Thunderbolts by Busiek & Nicieza
Kurt Busiek · Fabian Nicieza · Mark Bagley · Tom Grummett
Story era 06 · Heroes Return, Modern Dawn
Busiek and Nicieza develop the Thunderbolts from their initial reveal into a sustained story of redemption and difficult moral choices.
Setup & reading order
- After Thunderbolts #75 in Omnibus Vol. 3
Switch to Dark Reign for #76–81, return to Vol. 3 for Avengers/Thunderbolts, New Thunderbolts, #100–109, and Zemo: Born Better, then resume Dark Reign at #110.
Optional context & path
Path: Thunderbolts. Related projects that read well in this order; the order is a suggestion, not a requirement.
Only required setup and earlier volumes in the same project affect the queue. Everything here is optional.
About these books · 4 sources
Publisher and reference pages describe the editions. Reviews and reader discussions offer different views of the stories.
- r/OmnibusCollectors — Thunderbolts classic omnibus discussion (opens in a new tab)Readers
- Comic Book Herald — Thunderbolts by Busiek and Bagley Omnibus review (opens in a new tab)Critics and editors
- Penguin Random House (opens in a new tab)Publisher
- Wikipedia — Thunderbolts by Busiek & Nicieza (opens in a new tab)Reference
The books
Thunderbolts Omnibus Vol. 1
Book 1 of 3 · Heroes Return, Modern Dawn
The Masters of Evil debut as replacement heroes at the start of the Heroes Return period.
See reading checkpoints9781302927073Planned edition#0–33, #-1#1997#449#7#7#1#12#1Hulk #449 and Avengers #12 repeat in the David Hulk and Busiek Avengers collections. Read those guest appearances once as part of the Thunderbolts’ early story here; Tales of the Marvel Universe #1 contributes only its Thunderbolts feature.
Edition sources
Each ISBN identifies a specific printing and cover. “Owned copy” identifies the edition on my shelf; “Planned edition” identifies the edition listed for collecting.
Thunderbolts Omnibus Vol. 2
Book 2 of 3 · Heroes Return, Modern Dawn
The redemption experiment continues directly without an unrelated book inserted between volumes.
See reading checkpoints9781302931896Planned edition#34–63#2000#31–34#2000#1#1#1–3#1–4Avengers #31–34 and Annual 2000, together with Thunderbolts #42–44, repeat in Busiek and Pérez’s second Avengers omnibus. Read that crossover sequence once as a unit and skip the repeated block in the other book.
Edition sources
Each ISBN identifies a specific printing and cover. “Owned copy” identifies the edition on my shelf; “Planned edition” identifies the edition listed for collecting.
Thunderbolts Omnibus Vol. 3
Book 3 of 3 · Heroes Return, Modern Dawn
Busiek and Nicieza’s Thunderbolts stories conclude across the team’s changing identities.
See reading checkpoints9781302950378Planned edition#64–75, #100–109#1–6#1–18#1–4Edition sources
Each ISBN identifies a specific printing and cover. “Owned copy” identifies the edition on my shelf; “Planned edition” identifies the edition listed for collecting.
Duplication across this project
These books share full issues or parts of issues with other books in the plan. Open the lists below to see which stories repeat.
Show exact issues
Avengers (1998) #12Show exact issues
Incredible Hulk (1968) #449Show exact issues
Avengers Annual (1998) #2000Avengers (1998) #31Avengers (1998) #32Avengers (1998) #33Avengers (1998) #34Thunderbolts (1997) #42Thunderbolts (1997) #43Thunderbolts (1997) #44Things to know
Collecting rule: Vol. 1 begins the story; later volumes continue beyond #33.
- Three large omnibuses continue through a title-numbering gap and the New Thunderbolts relaunch.