Collects Avengers: The Initiative #1-6 written by Dan Slott and drawn by Stefano Casselli (#6 drawn by Steve Yu).
When I first heard about this book it didn't really strike me as very interesting, but then I read the two issues that were in World War Hulk: X-Men, and I was immediately impressed, so I decided to try it out anyway. Avengers: Initiative is the direct product of many of the major developments in Civil War, and many of the themes of that event are carried over into this book. It's a book that does not want to be it's own niche, it involves the rest of the MU to a very high degree with appearances by many major Marvel characters such as Hank Pym, Henry Peter Gyrich, War Machine, Beast, the Thing, Spider-Man etc. and references to events such as the Stamford incident, NW tags and World War Hulk. As such, this series starts out by placing itself smack in the middle of the MU, thus strengthening the Avengers franchise's position as the pillar of said universe.
The story assumes the disguise of an army story, but at it's heart, it is a good old super hero book. Yes, we have the drill sergeant, meaner than a pit bull, and the top secret projects that only commanding officers can know about, but that's about it. The rest is super heroics with elements of 'coming of age' and 'team building', both classic super hero themes. Plot wise, there's a lot of balls being thrown into the air at the same time and the reader is not likely to be bored. There's a constant buildup to something, a certain feeling that the people in charge have a lot of skeletons in their closets and that things are not as they seem. Nothing is revealed here, however, and if I had to point to something, that is probably the biggest weakness of the book. It builds up to something, it doesn't stand on it's own. This is not a major issue, however, and it certainly shouldn't stop anyone from buying it, just remember to put money aside for the next book as well (solicited to come out by the end of this month).
The book is loosely structured in three parts. In the first part we are introduced to the main characters as they are getting used to their new home and get into their first battles. The second storyline is the World War Hulk tie-in. I'm impressed with how smoothly Slott manages to tie the series into the WWH event. Often when a series is tied into an event it feels a little tagged on, but Slott comes up with a story that makes perfect sense in the context of both Avengers: Initiaive and WWH and even manages to move the book ahead. The last part is a single issue suspense/crime story that sets up the scene for the next book. In the course of the story Slott comes up with several plot twists that really keeps the reader glued, and the last scene is quite a shocker, it made me say out 'Holy Sh*t' in a half whisper!
I must not forget to mention the art which is excellent and only gets better as the book progresses. Caselli is good at infusing his characters with personality, and this is especially important in a book featuring so many characters that readers won't be familiar with. I also want to praise the coloring by Daniele Rudoni, I'm not sure how to describe it, you might say it has a warm almost animation-like quality to it. In any case it is really good, and the combination of Caselli and Rudoni makes for a great looking book. Steve Yu, who handles the art of the last issue, has a somewhat quirky style and I suspect not all readers will enjoy it as much as the rest of the book, but I thought it was pretty good and went well with the story.
This is a good beginning for a new series, and I will definitely be getting the next book as well. It features less known characters but at the same time it is deeply rooted in the MU, and if this sounds interesting to you, I suggest you try it out. You should, however, be aware of two things: two of the issues contained in here are also in the WWH: X-Men book, and the book doesn't read that well on it's own, it is only the beginning. Lets hope the series can keep up the quality!
7/10
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2 comments:
Aaaah, but see... this is one of those rare books that's actually designed to be read in single issues. Almost all issues works as it's own, little episode and thus there is no frustration about the plot being cut in half. It's a serial and meant to be a serial. I for one applaud Dan Slott for being able to write something as old fashioned as a single issue so it doesn't just feel like one sixth of a story and a prelude to a trade. Avengers: The Initiative doesn't want to be a "graphic novel". It's happy to "just" be a comic book.
The story itself is 12 issues long, so the next trade should bring some closure. Only to open up a whole other can of worms in issue 13, of course.
Oh, and I love the artwork!! He seems to be moving on to the new Nick Fury series now, though. Oh well, I will just have to buy that as well :-)
you're right, this series does read better as single issues than most other series. This can be a good thing, but I feel it also detracts a little from the quality of the tpb. I prefer the concept of one book, one story. Then again, some times it's nice to have closure within 20 pages. I don't know, there are advantages and disadvantages to both way of structuring stories. I should note, however, that each story is not completely self-contained. There are several plot strands that go through the whole book, and the last story certainly implies more things to come.
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