Civil War: The Initiative

Civil War: The Initiative is a 2007–2008 comic book crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics. Running through a number of Marvel's then-ongoing monthly series, as well as numerous tie-in books, the story, which was initiated by an eponymous one-shot, serves as an epilogue to Marvel's "Civil War" storyline, and as a launch point for new series such as the Mighty Avengers, New Avengers, and Omega Flight, as well as the Warren Ellis reinvention of Thunderbolts.^[1]

"Civil War: The Initiative"
Marc Silvestri cover to Civil War: The Initiative #1 (April 2007)
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Publication date	March 2007 – March 2008
Genre	Superhero Crossover
Title(s) Avengers: The Initiative #1–3 Black Panther vol. 4, #26–30 Captain America vol. 5, #26–30 Civil War: Battle Damage Report #1 Civil War: Front Line #11 Civil War: The Initiative #1 Daily Bugle: Civil War Aftermath Deadpool/GLI: Summer Fun #1 Fantastic Four #544–550 Iron Man #15–18 The Invincible Iron Man #17–18 Irredeemable Ant-Man #7–9 Marvel Spotlight: Civil War Aftermath #1 Mighty Avengers #1–6 Moon Knight vol. 5, #11–13 Ms. Marvel vol. 2, #13–17 New Avengers #27–31 New Warriors vol. 4, #1–8 Nova vol. 4, #2–3 Omega Flight #1–5 The Order #1–4 Punisher War Journal vol. 2, #6–11 She-Hulk vol. 2, #15–18 Sub-Mariner vol. 2, #1–6 Thor #3 Thunderbolts vol. 2, #110–115 Marvel Previews Special Initiative Edition #1
Main character(s)	Iron Man The Collective Sasquatch The Thunderbolts Ms. Marvel Spider-Woman
Creative team
Writer(s)	Brian Michael Bendis Warren Ellis
Penciller(s)	Marc Silvestri
Inker(s)	Joe Weems Marco Galli Rick Basaldua
Colorist(s)	Frank D'Armata

The one-shot is written by Brian Michael Bendis and Warren Ellis, with pencil art by Marc Silvestri. Centered on Iron Man, its story is divided into three segments. In the first segment, mutant Michael Pointer (The Collective), the man who killed the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight while under the control of a being claimed by Magneto to be Xorn, is given a chance to atone for his actions. The second segment (written by Warren Ellis) showcases the Thunderbolts, conscripted supervillains working for the government, in pursuit of unregistered superhumans. The third and final segment shows a meeting between Ms. Marvel, a staunch ally of Iron Man, and Spider-Woman, one of Captain America's Secret Avengers.

In addition to the main story, the comic includes promotional previews for other titles linked to Civil War – Iron Man, Captain America, Mighty Avengers, Omega Flight and Avengers: The Initiative.