Avengers: The Initiative #12 Review

AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #12
Written by Dan Slott & Chris Gage
Art by Steve Uy

Another solid outing from the Initiative crew. I wasn't a fan of Uy back when he did some fill-ins earlier in the run and I'm not a fan now. Other than that, I have no complaints about this issue.

If you're out of the loop, we just finished the KIA storyline where the MVP clone nearly killed everyone, the old New Warriors reformed and all the secrets of Camp Hammond were brought to Tony Stark's attention. This issue sees the aftermath of all that.

Hank Pym turned up alive early on here. I'm not sure if he's a new Skrull and this is where he replaced Pym for Secret Invasion or if multiple Skrulls have filled in for him when he "died" on that plane earlier and during the KIA arc or if it's the same Skrull and it actually survived. Suffice to say, he's alive here.

The previews made it look like everyone was prepping to go to a funeral, but it turned out to be a simple briefing. Rhodey wasn't willing to talk about his cyborg like appearance, so that's still up in the air. We also get to see a hearing with Iron Man present to find out what happened, but Gyrich is Gyrich throughout and nothing really comes of it.

As seen in the previews, Taskmaster and Ant-Man have some inappropriate, although a bit funny, comments for Dragon Lord's family when informing him of his death. I'm not sure I'd send either of those guys along to anything as sensitive as that and I doubt any family would want to see some guy in a skeleton-like mask at their doorstep to tell them their father died, but that's just me. Turns out Trauma survived his ordeal as well and Cloud 9, Komodo and Hardball's reactions were a lot of fun.

Finally, the issue ends with the graduation and if Slott and Gage simply write these characters off to pasture, I'll probably drop this book. I don't think they'll do that though, but as good as this is, I'm not interested in reading about a bunch of new throw away characters, provided that's what happens.

It's kind of sad to see how Cloud 9 has progressed from the free spirited girl that just wanted to fly on her clouds back at the beginning of the series compared to the jaded and cynical soldier she is now, but also a testament to the character progression Slott has set up over the course of the past year. I hope to see some more development with her and maybe some positive super heroics to bring back some of that lost childhood for her.

Verdict - Must Read

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