THE SHADOW INITIATIVE versus ROUGHHOUSE & BLOODSCREAM
Avengers: The Initiative Disassembled Part 4 (Marvel)
Where: Avengers: The Initiative #24 When: July 2009
Why: Christos N. Gage How: Humberto Ramos

The Story So Far...
When tragedy claimed the lives of hundreds of children in Stamford, Connecticut, the reckless superheroics of the New Warriors were blamed for instigating the violence perpetrated by the villain, Nitro. Thus, the call to register and police the use of superpowers became the championed cause of Tony Stark, aka; Iron Man.

Whilst battling his heroic opponents in the streets, Stark pushed forward the Superhero Registration Act which helped usher in the Fifty States Initiative -- a program to train young heroes under experienced veterans and guarantee the presence of a superhero team in every American state.

Within the Initiative organization itself is a secretive special operatives branch dubbed the Shadow Initiative. Their activities remain top secret and denied by all levels of the Initiative, allowing them to operate in secret for specific missions. Such an objective leads the group, under the leadership of Taskmaster, to Madripoor, where they track the traitorous Initiative alumnist, Hardball. With the Initiative closing down under assumed control by Norman Osborn, the Shadow group are on their own against the mercenaries of a town without law.

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Roughhouse 5 (Superhuman)
Intelligence: Taskmaster 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Bengal 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Bloodscream 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Bengal 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Taskmaster 7 (Living Weapon)
Energy: Typhoid Mary 4 (Arsenal)


- The Shadow Initiative are: Taskmaster, Constrictor, Bengal, & Typhoid Mary.

With the appointment of Tony Stark as Director of SHIELD on the back of plans to register and train all known super-powered heroes, the Fifty States Initiative is passed to ensure a superhero team for every American state. The Initiative pays special attention to the next generation of heroes, erecting a training facility in Stamford, where the tragedy that sparked concerns about hero registration first occurred. Camp Hammond was named after the late Human Torch and is decicated to training the next wave of American heroes.

Within the Initiative organization itself is a secret special operative unit dubbed the Shadow Initiative. The original line-up included Bengal, Trauma, Constrictor, Mutant Zero, and the Scarlet Spiders. Their activities are strictly denied by the Initiative, which, upon the dissolving of SHIELD after Tony Stark was ousted by Norman Osborn under allegations of corruption, leaves the group stranded in the field under the leadership of late recruit, Taskmaster.

- Born in sixteenth century London; Zachariah Ravenscraft served as a physician on board a ship captained by Sir Francis Drake. During a battle with the Spanish galleon, Ravenscraft was mortally wounded and forced to seek the medical aid of a shaman named Dagoo. Using the mystic arts of necromancy, Dagoo saved the surgeon's life with a potion that transformed him into an undying creature similar to that of a living vampire. As Bloodscream, Ravenscraft lives an immortal life, using his powers to nefarious ends, whilst ever searching for the blood of an immortal to complete the potion to restore his humanity at the price of mortality.

Roughhouse is descended from a race of Asgardian trolls, but the details of his origins remain unknown. He possesses the superhuman strength and endurance associated with his lineage, but is said to carry the scars of an abusive childhood beneath his shaggy exterior.

Bloodscream and Roughhouse formed a working partnership on the island of Madripoor, where they were employed as muscle for the crime boss, General Coy. Despite being defeated in Madripoor by Wolverine, the pair have renewed their partnership throughout the years, working as mercenaries and arch-rivals of the clawed mutant.

Math: Shadow Initiative (Ttl) Bloodscream (Avg) Ranking: Constrictor (#566)

What Went Down...
A deluge of rain floods the streets of Madripoor where the members of the secret Shadow Initiative come face-to-face with the mercenary characters that populate this lawless town. Bloodscream & Roughhouse - a pseudo-vampire and troll - old names in the ranks of Madripoor's rogues and hoods.

Barrelling down on the squad leader, Roughhouse sends Taskmaster hurtling into the surrounding urban facade, shrugging off the coiled grappling of former villain-for-hire, the Constrictor. His rampage continues in the direction of the source of the metallic tendrils -- leading Constrictor to wrap his coils around the troll's throat.

Meanwhile, Bengal and Typhoid Mary contend with the vampire-like menace of Bloodscream, whose immortal condition allows him to withstand multiple lethal blows from the sword-wielding femme fatale.

Bloodscream, duelling blade-to-blade with Mary, succeeds in disarming her of the deadly katana, but with a killing blow in sight, his ignorance of Mary's unique abilities prove his folly. Utilizing her pyro-telekinesis, she summons her sword, cutting off Bloodscream's head along with his finishing stike.

With their adversaries seemingly subdued; the Shadow Initiative are forced to come to terms with their predicament as an abandoned cell amidst SHIELD's disassembly. With an entire island of mercenaries, and Hydra on their tail, the group face overwhelming odds, but as Bloodscream soon informs them, they are yet to completely overcome their present opposition.

The pseudo-vampire reattaches his head and attacks an unsuspecting Typhoid Mary. By snatching her arm, he invites a psychological break from the unstable assassin. She ignites the villain and herself with her pyrokinetic flames.

The assault levels yet another potentially lethal attack on Bloodscream, whilst forcing Taskmaster to turn his attentions on a teammate. Effectively victorious, the master fighter calms Mary and orders Constrictor to relinquish his dominance over Roughhouse, redirecting concerns to a conclusion. No longer bound to SHIELD, the group suggest a truce, defecting to HYDRA -- or so it seems...

The Hammer...
Admittedly, the aftermath of the fight presents something of a stalemate scenario, but based on the battle, we declare the Shadow Initiative victorious! Special note: Taskmaster and Bengal didn't get real involved in the scrap, so we'll put them down as assists.

It's nice to finally get competition for June underway after a string of delays pushed this writing back to the start of August. Content is content, in my opinion, but it would be nice if we could gradually work toward being contemporary in our references. I like to think slightly obscure issues such as this will be a valued resource to future readers, but right now, you're probably more interested in more current developments. Assuming, of course, you're actually reading Avengers: The Initiative.

A couple of years into publication, it seems obvious that The Initiative is one of those sleeper titles people will talk about in the future. Born out of the squabble event of Civil War, the series has managed to touch upon each significant Marvel event since, making it one of the most relevant titles to the pulse of the Marvel Universe. Secret Invasion set-up Norman Osborn's rise to power in Dark Reign, a political scenario that connects very specifically to this series, and appears to be right at the top of the agenda of Year Three of the series.

If there was a strength to this title from day-one, it was it's inherent connection to high-concept reflections of Marvel's editorially driven events. Over the past few years, it's been DC that have taken control of their universe-wide "continuity," connecting sequential consequence in ways once considered the domain of Marvel, but no longer. The Initiative is the custodian of this notion, creating many of it's own unique curiosities, (such as the Iron Spiders), whilst remaining a constant reflection of the shifting sands of the shared universe around it.

I have to admit, this has been one of those series that's krept into my frame of interest with regularity, but constantly fell relegated to more "significant" titles through financial elimination. Finally, a quiet week persuaded me to lay down the comparatively reasonable $2.99US, in the interest of getting an overdue taste.

Like the old ham I am, I was attracted to the combination of the six characters involved in today's feature battle. Taskmaster in particular is one of those characters that's long called for a regular role, but for whatever reason, has regularly been overlooked by the powers-that-be. It might've taken a complete overhaul of the political landscape of the Marvel U -- one that's inevitably to be short-lived, probably not far into 2010 -- but at least it finally happened. Makes good sense, too, given Taskmaster's history as a trainer (of folks like USAgent).

I don't know how well it syncs up with their previous developments, but it's also a lot of fun to drift back into the grimey world of Madripoor and bump into forgotten B-listers like Bloodscream and Roughhouse. Particularly in a year that featured Wolverine under the film-inspired spotlight, it's kinda cool to know these slightly cheesy nineties icons are still running around to be used in the future. It's the kind of attention you like to see from the corporates, actually taking full advantage of their lengthy history and universe of characters. Bloodscream might not be a trademark cashcow any time soon, but we seem to have gotten past our phase of eighties-inspired urban stoicism to indulge again in the magic of comics.

Much like Dark Avengers; Avengers: The Initiative will now effectively extend the Thunderbolts concept as Norman Osborn holds his Dark Reign over the Marvel Universe. Whether or not the wolf-in-sheeps-clothing era will be the end of this series remains in the hands of Marvel's dedication to utilizing the unique nature of the series, and promoting it sufficiently. Christos Gage and Humberto Ramos, as creative names in a sychophantic market, are a pretty decent vote of confidence for the title, following Dan Slott and his collaborators.

Ramos' kinetic cartoon style probably won't endear to traditionalists, but this is the kind of title that's arguably laying the foundations for future generations of readers. Osmosis on the internet has probably led a lot of youngsters to adopt the cross-eyed confusion of those who genuinely struggle with the concept of the shared superhero universe, but those more open-minded cartoon networkers are exactly the kind of demographic that Ramos' style could speak to -- inducting them into the Marvel Universe with some of the most interesting tangential characters. Which is how many of us got into this gig twenty-or-more years ago.

For the modern-traditionalists, if you're knee-deep in Dark Reign and considering the Initiative, it might just be worth your while to check this out. 'Cause with a special ops team all to his own, y'just know Osborn's going to get up to no good!

The Fight: 3.5 The Issue: 4.5

To get the whole transition of The Initiative from SHIELD control, to HAMMER, check out the Disassembled collection available in hardcover, and soft TPB at the end of the year. By taking the initiative to use Amazon purchase links provided on the site, you help sponsor future entries of the Infinite Wars. You'll find plenty more collections in the Gift Shop, which features editions containin most issues reviewed in the Secret Archives. Thank you for your patience.

POWER MAN & IRON FIST versus
CONSTRICTOR & SABRETOOTH
The Jade Tiger! (Marvel comics)
Where: Power Man & Iron Fist #66 When: December 1980 Why: Mary Jo Duffy How: Kerry Gammill

The story so far...
Colleen Wing and Misty Knight are the freelance private investigators behind Nightwing Restorations. The job has taken them into the criminal black market trade of rare and exotic artifacts.

When they find their way into the bowels of the criminal's lair, the Nightwing investigators find themselves biting off more than they can chew as they stare down the menace of hired mercenaries, the Constrictor and Sabretooth!

Though Colleen Wing manages to escape, Misty Knight is thrown into the airtight safe that houses the many rare goods. Thus, Wing must seek out the aid of the Heroes for Hire, Powerman and Iron Fist, to formulate a rescue mission!

Previous Form:
Iron Fist (#96): A solo tie against Daredevil, with team-up victory over The Hand.
Power Man (#98): Avengers victory against The Hand, with defeats to Charnal and Iron Man.
Colleen Wing, Constrictor & Sabretooth: Each making their first appearances in the Infinite Wars.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Luke Cage 5 (Super Strength)
Intelligence: Iron Fist 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Iron Fist 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Sabretooth 5 (Marathon Man)
Agility: Iron Fist 4 (Acrobat)
Fighting Ability: Sabretooth 7 (Born Fighter)
Energy Powers: Constrictor 3 (Explosives)


They just seem to keep coming up. Combinations, characters and comics you would just assume we'd have featured in over a year and a half, and yet, this marks the first outing for Powerman and Iron Fist as the Heroes for Hire!

What a great coming out it is too, because they're pitted against the overwhelming debut tag team combination of SHIELD agent gone bad, Constrictor; and the feral mutant menace, Sabretooth!

We'll talk more about how fantastic this comic is later, but for now, who's going to win this fight? Well, they're two very different pairings, to be sure.

Sabretooth and Luke Cage are bringing the physical strength to this fight. Each possesses enhanced strength that has been known to range everywhere from a human and peak physical conditioning, to the definition of super strength.
You'd think putting these guys up against each other you'll reach a stalemate of sorts. If I had to give it to someone, it's going to be Luke Cage.

Durability is key to the strengths of Powerman and Sabretooth both, but their resistance levels vary in the way they survive. Luke Cage's super-tough hide means he can resist damage without harm, while Sabretooth is more of a marathon player, his healing factor keeping him in the big picture, but leaving him susceptibale to short term defeats. A trait we've seen in Wolverine.

Up against Constrictor, Iron Fist is going to struggle.
As a keen martial artist, the Fist fights at close quarters, and with those lengthy adamantium tendrils, the Constrictor is going to be able to keep his distance.

Other than some negligable armoring, the Constrictor's fighting capabilities are limited to his coils, which can become electrically charged, and his combat training from days as an agent of SHIELD. So if the Fist can close the gap, it's almost a certainty that Constrictor will go down.

Fortunately there's strength in numbers for the Heroes for Hire, since a shaken Colleen Wing is able to accompany them back to the villain's lair. Her samurai training makes her a tough customer, and while she might not be able to sever the adamantium coils of the Constrictor, she can certainly tie them up sufficiently to close the gap herself, or provide the opening for Iron Fist.

For the villains to win, they just have to press their advantage.
This fight is really in the hero's court, but I think they have the experience and expertise to handle it.

The Math: Heroes for Hire (Total) Constrictor/Sabretooth (Average)
The Pick: Heroes for Hire

What went down...
Having found her way to the Heroes for Hire, Colleen Wing leads them back to the base of the villains dealing in rare art. With an army of gun toting thugs, they survey the situation from across the street, assessing the best way to infiltrate the building without arousing the thugs' attentions.

Before they can pool their resources, Iron Fist disappears from the group, utilizing his training in the art of Ninjitsu to slink across the street unnoticed by cover of shadow. He sneaks right under the crook's noses, silently infiltrating the building, while across the street...

... Luke Cage decides to forego silent entry, using his brute strength and resilience to storm the building, drawing the fire of well over half a dozen crooks. Colleen joins him, using her sheathed sword as a non-lethal weapon to wrack up her own scalps, before the two reach the front entrance.

Already inside, Iron Fist uses the move that earned him his name to smash through the interior vault's door, where he finds a near unconscious Misty.

Unfortunately for the good guys, the rabble raised by Cage and Wing brings the intervention of the Constrictor. Wing draws her blade, but suffers an electric charge for her troubles, the zap channeled through her metallic blade.

Furious, Cage stalks toward the villain, resisting the whipping prod of the adamantium coils until Constrictor amps up the power to unleash an electrical charge that, he proudly boasts, once felled even the incredible Hulk!

Cage survives the hit, but the powerful charge is enough to put the fear of god even into his mighty heart! He takes evasive action, as the Constrictor lordes his advantage.

Elsewhere, Iron Fist helps Misty Knight from the vault, crediting Cage and Wing's attack as a diversion. All is going well until a gruff voice peeks from the gloom, and the heroic pair turns to find Sabretooth perched atop an armless sculpture!

Having heard the crackling of the iron fist with his animal-like senses, Sabretooth came running for a chance at payback for a previous encounter with Iron Fist.

Sabretooth launches himself at Danny Rand, who selflessly pushes Misty Knight aside to take Sabretooth's momentum and use it against him with a Judo styled toss.

Sabretooth hits the adjacent wall hard, but it's not nearly enough to stop the berzerker rage of the feral mutant. He charges back with claws at the ready, halted just barely by the speedy hands of the Iron Fist!

His hands held, Sabretooth continues to pursue his prey, gnashing wildly at Iron Fist's chest. His bites tear a piece of fabric from the green and yellow costume, and serve to rattle even the cool combatant in Iron Fist.

Doing his best to emulate his partner, Luke Cage is having even less luck with the Constrictor. Utilizing the art of "nin-whatchama-callit", Cage does his best to evade detection by hiding behind various crates and artifacts littered throughout the holding space. Alas, Cage's skills in the way of invisibility are lacking.

Constrictor taunts Power Man, giving him credit to believe sneaking is below him. His taunts of waiting for Cage to die of pneumonia, as an exposed pipe pours water over him, are enough to again stir the bravado of Cage.

Back up stairs, Iron Fist is stirring his own battle, tossing Sabretooth into a suit of armor. All looks good, but it places Sabretooth by the light switch. In the dark, Iron Fist is at the mercy of Sabretooth's keen senses.

Iron Fist does his best to feel out his opponent, but soon feels the slashing sting of Sabretooth's mutant claws. Leaping from the darkness, Sabretooth slashes at his back, dropping him with full force.

Misty Knight can do nothing but watch in horror as Sabretooth lurches from his squat position, looming over a fallen and apparently defenseless foe.

With little regard for honor, Sabretooth offers to give Misty the hero's heart as a memento of her feelings, but before he can make good on his promise of butchery, yellow bootied feet spring forth!

With lightning speed, the cunning Iron Fist launches at Sabretooth with a kick to the face, followed with a stiff right that knocks the murderous mutant silly before he hits the ground!

Rand reveals a sneaky plan to roll through Sabretooth's attack, and lure him in with a little animal trick of his own -- playing possum! With the entirety of his strength behind the blows, Iron Fist succeeds in putting Sabretooth down for good.

Elsewhere, Power Man charges at the Constrictor soaked in water from a pipe exposed during his evasion. The Constrictor makes good on his name, wrapping Cage up in his unbreakable coils before unleashing the full electrocuting force they channel.

Though super-durable, even Cage sweats it out under the concussive power.
Running out of options, he uses the last of his strength to yank Constrictor off his feet by the coils, and swing him around the room!

Like a super villain hammer toss, Cage hurls the Constrictor at the exposed water pipe, turning his electrocution powers against him! Unable to cease the power before impact, Constrictor fries by his own hand!

Fortunately for the villain, his suit provides insulation, but Sabretooth and he are left helpless for the police. And Nightwing Restorations can notch up another successful case, retrieving the Jade Tiger they were hired to find.

The hammer...
Sweet Christmas! It's a victory for the Heroes for Hire, with an assist from Colleen Wing! A good result all round, not just for the gang, but for us. This is one of those issues that's just been sitting on my pile for so long, it was about time we looked at it.

What really pressed the matter was the recent death by decapatation of Sabretooth in Jeph Loeb's conclusion to his disappointing Wolverine/Sabretooth encounter, Wolverine #55.

We were supposed to have already had a look at a couple of other Sabretooth features by now, but I suppose it's serendipity that we start with one of his more conspicuous appearances. The movie-going kids will be interested to know that this was only Sabretooth's second appearance, having faced off against Iron Fist some fifty issues previous!

It would be some years before Sabretooth would become forevermore bound to the Wolverine character, as their histories were developed and intertwined.
For the uninitiated, it should also be noted that Wolverine made his first appearance far away from the mutant mire, showing up in Incredible Hulk #180.

Sabretooth would go through many iterations throughout his thirty-year career in comics, meeting his end while an active member of the X-Men, an unlikely position he has taken more than once. More often than not, Sabretooth's prevailing brutality and lack of true goals have been the difference between he and Wolverine.

We actually see in this issue one of the things I like about Sabretooth, and a tangent by degrees to what's been great in Ed Brubaker's Daredevil.
It seems I just can't help but bring it all back to mercenaries and street-level villains. I guess that's just something I really enjoy and feel passionate about, and I'm sorry that the Sabretooth character won't be a part of that scene.

Well, I say won't, but it probably shouldn't be any less likely that a character with a healing factor would come back to life. Even if his death involved decapatation with a magic sword capable of nullifying healing powers.

But to get back on point, it's the existence of these recurring mercenary characters, whose motivations are malleable to a story or situation, that is something I find so enjoyable about these characters. Ed Brubaker is doing it better than ever in Daredevil, currently utilizing characters like Mister Fear and the Enforcers to great effect.

Unfortunately, as far as I'm aware, the title he's been co-writing with Matt Fraction, Immortal Iron Fist, has lacked this kind of look at the Marvel underworld. Looking at this particular issue really brings up how much I'd enjoy seeing that kind of approach to Iron Fist, but it's been the prerogative of Fraction and Brubaker to steep Iron Fist in a new, retroactive history.

There's a lot of literary and pulp precedent for the work they're doing.
Shades of various pulp characters with ties to the orient, and the famous successive nature of characters like The Phantom have been strongly swirled through, while the Iron Fist mythology grows, combining it's kung-fu heart with various styles and eras. Fun, but maybe not the Iron Fist for me.

It's this more superhero styled Iron Fist that interests me.
The type of character that will cross swords with Sabretooth, and other characters of this kind. A character whose yellow and green togs specifically relate to the simplicity of a combative superhero life; rather than tangential colours representative of a clan that somewhat strips the character of his individuality.

Still, this is really more of a personal desire, and not necessarily a sleight to the work. Certainly I can find something more along those lines in the pages of New Avengers, where Power Man and Iron Fist have been reunited as part of the secret team of Avengers pursuing less cosmic or overly super challenges.

Brian "Lemon Lumps*" Bendis is bringing the corner of the Marvel universe I so keenly enjoy to the New Avengers, as he transitions out of the Skrull-Elektra story, into a new tale starring The Hood, who's aspirations are to become Kingpin of Super Villains.

In a lot of ways this is exactly what I'm talking about, although, we bring the point back to the original motivator - Sabretooth's death - by expressing some disappointment in the way The Hood's story has begun. A collected auction for a mysteriously inoperative Deathlok is the scene where the Hood stakes his claim, assassinating auctioneer The Owl as a way of sending a message.

It's another case of an unfortunate loss of a valuable character, but like Sabretooth, I suppose we can assume there's every chance The Owl will reemerge. It's just a shame that such an unrealistic tact has to be taken for the continued interests of these characters. Lord knows there's no easy way to bring a character back from the dead, as we're seeing with the announced time slip of the 1940's Invaders in the upcoming Invaders/Avengers, that will see a return for Captain America.

But that might be a subject for another time. I think I've awkwardly crammed enough discussion into this Friday's conclusion. Verily, let there be one more item discussed, for it is Friday, and the cosmic decree of Bahlactus rings true!

So it is written, so too must it be that Bahlactus surveys all combat on this night of fights! Though we may claim our place among the first, let all know that the bloggerverse is watching Bahlactus, and he is watching back!... Or something...

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 5
[Like previous entries from 1980, a thoroughly enjoyable superhero romp full of action, excitement and super villains! I wouldn't have it any other way!]

* Not an actual nickname for Bendis.