Most Recent Roster

• Prodigy
• Non-Stop
• Telemtry
• Boomerang (as Outback)

Origin

After the New Warriors took on villains that they were ill-equipped to handle, Standford, CT was destroyed in a nuclear-like explosion. To get the superheroes a semblance of checks and balances, Tony Star sponsored the Super-Hero Registration Act, which would require all superheroes to work for the government. Part of the act was the establishment of the 50-State Initiative, where each of the U.S. states would receive their own version of the Avengers, with heroes trained by former and active Avengers. The Heavy Hitters are assigned to Nevada

Creation

The Heavy Hitters debuted in Avengers: The Initiative #17 by Dan Slott, Christos Gage, and Harvey Tolibao.

Major Story Arcs

Secret Invasion

One of the Initiative's biggest challenges was the secret invasion of Skrulls. Many of them took the form of superheroes so they were planted across all the teams. The Heavy Hitters were infiltrated by a Skrull posing as an unrevealed hero. This Skrull was found out by 3-D Man, who has a special pair of goggles, the only gadget that can see the Skrulls' true nature.

Members of the team would join the largest assembly of Initiative cadets and veteran heroes in Central Park to fight the last wave of Skrull troops. After the victory, the replaced heroes, including presumably whoever on the Heavy Hitters was replaced, were found on a Skrull spaceship.

The Real Thing

The Heavy Hitters would team up with another Initiative team called the Desert Stars when Zzzax escaped from SHIELD custody after their systems were sabotaged. Zzzax was going after the generators in Hoover Dam in order to feed on the electromagnetic energy. Both teams responded to the red alert emergency since Hoover Dam is on the Arizona and Nevada border. Johnny Cool used his cold powers to plug up a hole in the dam while the hot-headed Supermax rushed into battle with Zzzax. Supermax tried to knock Zzzax into the river but was zapped with an electric bolt when that maneuver failed. Zzzax was defeated when Hardball (Komodo's boyfriend) placed an energy ball into Zzzax's stomach and expanded it, causing him to explode (Komodo kept Zzzax distracted). Johnny Cool was able to contain Zzzax by freezing his scattered pieces.

Komodo discovered Hardball was tied to HYDRA executive Congressman Woodsman and had stolen (and modified) Lizard serum. Along with rest of the Desert Stars and the Heavy Hitters, she tried to arrest Woodsman. Woodsman took the serum (which had caused another agent to die) but he transformed into a giant reptilian monster. Hardball, however, killed him. Komodo told him they could stay together because Hardball had killed Woodsman and the serum Hardball had stolen was used up, but Hardball instead took Woodsman's spot in HYDRA and escaped, leaving Komodo in one of his force fields.

Fear Itself

Commander Steve Rogers informs Prodigy of the unknown meteors that have fallen from the heavens and mass panic is on the horizon. Rogers asks Prodigy to gather heroes on a volunteer basis to help keep the peace and lead a new Initiative where there is no forced conscription or registration. Prodigy agrees to become the leader of the new Initiative and most of the former Initiative teams gather in Washington DC including the Heavy Hitters.

The Heavy Hitters try to stop the Juggernaut in Las Vegas after he obtains a mystic hammer and is transformed into one of the Worthy as Kuurth: Breaker of Stone. The Heavy Hitters consist of Hardball, Nonstop, Telemetry, Komodo and two new members, Debrii and Rage. Nonstop lures Kuurth into a deep hole created by Debrii but the Juggernaut reappears a few moments later. Kuurth is truly unstoppable and the Heavy Hitters can barely slow him down. The Heavy Hitters are forced to retreat when their leader, Hardball generates a powerful energy ball and appears to sacrifice himself to stop Kuurth. Hardball's valiant effort to stop the Juggernaut appears in vain as Kuurth emerges from the explosion and walks away unscathed.