Go get it and pick up the other existing trade paperbacks for Parker's run on the book. While its not essential that you do, you'll get to see how the team evolved and which members have history. Read Full Review
The best thing about following a long-running series is experiencing the payoff that has been building up for months or, in this case, years. Parker does one better and not only gives satisfying closure to a couple major plot threads, but also fixes a plot hole from a completely different series by having an unexpected guest drop in. The character's identity is obvious to the reader, but watching the T-Bolts figure it out leads to a brilliantly executed climax guaranteed to make your nerd-continuity-endorphins fire off in excess. Mr. Parker, you are freaking awesome. Read Full Review
Up against Before Watchmen and AvX events, Dark Avengers #176 isn't going to make any headlines. But it's easily the most fun you'll have all week with superpowered folks in tights. Read Full Review
Whilst the Dark Avengers storyline looks to be enjoyable, I still find myself loving the time-travelling Thunderbolts that are the heart and soul of this book. Whilst this may be a misstep for new readers, it rewards longtime ones with the beginning of a culmination of a year's worth of stories. Knowing how Parker writes, it's safe to say that the two storylines will soon come to a head and impact each other, but for now, we are treated to an almost perfect instalment of everyone's favourite time-tossed troublemakers. Read Full Review
Jeff Parker's "Timebolts" have moved on from generic history hoping, to revisiting MARVEL history (currently returning to a dangling plot thread, never resolved in Fantastic Four #567). It's a clever little story, again organically evolving the plot that already exists, while introducing new elements. The return of Man-Thing, the up-coming confrontation with Doom... this is all A+ stuff. I'm not sure how accessible this is for new readers; but I feel there is enough in-dialogue exposition to cover most of the confusion. Excited for next issue (as always). Read Full Review
On the whole there are a lot of strengths to this book from a cast of colorful characters with intimate and complicated relationships to the epic feel of any story that travels through time. While as a new reader I'm still figuring some things out, there was more than enough great stuff here to warrant a return. Read Full Review
With virtually no affection for the recent additions to this cast, you have to hope this isn't the last you've seen of the Thunderbolts, particularly since this would be a very unsatisfying fade-out for them. Read Full Review