After attending Jeff Parker's Shadowland panel at Heroes Con, I suddenly got interested in catching up on the latest developments in Thunderbolts. I picked up all the Parker issues and have caught up. He mostly had to tidy up the Osborne era and get things through the Seige event, so he had the Thunderbolts fight Agents of Atlas (his other team book).

But now he's just getting into a full spring of new ideas. If you haven't been paying attention, Issue 144 is an excellent jump-on point. (Really the tail end of 143, but that's just a single page).

Some things you might like to know (this is a combination of things from the recent issues, the panel, and announcements that are already out there):

1. Luke Cage is now tasked with leading the Thunderbolts, with redemption into actual heroes as a theme.

2. Man-Thing is a Thunderbolt (awesome! -- this is the single biggest reason I decided to hop on).

3. This top-security area of Riker's Island called "The Raft" is now the center point of the story.

4. A big event coming soon called Shadowland will involve the Thunderbolts trying to clean up Hell's Kitchen.

5. There will be a "scared straight" story with Avengers Academy encountering the Thunderbolts (I think the the Avengers Academy title).

Hop on with issue 144. I'm giving it a whirl because Jeff Parker is a good writer, Man-Thing is a sentimental favorite, and it sounds like a pretty interesting turn.

Doesn't sound as fun as the original incarnation.

Man-Thing and Juggernaut make it hard to resist.

Price point?

Yeah, Juggernaut was another scale-tipper. He and Man-Thing are the only old-school members (not counting Cage as leader).

I liked the message of the opportunity for redemption (a recurring them, obviously) that Cage delivered in the mini that was in the "Enter the Heroic Age" one shot.

To me, nothing beats Atlas, Mach-Pi, Songbird and a Citizen V. If those guys aren't on the team then it's just not "Thunderbolts." It would be like that "Omega Flight" comic they had a couple of years back that featured USAgent, Spider-Woman and Beta Ray Bill. (I love those characters, but they aren't Alpha Flight and they sure as hell aren't Omega Flight.)

Crossbones is a Thunderbolt -- one of the most murderous, irredeemable characters I can think of. That will be a problem.

Marvel's thing has been turning popular villains into heroes from early on. Hawkeye, Wonder Man, Wolverine, Punisher... all of them were villains (or at the very least, antagonists) at the start. Thunderbolts was originally a very good play on that idea.

Antagonist, the person who the protagonist must avail against. The protagonist is the main character of the story.

Well, nothing can stop the Juggernaut Man-Thing.

No no... protagonists are the ones that hang downward from the ceiling of a cave and the antagonists are the ones that protrude upward from the floor of the cave.

No, protagonists do it for money.

Someone needs to re-read the first Silver Age Atom story.

I'm really surprised that you guys think that Man-Thing should be part of a super team.

First of all, Man-Thing should appear in every book published.

But you're right, he's not what you would think of as a team player. That's why I think the Thunderbolts present a unique concept where he could be a part of a team. They are bad guys, and Luke Cage is going to push them to give them assignments that may redeem them.

Man-Thing is really not a bad guy. He's more like the Spectre. He burns somebody (yes, okay, burns them alive) but only if they have it coming.

We'll see. Hard to picture Juggernaut and Crossbones getting along much.

Swamp Thing should join the Teen Titans.

Didn't Swamp Thing have a daughter? If so, she should join the Teen Titans.

Swamp Teen.

From what little I know about him/it Man-Thing doesn't look like a natural team player.

Well, Man-Thing is not a superhero. He's a monster. A horror character.

It all smacks of an attention getting "Bet you never thought HE would be a member" move, which worked, I guess, for the original Thunderbolts team, and probably brought in readers for the Avengers when Daredevil, Spider-Man and Wolverine joined.

Can Marvels run out of these gimmicks?