Siege: Avengers - The Initiative Premiere

I had high hopes for this Siege tie-in due to some very strong reviews. Unfortunately, I found it to be a complete waste of my time. Taskmasker is the main POV through a large part, and he's a b-level villain at best. And honestly, he's just not that interesting. It's not like seeing the event through the eyes of the Dark Avengers, or Osborn. The rest of the book is the POV of members of the Initiative - the state-by-state teams of "heroes" trained at Camp HAMMER.This book is a hodge-podge. It opens with Osborn inspecting Taskmaster's Camp HAMMER training facility. It's at this point that Osborn surprises him with an invitation to join the Cabal. He knows that's over his head but doesn't see another option. He's out to survive Siege with his own skin intact. And he tells the reader that REPEATEDLY. In fact, his running internal monologue began to wear on my nerves because it was so boring. It's through Taskmasker that we meet Constrictor and Diamondback. She's a mole for the real Avengers (though not the usual Thor, Cap, etc. Avengers), which doesn't stop her from having an affair with Constrictor. Her constant inner monologue questions how she feels about him; he loves her, but she used to be involved with Steve Rogers, a real hero. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP! Then we have a team of Avengers in hiding composed of lesser-known heroes like Tigra, Night Thrasher and Justice. When Osborn becomes distracted by the main Siege battle, they decide to help their hero friends by attacking...Camp HAMMER. Because that is a critical target? It just didn't make sense.And then the last quarter of the book is taken up with a couple of random adventures of some of the Initiative "heroes" - characters I have never heard of - that had nothing whatsoever to do with Siege. Two-gun Kid? Really? Amidst these stories we have Komodo and Hardball, whose relationship is broken when she learns he's an unwilling Hydra operative. It felt like I was reading bad teen fiction, there was so much angst.Overall, this was a complete miss for me as a Siege tie-in. It doesn't provide any additional perspective on Siege, unless you count Taskmasker's, and it is filled with so much personal relationship-angst that it strained credibility. There are a couple of memorable scenes, so I gave it two stars. But, sadly, I just can't recommend this.

Buying all the Marvel Siege books means you will turn a gem eventually. What a surprise this volume was, surpassing even the main Siege book. Norman Osborn's Avengers are conducting all-out war on Thor's city of Asgard. That's where the big boys play. But what of the little people, the foot soldiers working for Osborn's 'Hammer' organization? That's what this volume explores, the efforts of the minor villain Taskmaster to come out of the whole thing with his neck intact. It's not easy, and his predicaments are truly sympathetic as he faces down Doctor Doom and various heroes. Can a small-time criminal survive the God of Thunder? Are you kidding? The shot of him looking up and seeing Thor twirling thunderbolts around with his hammer is truly frightening. No way he survives the battles of the Gods, the guy's thinking. A refreshing effort from the Marvel team, proving that not all stories have to be about their big heroes to be interesting.

WOW! WOW! WOW!, YOU HAVE TO GET THIS MAG, GREAT STORYLINE WITH THE OTHER (SIEGE) SERIES

The Initiative storyline meets its smart conclusion in this volume of "Avengers: The Initiative--Siege", a crossover with the Marvel Universe Siege storyline wherein current head of American security Norman Osborn uses his ties within the supervillain community to mount an assault against the fallen nation of Asgard, currently occupying air space above Broxton, OK. Such a foolhardy errand! And one that leads finally to Osborn's ousting from his top ranking security position. While there are a lot of characters that this collection juggles I wanted to comment on Norman Osborn first. Marvel turned him into one of its deepest and best villains that we've ever seen. His story arc of mad doctor to Green Goblin/ Spider-man nemesis to dead to resurrection to savior of the earth when he delivers the kill shot during the Secret Invasion to his delicious command and manipulation of political and other forces within the Dark Reign period has been simply brilliant. I think that he's become my favorite villain within the Marvel universe. The writers have done a great job of writing him and I've had a lot of fun reading him. His Machiavellian villainy has been missed of late.But while Osborn certainly is a showpiece of this collection the largest character spotlight is probably on Taskmaster, torn between wanting to save his own butt as he recognizes Osborn's lunacy, and wanting to grab hold of the biggest piece of the pie that he can. He takes his shot and helps bring down Thor! Taskmaster has been shown to be a convenient and highly competent thug whose own base interests and self-preservation have put him in common with the average reader more than most of the heroes. None of the regular Initiative heroes gets too much of the spotlight throughout this final volume but Melani/ Komodo and Hardball do get some important airtime in what ends up being a satisfying relational character arc for both of them.There have been so many through-lines throughout this entire series and writer Christos Gage has treated all of his characters with an element of respect for their stories. They haven't been easy but in some ways this fantasy superhero book has been one of the most grounded in character detail and development. The conclusion leads to a new chapter in the Marvel universe (the Heroic Age if I'm not mistaken but I haven't kept things in order) and served as a launching pad for Avengers Academy in a brave new world. This series as a whole gets a 5 star rating IMO with this particular volume getting 4.5 for important and natural feeling follow throughs, tight art, and satisfying action.

This TPB ends the Avengers - The iniative series.I don't want to reveal any of the storyline as I don't want to ruin it for anyone so i'll stick to general things. This runs parrallel to the Marvel event "Siege" where Norman Osborn, former green goblin now leader of HAMMER, orders an attack on Asgard.As a stand alone book I wouldn't recommend it, if you have read other "initiative" books then it's definitely worth reading to tie up loose ends. I never read the siege event but it may be worth reading this to see another side of the battlefield. If you enjoyed reading this i'd recommend avengers academy also written by Christos Gage which has a similar style of new young superheroes being trained by the avengers. Avengers Academy Volume 1: Permanent Record (Avengers Academy (Quality Paperback))Avengers Academy Volume 1: Permanent Record (Avengers Academy (Quality Paperback))

Dans ce chapitre de Siege, on découvre l'envers du décor pour les méchants, alliés de Osborn. Le récit est tellement propre qu'on finira par s'attacher à ses pauvres vilaines, propulsés malgré eux sous les projecteurs et qui ont bien du mal à faire bonne figure dans leur nouveau "job".Dommage que la bataille du siège soit zappée dans ce chapitre...