Avengers: The Initiative #22

Overall- Ahh... I feel much better now... After reading that horrid Teen Titans #68, this comic book was just what the doctor ordered. Here's the review. The New Warriors engage Ragnarok(The clone of Thor that was created during "Civil War")in the wreckage of Camp Hammond with pretty bad results. Ragnarok tears through the Warriors, as well as the few remaining Initiative members at Camp Hammond. Finally, Gauntlet has enough and rallies the troops behind him, which helps the heroes fight in a more orderly fashion.

Even though this may not be the actual Thor, a clone of Thor is still pretty damn powerful, and Ragnarok continues to take on a dozen or so heroes with no sign of letting up. Eventually, Ragnarok kills one of the Scarlet Spiders, which brings Baron Von Blitzschlag into the fray. When Ragnarok struck the Baron with a blast of electricity last issue, it actually invigorated him, as opposed to killing him. At the Baron's command, the last remaining Scarlet Spider shows Ragnarok holographic images of the Baron and other scientists at Camp Hammond creating and working on him, as well as showing him images of the one true Thor.

These images shake Ragnarok to his very core, and Ragnarok decides that instead of continuing the battle against the Initiative and the New Warriors, he'll confront Thor, who he feels is unworthy of his name and powers. With that, Ragnarok takes to the sky and leaves. With Ragnarok gone, Gauntlet turns his attention to the New Warriors, who are composed of unregistered heroes and members of the Initiative gone AWOL. Before Gauntlet can make a move against the Warriors, Justice tears up the Camp and telekinetically lifts the dead body of the original MVP from the underground laboratory in front of hundreds of citizens and reporters, announcing that the experimentation/desecration of MVP's corpse was ending now.

The other half of the story dealt with the Shadow Initiative in Madipoor, searching for former Initiative member and current leader of Hydra, Hardball. Before the Shadow Initiative can locate Hardball, he gets the drop on them, along with a mess of Hydra agents and his new girlfriend, Scorpion(!).

This comic book was great. It really was. It was action packed(Ragnarok throwing around his lightning was spectacular)and the story didn't disappoint in the least. I especially loved Ragnarok's dialogue throughout this issue, he actually had me chuckling a couple of times with his lines. I have to say that Christos Gage(writer)has been doing a great job with this book since replacing Dan Slott. After reading this comic, I have to say, evil Thor(Ragnarok)is awesome! The way Ragnarok insulted everyone around him with his old school manner of speech was really downright hilarious.

The secondary story with the Shadow Initiative and Hardball is slowly building, and the addition of Scorpion made things even more interesting. I have to say, this comic is still heads and shoulders better than any other Avengers comic on the market today. For a score, I'll go with a very strong 8 1/2 out of 10. I enjoyed this comic immensely, and can't wait to see the confrontation between the Warriors and Gauntlet, as well as the impending battle between the Shadow Initiative and Hardball's forces. The next issue can't come out soon enough!