Issue 54 review
Released July 18 2001 Fabian N writer Pat Z drawer, Al V inker.
Okay, FINALLY we find out the pod 3 guy, BTW congrats to BRITTON for getting his letter published, and being the first to guess that this is Humus Sapien. Okay so enough about the pod guy...WHAT ABOUT MOONSTONE HUH!!!!!
We begin with Cit V\john watkins\actually zemo invisioning running Cap A thru with his sword, Cap brings him back to reality(too bad I liked that dream)as Cap's time with the Redeemers is done and he is just briefing CV on what he has missed(and those of you silly enough not to buy tbolts!!!). We hear Cap's concern over Chuck, who went and injured Bettle last issue(but obviously not badly as we see on the next page..) We see Jolt in human form continuing her rehab. Cap compares her to justice and firestar as far as her character and heart...more New Warrior refs...Would love to see a proper reunion!!! any way....after that we see Leila Davis\the Beetle for the first time without the armor....
They have only a few criminal deeds to atone for and Cap says they will leave the team, likely, in a short time. Then the focus is on the fixer who is using his chrome dome to try and track down the pudgy member of tbolts, Orge. CV says he would rather be leading the Tbolts, but will work with what he has here. Then FINALLY we get a page of MOONSTONE!!!!!!
Gravy train continues his pursuit of who he is and what his purpose is(I think he thinks he is Batman, he is always upside down like a bat...but I digress). We see Moonie adjust her robe to open it "just enough" to play on gravy's lustful eyes and heart. "every little bit helps when you are playing cat and mouse..." but the question remains, who is the cat and who is the mouse???? This issue moonie still is playing the role of hero, but we know from future covers that this may not last, or depending on how you read it she could try to stop gravy and gets slammed. Spoilers for issue 56 and 57 coming so avoid the rest of this paragraph if you don't want to get THAT spoiled.....



We know from issue 57 that the tbolts have to confront gravy train, and that Dallas plays a part in that , as she is on the cover of 57, we know before that the Redeemers try to take gravy on and must get their butts handed to them. We know the tbolts WILL take on gravy train, but the big question is what shape will Moonstone be in at that point????
Okay back to the pod guy,sigh, we see Orge getting stressed as Fixer is getting close. We then skip over to see Clint working out and then hearing news that he is soon to be rotated out of this prison to Rykers, all this arranged by Mentallo, part of his plan for Clint to escape and help him to escape. Scene change and Conrad(Smuggler) is outside Burton Canyon thinking about Atlas and wondering if he is atoning for HIS(ATLAS') sins or trying to live up to HIS(ATLAS') Heroic example...
The game is getting hot for Orge and Fixer, Orge desperately tries to get Fixer to give up draining the Tesseact energy, but Fixers ego is too big
Skip over to Dallas and a slight ionic glow to her back right shoulder and her name being said by the big guy...this has the start of the scarlet witch\wondy plotline, but I am sure Fabian will take it in a new direction..right Fabian???. We also see Songbird(who methinks Pat enjoys drawing the most) using her new sound powers to scam...i mean sell some poor guy a sound system :)... meanwhile the pod guy is breaking out and it sends a bunch of ripples through the area,.This alerts CV and others of it and he gathers the team in preparation to find out how to get his butt kicked...we are left with Fixer saying....Uhm...WHOOOPS!!! what a goof.
This felt like the old(ie up to issue 50 tbolt) book. Things are starting to get jumping, we have a major battle ahead, another mystery solved(even though i really don't care about the pod guy, it was nice to see it get wrapped). The art is awesome and the colorers are really doing a nice job also. Next issues cover is beside this, VERY COOL, the month after that is even better :) There was flow and chemistry happening, the last few issues were choppy, displaced, although this does tie into the state of the team in that time also, i am pleased to see and feel the old feeling back again, excellent issue all the way around. Hats off to the creative team...and PS i loved the cover logo of hawkeye and moonstone :) :)