Avengers: The Initiative #26
Up is Down
Now
In Charlotte, North Caroline, the Avengers Resistance — Justice (Vance Astrovik), Gauntlet (Joe Green), Tigra (Greer Grant), and Ultragirl (Suzy Sherman) — are clashing with the U-Foes — Vector, Vapor, X-Ray, and Ironclad — in the middle of the city. However, when the SWAT teams arrive, they attempt o arrest the heroes as Norman Osborn — the current Director of HAMMER — has labelled them outlaws.[1] How did we get here? Well….
One Week Earlier
Norman Osborn has called a press conference to announce the progress the Initiative has been making since he took over. Since the shuttering of Camp Hammond, he has opened Camp HAMMER, a repurposed Hulkbuster Base in New Mexico.[2] He lauds this move as a means of ensuring that nobody is harmed by the recruits that are trained there.
He then announces that there is a new crop of graduates that are now ready to be assigned to the 50-State Initiative. They include the Force of Nature — Aqueduct, Skybreaker, Sunstreak, and Terraformer — of Oregon, the U-Foes of North Carolina, Psionex — Asylum, Coronary, Impulse, Mathematic, and Pretty Persuasion — of Maryland, and the Warrior Women — Diamondback, Asp, Black Mamba, Skein and Quicksand — of Delaware.
When opening the floor to questions, Sally Floyd of the Front Line points out that nearly everyone on these teams are former criminals. Osborn rebuts this by rhyming off various former Avengers who are reformed criminals.[3] He then lauds Sunstreak for her part in fighting the recent Skrull invasion,[4] and Diamondback’s previous work with the original Captain America.[5][6] He then has Constrictor (Frank Schlichting) come out and give a speech about how joining the Initiative helped reform him and how he sacrificed his own arms defending his country.[7] The rest of the media laps this all up. With his speech done, Norman Osborn goes backstage where the Taskmaster and the Hood (Parker Robbins) were watching. They both commend their new boss for the rousing speech, but Osborn only cares about getting a drink.
Now
Not willing to fight the police, Justice and his team retreat back to their cloaked ship in the sky. Waiting for them is Night Thrasher (Donyell Taylor) who tells them that he was able to hack into the U-Foes’ computer database. This will allow them to monitor their activities and be ready when they try to pull off any crimes while posing as North Carolina’s Initiative team. He notes that the state is the second largest banking center in the country, and that will prove to be too tempting a target for the villains. Ultragirl has some ethical issues about committing crimes to stop criminals, but Tigra believes that it is necessary in this new world. Anything to make the world safe for their families again.[8]
At Camp HAMMER, the Taskmaster and the Hood are addressing the latest crop of criminals to pass through the Initiative: The Brothers Grimm, Mandrill, Razor-Fist, Scorcher, and Vampiro. Parker Robbins addresses them by saying that the Initiative will offer them the opportunity to make it rich as villains by posing as heroes. He likens this situation like wealthy businessmen who can get away with committing crimes with impunity. However, they need the proper training to do it right. With that, he asks Vampiro to step forward. Parker knows that he is the one who has been killing sex workers at the interstate truck-stop. Vampiro tries to justify the killings by pointing out that he is a vampire and needs to drink blood.[9] The Hood knows this is bullshit and turns into his demonic form and eats Vampiro, to the horror of the other recruits. After he is finished, Parker reverts back to human form and warns the others that this will be their fate if they step out of line.
By this, the Avengers Underground return to their headquarters with bad news for the rest of the team. Rage (Elvin Haliday) is furious that the media is painting them in a negative light and believes they all should have went on this mission. Donyell disagrees and the two almost come to blows until Justice and the Scarlet Spider pull them apart. Gauntlet then tells them to shut up and reminds them that taking down Osborn isn’t going to be easy and fighting among themselves will only make it that much harder. As they watch the news footage of their battle with the U-Foes, Joe is devastated when the media interviews his wife and she denounces her husband’s actions. This hits Gauntlet hard, even though he knows his wife is lying, and tells them that their mission has to work.
Back at Camp HAMMER, Taskmaster checks in on Trauma (Terrence Ward)’s progress with Penance (Robbie Baldwin). Terrance is well out of his depth dealing with someone with such a severe mental illness, but Taskmaster doesn’t care. He wants Baldwin in fighting order immediately and reminds him that Penance is not to remember his past, and that Terrence’s mother’s safety is riding on his success. When Ward sits down for his session with Robbie, they talk about how Penance still feels deep remorse for the people who were killed in the Stamford Disaster. Robbie wishes he knew anything about his past and wonders if he has any friends. Fearing for his mother’s safety, Terrance moves away from this line of talk to do meditation exercises.[10][11]
Later, the Taskmaster, the Hood, and Baron Von Blitzschlag are meeting in the war room to discuss the recent takeover of Prison 42 in the Negative Zone.[12] This is a problem because the prison is an asset for recruiting more criminals into the Initiative. They all agree that they have to liberate the facility. Parker suggests that they send in lower ranking crooks to soften things up so they can send the a-team in to finish the job and score a huge win. With the mission agreed upon, the Hood heads out as he has other business to attend to. Taskmaster meets with Komodo (Melati Kusama) who wants to return to the Arizona team now that they have captured her ex-boyfriend, Hardball.[13] However, Taskmaster tells her that she is going to remain on the Shadow Initiative until they take back Prison 42. When she balks at this, saying the team doesn’t have the numbers for such a large scale operation, he takes her into the next room and shows that he has bolstered the ranks of the team.
That evening, Percy Grimes of the Brothers Grimm is sleeping in the presidential suite at the Hotel Santa Fe when suddenly Tigra comes smashing in through the window. She has come to get revenge for the time that he and other members of the Hood’s gang threatened her family and beat her up on camera. She has now come to return the favor, recording the beating to put out there as a warning to all the other criminals that Norman Osborn is putting through the Initiative.[14]
Recurring Characters
Initiative staff: Taskmaster, The Hood, Baron Von Blitzschlag, Constrictor, Trauma
Norman Osborn, Penance, Avengers Resistance (Justice, Debrii, Gauntlet, Night Thrasher, Rage, Scarlet Spider, Slapstick, Tigra, Ultragirl) Hood’s Gang (Brothers Grimm, Mandrill, Razor-Fist, Scorcher, Vampiro), U-Foes (Vector, Vapor, X-Ray, Ironclad), Force of Nature (Aqueduct, Skybreaker, Sunstreak, Terraformer), Psionex (Asylum, Coronary, Impulse, Mathematic, Pretty Persuasions), Warrior Women (Diamondback, Asp, Black Mamba, Quicksand, Skein), Shadow Initiative (Komodo, Badd Axe, Batwing, Bengal, Butterball, Firearms, Ringer, Slaughterboy Heavy Mettle (Baracuda, Blackwing, Riot, Strongbow, Warbow), Blastaar, Sally Floyd, Althea Green, HAMMER
Continuity Notes
The Avengers Resistance were formed last issue, branching out from the New Warriors. The members were labeled as outlaws in Avengers: The Initiative #21.
When a rampaging Thor clone named Ragnarok caused heavy damage to Stamford, Connecticut (the former home of the Initiative), he had Camp Hammond shut down. See Avengers: The Initiative #21-25.
Norman Osborn mentions a number of Avengers who first started off as villains and later reformed. They include:
Hawkeye (Clint Barton): Tried to start off as a hero in Tales of Suspense #57, but a misunderstanding with police led him into being manipulated into helping the Black Widow (Natasha Romanov) who was, at the time, a Russian spy. Hawkeye would later reform when he joined the Avengers in Avengers #16. Speaking of the Black Widow….
Natasha was a Russian spy when we first saw her in Tales of Suspense #52. However, she eventually defected in Avengers #23. That said, she didn’t officially join the Avengers until Avengers #111.
Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) got his start as a member of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants back in X-Men #4. Pietro later joined the Avengers to redeem himself in Avengers #16.
The Vision was created by Ultron to destroy the Avengers, but he later betrayed his master and joined the group, as seen in Avengers #57-58.
Wonder Man (Simon Williams): Was recruited and empowered by Baron Zemo to infiltrate and destroy the Avengers. However, he later sacrificed his life to defend them in Avengers #9. He officially joined the team after cheating death in Avengers #152.
The Skrull invasion primarily took place in Secret Invasion #1-8, and was the conflict that saw Osborn rise to power because he killed Veranke, the leader of the invasion. Sunstreak was involved in the final battle as seen in Avengers: The Initiative #14-18.
When she first appeared in Captain America #310, Diamondback was a member of the criminal Serpent Society. However, her infatuation with Captain America (Steve Rogers) led her to fight crime with him for a time, starting with Captain America #357.
Osborn makes a point of referencing the original Captain America and not the “gun toting impostor” that is currently running around. At the time of this story, Rogers is believed to have been killed by an assassin’s bullet in Captain America (vol. 5) #25. In his absence, his former partner Bucky (James Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier) took over the mantle in issue #34 of that series. In reality, Steve Rogers has is living his life in a temporal loop and will be stuck in this purgatory until Captain America: Reborn #1-6
Constrictor decided to reform from his criminal ways in Thing (vol. 2) #2. He later joined the Initiative in Avengers: The Initiative #4. While serving on the Shadow Initiative, his arms were cut off by KIA in issue #9 and was outfitted with new cybernetic limbs in Avengers: The Initiative #12.
Tigra emotionally pauses on making the world safe for families. That’s because she is struggling with the fact that she is pregnant. See Avengers: The Initiative #20 for the details.
Vampiro’s claim of being a vampire has not been independently confirms but is questionable given that he was able to stand outside in the sun with no ill effect. That said, as of this writing (August, 2024), Vampiro is still considered among the deceased.
Robbie Baldwin was once the New Warrior known as Speedball. At the time, he is the only known survivor of the Stamford Disaster which took place in Civil War #1. This made him a scapegoat. He created the Penance persona in Civil War: Frontline #10 to atone for what happened. However, since then his PTSD and various brainwashing’s have left him mentally unstable.
Terrance’s mother was institutionalized after his accidentally turned into her greatest fear, as seen in Avengers: The Initiative Special #1. He was forced to remain on staff at the Initiative with a threat on her life and the offer to cure her of her insanity. See last issue (again).
Prison 42 was taken over by Blastaar in Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #8-10.
Hardball and Komodo had a romance that began in Avengers: The Initiative #8 which ended when he defected to Hydra in Avengers: The Initiative Special #1. She helped the Shadow Initiative bring him to justice in Avengers: The Initiative #21-25.
Tigra was attacked by the Hood and his men as a message to other heroes not to mess in their business. See New Avengers #35.
Topical References
One of the news cameramen is depicted wearing a New York Yankees baseball cap. This should be considered topical because this is a real world sports team.
The Hood refers to Blastaar and his army as “Star Wars Canteena Rejects”, this is a reference to the 1977 film Star Wars: A New Hope. One of the iconic scenes in that film takes place in a cantina that s visited by a myriad ensemble of aliens. A reference like this would be considered topical, however now that Disney owns both Star Wars and Marvel, this would be an instance of brand synergy.
Tigra is depicted as recording Percy’s beating on a camcorder. These devices were still common when this story was first published in 2009. However, they have fallen out of common use thanks to the advent of cell phones with built in cameras. As such, its depiction here should be considered topical.
