Black Bolt #6

[flint_marko]

Black Bolt and his fellow prisoners face an all-new form of torture as the Jailer’s true self is finally revealed — and it’s more terrifying than any of them could have imagined! The stars await the survivors, but someone must pay the ultimate penance. Who lives and who dies in the Jailer’s sick game?

By Saladin Ahmed and Christian Ward.

Comments

[lordultimus]

Goddamnit, not Carl...

I really hope they don't hook up Titania with someone else while he's dead (since we know he's coming back eventually).

[agharta75]

Yeah, he'll be back. An explosion can't kill him, though it may take him a while to reform.

[mastermahan]

Crusher's very first appearance has Thor trick him into turning into a gas and dissipating. Coming back is what he does, and I'm sure Titania is used to it by now.

[balbanes]

Yup. He's exploded plenty of times before. Just takes him a while to pull himself beck together again.

[thehood]

I wouldn't worry, he has returned from worse.

[katefan]

Has Creel ever been a good guy? Because this would be an ideal time for a face turn.

Even though he's clearly a sexist. ;p

[thehood]

I know he was friends with Eric Masterson Thor/Thunderstrike.

[katefan]

Isn't Eric dead? If so then I don't see many people vouching for Creel outside of Blackbolt and since BB doesn't exactly run in most mainstream super hero circles it'd be a tough sell for Creel to establish his bona fides as a reformed villain.

Unless somebody wanted to resurrect the original Thunderbolts idea.

Okay, everybody, who would you nominate for a new Thunderbolts team outside of Creel? And would Titania be willing to join her man on the road to redemption or become the team's first nemesis?

[beyondthefringe]

Honestly? I could see Creel and Titania going legit... she was certainly trying to get out of the game back during the recent Illuminati series, but the Hood was being a jerk again.

Other candidates:
Sandman as he makes another run at being a good guy.
Taskmaster and Black Ant as the mercenary pair most likely to go where the money and work is.
Diamondback since she's another back-and-forth type...
Cardinal/Harrier as a former Thunderbolt and reformed bad guy.
Southpaw, since it was hinted that she'd become a hero in the future. Why not start now?

Other potentially interesting members: Ice Princess (from Superia's Femizons), Knockout (former Femme Fatale, whereabouts unknown), Frenzy, or Silk Fever. Any of these would be good because they're female characters of color, and I really want diversity on the team, both gender and racial, and apart from Frenzy, we know very little of these characters.

Now, I figure what motivates many of these characters is either financial security or some form of ego, so what they need is a backer to help keep them on the straight and narrow... not mercenaries per say, but folks getting a paycheck while they try to be good guys. If Roberto da Costa still had his money, he'd be perfect for the role of employer/backer. I don't particularly like Danny Rand/Iron Fist for the position, especially since we've already seen Luke Cage run an iteration of the Thunderbolts, but... could this work as a Heroes for Hire-style operation? Get paid while seeking redemption and saving the world? Or... even better, Night Thrasher, freshly back from the dead after Contest of Champions, if he has access to his fortune again.

The other problem with this lineup is that it lacks A) a really good field leader, and B) it lacks someone who could be the public face/someone the public might trust. For field leader, I think Cardinal/Harrier would be the best suited for keeping folks in line, as he's experienced at leadership, has military training, and has definitely paid his debt by voluntarily going back to prison after his last adventure. And maybe, just maybe, he'd be good at being the public face as well?

That's my pitch, anyway.

[agharta75]

Doom's a "good guy" now, and he has the bucks ...

[agharta75]

And field leader/public face/charismatic ex bad guy - Black Widow? (Yes, I know she's kind of dead right now)

[scorntx]

No, she ain't.
She got better.

[agharta75]

They return to life so fast now.

[gnarll]

Creel and Titania could move. I'm pretty sure Black Bold would give them Inhuman citizenship like Pietro got. Or Ahura could employ them. When most people in your family are sovereigns, there should be ways.

[rainspirit]

Crusher seems like the guy who could be decent (for a career supervillain) but still has some toxic masculinity to deprogram himself out of. Titania is a good influence in that regard, with the way she treated Jane Foster Thor.

[flint_marko]

That scene made no sense, considering Titania's hate-on for female superhero She-Hulk.

[gnarll]

Titania wants to be the strongest woman out there. That is why she started clashing with the She-Hulk. Yet in her first story, back in Secret Wars, Thor flipped her away like a bug.

Shes got to know that anyone with the full power of Thor is beyond her.

I see her interaction with Jane Foster Thor in a light of her saving face. Unless she is externally powered up, or has absolutely no choice she prefers to save face by finding some reason not to fight her.

[flint_marko]

I don't know, there's nothing to suggest she's scared, and she didn't have any problem fighting her later in the Illuminati issue.

Not to mention there was that time when she was scared of Spider-Man because of how he had defeated her before, but she still conquered her fears and fought him to save Creel.

https://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/5836306.html#cutid1

[rbenchley]

Creel is usually written like the Rogues from Flash: he's a criminal, so he has no problem pulling heists, but he generally avoids conquering the world type schemes, avoids collateral damage on civilians, and doesn't go for lethal damage. He's blue collar, and while he isn't a "good" guy, he isn't a monster. All of that said, he isn't always given consistent characterization. Going up against Carol Danvers, he was written as a chauvinist, but other times he's written with a fairly positive attitude towards women as he loves and respects his wife, Titania.

[thanekos]

" There's an atmosphere here. "

Something's gotta keep Creel's component molecules around until he reforms.