Broken Frontier

The new era of the Marvel Universe begins here as we see just what it takes to become an officially-sanctioned hero in Tony Stark’s brave new world.

In the wake of the pro-registration side’s victory in Civil War this opening issue of Avengers: The Initiative follows a small group of inductees into the 50-state program for training heroes in the proper use of their powers. Based in Stamford, where the disaster that sparked the conflict first occurred, the newbies are put through their paces by their drill sergeant The Gauntlet and overseen by pro-reg luminaries like Dr. Henry Pym, Justice and War Machine.

This first issue looks at the Initiative from a number of perspectives. Firstly we see Henry Peter Gyrich’s view of it as a potential superhuman army to promote American interests. We also see some of the behind the scenes roles of Initiative staff as Justice recruits MVP, the unnaturally athletic great-grandson of super-soldier formula creator Dr. Erskine, and War Machine joins up Cloud 9, another all-new character. Most important though is the examination of the experience of the inducted heroes themselves as they begin their basic training; training that will take a tragic turn before the issue is out.

Regardless of which side you supported in the war, Dan Slott’s opening part of this bold new direction for the Marvel Universe should not be missed. Slott is primarily known for lighter, more comedic series like She-Hulk and The Thing but Avengers: The Initiative proves his versatility as a writer. This is far darker in tone than we’re used to from the writer who gave us so many different takes on the Great Lakes Avengers!

Continuity fans will love this book. The group we follow in #1 includes familiar heroes like Rage but there are also lesser-known lights, of varying degrees of obscurity from Marvel’s past, like Thor Girl, Bengal and Slapstick. Added to the new characters introduced this month this is an eclectic and refreshingly different mix. I couldn’t help but think of the work of the late, great Mark Gruenwald when I was "hero-spotting" throughout this issue.

Slott ensures that the readership will never get too comfortable with the status quo though by throwing us a shockingly unexpected twist before the story is out. Taken in conjunction with Gyrich’s machinations and the sinister possibilities that the Initiative’s questionable behavior didn’t end with Civil War (just what do they do with naturally super-powered heroes who fail the training?) this is a title where I suspect nothing should be taken for granted.

Stefano Caselli’s visuals are particularly suited to such a character-oriented piece. His action scenes are certainly dynamic but I was more impressed with his subtler renditions of the book’s cast, from the shadowy Gyrich to the terrifyingly imposing War Machine through to the naïve Cloud 9 and the scowling Trauma.

The only downside is that Marvel released this book with two covers when they could quite easily have given us a wraparound cover of the full image. That aside though, this is a hugely promising debut that ably builds on the groundwork of Civil War. Anything written by Dan Slott is fast proving to be essential buying!