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Avengers: The Initiative (Collected Editions)
Avengers: The Initiative, Vol. 4: Disassembled
The Invasion is over and the Initiative has been rocked to its core. Now that the truth is out, that the program was conceived as part of a Skrull plot, can it survive? Who will leave? Who will stay? And who will lead them? Also: Learn what's become of the REAL Hank Pym! And when Taskmaster discovers Mutant Zero's true identity, she gets fightin' mad!
Collecting: Avengers: The Initiative 20-25, Special
Collecting: Avengers: The Initiative 20-25, Special
196 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2009
About the author
Christos Gage
1,547 books127 followersChris N. Gage is a writer for comic books and television.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
February 2, 2018
Humberto Ramos takes over the art duties and does a fine job. Sometimes his fight scenes can be a little confusing, but he shines in so many other moments that its hardly a fault.
This book continues threads established in Civil War and Secret Invasion, so if you're not caught up event-wise, this may seem overly reliant on stories outside of this book. But that's kind of what I love about this book: it gets to follow and tie-up threads that the main event books just teased; I always considered Avengers The Initiative to be a sort of "mortar" for the marvel universe. It helps fill out a lot of empty spaces, showing real and actual effect from these "Earth shattering events".
Plus, the b-list nature of this book and its cast of characters just makes it more fun. But again, an appreciation of marvel continuity is necessary for any of this to have weight to it.
Christos Gage should really get the writing credit here, as Dan slott left after issue 20 to go write Mighty Avengers.
P.S. Ramos draws an amazing Norman Osborn: sleek, scary and authoritative, yet always at the edge of maniacal, hiding just under the surface.
This book continues threads established in Civil War and Secret Invasion, so if you're not caught up event-wise, this may seem overly reliant on stories outside of this book. But that's kind of what I love about this book: it gets to follow and tie-up threads that the main event books just teased; I always considered Avengers The Initiative to be a sort of "mortar" for the marvel universe. It helps fill out a lot of empty spaces, showing real and actual effect from these "Earth shattering events".
Plus, the b-list nature of this book and its cast of characters just makes it more fun. But again, an appreciation of marvel continuity is necessary for any of this to have weight to it.
Christos Gage should really get the writing credit here, as Dan slott left after issue 20 to go write Mighty Avengers.
P.S. Ramos draws an amazing Norman Osborn: sleek, scary and authoritative, yet always at the edge of maniacal, hiding just under the surface.
August 2, 2020
Im always surprised that this series full of not-even-B-list characters has me constantly invested in them. Theres this negetive vibe I get, and with the Dark Reign storyline, it gets worse. Will this team even make it intact in the end??
Secret Invasion is over, Norman Osborn is now in charge. Dark Reign begins.
The 1st issue deals with the fallout. Hank Pym seems to be getting unhinged with reality. The art is great, it looks creepy at times, sometimes it works, like those dead person scenes and constant villains walking around, and sometimes it doesn't.
The next issues with a 'Disassembled' tag are about the Thor clone being unleashed, which looks goofy with Ramos's art, and a group now calling themselves The New Warriors helps out.
Also Taskmaster, Komodo and the rest of Shadow Initiative are on a mission to go after Hardball which leads them to Madripoor and an encounter with Scorpion and Hydra. After they take on Roughhouse and Bloodscream they become stranded without an evac.
The final issue deals with Osborn taking control of the base ...and a lil too much control on whatever heroes that are left.
Good read.
Secret Invasion is over, Norman Osborn is now in charge. Dark Reign begins.
The 1st issue deals with the fallout. Hank Pym seems to be getting unhinged with reality. The art is great, it looks creepy at times, sometimes it works, like those dead person scenes and constant villains walking around, and sometimes it doesn't.
The next issues with a 'Disassembled' tag are about the Thor clone being unleashed, which looks goofy with Ramos's art, and a group now calling themselves The New Warriors helps out.
Also Taskmaster, Komodo and the rest of Shadow Initiative are on a mission to go after Hardball which leads them to Madripoor and an encounter with Scorpion and Hydra. After they take on Roughhouse and Bloodscream they become stranded without an evac.
The final issue deals with Osborn taking control of the base ...and a lil too much control on whatever heroes that are left.
Good read.
April 15, 2018
I ended up enjoying this despite myself. The whole Civil War/ Dark Reign thing was very hit and miss overall, and the Initiative book was not really one that immediately appealed. However, although peopled by generally average characters ( with the exception of Taskmaster, he’s always cool) Christopher Gage did a great job of crafting a clever, smart and action packed story. He made me actually care about characters I didn’t really care about, and that’s good writing right there.
The art was hit and miss, perhaps a little too scruffy and all over the place to totally suit the book, but once you adjusted to it it did a decent job.
The one complete misfire was the final Reptil story, very average story and art, and pretty pointless.
As a collection overall though, not bad at all.
The art was hit and miss, perhaps a little too scruffy and all over the place to totally suit the book, but once you adjusted to it it did a decent job.
The one complete misfire was the final Reptil story, very average story and art, and pretty pointless.
As a collection overall though, not bad at all.
March 6, 2022
A decidedly non-showy, but immensely satisfying outing for a team composed of also-rans.
While the star power on this book is basically nil, Gage manages to make the story leap forward from issue to issue.
And Ramos' pencils are restrained, with the coloring softening his harsh angles and lending the whole affair a more muted tone.
An absolute surprise, and one that I intend to keep following along.
While the star power on this book is basically nil, Gage manages to make the story leap forward from issue to issue.
And Ramos' pencils are restrained, with the coloring softening his harsh angles and lending the whole affair a more muted tone.
An absolute surprise, and one that I intend to keep following along.
September 23, 2018
These are some solid comics, dealing with the fall out from Secret Invasion. Nicely handled superhero stuff.
June 21, 2019
It's not a good time to be an Avenger.
October 20, 2019
I found it hard to keep track of everything that happened and who was who. The story was okay, but like I said kind of confusing at times. I did like the special Reptil story a lot.
May 5, 2026
I think I'm just not a huge fan of the writing but like it was fine!
October 18, 2016
This was one of the better Initiative volumes. I really like seeing a little bit more of what Hank Pym and some of the other Skull captives are going through.
August 7, 2011
The Initiative may be dissembled, but I do not find myself really caring that much. Much of it may be because it was not a long standing Marvel institution that I, or many people, had invested much into or had come to expect would be there for a long time (as opposed to something like the Fantastic Four’s Baxter Building). The sheer number of characters present has made it hard for each character to be properly developed. While some are done well, others fall through the cracks and seem to be effectively crowd filler and cannon fodder.
The stories are well told and the artwork generally fine, but while the themes of this book are really at the heart of the mood and direction of the current Marvel universe (the new view of superheroes, the Osborne changes etc.), I do not find myself emotionally involved or caring that much about the characters. One positive thing is that future issues seem to be of a high quality.
The stories are well told and the artwork generally fine, but while the themes of this book are really at the heart of the mood and direction of the current Marvel universe (the new view of superheroes, the Osborne changes etc.), I do not find myself emotionally involved or caring that much about the characters. One positive thing is that future issues seem to be of a high quality.
January 9, 2015
Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5.
I wasn't very impressed with this. Admittedly, I wasn't a huge fan of the Civil War arc, either, but at least I could follow it without getting confused. The biggest problem I had with this was the convolution. It was simply too convoluted for such a short book (est. 196 pages). I had a hard time keeping the teams straight and remembering who was who, and the constant back and forth muddled the plot. The heroes were hard to remember, as none of them really had any qualities that made them stand out from the others. I felt like the plot was weak and under-developed as well.
This wasn't horrible, but I wasn't impressed with it. I feel like it could've been so much better. I certainly expected better.
I wasn't very impressed with this. Admittedly, I wasn't a huge fan of the Civil War arc, either, but at least I could follow it without getting confused. The biggest problem I had with this was the convolution. It was simply too convoluted for such a short book (est. 196 pages). I had a hard time keeping the teams straight and remembering who was who, and the constant back and forth muddled the plot. The heroes were hard to remember, as none of them really had any qualities that made them stand out from the others. I felt like the plot was weak and under-developed as well.
This wasn't horrible, but I wasn't impressed with it. I feel like it could've been so much better. I certainly expected better.
October 9, 2021
The transition from The Initiative up until Secret Invasion to the Dark Reign period meant a lot of changes for this book but admittedly it still gets me rather excited. We had the weird reveal of who Mutant Zero actually is and the Shadow Initiative's last mission, as it were. We have a sort of resolution for Hardball and a last gift from the Skrull version of Hank Pym.
So as far as a transition book goes, there's actually a LOT that happens in this volume and that kind of surprises me. Normally the in-between story arc books can get rather slow and that takes a lot away from the experience. But this volume managed to balance in some intrigue and action while moving the pieces around the board and getting us ready for the next phase of the these stories.
So as far as a transition book goes, there's actually a LOT that happens in this volume and that kind of surprises me. Normally the in-between story arc books can get rather slow and that takes a lot away from the experience. But this volume managed to balance in some intrigue and action while moving the pieces around the board and getting us ready for the next phase of the these stories.
November 9, 2015
Didn't really feel like it's own book. Almost everything was part of a different story line, constant footnotes telling you check a different book to figure out why stuff was happening, or telling you to pick up a different series to figure out how it turns out. It felt like this book was mostly for people who cared about the 'behind the scenes' for other storylines
April 26, 2014
Since Thor is my favorite and he was a robot clone psycho, that may have skewed my viewpoint on this...darker than some of the other stories I have read in the series. The very end, the side story about Reptil, was fantastic!
June 4, 2011
This is all about the breakdown of the initiative. Lots of twists and character moments to keep your interest.
May 8, 2019
I freaking love this series for some reason, my favorite heroes, Z listers
June 12, 2013
Gage doesn't have the skill of Slott, and too much of this volume is spent setting up the next thing, but nonetheless this is a fun continuation of the series.
September 10, 2016
Individual issues on marvel unlimited
April 10, 2014
Prosegue molto bene la serie dedicata all'iniziativa. L'invasione skrull è stata sventata, ma ora è necessario fare i conti con tutte le conseguenze, compresa la presa di potere di Norman Osborne.
September 9, 2014
This was terrible and just felt like filler. Did not enjoy the art and could not care less about the story arc.
October 9, 2014
Fall out of Secret Invasion. The series stays consistent.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews