Avengers: The Initiative #33
The Hammer Falls, Part 1
Siege continues from Siege #2….
Then[1]
Years earlier, Donyell Taylor went by the name Bandit. He made it his mission to defeat his half-brother, Dwayne, aka Night Thrasher. After receiving a beating, Dwayne admits that their father was wrong for cheating on his mother and keeping them apart. At the time, Donyell had taken Dwayne’s then girlfriend. Dwayne accepts this but reminds Donyell that their father is dead and they need to put aside their differences and become a family.[2] This gets through to Donyell, who reaches out a hand to his brother.
Now
Donyell, having taken on the mantle of Night Thrasher, visits his brother’s grave.[3] He finds himself trying to prove himself to a dead man again. He was given the opportunity to have his brother resurrected by the Hood, but this would mean betraying his friends in the Avengers Underground. However, he still hasn’t made up his mind on what is more important.[4]
While Osborn is laying siege to Asgard, the Avengers Underground — Justice (Vance Astrovik), Gauntlet (Joe Green), Night Thrasher, Rage (Elvin Haliday), the Scarlet Spider, Slapstick (Steve Harmond), Tigra (Greer Grant), and Ultragirl (Suzy Sherman) have decided to use this as the opportunity to shut down Camp HAMMER and his crooked Initiative once and for all.[5] Arriving at the New Mexico facility, they are attacked by members of the Hood’s gang that have been training there, including the Brothers Grimm (Percy and Barton Grimes), the Griffon (John Horton), Living Laser (Arthur Parks), Mandrill (Jerome Beacham), Outback (Fred Myers, aka Boomerang),[6] and Razor-Fist (Douglas Scott). Inside the facility, the Hood (Parker Robbins) is figuring out how to handle this situation. With Osborn and Taskmaster pre-occupied in Asgard, he orders that all his gang members not in Asgard to come and defend the base. He doesn’t want any of the legitimate Initiative heroes involved as they would hamper their defense strategy. He then goes to the lab of Baron Von Blitzschlag, where the clone of Dwayne Taylor is being held so he can utilize his ace-in-the-hole.
In Broxton, Oklahoma, Taskmaster, and Diamondback (Rachel Leighton), have just witnessed Iron Patriot (Norman Osborn)’s Dark Avengers take down Thor. Osborn is annoyed that Taskmaster isn’t following orders and tells him to get back to Asgard and deal with the resistance there. After he leaves, he orders Diamondback to remain with him. When Taskmaster returns to the city, he ends up clashing with Fandral and Hogun of the Warriors Three. He suddenly finds himself filled with doubt about this mission once more.
Meanwhile, Diamondback is made to watch as Osborn puts Thor under arrest. She wonders why Osborn wanted her to stay, and figures it can’t be good.[6] That’s when she spots an armored transport racing toward them. She prepares to attack with her throwing diamonds until she sees Maria Hill — the former Director of SHIELD — preparing to fire a missile launcher from the roof of the vehicle.[7] Rachel is pulled to safety by her current lover, Constrictor (Frank Schlichting) who once again doesn’t want her to get into harms way. As they retreat from the scene, she can’t help but compare Frank to her relationship with Captain America. She mourns the recent loss of Steve Rogers now more than ever.[9]
That’s when they notice that Ares has turned on Osborn, leading to him ordering the Sentry (Bob Reynolds) to deal with him. Constrictor and Diamondback watch in horror as the Sentry kills Ares with his bare hands.[10] This is also witnessed by the Taskmaster who managed to get away from Fandral and Hogun. He realizes that things are going to end badly unless Norman Osborn gets his head back in the game. That’s when he sees the perfect opportunity. He shouts out at the Iron Patriot to watch out just as the trademark shield of Captain America is hurled his way. Diamondback is shocked to see that it is Steve Rogers!
Back at Camp HAMMER, the battle is going in the Avengers Resistance’s favor. This is in part thanks to the Scarlet Spider using the devices built into his Iron Spider armor to shut everything down. However, the clone can’t help but think how his creator, Baron Von Blitzschlag, resides on base and wonders who he will side with.[11] At that same time, the Hood joins the fight by appearing behind Night Thrasher. Parker reveals that to Donyell that he will still be able to resurrect his brother now that he has gotten new magical powers through the Norn Stones.[12]
Hearing the sound of battle outside is Penance (Robbie Baldwin), who has been confined to his cell. When he asks the HAMMER guards what is going on outside, they order him to stand down or they will deactivate his powers with SPIN tech. Robbie thinks very carefully about his next move.
Back outside, Tigra is one of the last Avengers standing and she attacks the Hood from behind. She looks forward to fighting him up to get revenge for the beating she received at his hands before.[13] The Hood then calls out to Night Thrasher, telling him that if he wants his brother to live again, he’s going to have to kill Tigra!
… Siege continues in Thor #607.
Recurring Characters
Initiative staff: Taskmaster, The Hood, Baron Von Blitzschlag
Trainees/Hood’s Gang: Brothers Grimm, Griffin, Living Laser, Mandrill, Outback, Razor-Fist
Avengers Resistance (Justice, Gauntlet, Night Thrasher, Rage, Scarlet Spider, Slapstick, Tigra, Ultragirl), Shadow Initiative (Constrictor, Penance, Ringer), U-Foes (Vector, Vapor, Ironclad), Dark Avengers (Iron Patriot, Ms. Marvel, Ares, Sentry), Thor, Fandral, Hogun, Maria Hill, HAMMER, (in flashback) Night Thrasher
Continuity Notes
According to the Marvel Chronology Project, the flashback at the start of this story happens during the events of Night Thrasher #14 which was published in September, 1994, while this issue was published in April, 2010. Based on the Sliding Timescale, that makes the flashback as occurring roughly 4 years prior to the main story.
Donyell and Dwayne’s familial relation was revealed in Night Thrasher #8. At the time of this flashback, Donyell stole Dwayne’s then girlfriend Silhouette in New Warriors #47. Their father, Daryl Taylor had died in New Warriors #25.
At the time of this story, Dwayne Taylor was believed to have died in the Stamford Disaster in Civil War #1. In reality, he was plucked out of time by the Collector and will appear again in Contest of Champions (vol. 2) #5.
Osborn offered Donyell the opportunity to get his brother back by having his soul transferred into a cloned body. See Avengers: The Initiative #29.
Osborn orchestrated events to justify an invasion of Asgard. The meat of that story is told in Siege #1-4 and its various crossover issues (listed below).
Boomerang was one of the villains tapped by Osborn to join the 50-State Initiative posing as a hero. He took on the name Outback due to his Australian heritage. See Avengers: The Initiative #28.
Here, Diamondback recounts how she was once partnered with Captain America (Steve Rogers). This was from Captain America #357-418-ish.
Maria Hill became Director of SHIELD after Nick Fury went AWOL in Secret War #5. She held this position until Tony Stark took over in New Avengers #25. She was later fired from SHIELD after Norman Osborn took over circa Secret Invasion #8 as seen in Invincible Iron Man #8.
Diamondback and Constrictor started a romance in Avengers: The Initiative #29. At the time of this story, Rachel believes that Captain America was killed by an assassin in Captain America (vol. 5) #25. In reality, Steve was hit with a chronal bullet that had him stuck in a time loop until he was recently freed in Captain America: Reborn #1-6.
We see the brawl between Ares and the Sentry in greater detail in Siege #2. Although killed here, Ares is resurrected with Isotope-8 when the Collector summoned him for his latest contest. See Contest of Champions (vol. 2) #2.
As explained in Avengers: The Initiative Annual #1, the Scarlet Spiders were a trio of clones created from DNA of MVP (Michael Van Patrick, killed in Avengers: The Initiative #1) and the Baron. Two of the trio were killed in issues #10 and 22. The lone clone (that rhymes!) has felt alone after he was rejected by the Van Patrick family in Avengers: The Initiative #26.
Originally, the Hood derived his powers from Dormammu, as revealed in New Avengers #46. He was stripped of these powers in issue #54 of that series. Loki later gave Parker the Norn Stones to replaced his lost magical abilities, as seen in New Avengers #56-57.
Tigra was savagely beaten by the Hood’s gang in New Avengers #35 as a warning to other heroes not to interfere with his criminal enterprise.
Topical References
Taskmaster compares the siege of Asgard to two historical events. These wouldn’t be considered topical reference as he is citing history as opposed to recent real world events:
The Vietnam War which raged from 1955 to 1975. The United States entered this conflict in an effort to prevent the spread of communism in the region. They were outmanned and after a very unpopular war, they were forced to pull out in a very humiliating defeat.
Hiroshima: Is a reference to when the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, Japan in August of 1945. This was one of two bombs dropped on the nation and signaled the end of World War II.
Siege Reading Order
Siege: The Cabal #1 , Avengers: The Initiative #31, New Avengers #61-62, Dark Avengers #13, 14, 15, Origins of Siege #1, Siege: Storming Asgard: Heroes & Villains #1, Siege #1 , Avengers: The Initiative #32, Dark Wolverine #82, 83, 84, Siege: Embedded #1-2, Siege #2, Avengers: The Initiative #33, Thor #607, Mighty Avengers #35-36, Thunderbolts #141, Siege #3, Siege: Embedded #3, Thor #608, Thunderbolts #142, Avengers: The Initiative #34, New Avengers #63, Siege: Captain America #1, Siege: Spider-Man #1, Siege: Loki #1, Siege: Young Avengers #1, Siege: Secret Warriors #1 , New Mutants (vol. 3) #11, Siege #4, Thor #609, Siege: Embedded #4, New Avengers #64, New Avengers Finale #1, Avengers: The Initiative #35, Dark Avengers #16, Thunderbolts #143, Thor #610, Sentry: Fallen Sun #1