Review by Ian Keogh
Winter Soldier had been rather a lost presence at Marvel for some while. Popular, but not popular enough to sustain a series, he’d replaced Captain America and knocked about with the Avengers, but by 2016 had been reduced to occasional guest star status. Could his fortunes be boosted by allying him to the dormant concept of the Thunderbolts, former villains trying to compensate for their pasts by acting as heroes?
This series was spun from Avengers: Standoff, in which a fragment of the Cosmic Cube manifested as a young girl. She’s capable of altering reality, but that’s not a power to be taken lightly. Neither is protecting the nation, and as S.H.I.E.L.D. has lost their way, Winter Soldier is using the Thunderbolts to take down rogue elements.
The set-up is viable, and Jim Zub rapidly develops the parameters of how the characters interact, supplying tension by showing some villains never truly reform, but what holds back There Is No High Road significantly is Jon Malin’s art on five of the six chapters. There’s an obvious talent, but one lacking guidance. Malin’s major influence is the less proficient Image Comics artists of the 1990s and he doesn’t seem to have taken an anatomy class. Proportions and figures are poor, there’s inadequate continuity from one panel to the next and the occasional pin-up page doesn’t compensate. Sean Izaakse on the final chapter is an immense improvement, defining people better by giving them a wider variety of expressions than Malin’s default grimaces and able to tell the story.
Izaakse turns up for a chapter where Zub slows things down for some reflection and team bonding, which is needed because after a solid start things become mired in guest appearances. The Squadron Supreme turning up is especially pointless, and Winter Soldier heading after Spider-Man transmits as contrived to force Thunderbolts participation in a crossover, although it does lead to a good set-up for No Going Back.
There Is No High Road is a patchy collection. Malin’s art could certainly improve, but Zub also needs to focus more on the main cast and less on guest stars, otherwise what’s the point of a Thunderbolts series?
