Thunderbolts #166

First review for the night? The latest issue of Thunderbolts. This is probably one of the most solid comic book series I read, so I'm pretty much expecting an 8 to an 8 1/2 score for this one. Here's hoping I'm not let down.

Thunderbolts #166:

Summary: Combining Centurius and Fixer's technology with Satana's magic hasn't helped the evil Thunderbolts get any closer to their proper place in the timestream, in fact, it's done the opposite and drawn them further into the past, 1880's England to be exact. Mr. Hyde, upon realizing where he was, is delighted and quickly abandons the rest of his teammates, and is soon followed by Satana. Neither Hyde nor Satana return to the Bolts, and several gruesome murders begin to take place, murders the English newspapers are calling the work of the Ripper... Fixer and Centurius realize the truth, that it was actually Hyde committing the murders, with Satana, completely under the thrall of her evil side, following Hyde for the fun of it. The Bolts are unable to track the duo due to Satana's magic blocking them, and as such decide to ask assistance from the local authorities since they really had no other choice, even though their actions could have dire ramifications on the timestream. The understandably surprised authorities lead the Bolts around London until the Bolts reach an area where they feel is the wrong way to go. Realizing this was Satana's magic influencing them, the Bolts decide to ignore their instincts and follow the cops, soon running into Hyde(who had just murdered another woman) and Satana, who declares that with the Bolts here, the endgame was nigh. We also get a glimpse of the T-Bolts from the present using some Asgardian magic(thanks to Valkyrie) to trace Troll's axe, learning that it, and as such the Bad Bolts, were in the past.

Thoughts: As usual, this was a very good, very strong comic book. The Jack The Ripper twist was a bit of a surprise, but after the Bad Bolts were hanging out in Nazi occupied Austria last issue, it kind of fits. I like that Hyde and Satana separated from the team, as it shows that while all of the Bad Bolts(except for Troll) are evil, some of them(HYDE!!!) are more evil than others. I was also happy to finally see the modern day T-Bolts trying to hunt down their evil counterparts. All in all, no complaints with this one.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.Oh Satana... What have you gotten yourself into this time...