This limited series reintroduces the Thunderbolts to the Marvel Universe. After having their own book completely revamped (at the exclusion of all of the original characters and given a whole new direction and concept) and then cancelled only a few months later, this team is back and ready for action. Many people, including myself, have hopes that this will end up being another chance for the T-bolts, and a new series kick off for them. Series writers Kurt Busiek (creator of the Thunderbolts) and Nicieza (Busiek’s successor on the title’s writing chores) do a great job as usual, and most likely have the same hopes stated above.

With the series almost having completed, I am still uncertain of what will be the end result as far as the future of the characters. Zemo (Baron Helmut Zemo, son of WWII foe of Captain America Baron Heinrich Zemo) has managed to redeem himself despite his best intentions, but one of his teammates may not have been so lucky. The team dynamic is still in place, but is somehow different, most likely because all of the original members are not there, and there is an additional member, Vantage (Dallas Riordan, featured prominently in the previous run, who gained powers at the end of the last regular Thunderbolts arc), not to mention the surprising return an old T-bolt that we haven’t seen in a while.

I’m hoping that the Thunderbolts make their return in a new series. I thought it was a mistake at the time (and still think that it was) to “cancel” the old Thunderbolts book (by way of getting rid of the original cast, changing creative teams and changing the whole direction of the book). I have high hopes that Mr. Busiek will return to the characters that he created and take a stab at capturing that lightning in a bottle again. I’m eagerly waiting for the conclusion of this story to see where it goes from here, and to see if my hopes will be rewarded or not. -TMC-

This oversized issue features the returning creative team of Joe Kelly, Doug Mahnke and Tom Nguyen after a nine issue hiatus, for what appears to be their final issue. Anniversary issues such as this are usually used to tell a very special tale, or to end an important story arc. This issue, however, is more of a prologue to the Justice League: Elite limited series and doesn’t really advance the JLA at all (with one small exception). The limited series is being handled by this same creative team (next issue Chuck Austen and Ron Garney take over on the book). JLA seems a little unstable as far as creative teams go since this is the third creative team in ten issues, and next issue will feature the fourth in less than a year.

As mentioned above, this hundredth issue features a prologue of sorts to the Justice League: Elite limited series, along with a brief recap of events that have gone before relating to this new team. The recap is rather incomplete and left me feeling a bit confused, even after reading the re-released Action Comics 775, which featured the debut of Manchester Black and the Elite. The Elite is now being led by Manchester’s sister Vera, who is looking to give some payback to Superman for events that have occurred since his first encounter with the Elite. As it would happen, all is not necessarily as it appears and the Elite may not be the villains that they are shown to be, a fact this is being kept from the public at large.