Synopsis
Thunderbolts (2006 series) #128 synopsis by
Rob Johnson
Rating:
Norman Osborn, hero of the Skrull Secret Invasion, was given control of SHIELD, the Avengers and the Initiative by the outgoing President. Now the new guy wants to check him out. Now Osborn is waiting with his aide Victoria Hand outside Air Force One as the Pres is half an hour late. When he arrives the President invites them aboard the plane. They can talk on the way to Moscow and the plane will bring Osborn back straight afterwards.
But there's a surprise 3rd party to the 'chat' - Dr Leonard Samson who claims to have a DVD showing Norman reverting to his old Green Goblin ways and killing CSA security guards in the Thunderbolts Mountain HQ.
But we break off for a flashback to an old SHIELD weapons depot 6 weeks ago as a blonde Russian-speaking female breaks in. 2 guards catch her but she easily defeats them. Then Norman Osborn steps from the shadows and applauds her performance. He calls her Yelena Belova, the 2nd Black Widow. She's rightly suspicious but he's here to offer her a job as field leader of his new Thunderbolts.
Back in the present AF1 is flying over Alaska with an escort of 2 fighter jets. Doc Samson accuses NO of a combination of personality disorders which make him unfit for office - in fact be should be in a maximum security mental institution. He claims that Osborn had a psychotic breakdown (#120-121) and attacked his own staff as the Goblin. Norman counters that the HQ was attacked by psychic terrorists (he omits that they were prisoners) who controlled people's perceptions. But Samson responds that his DVD of security camera footage will show that it really happened.
Osborn's next ploy is to point out that anyone can wear a mask and costume, maybe it was even Samson himself. He accuses Doc of smuggling a weapon onto the base as the attack began (#117), and suggests that Samson was in league with the villains. Leonard tries to explain that the ceramic knife was part of his therapy for Robbie Baldwin/Penance, which NO portrays as convincing the patient to try to commit suicide. And then DLS tried to kill Dr Karla Sofen (Moonstone) who intervened (#121).
Samson is tired of these distortions of the truth and suggests they watch the video. So Osborn activates a signalling device in a cufflink.
Suddenly the accompanying jets are hit by missiles they didn't detect. 4 more missiles streak towards the plane but detonate just short of their target. The confused pilot is KO'd by a dart from his co-pilot's wrist blaster - it's Yelena Belova. She triggers pre-planted smoke decoys and claims that all 4 engines are on fire. She's going to try to bring them down on the Bering glacier.
The next move is to call Ant-Man (Eric O'Grady) from his hiding place in her cleavage (his choice obviously). He sneaks out into the body of the plane where the President orders the unwatched DVD to be put in the crash-proof safe. However Ghost materialises to waylay the agent and steal the disk. Meanwhile Ant-Man attaches a gamma emitter to Doc Samson's neck. And Len immediately starts getting green-eyed and angry.
The last phase of the operation now kicks in as someone blasts in through the wall of the plane - it's the Green Goblin!
CharactersGood (or All)Plus: Headsman, Victoria Hand.