Summary
- Night Thrasher returns in an intense showdown with a surprise ex-Avenger, leading to a harsh realization about his heroic career.
- Night Thrasher and Rage, despite their different backgrounds, share a common vision for justice that comes to the forefront in the issue.
- Rage's involvement in Night Thrasher's return sparks a rebirth, pushing Night Thrasher to save his former teammate from a life of crime.
Warning: contains spoilers for Night Thrasher #1!
Night Thrasher, Marvel’s Avenger. Night Thrasher’s arc through the Marvel Universe has been a long and winding one, and now he returns to the pages of a new ongoing series. Fans are reintroduced to Night Thrasher in the first issue, and he comes to a harsh realization about his career, thanks to a shocking ex-Avenger.
Night Thrasher #1 is written by J. Holtham and drawn by Nelson Daniel. Night Thrasher has returned home, but resists resuming his heroic career. That is, until a group of street thieves start menacing Harlem. The thieves are led by a mysterious figure called “the OG,” and Night Thrasher sets out to bring him in. After tracking the OG to his lair, Night Thrasher is shocked to learn OG’s true identity: his former New Warriors teammate (and ex-Avenger) Rage.
The OG severely beats Night Thrasher, and it forces Thrasher to reevaluate his heroic career.
Night Thrasher and Rage Come From Opposite Sides of the Tracks
Yet Both Share a Vision for Justice
Night Thrasher and Rage share a history together, despite coming from vastly different backgrounds. Night Thrasher’s wealthy parents were killed, and in a riff on Batman’s origin, he hones his fighting skills and embarks on a one-man war on crime. Night Thrasher is also a genius-level intellect who designs his own equipment. Rage, on the other hand, was born to a poor family. Rage is a teenager, but thanks to an experiment gone awry, his body ages to adulthood. He ed the Avengers not long after his debut, and later became a member of the New Warriors, alongside Night Thrasher.
Before they fight, the OG/Rage accuses Night Thrasher of abandoning everyone, and this is a theme that runs through the entire first issue. There is some truth to Rage’s statement: Night Thrasher has been gone for a while. However, he was dead for some of that time, killed in the explosion in Stanford, Connecticut along with the other New Warriors, and was returned to life thanks to the machinations of a cosmic being. These experiences have hardened Night Thrasher further, which led him to (temporarily) turn his back on heroics.
The Avengers' Next Threat Is So Big They're Recruiting Their Greatest Villains
A pattern is emerging from a series of seemingly random brawls across the Marvel Universe: the Avengers' enemies keep choosing to help them.
Rage Was Responsible for Night Thrasher's Return
Will Night Thrasher Be Able to Save This Former Avenger?
Rage’s words haunted Night Thrasher after the beating, and it awoke something within him. Seeing his former friend and teammate seemingly go down the path he tried so hard to avoid has made Night Thrasher realize the community needs him. He must work to bring down the OG without killing him. Night Thrasher must now find out what led this former Avenger to turn to a life of crime, and hopefully pull him back. Night Thrasher is more than Marvel’s Batman-Iron Man mash-up, and Rage helps him understand this, leading to his rebirth.
Night Thrasher #1 is on sale now from Marvel Comics
Night Thrasher #1 (2024) |
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