AVENGERS VS THUNDERBOLTS is a return to the Thunderbolts for many. It is the determining point to see if THUNDERBOLTS can return to a monthly title, a chance for both Kurt Busiek and Fabian Nicieza to return to characters they enjoyed writing, and a chance for fans to return to reading about the Thunderbolts once again. What would all that be without an artist returning as well? Tom Grummett returns to drawing the Thunderbolts and steps in as the new artist on this limited series as Barry Kitson leaves after signing an exclusive to DC during this project. Kitson does some great work and I know he was excited about working on this project, but you take an exclusive when you can in his line of business. I'd like to wish him good luck and thanks for his work on this project.

In this day and age of comics it seems the "thing" to do is write a story for a trade paperback, even if that means stretching a story into six or eight issues. Fabian and Busiek started off slow, but made an early impact with this issue so readers wouldn't want to read this story any other way. Fabian and Kurt know their readers well and what they expect. Answers are given and replaced with more questions left to be answered while leaving readers guessing. Fabian and Busiek bring out the basic elements in each character to make the story even more interesting than one could imagine.

The last time Tom Grummett worked with the Thunderbolts it was for a few pages in THUNDERBOLTS 1997. Grummett doesn't hold anything back with his return as he gives depth to facial expressions and detail to bring out each character's emotions. The style of both Gary Erskine and Brian Reber blend well Grummett's style to bring even more depth to the characters. Editor Tom Brevoort couldn't of found a better replacement.

Story: 10/10
Artwork: 10/10
Overall: 10/10