Avengers: The Initiative #35 Review

And so it ends.  My favorite Avengers book over the past three years is taking it’s final bow.  This issue mostly takes place prior to Siege #4.  So, there are some spoilers ahead in this review.

Avengers: The Initiative #35

Constrictor and Taskmaster dig themselves out of the rubble of Asgard and decide to get out of Dodge, but not before seeing Captain America saving Constrictor’s love, Diamondback.  Thinking she is always going to be in love with Steve Rogers, a defeated Constrictor leaves.  What he doesn’t realize is that Diamondback wants to be with him.

As Loki empowers the heroes taking on the Void, the Avengers Resistance team at Camp H.A.M.M.E.R. also get a boost to fight the suddenly powered down goons employed by the Hood.  The fort quickly falls.  Komodo is in the process of arresting Baron Von Blitzschlag so all the devilish stuff he’s done in the lab can be confiscated by the government and he can be imprisoned.  However, she’s stopped by Cloud 9 and former boyfriend (and actual Hydra agent) Hardball.  Hardball givers her a serum that counteracts the spin tech in her body and transforms her back into her lizardy former self.  While Hardball and Komodo hash out their differences, Von Blitzschlag wants to cut a deal.  He has the information about everything that Osborn ordered, legal or otherwise.  He wants to use that as a bargaining chip for a much lesser punishment.

After the events of New Avengers: Finale, Tigra confronts the Hood.  She tells him that since she was actually a cop, and now Steve Rogers is in charge, if she wanted to kill him, she would actually get help.  But she decides there is a much worse fate for him.  Instead of killing him or just simply locking him up for the rest of his life, she reminds him the worst thing that could possibly happen – he will never be able to reunite with his child.  At Avengers Tower, the original members from the Initiative gather to talk about their future.  Justice believes there should always be a program for kids with powers who need guidance.  Tigra, showing off her cute little fuzzy kitty son, says that she is now, more than ever, committed to making the world the best place for him and all the other sons and daughters in the world.  Justice tells Tigra they should have a little chat.  Diamondback is offered a job with Rogers’ new S.H.I.E.L.D. to coordinate the fifty state teams that are still functioning and willing to continue the fight and we see Taskmaster and Constrictor back to their old criminal ways.  The last page is an homage to every high school or college movie worth mentioning as we get to see where the other popular members of the Initiative have gone.

Whenever I read an issue of Avengers: The Initiative, I’m reminded how much I loved this series.  Christos Gage and Jorge Molina are a big part of that from the get go, but this issue shows how consistent the book has been from the beginning.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:  These aren’t the A-Listers.  But they are interesting people.  They have everyday problems like being in love with someone who you think still loves someone else whether they say they do or not.  They have children and build friendships and all that stuff everyday people do.

I’m really excited about Avengers Academy, but it’s going to be hard to replace this book and what it has done since the very first issue.  I want to see what Trauma does with his powers and his life.  I want to know if Butterball and Batwing ever get more members to join their team in North Carolina.  I certainly hope Taskmaster doesn’t just disappear into obscurity again.  I’ve grown to love these characters.

This shows you how powerful a writer like Christos Gage is.  He takes these characters that have never been much to write home about (mainly because they were one dimensional or just poorly conceived) and turn them into characters that make me want to pick up issue after issue and anxious for the next issue the following month.  Anyone who can do that, deserves to be writing on as many books as possible.

And speaking of someone who deserves to work on as many books as possible…  Marvel, if you are reading this, please get Jorge Molina on a high profile book.  He’s got all the chops to be a superstar.  He’s shown he can work on a multitude of characters and bring the action when needed.  Who do I talk to about this?  How can I get more Jorge Molina?

(Image courtesy of Marvel Comics)

Tags: Avengers Comics Books Siege