolts rosters in recent memory and Rosenberg is clearly having fun playing the characters off each other. This sense of fun pops off the page to the reader.
Juan Ferreyra is one of the most quietly gifted comic book illustrators currently in the Marvel bullpen and his work in this opening issue does not disappoint. Handling pencils, inks and colors, Ferreyra's artwork is one that shows an atmospheric vision of the Marvel Universe run red and black by blood and symbiotes. There's a sense of menace even in the dialogue sequences and when the action does kick in, Ferreyra pulls off the brutal violence like a staccato note, often over just as quickly as it began as the characters and, by extension, the readers react to the horror they just witnessed firsthand. And with the true scope only just revealing itself as the Thunderbolts venture deeper into the heart of darkness, the creative team is only just getting started.
King in Black: Thunderbolts #1 is one of the more enjoyable tie-ins to the main crossover event, finding the dark humor at the apparent end of the world as a crew of the most unsavory figures in Manhattan agree to answer the call to save the day. Embracing the bloody possibilities and buoyed by the chemistry between this unlikely lineup, Matthew Rosenberg and Juan Ferreyra have given several of the more colorful villains in the Marvel Universe the chance to shine and react to the end of the world on a desperate mission to save the day.