THUNDERSTRIKE #21 at Couture's

(as seen in the pages of Advanced Iron #55)

THUNDERSTRIKE #21

"Pacts of Vengeance!"

June 1995

Story: Tom Defalco, Ron Frenz
Pencils: Ron Frenz
Inks: Al Milgrom

Loki's back!

After spending several months without a physical form to inhabit, the norse god of mishief once more possesses a body to call his own, thanks to the serpent god Seth. And as always, he's up to no good. His goal is the death of Eric Masterson, better known to the world at large as Thunderstrike. It just so happens that Loki's hated enemy and She-Hulk are sitting in a restaurant, chatting and having lunch. Casting the illusion of one of her old enemies over the Everyman Avenger, Loki causes the She-Hulk to punch the shocked Thunderstrike through the restaurant's front window!

As this unfolds, Rhodey is over at Four Freedoms Plaza paying a visit to his old buddy and ex-Stark employee, Scott Lang (Ant-Man). When they hear the news that Thunderstrike and the She-Hulk are in the process of levelling downtown New York, both heroes take off to investigate. And once the spell is broken and the heroes band together to confront Loki, well… you need to have read Avengers volume one #1 to really appreciate the irony!

Great comic! This is what a comic's like when creators have fun doing their thing.

Have a look at the cover! Remind you of anything? You got it, it's a tribute to the very first issue of the Avengers comic from waaaaay back! And it's no coincidence, the whole issue seems to lead to the creation of a new team of super-heroes! The last few panels are almost identical to the ones from the end of AV #1!! History repeating itself? You have to read it to find out. I had a great laugh with the ending. As for the art, in my humble opinion, it's great. But I've always liked Ron Frenz so I'm probably biased.

The only bad thing about this one is that it doesn't last longer. Only the first half of the issue is used to tell the tale, the other half is something entirely different. You only end up wishing that lil' jewel had lasted a bit longer!

Loki screams: "Oh… no! No! This can't happen! NOT AGAIN!"

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