Avengers: The Initiative - Disassembled, Conclusion

The New Warriors have recovered the body of Michael Van Patrick (aka MVP) from the Initiative and returned it to his father, Brian Van Patrick. Devastated by the reality that his son has been dead for months, he tells the Warriors to go away.[1] Composing himself, he then apologizes for being so harsh but explains that he doesn’t want Justice and the others around anymore because they are reminders of what happened to his son. This also includes the Scarlet Spider (Patrick) clone, because he is a reminder of the experiments that were done. This doesn’t apply to Michael Van Patrick, a clone that was sent home as a cover-up, because he is a pure copy of his son and all he has left. Patrick is deeply upset by this.

The New Warriors tell Patrick he will always have a home with them. After saying goodbye to the Van Patrick, the outlaw group leave to consider their next moves. Night Thrasher promises them that all of the resources of the Taylor Foundation will be at their disposal.[2]

Meanwhile, Norman Osborn has selected Taskmaster as the new head of the Initiative. This is all part of a secret plan to train supervillains under the radar under the auspices of the 50-State Initiative.[3] Taskmaster has accepted this role, but suggests they also continue to train legitimate heroes to obfuscate what they are really up to. They soon arrive at the Burke Wellness Center in San Francisco to pay a visit to Penance (Robbie Baldwin) who has been undergoing treatment there.[4] Baldwin is still consumed by the guilt of all the people who died in the Stamford Disaster and this has broken his mind. When Osborn offers him a chance to redeem himself, Penance pleads for the opportunity. He is then instructed that he will be put into the care of the Taskmaster and to follow his orders without question. Baldwin grovels at Taskmaster’s feet thanking him for the opportunity.

Later, Gauntlet (Joe Green) and Tigra (Greer Grant) are called into a meeting with Osborn at Avengers Tower. There they watch news coverage on the New Warriors manhunt, and how they are being blamed — yet again — for destruction in Stamford.[5] They both debate what they should do in the aftermath of everything when Tigra is called into Osborn’s office first. Inside are Norman as well as two of his “Avengers”, Ares and Ms. Marvel (Karla Sofen).[6] The reason why Osborn has called her is because he read Greer’s medical files and knows that she was impregnated by the Skrull that was posing as Yellowjacket before the Skrull invasion. He also knows that she has considered getting an abortion and wants to help because examining a human/Skrull hybrid could allow them to come up with the means of rooting out any remaining Skrull impostors.[7] When Greer threatens to go to the media, Osborn counters this by saying he will make it known that she is carrying a Skrull child and that would turn the public against her.

He then offers her a plum deal: Keep a low profile, give him the child, and she will be well provided for. He then reveals the new Chief Operating Officer of the Initiative is none other than the Hood (Parker Robbins). Tigra is horrified because the Hood recently beat her and threatened her family.[8] Robbins, for his part, says that he was only doing business and it was nothing personal. Realizing that she is absolutely stuck, she agrees to go along with Osborn’s demands. As Tigra is escorted out, Gauntlet is sent in next. Osborn says that in light of the Camp Hammond debacle he is having Joe step down from his duties with the Initiative and is being reassigned to his old unit in the Middle East. However, Norman explains that his alien gauntlet weapon is to be given up. When Gauntlet explains that it is bonded to his arm, Osborn suggests having Ares cut it off with his axe. Joe did sacrifice his limb while serving his country, one more time wouldn’t hurt, after all.

Outside, Ms. Marvel is escorting Tigra out of the building, complaining about how revealing her new costume is.[9] That’s when Ares is blasted out of Avengers Tower by Gauntlet. While Sofen is distracted by this, Tigra claws open the front of her costume. This causes a swarm of news cameras to capture the moment, allowing Greer to escape. Annoyed at having her body exposed, Karla retreats back to Avengers Tower, telling Osborn to send somebody else capture Tigra. When Osborn suggests sending his Avengers after the fugitives, the Hood has a better idea. Since he’s now in charge of the Initiative they should send some of their new recruits, namely members of his gang. Getting on the phone, he gives orders to capture Tigra to the Scorcher, Griffin, Living Laser, and Razor-Fist.

With this out of the way, they call in their next guest, Diamondback (Rachel Leighton). The Hood notes that Rachel has worked with both the Serpent Society and Captain America in the past because she tends to go wherever the wind is blowing. When they offer her to stay on with the Initiative, she considers it for a moment and asks what they want her to do.[10]

Next up is Trauma (Terrence Ward) who has come to hand in his resignation because he cannot stand by who they are bringing onto the Initiative, particularly Penance who is an absolute wreck after he stopped getting treatment from Doc Samson.[11] When the Hood threatens to harm Terrance’s mother, who is confined to a mental institution, he tries using his fear based powers on Robbins. However, the powers don’t work, and Parker knows exactly why, because he is protected from magic thanks to the entity that grants him his power. This comes as a surprise to Terrence, as he had no idea his abilities were mystical in nature. Parker then explains that the man who raised Terrence isn’t his real father and that he is the offspring of the dream demon known as Nightmare. Robbins then tells Terrence that if he plays ball, not only will they leave his mother alone, but his master will cure her of her insanity. Realizing he has no choice, Trauma reluctantly agrees to continue working at the Initiative.[12]

Lastly, he meets with Prodigy (Richie Gilmore) and tells him that he is being promoted to one of the 50-State Initiative teams. Richie is grateful to hear this since he has been having a hard time living down the fact that he was arrested after a drunken brawl with Iron Man.[13] However, Norman changes his tone when his past as a villain is brought up. Osborn tells Prodigy that he will do as he is ordered and stay out of his way.[14] To that end, Norman assigns Richie as the new leader of the Heavy Hitters, the Initiative Team in Las Vegas. When its current leader Gravity (Greg Willis) asks what is happening to him, he learns that he is being sent to Wisconsin to join the Great Lakes Initiative, much to his humiliation.

Meanwhile, Gauntlet and Tigra have retreated into the sewers in order to get out of New York and plan their next move. That’s when they are ambushed by the Hood’s Gang. Although they are out numbered they are saved by Justice and the New Warriors. When the villains are defeated, Joe and Greer agree to join their group in order to take down Norman Osborn. However, the team is changing their name, now calling themselves the Avengers Resistance.

Unaware of this new development, Norman Osborn brings the Hood and the rest of his cronies to New Mexico to the Initiative’s brand new facility he has dubbed Camp HAMMER!

Recurring Characters

Initiative staff: Taskmaster, Trauma, Diamondback, Penance, Komodo

Avengers Resistance (Justice, Debrii, Gauntlet, MVP (clone), Night Thrasher, Rage, Scarlet Spider, Slapstick, Tigra, Ultragirl), Heavy Hitters (Gravity, Nonstop, Prodigy, Telemetry), Great Lakes Initiative (Mister immortal, Big Bertha, Doorman, Flatman, Squirrel Girl, Tippy-Toe), Brian Van Patrick, Dark Avengers (Norman Osborn, Ares, Ms. Marvel), Hood’s Gang (The Hood, Brothers Grimm, Cutthroat, Griffin, Living Laser, Razor-Fist, Scorcher, U-Foes (Vector, Vapor, X-Ray, Ironclad)), MVP (corpse), HAMMER

Continuity Notes

1. The New Warriors recovered MVP’s body in Avengers: The Initiative #23-24. His death is complicated. Here are some of the details about it:

   • MVP was an early Initiative recruit who was killed in a training accident back in issue #1. The heads of the Initiative covered up his death right away.

   • Michael was later cloned multiple times including a clone that was sent home to his family in issue #4 and the Scarlet Spiders who were created the issue prior.

   • Here, Patrick (one of the Scarlet Spiders) states that he is the last of the trio. Clones Michael and Van were killed in Avengers: The Initiative #10 and 22 respectively.

   • The reason why Patrick isn’t allowed to stay is because he was created by mixing the DNA of MVP and Baron Von Blitzschlag, as explained in Avengers: The Initiative Annual #1.

   2. The New Warriors were made outlaws by Norman Osborn in Avengers: The Initiative #21, in part due to the fact that the Warriors were blamed for the Stamford Disaster in Civil War #1. Here, Taylor states that Osborn thinks he is confined to a wheelchair. Per New Warriors (vol. 4) #1-6, Donyell has been using an image inducer to make it appear he lost his legs in an accident so he could operate as Night Thrasher in secret and redeem his brother’s name. His brother is Dwayne, who was one of the Warrirors who seemingly died in the Stamford Disaster. In reality, Dwayne was pulled forward in time by the Collector and will be seen again in Contest of Champions (vol. 2) #5.

   3. Norman Osborn became America’s top cop after he killed the leader of a Skrull invasion of Earth in Secret Invasion #8. He has used his position to obtain more power and wealth for himself and other villains. He will hold this position until Siege #4. It is mentioned here that Taskmaster used to train henchmen and other villains, a role he did starting in Avengers #195 until he was conscripted into the Initiative in Avengers: The Initiative #8.

   4. Baldwin was one of the few survivors of the Stamford Disaster and became a scapegoat for it starting in Civil War: Front Line #1. He later created a the Penance persona and registered in order to redeem himself in issue #10. However, this has had a profound effect on his mental health.

2. The recent damage caused to Stamford was caused by a clone of Thor named Ragnarok, which was released as a failsafe of the failed Skrull invasion, as seen in Avengers: The Initiative #20-23. Osborn used his position to spin the story and blame the Warriors for freeing the clone, when in reality they had only come to recover the body of MVP and they had arrived only after Ragnarok was on the loose.

3. Here, it is mentioned that the real Ms. Marvel is Carol Danvers, who is AWOL at this moment. Karla Sofen was tapped as Osborn’s Ms. Marvel when he formed his team of Avengers in Dark Avengers #1. This was after Danvers refused to join up, making her an outlaw. As an aside, Tigra mentions taking a “personal day” to help a friend. She is referring to the events of War Machine (vol. 2) #8.

4. Tigra’s pregnancy is a complicated matter. Let me explain:

   • The father of her child is Criti Noll, a Skrull who posed as Yellowjacket after taking his place in Mighty Avengers #15. They were killed in Avengers: The Initiative #19. One issue later, Tigra discovered that she was pregnant and was debating getting an abortion.

   • Tigra will ultimately give birth to her child in Avengers: The Initiative #35. Later, a DNA analysis of the boy in Avengers Academy #7 will reveal that he is entirely human. The explanation is that when Criti Noll was posing as Pym, their disguise was down to a molecular level. Since they were human at the time the child was conceived they only passed along human DNA.

5. The Hood attacked Tigra, threatened her family, and recorded the beating as a message to other heroes who tried to mess with his operations. See New Avengers #35.

6. Karla’s Ms. Marvel costume is based on the one originally worn by Carol Danvers from Ms. Marvel #1-20. Here, Karla wonders why Carol designed it to be so revealing, mentioning that Carol is supposed to be a feminist. Danvers’ feminist ideology was first mentioned in Ms. Marvel #1 (again).

7. Diamondback began her costumed career as a member of the Serpent Society in Captain America #310. However, she soon started working with their enemy, Captain America (Steve Rogers) starting in Captain America #357. Since then she has flip-flopped between both sides of the law over the years.

8. Penance was receiving treatment from Samson during his tenure with the Thunderbolts from Thunderbolts #110-121. Osborn had him brainwashed because he was starting to recover from his PTSD following the events of Penance: Relentless #1-5.

9. Both Trauma and the Hood are empowered by magic, here are the details:

   • Parker Robbins’ powers mostly come from an enchanted cloak he found in The Hood #1. As revealed in New Avengers #46.

   • Trauma’s relationship to Nightmare (and his mother’s insanity) was revealed in New Avengers Special #1. It will be expanded upon in issue #30.

10. Prodigy was one of the opponent of the Super Human Registration Act that was passed into law in Civil War #3. He was arrested after getting drunk and fighting Iron Man in Civil War: Front Line #1. He joined up with the Initiative in Avengers: The Initiative #13 in order to avoid jail time.

11. Norman Osborn was infamously the Green Goblin, starting his criminal career way back in Amazing Spider-Man #14.

Topical References

• The Hood’s cell phone is depicted as a “flip” style model. These phones were quite common in 2009 when this story was published. However, they have fallen out of common use thanks to the advent of smart phones. As such, its depiction here should be considered topical.