Thunderbolts by Jeff Parker — Uncaged
Jeff Parker · Kev Walker · Declan Shalvey
Story era 10 · The Heroic Age and the Incursions
Parker returns the Thunderbolts to redemption through Luke Cage’s leadership, an eccentric ensemble and Walker and Shalvey’s art.
Setup & reading order
Required setup along this run
These earlier stories explain events this book builds on. Reading checkpoints show where to switch books during a crossover.
- After Thunderbolts #143 and Siege
Begin the Uncaged era at #144. The Avengers Academy crossover chapters are included.
- Before Thunderbolts #158
Fear Itself provides the event context for #158–162; resume the time-travel story afterward.
- Before Dark Avengers #175
New Avengers (2010) #18–23 in Bendis’s Vol. 3 omnibus introduces the replacement Dark Avengers. Parker continues the Thunderbolts story under that name.
Optional context & path
Path: Thunderbolts. Related projects that read well in this order; the order is a suggestion, not a requirement.
Useful background and earlier stops: Thunderbolts: Civil War to Dark Reign · Bendis Avengers Phase 3 — Heroic Age and Fear Itself.
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.
The books
Thunderbolts: Uncaged Omnibus
Book 1 of 1 · The Heroic Age and the Incursions
Luke Cage rebuilds the team after Siege; Fear Itself sends the prisoners into a time-travel saga, followed by the Dark Avengers rebrand.
9781302952853Planned edition#144–174, #163.1#175–190#3–4#1Includes the Avengers Academy #3–4 crossover chapters. Shadowland is optional context for #148–149.
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.
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.
No shared contents are recorded with other books in the plan.
Things to know
- The long time-travel arc and final Dark Avengers section are less consistent than the opening Cage chapters; this is a character continuation, not a new event obligation.