The Shadow Initiative: Secret Weapons

Two Weeks Ago…

Henry Gyrich, Gauntlet,[1] and Baron Von Blitzschlag are trying to get the Tactigon to work with soldiers for Gyrich’s special ops team. However, the alien weapon doesn’t seem to work with anyone who tries to use it.[2] When it doesn’t work, Gyrich curses the soldier, prompting Gauntlet to warn Henry about speaking ill of soldiers, or else he will rip his head off and shit down his neck. Annoyed that he doesn’t have his “big gun”, Gyrich continues his recruitment for others.

He checks in on Trauma (Terrance Ward) who has been under training of Dani Moonstar to control his fear based powers. Dani believes that Terrance would make for a good trauma councilor. To demonstrate this, Ward transforms into Gyrich’s late father, who died of Alzheimer’s, a illness that Henry fears that he will inherit.[3] Having his greatest fair laid out to him angers Gyrich, but the boy’s power suits.

From here, Gyrich begins pulling other new recruits from the Initiative to pad out his team. He first goes to Duc No Tranh, aka Bengal, who is unhappy with being under the thumb of War Machine (Jim Rhodes), making him easy to recruit.[4] He next pays a visit to the Constrictor (Frank Schlichting) and offers him a full pardon for his past crimes if he joins up with his secret team. Frank is apprehensive about joining up, but Nighthawk (Kyle Richmond) says that this would be a great opportunity to redeem himself.[5] After that, he meets with Doc (Leonard) Samson to get a psyche-eval of Mutant Zero. Samson thinks she can be kept under control as long as a her true identity is kept a secret, Gyrich thinks he can do that.[6] Lastly, he recruits the Scarlet Spiders, who are more than willing to follow his orders without question. This unwavering loyalty makes Gyrich smile.

Now

The Hulk has declared war on the planet Earth after his forced exile from the planet.[7] With Earth’s heroes seemingly unable to fight back the invasion by the Hulk and his Warbound, Gyrich has decided to send his Shadow Initiative into New York to deal with the situation. Constrictor thinks he’s crazy, but Gyrich is confident that the six of them have what it takes to get the job done. However, that’s when the mysterious Mutant Zero leaves the room. Gyrich tells them that she will no be joining them on this mission as she was only brought in to meet the rest of them. When Frank presses Gyrich on the identity of Mutant Zero, Henry says that it is classified. All they need to know is that she is the 199th recorded mutant that still has her powers.[8]

Getting to the point of their mission, Gyrich tells the Shadow Initiative that the Hulk and his legions have defeated all of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. What isn’t public knowledge though is that a group of Initiative cadets have gone AWOL during the evacuation of Manhattan to fight the Hulk themselves. The recruit that instigated this was Rage (Elvin Halliday), a former New Warrior. Gyrich wants them stopped before this becomes public knowledge or, worse, they have another Stamford Disaster situation on their hands.[9] Their mission is to get to Madison Square Garden, which has been turned into a gladiatorial arena by the Hulk and rescue the captured trainees. Gyrich wants them to get in and out as quickly as possible, figuring that if they play this right, they will not have to fight the Hulk directly.[10] When asked why Trauma — another new recruit — is going in, Gyrich says Terrance is their “big gun” to use in case he’s needed. After turning down an idea to get the remaining Avengers involved in the rescue mission, Gyrich dismisses so they can prepare for the mission ahead.

Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, War Machine Jim Rhodes), Yellowjacket (Hank Pym),[11] and Justice (Vance Astrovik) have gathered every remaining Initiative team and Sentinel Squad ONE together to create a perimeter around Manhattan to keep the Hulk and his army contained.[12] When Vance asks why they don’t go into the city all at once, Jim explains that some people have refused to leave Manhattan and have rallied alongside the Hulk, and can’t risk any civilian casualties.[13] That’s when they notice some graffiti containing the letters “NW”, Vance immediately recognizes it as the tag used by a new team of New Warriors and is pleased that someone is trying to restore the group’s tarnished reputations.[14]

In Manhattan, the Shadow Initiative’s shuttle lands outside of Madison Square Garden. Bengal takes point and leads both Trauma and Constrictor into the building. Frank is annoyed that there is nobody around to see him being a hero, and likes the idea that Gyrich is monitoring their every move even less. They sneak inside and maintain stealth until they run into some of the Hulk’s Death’s Head units. Bengal orders Trauma to hang back while he and Constrictor deal with them. With the robots down, Bengal is too late to warn Trauma of an alarm trigger in the floor. Soon they are surrounded by more Death’s Head units, but that’s when Mutant Zero arrives and takes them all out in a matter of seconds, much to the astonishment of her teammates. With the immediate threat out of the way, the trio head down to where the prisoners are being held.

When they find the captured recruits — Cloud 9 (Abby), Hardball (Roger Brockridge), Komono (Melati), Rage (Elvin Haliday), Slapstick (Steve Harmon), Ultragirl (Suzy Sherman), and Thor Girl[15] — in one of the cells. Before they can get away, both teams are caught by two of the Hulk’s Warboun, Korg and Elloe Kaifi. When facing their opponents, Trauma transforms into Korg’s one true fear: Thor the god of thunder.[16] Meanwhile, Cloud 9 uses her cloud generating powers to choke Elleo until Trauma stops her short of killing the alien. When Abby explains she was meaning to kill, Terrance wonders what has happened to her since they were last together. That’s when Bengal gets a call from the Scarlet Spiders who have been monitoring the Hulk’s battle with the US military.[17] They warn that the monster has won the fight and is heading back to the Gardens and tells them to bug out immediately.

Bengal orders everyone back to the ship, leading to protests from the rescued recruits. They say that there are still prisoners inside, including Iron Man (Tony Stark), and want to fight the Hulk. Terrance Hardball to comply by threatening to turn into his greatest fear, and the others fall in line accordingly. Once they are outside, the Hulk lands in front of them and Trauma tells them to get aboard the ship while he handles the gamma-spawned maniac. First, Terrance takes on the forms of old Hulk foes including the Abomination and Juggernaut.[18] When this doesn’t work, he changes tact by first turning into Bruce Banner’s abusive father and then to Banner himself.[19] That’s when Trauma’s powers stop working and the boy is tossed into the side of a car. The Hulk decides to spare the boy so he can send back a message to his superiors: The Hulk is afraid of nothing. As the monster bounds off, the Scarlet Spiders recover Trauma and take him back to the ship.

Later, at Camp Hammond, the other trainees visit Terrance and the infirmary. Everyone has praise for Terrance’s work in the field. However, Abby feels terrible because bad things always happen when she’s around.[20] Terrance then uses his fear powers to learn that she fears what she is becoming as a result of her training and offers to help her through this difficult crisis. Observing this interaction from an observation room are Dani Moonstar and Henry Gyrich. Dani is pleased to see that Terrance is proving to be the crisis councilor that she said he’d be useful as.

…. World War Hulk continues in World War Hulk: Front Line #3.

Recurring Characters

The Initiative staff: “Yellowjacket” Henry Gyrich, Baron Von Blitzschlag, Justice, War Machine, Dani Moonstar, Gauntlet, Doc Samson, Nighthawk

Shadow Initiative: Trauma, Constrictor, Bengal, Mutant Zero, Scarlet Spiders

Trainees: Cloud 9, Hardball, Komono, Rage, Slapstick, Ultragirl, “Thor Girl”, The Order (Anthem, Calamity, Veda), Sentinel Squad ONE, Warbound (Hulk, Elloe Kaifi, Korg, Death’s Head Units)

Continuity Notes

1. We still don’t know the full names of a number of characters in this story. They include:

   • Gauntlet’s full name (Joe Green) is revealed in Avengers: The Initiative #6.

   • Cloud 9: In issue #1 it was revealed her first name is Abby, but her full name Abby Boylen won’t be revealed until Avengers: The Initiative #9.

   • Komodo’s first name will be revealed to be Melati in Avengers: The Initiative #3. He last name (Kusama) will be revealed in issue #9 as well.

   2. The Tactigon was used by an Initiative trainee named Armory who washed out in training and had the weapon confiscated as seen in Avengers: The Initiative #1.

   3. Gyrich will never live to see if he suffers from this illness, as he will die in SWORD (vol. 2) #11. At least he’s still dead as of this writing in July, 2024.

   4. Here, Bengal mentions how he and Rhodes have a past history. He is referring to the fact that his village was burned to the ground by American troops during the Sin-Cong Conflict, Jim being one of the soldiers present. This was revealed in Daredevil #258. That story refers the conflict as the Vietnam War, but that is a topical reference.

2. Gyrich is impressed with Constrictor’s previous conflicts against the Hulk (Incredible Hulk #212) and Hercules (Thing (vol. 2) #2).

3. Mutant Zero’s identity will remain a secret until Avengers: The Initiative #20, when it is revealed that she is really Typhoid Mary.

4. Hulk was exiled to the planet Skaar in Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #91-105. He fought his way to becoming a king, but the planet was destroyed by the ship that brought him there shortly thereafter. He has come to Earth to get revenge against those who sent him there. This conflict will primarily be chronicled in World War Hulk #1-5 and various crossover and limited series (see below).

5. At the time of this story, the mutant race had been massively depowered following the events of House of M #1-8. Per Decimation: House of M - The Next Day #1, there are only about 198 mutants that retained their powers. For a comprehensive list of who kept their powers see X-Men: The 198 Files #1.

6. The Stamford Disaster was caused only recently at the time of this story. It was caused when the New Warriors — while chasing ratings for their new reality TV show — attacked a group of villains hiding out in the town of Stamford, Connecticut. The resulting clash caused a massive explosion that killed hundreds of people and led to the passage of the Super Human Registration Act. The New Warriors were vilified for their part in the disaster. See Civil War #1-7. Rage was a former New Warrior, having joined up with the group way back in New Warriors #22.

7. Gyrich mentions that the Hulk was the reason why the Avengers were recruited in the first place. This is true, as the Hulk was manipulated by Loki, leading to the group’s formation in Avengers #1.

8. This is not the real Yellowjacket but a Skrull spy who has taken his place. See Mighty Avengers #15 for the details.

9. Here, War Machine mentions that he used to be a part of the Sentinel Squad. He joined up in Sentinel Squad ONE #1. He was last active with the group in X-Men: Pheonix Warsong #2.

10. Jim mentions Tony Stark’s contingency plan. This was revealed in Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #20, wherein he is planning to dump Manhattan into the Negative Zone as a ditch effort to stop the Hulk. It doesn’t come to fruition as I’m sure you’ve already surmised.

11. Following the deaths of the last roster, a new team is formed around the time of this story as seen in New Warriors (vol. 4) #1.

12. The woman who appears to be Thor Girl is actually a Skrull spy as well. This will be revealed in Avengers: The Initiative #18.

13. As revealed in Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #94, Korg was one of the “Stone Men From Saturn” that attempted to invade Earth in Journey into Mystery #83, only to be repelled by Thor.

14. The Hulk’s clash with the military is depicted in World War Hulk #3.

15. The Hulk scoffs at Terrance when he turns into the Juggernaut, saying that he trounced the real one earlier. He is referring to the events of World War Hulk: X-Men #1-3.

16. Bruce Banner’s father, Brian, was incredibly abusive toward his family as revealed in Incredible Hulk #312.

17. She is referring to how MVP was killed in a training accident because he was saving her life in Avengers: The Initiative #1.

Topical References

• When pressing Gyrich about the identity of Mutant Zero, the back and forth leads to a joke about the conversation being like an old Abbott & Costello bit. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were a two man comedy team that were active between 1937 and 1957. One of their most famous skits was called “Who’s on First?”, where the butt of the joke is that they are talking about a baseball player named Who, so when asked “Who’s on first?” the answer is “Yes!” and on and on it goes. It is considered one of the all time greatest classic comedy routines (It was a much simpler time, you see). It has been covered and parodied so many times that it is still pretty well known even today. I wouldn’t necessarily consider this a topical reference as using a more contemporary example would change the point of the joke.

• When hearing how they are all being monitored by Gyrich, the Constrictor sarcastically asks if they are on Big Brother. This is a reality TV series that started in 1999 and is still airing as I write this in July, 2024. It featured contestants living in a house together and having their activities recorded 24/7 slowly evicting each other as the series progresses. This should be considered a topical reference as you could replace this with a myriad of other more contemporary examples as there are no shortages of reality TV shows that use a similar premise.

• As the Hulk bounds away we see a billboard advertising the New York Liberty, a WNBA team. This depiction should be considered topical as this is a real world basketball team.

World War Hulk Reading Order

Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #106, World War Hulk Prologue: World Breaker #1, World War Hulk #1, Ghost Rider (vol. 6) #12, Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #19, Heroes for Hire (vol. 2) #11-13, Irredeemable Ant-Man #10, Ghost Rider (vol. 6) #12-13, World War Hulk: Front Line #1, World War Hulk :Gamma Corps #1, 2, 3, 4, Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #20, World War Hulk: X-Men #1, 2, 3, World War Hulk #2, Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #107-108, World War Hulk: Front Line #2, Punisher: War Journal (vol. 2) #12, Avengers: The Initiative #4-5, World War Hulk: Front Line #3, World War Hulk #3, Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #109-110, Heroes for Hire (vol. 2) #14-15, World War Hulk #4, World War Hulk: Front Line #4-5, World War Hulk #5, Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #111, World War Hulk: Front Line #6, Incredible Hercules #112, 113, 114, 115, World War Hulk: Aftersmash #1, World War Hulk: Aftersmash - Damage Control #1, 2, 3, World War Hulk: Aftersmash - Warbound #1, 2, 3, 4, 5