Avengers: The Initiative. But let me explain.
This is a tough one for me to answer because I'm very mainstream (I rarely go outside Marvel and DC's top books) so my reference points aren't obscure for the most part. This is a book that I thought everyone was getting, as I was loving it, that nobody I knew seemed to be reading.
"Avengers: the Initiative" was a new series that came straight out of Marvel's "Civil War" storyline. As being a superhero became a paid government job, that meant there needed to be a training facility to go along with the "Avengers Initiative" (one super-team in every U.S. state). The book focused highly on a core dozen recruits as well as putting the spotlight on B-list characters like "Taskmaster" and making them not only relevant but kind of kickass.
This book has long been cancelled (due only to storylines moving on) and a lot of people who now read "Avengers Academy" (it's direct off-shoot series) were either avid readers of "Initiative" or were the people who didn't get it and heard it was good so they jumped on board when "Academy" came along.
"Avengers: Initiative" followed the story of a traning ground for teenage heroes just learning about their powers. Their drill sergeant was "Taskmaster", an on-again-off-again villain of, yep, The Avengers. He has the ability to mimic any physical move he sees, be that playing the piano or the perfect roundhouse kick. He also has a skull for a face (even though it's just a mask, it looks cool).
This series was a great read for the mix of little personal stories of the characters dealing with their abilities and being thrown into battle too soon, while the backdrop stories of the goings-on and lead-up to the "Secret Invasion" story was the best place to follow the entire Marvel Universe. Also, Tigra slept with the Skrull Hank Pym, tee hee!
- Jeff
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