Avengers: The Initiative #17
Home Field Advantage
Secret Invasion continues from Nova (vol. 4) #17….
The Skrulls have invaded Earth and chosen Camp Hammond as the staging ground of their assault.[1] As the Skrull armada touches down their arrival is observed by Ant-Man (Eric O’Grady) who hopes that he won’t be spotted while shrunk down to ant-size.
He is not the only one to notice the invaders, as Bengal (Doc Noh Tranh) of the Shadow Initiative watches from his kitchen window. He helps his wife and children, and the family of Gauntlet (Joe Green) in the panic bunker while he goes to get the rest of his unit. The call goes out to all active members, including Trauma (Terrance Ward) in the infirmary,[2] Constrictor (Frank Schlichting) in his private quarters,[3] and lastly Mutant Zero, who is meditating in her Zero Room.[4]
Back outside, Ant-Man is contemplating using his SHIELD combat training on the Skrulls until a new arrival in the form of Dum Dum Dugan — a long time SHIELD operative — arrives and is revealed to also be a Skrull. They are also joined by their leader, Veranke, who has been posing as Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) for months!They are welcomed by Criti Noll, a Skrull who has replaced Yellowjacket.[5] He reports that SWORD’s orbital satellite has just been destroyed.[6] As O’Grady starts to panic,[7] he is found by by the Shadow Initiative who pull him into the shadows where they are hiding. After Eric tells them that the Skrull Queen is on base, Bengal and the others agree that assassinating her will cripple the invasion. They volunteer Ant-Man onto this mission with them, much to O’Grady’s chagrin.
Meanwhile, Initiative graduates 3-D Man (Delroy Garrett, Jr.) and Komodo (Melati Kusama) have teamed up with the Skrull Kill Krew to sniff out and eliminate Skrull spies that have been sent to infiltrate the 50-State Initative.[8] Their first stop is Nevada where they expose the Skrull hiding within the Heavy Hitters. After eliminating their target, Melati is happily reunited with her boyfriend, Hardball (Roger Brockridge).[9] The elimination of the Skrull within the Heavy Hitters seems to confirm that only one Skrull has been placed on each team. That Roger wasn’t replaced with one was not news to her as she knows who she can trust. However, as she hugs her boyfriend, Roger looks off in the distance suspiciously.[10]
In New Mexico, Hal and Chuck Chandler are monitoring the situation from the old Ham radios they have in their basement, as they are some of the few pieces of technology that hasn’t been compromised by the Skrulls computer virus.[11] That’s when Hal’s wife Peggy calls from upstairs that they have a visitor. Grabbing their guns and prepared for violence, the two men head upstairs. However, the visitor is not a threat as it turns out to be Jocasta the robot, part of the Maverick’s Initiative team. She explains that she came here looking for her colleague 3-D Man and tracked him to this location to help in his efforts against the Skrulls.
By this time, the Shadow Initiative has relocated to the sewers beneath Camp Hammond to figure out their plan of attack. From Ant-Man’s intel, they learn that they are dealing with Super-Skrulls who can imitate the powers of superhumans on Earth. When Trauma also points out that they are shapeshifters who can assume any form, everyone suddenly suspects that O’Grady might be a Skrull. However, when he talks about how he’d shape-shift into an attractive celebrity to pleasure himself with such powers they are convinced that the sex-pest is legit. This still leaves verifying everyone else is who they say they are. Constrictor proves that he is human since his arms got amputated and didn’t turn green, and shows that he still has bionic arms, confirming his humanity. Trauma then suggests using his power to turn into people’s greatest fears, believing that this would reveal any Skrulls hiding in their midsts. For Bengal, his greatest fear is the murder of his wife and son at the hands of his enemies. However, when Terrence tries to turn into Mutant Zero’s greatest fear, she freaks out and decks him before it can be revealed. Taking point, Zero says they are wasting time and need to deal with the Skrulls right away.
Meanwhile, at one of Nick Fury’s safehouses, the heroes who went to New York have regrouped to figure out their next move. Fury has been watching “Yellowjacket’s” message to the world over and over in order to get as much intel from it as possible. The Crusader (secretly a Skrull defector named Z’Reg)[12] feels horrible because he suspected Hank Pym had been replaced by a Skrull and did not say anything. When Fury notices the look on the Crusader’s face, he asks him what’s on his mind. When he admits that he didn’t mention his suspicions earlier, Fury tells him that soldiers sometimes make mistakes. He admits that during World War II that he and his fellow soldiers made plenty of mistakes that have been washed over as his generation of soldiers were hailed as heroes in the history books. He tells Crusader that no matter what the history books will say about this conflict, Crusader should be proud of the fact that when the invaders came he fought for the freedom of his home. This reassures Crusader who vows to defend his home.
Back at Camp Hammond, Ant-Man rigs a bomb to explode in the war room, to distract the Skrulls as the rest of the Shadow Initiative stage an ambush. At first it seems like they killed the Skrull Queen, but when the dead body assumes its natural form it is male. That’s when Veranke reveals that this was a ruse and they knew all about their attack. This makes Constrictor fear that Trauma is really a Skrull spy. Thanks to “Spider-Woman’s” pheromone powers, Veranke ramps up their fear inadvertedly activates Terrence’s fear powers making him shapeshift into a Skrull and his teammates immediately attack him. While the Shadow Initiative is busy, they are quickly taken down by the real Skrulls. This of course, was all a lie, as “Yellowjacket” confirms that other than himself and the support staff, there was only one other Skrull spy hiding on base.[13] Little do they know that Ant-Man is still around and as they continue their plans for the Initiative, he is recording everything. He realizes that this will impact every Initiative base in the country and leaves to warn Iron Man or somebody in charge.
While in New Mexico, the Chandlers and Jocasta purge all the Starktech from the Maverick’s headquarters. Once everything is up and running, Jocasta gets in touch with the Point Man headquarters in Hawaii as there is someone else they can recruit to their cause. After, they touch base with 3-D Man and his crew and learn they just cleaned out the Skrull spy within the Called, Utah’s resident super team. However, Delroy is concerned that they are running out of time as they have to drive across the country to accomplish their mission. That’s when they are instantly joined by Jocasta and Devil-Slayer (Eric Payne), thanks to the latter’s teleportation abilities. Delroy is pleased to add Eric’s Shadow Cloak to their arsenal because now they can do some real damage!
… Secret Invasion continues in She-Hulk (vol. 2) #33.
Recurring Characters
Initaitive staff: Baron Von Blitzschlag, Physique
Cadets: Annex, Ant-Man, Batwing, Crusader
Shadow Initiative: Bengal, Constrictor, Mutant Zero, Trauma
Skull Kill Crew (3-D Man, Devil-Slater, Jocasta, Komodo, Riot, Ryder), Heavy Hitters (Gravity, Hardball, Non-Stop, Telemetry), Skrulls (Spider-Woman”, “Yellowjacket”, “Dum Dum Dugan”)
Hal Chandler, Chuck Chandler, Peggy Chandler, Secret Warriors (Nick Fury, Quake, Druid, Phobos), Althea Green, Young Avengers (Patriot, Wiccan, Vision, Hawkeye), SHIELD
Continuity Notes
This story takes place during the events of Secret Invasion #1-8 and its various crossover issues (see below).
Here, Baron Von Blitzschlag complains about being weakened after recharging War Machine’s armor. That happened last issue. For more on where War Machine went, see War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD #33-35
Constrictor is depicted here with cybernetic limbs. His real arms were cut off in Avengers: The Initiative #10. As of this writing (July, 2024), this disability remains his status quo.
Mutant Zero’s identity is concealed here. She is revealed to be Mary Walker (aka Typhoid Mary) in Avengers: The Initiative #20.
The revelation that Dugan was replaced with a Skrull was revealed in Secret Invasion: Prologue #1, Dugan was swapped out shortly after the “death” of Captain America, circa Captain America (vol. 5) #25. Spider-Woman’s replacement by Veranke happened circa Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1, as explained in New Avengers #42. Lastly, we have Hank Pym who was replaced by Criti Noll in Mighty Avengers #15, circa House of M #1, as explained in New Avengers #45.
SWORD is an agency that deals with extraterrestrial threats that has been in operation since Astonishing X-Men (vol. 3) #3. Their satellite headquarters was destroyed in the opening salvo of the Skrull invasion in Secret Invasion #1.
It is mentioned here that “Hank Pym” designed Eric’s Ant-Man suit. It was developed to use Pym Particles for military application as explained in Irredeemable Ant-Man #1.
The revelation that the 50-State Initiative had been compromised was revealed in Avengers: The Initiative Annual #1, but our heroes did not find out until last issue.
Melati and Roger began a romantic relationship in Avengers: The Initiative #8. The pair, however, were forced to make it a long distance relationship after they were assigned to two different teams in issue #12. Nonstop’s real name is not given in this story. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #5 reveals it to be Madeline Michaels.
Roger’s guilty stare is the fact that he was compromised by a Senator Arthur Woodman in Avengers: The Initiative #4. It was later revealed in Avengers: The Initiative Annual #1 is that Woodman is a member of Hydra in the process of recruiting Roger into the fold. This will be revealed to his friends in Avengers: The Initiative Special #1.
Here it is mentioned that Yellowjacket has addressed the world with the Skrull invaders ultimatum to the planet. For more on this speech see Secret Invasion #5.
Z’Reg deduces that Yellowjacket might be a Skrull in Avengers: The Initiative #14, but did not say anything because he feared that he’d be exposed as a Skrull as well. See, Z’Reg came to Earth to plan for a future invasion but later came to love his adopted home world and began masquerading as a human hero. See Marvel Team-Up (vol. 3) #20-25 and Avengers: The Initiative #15.
Criti Noll doesn’t specify who the other Skrull spy on base is, merely saying that she has blonde hair. He is referring to Thor Girl, as we’ll learn next issue.
Topical References
While observing the Skrulls in action, Eric O’Grady struggles to remember a movie where Martians Attacked. The joke here is he is thinking of Mars Attacks a 1996 sci-fi comedy directed by Tim Burton, based on a series a trading cards of the same name. Instead, he thinks of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians a 1964 children’s movie whose premise is self explanatory. This could be considered a topical reference as you could replace these movie titles with more contemporary examples about invaders from Mars, although there aren’t many since its been known for a long time that there isn’t sentient life on Mars capable of invading the Earth, at least as far as we know. That said, changing the reference to Santa Claus Conquers the Martians wouldn’t have the same impact if you changed it for something else, so YMMV.
Usually, a piece of dated technology, such as ham radios would be considered a topical reference. However, in this case, they are being used because they are very old technology. More over, as Hal and Chuck’s pasts are rooted in the 1950s, the idea that they would own ham radios would be logical.
Ant-Man specifically states that if he was a Skrull he’d shapeshift into Brad Pitt and use his appearance to have sex with Angelina Jolie. Eric makes this reference because — at the time this story was published in 2008 — the two actors were married and were in their relative prime. Their romance also was a huge boost to their mutual popularity at the time, so much so that people would refer to them as “Brangelina” (ick). Anyway, this is a topical reference primarily because the couple divorced in 2019. The two are also in their 50s and 60s and given their ages presently their status as sex symbols has diminished. You could also replace them with literally any contemporary celebrity power couple and the joke would still land.
Nick Fury states that World War II happened sixty years prior to this story. This should be considered a topical reference due to the Sliding Timescale, which pushes the Modern Age forward in time. As a result, this causes the gulf of time between World War II and the Modern Age to grow over time. The number of decades made here are relative to this issue’s publication in 2008.
Secret Invasion Reading Order
New Avengers #31, Mighty Avengers #7, New Avengers #34, New Avengers: Illuminati (vol. 2) #5, Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #25, 26, 27, Secret Invasion: Prologue #1, Secret Invasion #1, Mighty Avengers #12, New Avengers #40, Secret Invasion #2, Mighty Avengers #13, Captain Britain and MI-13 #1, Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #1, Mighty Avengers #14, Incredible Hercules #117, New Avengers #41, Secret Invasion #3, Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust? #1, Captain Britain and MI-13 #2, Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #2, Incredible Hercules #118, Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers #1, Avengers: The Initiative #14, Mighty Avengers #15, Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #28, New Avengers #42, Secret Invasion: Front Line #1, Captain Britain and MI-13 #3, Secret Invasion #4, Mighty Avengers #16, X-Factor (vol. 3) #33, Incredible Hercules #119, New Warriors (vol. 4) #14, Avengers: The Initiative #15, She-Hulk (vol. 2) #31, New Avengers #43, Thunderbolts #122, Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #3, Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #29, Black Panther (vol. 4) #39, Secret Invasion: Front Line #2, Secret Invasion: X-Men #1, Secret Invasion: Inhumans #1, Secret Invasion: Thor #1, Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers #2, Captain Britain and MI-13 #4, Secret Invasion #5, Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #4, X-Factor (vol. 3) #34, Incredible Hercules #120, Secret Invasion: Amazing Spider-Man #1, New Warriors (vol. 4) #15, Nova (vol. 4) #16, Avengers: The Initiative #16, Mighty Avengers #17, She-Hulk (vol. 2) #32, Black Panther (vol. 4) #40, New Avengers #44, Thunderbolts #123, Secret Invasion: Front Line #3, Deadpool (vol. 4) #1, Secret Invasion: Inhumans #2, Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers #3, Secret Invasion #6, Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #30, Secret Invasion: Thor #2, Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #5, Mighty Avengers #18, War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD #33, Deadpool (vol. 4) #2, Secret Invasion: Amazing Spider-Man #2, Nova (vol. 4) #17, Avengers: The Initiative #17, She-Hulk (vol. 2) #33, Black Panther (vol. 4) #41, New Avengers #45, Thunderbolts #124, Deadpool (vol. 4) #3, Secret Invasion: Inhumans #3, Secret Invasion: Front Line #4, Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #6, Mighty Avengers #19, War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD #34, Secret Invasion: Amazing Spider-Man #3, Secret Invasion #7, New Avengers #46, Thunderbolts #125, Secret Invasion: X-Men #3, Secret Invasion: Thor #3, Nova (vol. 4) #18, Avengers: The Initiative #18, Punisher: War Journal (vol. 2) #25, War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD #35, Secret Invasion: X-Men #4, Secret Invasion: Inhumans #4, Secret Invasion: Front Line #5, Secret Invasion #8, New Avengers #47, Secret Invasion: Dark Reign #1, Avengers: The Initiative #19