Thunderbolts #24
Thunderbolts #24 is the opening chapter of the 'Eye of the Storm' two-part arc — the culmination of the Crimson Cowl's Masters of Evil storyline that defined Hawkeye's early tenure leading the reformed villains-turned-heroes. Its lasting historical distinction is the first in-continuity, canonical appearance of Icemaster: a character originally created by Frank Miller for a 1980 Hostess Fruit Pie advertisement, making him the first Hostess ad villain ever canonized into the mainstream Marvel Universe. The issue also showcases Busiek's signature strategy of filling the Crimson Cowl's Masters of Evil roster with a startling number of deep-cut Marvel villains simultaneously, a deliberate challenge to readers tracking the team's membership. As part of the Hawkeye-led era, it represents a pivotal chapter in one of comics' most acclaimed explorations of villain redemption.
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Written by Kurt Busiek with pencils by Mark Bagley, inks by Scott Hanna, colors by Joe Rosas, and letters by Richard Starkings/Comicraft, the issue was edited by Tom Brevoort under Editor-in-Chief Bob Harras. It sits squarely within Busiek and Bagley's celebrated original run, the same team responsible for the series' famous Masters-of-Evil-as-heroes twist that Wizard magazine readers voted 'Comics' Greatest Moment of 1997.' Busiek has acknowledged that the mass recruitment of obscure villains into the Crimson Cowl's Masters of Evil — including the resurrected Hostess-ad character Icemaster — was partly conceived as a deliberately difficult trivia challenge for attentive readers following the series.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Issue title: 'The Eye of the Storm' — Part 1 of 2 (concluded in Thunderbolts #25).
- Written by Kurt Busiek; penciled by Mark Bagley; inked by Scott Hanna; cover by Bagley and Hanna; edited by Tom Brevoort.
- Released January 20, 1999; cover dated March 1999.
- First in-continuity (Earth-616) appearance of Icemaster — a character originally created by Frank Miller for a 1980 Hostess Fruit Pie print advertisement, making him the first Hostess ad villain canonized into the mainstream Marvel Universe.
- Icemaster joins the Crimson Cowl's massively expanded Masters of Evil alongside a wave of new recruits including Dragonfly, Aqueduct, Lodestone, Joystick, Cardinal, Man-Ape, Boomerang, Quicksand, Sunstroke, Constrictor, and others.
- Active Thunderbolts lineup in this issue: Hawkeye (leader), Atlas, Charcoal, Jolt, Moonstone, and Songbird.
- Includes a flashback cameo by Arnim Zola that retroactively explains the origin of Charcoal's powers.
- Collected in the trade paperback Hawkeye & The Thunderbolts Vol. 1 (ISBN 978-0785195283), which gathers Thunderbolts (1997) #23–37, Thunderbolts Annual 2000, and Avengers Annual 2000.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Marvel Select #25 (2000), Hawkeye & the Thunderbolts #1 (2016), Thunderbolts Omnibus #1 (2021), Thunderbolts Epic Collection #2 (2024)
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