I am going to start this review off by looking at this series as a whole and then move into the specifics as a whole.
All in all I think this title has been Marvel's most consistently good read over this past year and a half. Not only is it a riveting reminder of the events of Civil War, it is extremely successful at both highlighting lesser known characters and introducing new characters. While characters like She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel and Black Panther struggle to gain popularity in their respective books, characters like 3-D Man, Komodo and Cloud 9 thrive in Avengers: The Initiative. The planning and storytelling have been superb and the art has been fantastic. Best 20 issues of any comic I own (even though there are only 19 out so far....)
Well, we knew it was inevitable. Any reader of the initiative had to have been asking themselves during Secret Invasion, "What's going to happen when the heroes find out Crusader is a Skrull?" And between Reed Richard's "Skrull Detector" and 3-D Man's goggles, it was bound to happen eventually.
Crusader's storyline was probably the best storyline never told in that few people seem to be reading this book. Crusader was a Skrull who was sent to Earth as a sleeper agent many years ago. After a while on Earth though he realized that his people were wrong and that Earthlings were truly honourable people. So he abandoned his mission and became a superhero instead. The tragic flaw being that Crusader keeps his past to himself.
Issue 19 is a whirlwind tour through the 50 State Initiative, depicting the various teams taking down Skrull battalions with the help of 3-D Man and the Skrull Kill Krew. This motley group disposes of Skrulls efficiently and with a great blend of humour. I love that Marvel didn't make a new book for every state team, but instead just gives us the odd glimpse from time to time. Just enough to peak my curiosity.
Guardian rises up to be the hero in the Central Park Skrull fight when he is not affected by the Biological Gas deployed because of his Skrull physiology. As I stated earlier though, when the battle seemed over and one, 3-D man saw that Guardian was a Skrull and well, the rest you'll have to read. Thanks to Guardian's Freedom Ring we are left with a very open ended close to this story.
Slott and Gage masterfully spun this tale, and I wish more people had the chance to read it. If ever there was a series that I would recommend, it is this one.