Goodbye Initiative, it was fun while it lasted...
I'll miss Avengers: Initiative. Not for the actual Avengers but for Taskmaster. Prior to him becoming the instructor for Osborn's twisted version of the 50 State Initiative I was already a huge fan of Taskmaster, but cared very little about Initiative. Once he became one of the primary characters in the book though I became an instant fan as he stole the show each and every issue.
In the finale of the book he does so again. The panel with Taskmaster taunting the captive Osborn as him and Constrictor make off with a couple of stolen Goblin Gliders was worth the price of admission alone, atleast to me it was.
I was actually hoping for a hero turn for Tasky so he could stay on in Avengers Academy, but I should have known better.
There is some nice closure in here as you see the ultimate fates of the Avengers Resistance, the New Warriors, Diamondback, and The Hood, and having read this book for as long as I have it was great to see since I have developed a slight attachment to them. The resolutions were handled well and we actually got an answer to the Tigra's baby thread that's been flapping in the wind for a long time.
That being said, I doubt I'll be grabbing Avengers Academy without the character that brought me into the book in first place. I'll be rooting for a Gage penned Taskmaster ongoing from now until the end of time, but without Taskmaster in the book I can't see myself getting it to read Tigra, Gauntlet, and the rest of the new recruits.
Well, maybe if Gage starts channeling Dan Slott's version of Hank Pym I might get on board.
Jorge Molina concludes his brief run as penciller here. While he's no Deodato his solid work on this book really impressed me as he's normally a colorer. He even succeeded in making Taskmaster's lame pirate costume look cool. He delivers clean good looking pages throughout the issue and captures some great facial expressions as the reprocussions of Siege #4 play out. I really can't say enough how much his art helped this book deliver a good experience since he came on board as penciler. I look forward to seeing more work from him.
4/5 Stolen Goblin Gliders, the end to one of the more enjoyable Siege tie-ins, not a must buy mind you, but if you like any of the characters it's worth picking up as Gage and Molina deliver fun takes on pretty much everyone they get their hands on.
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