Haunted By Ghosts And Thunderbolts: Strikeforce #5 Reviewed
by Josh Davison
Mild Spoilers Ahead
The Strikeforce team is hiding out in Detroit. Black Panther wants to know what Blade is up to, but the vampire hunter rebuffs T’Challa’s inquiries. Wiccan learns how Daimon Hellstrom was caught by the Vridai. Meanwhile, Spectrum is experiencing some kind of energy interference and the cause is revealed to be Ghost, former Thunderbolt and enemy of Iron Man. He causes the team some trouble before escaping with data from Monica’s energy form. Spectrum, Angela, Winter Soldier, Blade, and Spider Woman go after him, tracking him to a small hospital in Lakeside County.
Strikeforce #5 finds the team taking a break from the Vridai incursion and under threat by the villainous Ghost. He’s been causing hell for Spectrum and he’s garnered new interest in bringing the dead back to life.
It’s a welcome return for the latter-era mainstay Thunderbolt and his new plot foreshadows a potential return for other rogues (fingers crossed for Baron Helmut Zemo). Also, anyone who has seen previews for February’s issue knows that Ghost isn’t the only Thunderbolt to make a return in this comic.
The dialogue is a little spotty in this comic. Not all of the one-liners land well and some characters lay on the exposition a little too heavily at times.
The comic takes a heavier horror turn towards the end. Strikeforce has had a bit of a horror tinge to it in recent issues and I hope the trend continues.
Jacopo Camagni joins up as the guest artist on this issue and his style is well-suited to Strikeforce. Camagni provides a sleek, expressive, and dynamic style. The inking is a little too thick in some spots, but that isn’t a prominent issue in this book. Guru-eFX’s color art is as varied, vibrant, and vivid as ever and it brings a lot of extra energy to the book.
Strikeforce #5 is another fun installment for this oddball book of misfit superheroes. We get to see the team square off a pair of former Thunderbolts and we get to see Spectrum fight against the very tides of life and death. It’s a solid read and earns a recommendation. Feel free to check this one out.
Strikeforce #5 comes to us from writer Tini Howard, artist Jacopo Camagni, color artist Guru-eFX, letterer VC’s Joe Sabino, and cover artist Juan José Ryp with Matthew Wilson.
Final Score: 7.5/10
