Thunderstrike #22
Bloodaxe: Unmasked!
Bloodaxe is on the hunt for Seth once more. Attacking the hideout of a gang of street toughts that have joined up with the death god, Bloodaxe demands answers. After knocking out most of the gang, Bloodaxe gets the location of a regular meeting place from the one left standing. Rather than kill this informant as they would usually do, Bloodaxe teleports away to the locker room where they stash their enchanted weapon when its not being used. Bloodaxe feels strange sparing lives, however her recent encounters with Thunderstrike has caused them to re-evaluate their judge/jury/executioner lifestyle.[1]
The following morning, Eric Masterson is getting ready for work and notices that Seth’s death mark is still burned on his chest. He gets transfixed trying to figure out what it means until he is snapped out of it when Samantha Joyce — his roommate — begins banging on the bathroom door to tell him to hurry up. When Eric finally leaves the bathroom, Samantha is impressed by how formally dressed up he is and asks if he has a breakfast date with Jackie Lukas. Eric tells her that he’s actually agreed to meet with Bobby Steel, the husband of his ex-wife Marcy, who wants to move her and his son Kevin to California.[2]
Eric meets up with Bobby in the locker room at Michael W. Brenzie Stadium. Bobby is cleaning out his locker and tells Eric that he understands that the move to California is tearing Masterson up inside. He wants Eric to know that he promises to do better and take good care of both Marcy and Kevin out west, thinking he deserves a second chance at making his marriage work. He knows that he shouldn’t expect Masterson’s blessing and so he decides to give Eric the chance to punch him in the face for all the times he was an utter dick and promises he won’t fight back.[3] Being given this opportunity comes as a shock to Eric.
Later that day, Eric meets up with Jackie Lukas for lunch. When she tells her the story of what happened she is shocked to discover that rather than punching Bobby Steele in the face, Eric shook his hand and wished him the best of luck. After, Jackie asks if Eric will meet up with her later as she has something she needs to tell him. Eric finds this ominous and Lukas admits that she has a dark secret she needs to share with him. As Jackie kisses Eric goodbye, he looks over her shoulder and notices Doctor Gary Paretsky on the street on his motorcycle staring at them and that he looked away as soon as Eric noticed.
Finding this suspicious, Eric deduces that Paretsky might be the true identity of Bloodaxe. Running into a nearby alley, he changes into Thunderstrike so he can follow Gary from the sky and see where he goes.[4] As Thunderstrike tails Paretsky he also notices that Susan Austin (Kevin’s nanny) is following Gary in a taxi cab and that she is being followed by Ed Marrero, Kevin’s teacher. Masterson looses track of Gary when he slips onto a construction site being run by Eric’s old friend Jerry Sapristi.
At that moment, Jerry is trying to eject two people who have been snooping around his construction site. They turn out to be the villains Mongoose and Quicksand who attack the construction foreman. This is witnessed by Bloodaxe who grabs their mystical axe and comes to Sapristi’s rescue. Bloodaxe is about to slaughter Mongoose, but Thunderstrike then intervenes, telling the vigilante that murdering the two criminals is not the right way to do things. Their argument in ethics is interrupted by the Mongoose who ambushes Thunderstrike, wanting revenge against the hero for damaging his eyes.[5] While Thunderstrike is busy with the Mongoose, Bloodaxe prevents Quicksand from interfering with the fight.
Meanwhile, at police headquarters, Code: Blue has become aware of the brawl and are called in to contain the battle.[6]
Back at the scene of the battle, Thunderstrike has beaten Mongoose in submission. at the same time, Bloodaxe has used their enchanted weapon to generate sufficient flame to fuse Quicksand into glass.[7] However, before they can shatter Quicksand’s form, Thunderstrike tackles his foe, separating Bloodaxe from their enchanted weapon. Thunderstrike manages to keep Bloodaxe away from their weapon for sixty seconds causing the enchantment to wear off and revert his foe back to their mortal form. Thunderstrike is shocked to discover that Bloodaxe is none other than his new girlfriend Jackie Lukas. That’s when Code: Blue comes in to try and arrest her. However, Gary Paretsky gets between them and Thunderstrike. He tells them that Jackie wasn’t in her right mind when powered by the Bloodaxe and should be considered not criminally responsible for her crimes. He reveals that he has known that Jackie was secretly Bloodaxe since he discovered her finding the weapon hidden in Eric Masterson’s closet during his housewarming party. Since then, he had been following her around and trying to learn everything he could about Jackie’s life outside of being Bloodaxe. He has concluded that she was being influenced by the weapon much in the same way someone becomes addicted to drugs.
Susan Austin is also on the scene and she overheard everything and asks Thunderstrike if he’s really Eric Masterson. Eric doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t need too since Susan can see the answer in his eyes. That’s when Rigger Ruiz finds Ed Marrero lurking around and nabs him. He explains that he was following Susan because he didn’t trust Gary Paretsky and wanted to protect her from anything bad the doctor might do to her. Marrero then chastises Masterson for not doing the same to protect them all. Code: Blue then tells everyone to head down to the police station to make statements, leaving Thunderstrike alone to try and come to terms with the revelation that Jackie was Bloodaxe all along.[8]
Thinking of all the harsh words he received over his time as Thunderstrike, Eric also thinks about the looming threat posed by Seth the Egyptian god of death. Realizing that he will need more power in order to stop Seth, Eric makes the bold decision to weild the Bloodaxe along with his enchanted mace. Upon picking up the weapon, Eric is suddenly transformed into an amalgamation of both Thunderstrike and Bloodaxe. Surging with untold power, Thunderstrike calls out to Seth, saying that he’s coming for him and only one of them will walk away from this battle.
Recurring Characters
Thunderstrike, Bloodaxe, Mongoose, Quicksand, Code: Blue (Marcus Stone, Rigger Ruiz, Mad Dog Rossitano, Fireworks Feldstein, Mother Majowski), Marcy Steele, Bobby Steele, Kevin Masterson, Susan Austin, Gary Patersky, Ed Marrero, Samantha Joyce
Continuity Notes
Bloodaxe has been rethinking their violent methods after Thunderstrike saved them from Seth as seen in Thunderstrike #17-19. This has been compounded to the fact that Eric Masterson started a romance with Jackie Lukas — Bloodaxe’s alter-ego — last issue.
Bobby Steele has been planning to move the family to California in anticipation of being traded off of the New York Steelers football team since Thunderstrike #12.
In case you haven’t been following along, Bobby Steele has been a total dick through the entire run on Thunderstrike. Issue #8 partially blames this on steroid abuse.
Eric mentions here that he discovered that Bloodaxe was somebody close to him after his housewarming party. That was in Thunderstrike #9.
The Mongoose and Quicksand previously clashed with Thunderstrike in issues #13-14. During a fight with the Mongoose, Thunderstrike blinded the villain with a flash of light from his enchanted mace. If your concerned about Mongoose’s vision, you’ll be happy to know that it is apparently back to normal when we see him again in Thunderbolts #104.
In this scene, Mad Dog Rossitano is playing with Code: Blue action figures (wishful thinking DeFalco!) and having them fight a Thermal Man toy. This is reference to their clash with the robot in Thunderstrike #15.
Quicksand will eventually revert back to normal when se see her next in Thunderbolts #24.
Eric realizes here that Stellaris new the truth and that was the reason why she left for space. Stellaris learned Bloodaxe’s secret identity in Thunderstrike #19. However, she never got a chance to tell him. When she later saw Masterson on a date with Jackie in issue #21, Stellaris decided to leave Earth.
Topical References
Jerry Sapristi says he recognizes the Mongoose and Quicksand from America’s Most Wanted. America’s Most Wanted was a crime program where host John Walsh informed the public of criminals who were currently wanted by the police and enouraged viewers to call in with tips that might lead to their capture. The series has had three runs over the years the first from 1988 to 2011, a second run in 2011-2012, and its most recent revival in 2021. Regardless, this should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world television program and Sapristi is referring to it in the present tense.
