Thunderbolts #131

Thank goodness Magnum Opus is finally over. I hated this arc for three reasons. First of all, crossovers between multiple titles are the bane of my existence. A brother ain't got a lot of money and the extra comic to buy a month takes a toll on the wallet. Magnum Opus should have just been a Deadpool story with a Thunderbolts appearance rather than a crossover, which brings me to my second reason for hating this arc.

This is a Deadpool story!!! I don't buy Deadpool every month. I buy Thunderbolts. Since Warren Ellis took over, Thunderbolts has been where Norman Osborn shined. His team is dark and murderous. Andy Diggle's team is different but just as cool. Their stories are centered on espionage and taking care of tasks that Osborn's Avengers are too public to handle. Magnum Opus was neither. It was goofy and very public. In one scene, Black Widow and Head Hunter actually come out of a crashed plane in Central Park and are greeted by the public. Andy Diggle also seems to struggle with Deadpool's influence. His writing in this arc has made me cringe. Black Widow told a "your mother" joke, the team was reduced to one-liners like "How?," "Who?," "What?," and "Kill!," and when Deadpool gets shot in the chest, despite all my prayers, he sings "You give love a bad name" by Bon Jovi.

The last thing I hate about Magnum Opus, and probably the one that bothers me the most, is the art. Bong Dazo's work looks like it belongs on the wrapper of a Bazooka Joe piece of gum. Black Widow looks like Super Girl in a ninja costume and Osborn looks like he belongs in an Esurance commercial. I cannot wait until Robert de la Torre returns to this series.

One thing that did work for me in this issue was that the Thunderbolts actually won. One of the main problems with Ellis's Thunderbolts was that his team always went after super heroes but lost, even to D-listers. They posed no threat and came off as a joke in Spider-Man's "New Ways to Die" arc and Moon Knight's "Death of Marc Spector." Diggle's team seems up to the task. In the first arc they took down Doc Sampson and they even managed to kill Deadpool in this one. Of course he comes back after someone (probably Black Widow) sews his head back on, but at least they actually did accomplish their mission.

That reminds me of something else I liked. The Black Widow and Deadpool romance was actually a little funny. She comes off as a cold-hearted, all-I-want-to-do-is-kill kind of girl, and it was particularly amusing to see her lighten up a bit with the polar opposite Deadpool. Diggle also writes her dialogue well, showing her accent and speech patterns. Despite this, though, I much rather would have given up this amusing little plot thread than endure Magnum Opus.