So, since the subject of Thunderball's characterization came up yesterday...

[kali921.insanejournal.com]

Maybe I need to kick-start a "When The Wrecking Crew Was Awesome" week.


Since the discussion yesterday of Thunderball's characterization in Jeff Parker's Dark Reign: The Hood #1 mentioned that Thunderball's characterization has varied over the years, I thought that I'd post a few pages that illustrate a nice counterpoint to the way that Parker is writing him.

Although it causes me profound and pervasive spiritual agony to say this, the last time I recall Eliot Franklin being written as clearly articulate was by none other than Chuck Austen in Austen's Avengers vol. 3 stint. (This happened to be in the same storyline where Kelsey Leigh eventually became the new Captain Britain in a plot so rife with gleeful abandonment of consistency vis a vis the Captain Britain mythos that I don't think that I've ever met anyone who doesn't gleefully mock it.)

But to his credit, despite the absurd contrivance of Morgan Le Fey deciding to recruit the Wrecking Crew as the best choice to help her achieve dominion over England, Austen wrote a damn fine Thunderball (although, as someone has pointed out, it turns out to not be Eliot at all).

The Wrecking Crew are in England and involved in a fight with the Avengers. Enter random English housewife Kelsey Leigh; Kelsey's gotten ahold of Cap's shield and is trying to protect Cap. Enter Thunderball from stage left.


Three pages from Avengers vol. 3 #78 featuring Eliot Franklin being awesome:











Bonus random page! A few pages later he runs into Shulkie:







...Then, IIRC, Shulkie kicks the crap out of him, but never mind about that!

I like this Eliot Franklin; it references old school depictions of Eliot when his genius intellect was in evidence. He utters a literary reference and immediately expresses profound appreciation when Kelsey responds in kind -- to the point that he expresses regret when she refuses to step aside -- but he's not swayed from his stated mission one bit when she does refuse his request to move. It's a nice little character moment for both of them; they're both resolute, smart, and unyielding. I wish more writers would do this with Thunderball because it's just plain enjoyable to read him as a clearly educated and cultured man.

Comments

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

Umm...sorry to spoil this for you, but that ain't Thunderball.

Morgana replaced him on the Wrecking Crew with her own agent. The how and why was....fuzzy, so much so that Thunderball didn't appear in the next Wrecking Crew smack down.

Though for an intelligent Thunderball, might I recommend 'Robin's Revenge'? Thunderball was depowered at the time, but still managed to have a big influence on the plot as a whole.

[kali921.insanejournal.com]

Oh my god, I remember the part about Morgan replacing one of the Wrecking Crew, but I thought that by the time he got to England, it was the real Eliot? Ah, well. I still enjoyed this sequence anyway.

[sherkahn.insanejournal.com]

For those of us "not of letters" and some free time, can anyone link or reference these great quotes?

I feel smarter today because of them.

[thandrak.insanejournal.com]

Mmm... Spencer, Faerie Queen, Britomart, as a _guess_.

[sherkahn.insanejournal.com]

For anyone who wants to bone up on their reading...

"Fair maid, is't thou wilt do these wondrous feats?" - Reignier,
Henry VI, Act I, Scene II
Line 260

"And I will answer unpremeditated:

My courage try by combat, if thou darest,

And thou shalt find that I exceed my sex. " - Joan la Pucelle

,
Henry VI, Act I, Scene II - Line 285

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

I seem to recall him being a Gamma scientist in a hulk appearance ??? Or am I nuts >

[icon_uk.insanejournal.com]

Nope, you're sane (Well, you're not nuts because of THIS, I can't generalise! :P )

The original Thunderball is indeed a genius level PHD physicist and expert in "gamma science".

[volksjager.insanejournal.com]

Ok, it was a dim memory so I wasn't sure. :)

[puregibberish.insanejournal.com]

I do recollect a Defenders story involving the Hulk where the MacGuffin was a gamma bomb Thunderball had invented, which was apparently more powerful than Bruce Banner's but only the size of a hand-grenade. The Wrecking Crew were trying to recover it for a 'hold the world to ransom' plot.

[majingojira.insanejournal.com]

Didn't the housewife get ressurected as a Superheroine that was quickly forgotten in the midst of some crossover or another?

What was her codename again...Albion?

[puregibberish.insanejournal.com]

She got resurrected as the new Captain Britain. And then was promptly forgotten, thank god.

[sherkahn.insanejournal.com]

Codename: Lionheart. She sided with the villain in the recent Captain Britain wars... or whatever the name was where Albion fought and killed other Captain Britains.

[blake_reitz.insanejournal.com]

Not a big fan of these characters, or of this run, but man, this scene is just great.

[kali921.insanejournal.com]

It really is, isn't it? It humanizes the villain (always an important component, I think, in good writing for the genre) and it shows how absolutely brave Kelsey was. She found herself in the middle of a superhero/villain melee and makes a damn good effort at facing down a superpowered man three times her size. It's also this beautiful moment of total connection between two people on opposite sides of a conflict. Think of what would have happened instead if they'd met in a cafe in Paris (and as soon as I finish typing this sentence, I'm going to bet that somewhere there's fanfic of it) - I would eavesdrop with delight on their conversation all night long.

Plus, I'm always a sucker for a character -- be they good or evil or ambiguously in between -- that pauses to consider how senseless it is to waste a life. That's why Doom has had so many great moments over the years; he's massively megalomaniacal, sacrifices minions without a blink, but then he'll turn around and comment to a bound and struggling Namor that he'd do just what Namor would do were their situations reversed, etc., etc.

[blake_reitz.insanejournal.com]

Agree entirely. It is in fact that "such a waste" line that kills me, because it is a small insight to how he rationalize being a supervillain (and showing that is what makes villains like Doom and Magneto so great, IMO). Most people he terrorizes probably beg for their life, or cower, and he would not give a second thought to killing them, but here is someone he feels the world actually deserves to have, a strong, intelligent women willing to stand up for her principles no matter the cost.

There's another reason I think this scene is powerful, besides the odd juxtaposition of quotes, old english, and superheros. It really stands on it's own. You don't need to know what's going on or what the world-shattering stakes are to know how serious this is for the both of them.

[jlbarnett.insanejournal.com]

for the best Thunderball look at Damage Control

[outlawpoet]

I think you mean best EVERYTHING.

[suzene.insanejournal.com]

Nice sequence on its own. Less so when remembering that every woman under Austen's pen was a sainted mother, a psycho, or hyper-sexed (or some combo of the above). Also does not make up for having She-Hulk sleep with Juggernaut when he was her client or implying that a truck hits harder than she does.

If I Remember Correctly:

[nefrekeptah.insanejournal.com]

Issue 1, Volume 2 of Runaways had the Wreaking Crew, and Thunderball was very much in character there