Avengers the Initiative

[Blader5489]

Can't be. Slott said Mutant Zero would be first revealed in AtI and Mighty comes out before AtI 20. I guess they might do some misdirection on it, but I'd say she's out unless slott forgot what he was doing.

A:TI #20 comes out before MA #21 (Slott's first issue) so it's possible that Wanda is Mutant Zero.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

That would be an odd definition of the word "fully" if MightyAvenge's quote from Slott is correct. But it's the sort of wordplay I wouldn't put past Marvel at this point. "Yeah, she was in Avengers: The Initiative" for months, but you didn't know it was Wanda then!"

 

[Jennifer Walters]

More signs point to Jean Grey than Wanda. I think Wanda's just back from her little Roman country she ran off to.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Romanian, you mean. Subtle but important difference.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

Romanian, you mean. Subtle but important difference.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatevs.

 

[Kevin]

Gage: Taking The Initiative Under a Dark Reign

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/120810-Initiative-Gage.html

While the multiple Avengers teams, not to mention Iron Man, have had their worlds rocked by Norman Osborn’s ascent to power that came at the end of Secret Invasion, there’s an even larger problem – the Fifty State Initiative, as seen in Avengers: The Initiative.

Established after Civil War, the idea behind The Initiative (brainchild of Hank Pym, now revealed to have been a Skrull during all of the formation and planning) was to gather inexperienced heroes and train them. From there, they would be stationed on teams in each state throughout America. Yeah, it was basically the superhero equivalent of boot camp – some made it, some didn’t, and some even died.

Now, with the dissolution of SHIELD and Osborn in charge of its replacement, HAMMER, Norman Osborn – the Green Goblin when he puts his bad guy clothes on – is in charge of The Initiative.

“Uh-oh” just begins to cover it.

To find out what’s going to be coming up in the series during this period Marvel is calling “Dark Reign,” we spoke with former Initiative co-writer, and soon to be full-time writer, Christos Gage.

Newsarama: Christos, as Avengers: The Initiative fully enters the Marvel Universe of Dark Reign, you'll finally be on your own writing The Initiative, but first, you and Dan have a swan song together. Issue #20 somewhat sets the stage for all that is to come, correct?

Christos Gage: Yep. It deals with the repercussions of Secret Invasion and sets up what's coming next. Mutant Zero's identity will finally be revealed! For the first time, the real Hank Pym will be seen in the pages of The Initiative! And wait a second...is that the Wasp on the cover? Isn't she dead?

NRAMA: Nice tease. Speaking of Hank, this issue also reveals what happened to Hank while he was being held by Skrulls. Whenabouts was he taken by those guys, anyway? Pre Civil War, even?

CG: A very good question...one that will be asked in issue #20. Did the real Hank have anything at all to do with the Fifty State Initiative? Or has he been gone longer than that? And if so, how long...could it have been the Skrull impostor who hit Janet years ago? We'll have a solid answer by the time the issue's over.

NRAMA: Speaking of the tone of The Initiative post Secret Invasion #8 - what would you say it is? Obviously, the arc title, “The Initiative Disassembled” gives some strong hints, but does "demoralized" even begin to cover it?

CG: The entire Initiative is pretty much shaken to its core. The Fifty State Initiative stands revealed as a Skrull doomsday plot. One of its architects, Hank Pym, was an alien infiltrator. Another, Tony Stark, has been discredited and fired. Can the public ever trust the Initiative again? Does the organization itself have any support left in Washington? Not to mention that every single state team is struggling with the revelation that one of its members was a Skrull...and the real versions of those members are returning after weeks, months or years away. And numerous heroes are dead, wounded or psychologically traumatized. This would be a really bad time for, oh, an insane clone of a Thunder God to go on a rampage, wouldn't it?

NRAMA: I thought we were asking the questions... Who's left in the team after the revelation that it was part of a Skrull plan, and the tatters of it are now under the control of Norman Osborn?

CG: I don't want to spoil issue #20, but some of the answers are already implied from Marvel's solicits. If you don't read solicits, SPOILER ALERT! Skip to the next question. Okay, so...we already have a pretty good idea that Jocasta and Hank Pym are joining the Mighty Avengers, and Ant-Man is going to the Thunderbolts. There's a Skrull Kill Krew miniseries coming up, so 3-D Man isn't sticking around. Some members will leave in issues #20 and 21 because they see the writing on the wall in terms of Norman Osborn being in charge, and they don't think they'll want to be a part of what he has planned. So we're looking at some turnover.

NRAMA: That said, why would anyone want to stay? Is the law still the law in regards to the Registration Act, and the Initiative still has a Federally-mandated responsibility?

CG: Yes, and that's an excellent point - if you just up and leave, you're AWOL. You can put in requests for transfer or retirement, and we know there are superheroes like Jackpot who, while sanctioned, operate alone, so there are options...but think of it from a military perspective. You may not like your new superior officer, but you still have to follow his orders. And some people still feel that they can do a lot of good as part of the Initiative, with its reach and resources. After all, Norman still answers to the President, right? He can't take things totally off the rails, right? Uh...right...?

NRAMA: So who's in charge of the overall program? Who's the new "Hank Pym," for lack of a better term?

CG: That's a question that is going to be explored in issues #20 and #21. There are several candidates who don't want the job...and others who do want it, but have, shall we say, skeletons in their closet...like being an ex-Nazi. By #21, we'll have a new leader, but circumstances may make it a short tenure...

NRAMA: Larger picture, is the program still nationwide? It seems that, without a strong central leader with an uncorrupted purpose, state teams could splinter off and go at it on their own...

CG: That's a very interesting point. How do, say, the Texas Rangers feel about answering to Norman Osborn? If they don't like it, would they try to become autonomous? And if so, what would Norman do about it? I think one thing you'll see in the course of Dark Reign is that the old battle lines of pro-registration vs. anti-registration don't necessarily apply...at least, not in the same way.

NRAMA: How is this book fitting in with the other Avengers books now that we're heading into Dark Reign - obviously, there will be interplay, but for those titles coming out of Dark Reign that involve Initiative cast members...you're letting War Machine go, correct?

CG: Correct. Again, SPOLER ALERT...War Machine and the Skrull Kill Krew are going into their own titles, Ant-Man is joining the Thunderbolts, and Jocasta and Hank Pym will be part of the Mighty Avengers. Not to say none of them will ever be seen in the pages of The Initiative again, but there's no guarantee it'll be a friendly meeting. As far as fitting in with the other Avengers titles, you won't have to read any other books to follow the Initiative, but it'll certainly be part of the larger framework being set up in those books...and the effects of Dark Reign will be felt powerfully in all of them.

NRAMA: Even though you're not working with him any more on the same book, will you be coordinating with Dan on stories?

CG: Absolutely. We're still touching base as far as what we have planned. Characters may go from one book to the other. We've already consulted about laying some groundwork for a certain long-planned storyline Dan's had in the works for some time.

NRAMA: The two of you said you had the future pretty well planned and plotted out for The Initiative - are you still going to be working off of those original plans into the Dark Reign days, or are you all on your own?

CG: We had the broad strokes pretty well figured out up to #25, and a rough idea of what was coming after that. I'll be sticking with the story spine we had planned for “Disassembled”, as well as throwing in my own bits. Dan was kind enough to tell me I should feel free to toss it all out and do my own thing, but frankly, I liked what we'd come up with, and I'm sticking with it! After #25, we'll see a drastic shift in status quo, and I'll mostly be blazing new trails from that point on.

NRAMA: The covers we've seen for #21 and #22 - that would be Clor, the clone Thor, right? Wasn't he Initiative property after the end of Civil War?

CG: He was. And he doesn't look too happy about it, does he?

NRAMA: Clearly not. And Counter Force is in #22...and he's new to the series, so what kind of turnover are we looking at for the cast from pre-Secret Invasion days?

CG: Counter Force is the name the surviving original New Warriors-Justice, Rage, Slapstick and the rest-took when they left the Initiative to strike out on their own. They'll be back in #22...and since the New Warriors title is concluding around the same time, they may have a familiar black-masked face with them, and be going by a familiar name...

As for cast turnover, some folks will be leaving. Others will be staying, but in surprisingly different roles.

NRAMA: Finally, give us five words to describe The Initiative in the coming year...

CG: Up is down. Black is white. Wait, that's six. How about...

Buckle your #%$@ing seat belt.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Hmm, with Counter-Force coming back and anti- and pro-reg lines breaking down, I wonder if Justice might wind up the big kahuna in charge of the Initiative after all is said and done. Who better to head up the new administration than the whistle-blower on the old administration if the public is crying for a major change?

 

[cerealkiller182]

Will OSborn think the same way?

I think Osborn would put Taskmaster in charge, a man who has already had his own martials arts/killer teaching program

Tasky was portrayed pretty interestingly in Initiative thus far, slightly more heroic and sympatheitc.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

In order to curry favor with the public, I think Osborn could make some sacrifices and do a noble thing or two. Lord knows Iron Man did plenty of naughty things while working toward his greater good. Turn that on its head and consider that Osborn's not gonna get anywhere being outright, cackling, mustache-twirling evil, and I think Osborn would have to do some things he might not personally want to. That's the nature of politics.

That said, I'd be very happy if Taskmaster were given the keys to the kingdom. I could see the Initiative functioning just fine under him, too. He's totally amoral--neither good nor evil--so he'd operate it like a business. Whether the job is to fight heroes or to fight villains, his part in it would be the same: crank out little killing machines that can take opponents down efficiently. Determining who the opponents are is above his pay grade.

 

[Dread]

Considering that Gage seems to like black ops and that sort of thing, at least from UNION JACK (still his best Marvel work for my money), I would be surprised if he wrote out Taskmaster. Granted, Gyrich brought him on to fill in for Gauntlet, who was still recovering from being pummeled by Slapstick. I wonder how THAT storyline will go.

That said, I am glad Justice will be returning, and it would be good if he got some position of authority so the Initiative, or whatever they call themselves now, reaches some sane level of teaching.

Clor's return looks to be interesting.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Can't be. Slott said Mutant Zero would be first revealed in AtI and Mighty comes out before AtI 20. I guess they might do some misdirection on it, but I'd say she's out unless slott forgot what he was doing.

Slott doesn't necessarily have to assemble the whole team in his first MA issue. he's writing/co-writing both books so he can make it work

More signs point to Jean Grey than Wanda. I think Wanda's just back from her little Roman country she ran off to.

I'm still a believer that Jean is Cable's little girl

 

[moraldeficiency]

Slott doesn't necessarily have to assemble the whole team in his first MA issue. he's writing/co-writing both books so he can make it work

That's a fair point, but it still seems disingenious considering his statements. Is he still cowriting AtI?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

He won't be in another issue or two. I can't remember exactly when Gage takes over full-time, but it's soon.

 

[MightyAvenge]

Issue 21, is when he takes over fully, but he said that he still plans on sticking with plans he and Slott had until at least issue 25.

 

[Dread]

So I wonder if when Slott leaves the co-writing credits, he will be credited with "story" as some writers are when they don't exactly help pen the script that month, but provided the basic premises for the story.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Maybe. I know Gage has said in interviews that he'll still be in contact with Slott, so I'm sure Slott will retain some influence over the series.

 

[MightyAvenge]

Good keep things nice and organized. Not like Bendis, who couldn't even keep the continuity of the Mighty Avengers in order, in his own 2 books.

 

[MightyAvenge]

So, I wonder what exactly is gonna come of Crusader. I hope this turn of events doesn't cause him to go evil or something.

 

[Blader5489]

Epic issue, and what a twisted ending. It's just a shame the art suffered in the last couple pages.

 

[MightyAvenge]

As long as Crusader has the Freedom Ring on, he cant really die, right?

 

[Captain Useless]

aaaw, I liked Crusader.
Hope he comes back.

 

[Galact-Gal]

As long as Crusader has the Freedom Ring on, he cant really die, right?

He wished that it had ended differently. Then he was covered by some sort of energy (from his ring, I assume), and then he disappeared. So I think it's safe to say he's not dead. I do want to find out exactly what changed, though. And I'd like to see him stay in this series.

 

[cerealkiller182]

Epic issue, and what a twisted ending. It's just a shame the art suffered in the last couple pages.

i agree on all points

 

[samurai black]

Epic issue, and what a twisted ending. It's just a shame the art suffered in the last couple pages.

So what happened???

 

[Kevin]

3-D man is a dick.