The House Ad Fandango #1 - Thunderbolts

Now this is how you advertise a new series, to me. First, you create a nice backdrop (in this case, the heroes being shunted into the Franklinverse, increasing the need for a new superteam in the MU). Then, you gather a perfect creative team: Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley are two of the best. Next, you tell your audience that there's "one team, one goal, one dark secret!" It's that last bit that intrigued me in particular. Not being as much of an internet afficionado yet back then, I didn't know there was a list circulating the net giving options as to what the big secret was, so I was happily surprised (stunned is a better word) when they revealed said secret right away (as relatively new as I was to superhero comics, I was pretty sure the secret wouldn't be the starting point--talk about your whoopsies!).

I love how the ad showcases all the characters, who I've always thought had great costumes (apart from maybe Atlas). Bagley did a great job of creating lots of diversity, lots of detail too, but all the same making them mesh together well. I'm particularly fond of the Songbird, Mach-1 and of course Citizen V designs. Citizen V especially is a true classic in my eyes.

Another great thing about this launch was that it was double-sized for only 3 bucks. Ah, days of yore... I don't think anyone back then had expected the Thunderbolts to still be around nearly 9 years later. Sure, they've been on hiatus for a bit, but not for too long. Nobody had expected for Fabian Nicieza to become the main caretaker of the 'Bolts, to boot, or how important Hawkeye would become.

All in all, I think this house ad just provides you with the right kind of vibe to check out the first issue. And as I will talk about another time, that first issue sure had a great hook to make you come back for the second! Last year's New Avengers #1 may have sold like hotcakes (relatively speaking anyway, in these dire times for comic book publishing) but Thunderbolts #1 is where it was at, baby!