Damage Control 1 - Acts of Vengeance

The next series involved is actually quite a surprise. Today crossover events get supported by numerous limited series, but it used to be the case that there was, at most, a single series containing the core of a crossover and everything else was told in issues of ongoing titles. The idea of doing a special mini-series about a specific group of characters and tying the whole thing into a big event was years before its time. But then Damage Control has never been exactly conventional.

Damage Control (volume 2) #1

Writer: Dwayne McDuffie
Artist: Ernie Colon
Letters: Rick Parker
Colours: John Wellington
Editor: Sid Jacobson
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

This is the second of a number of limited series featuring perhaps the most obvious but overlooked element of the Marvel universe - the special repairs company. Damage Control are the people the authorities turn to in order to repair structures after the damaging effects of superhero battles. It's such an obvious but mundane function that the series goes for a lot of comedy and throws in the complication of changes of corporate control for added effect. Given the damage that "Acts of Vengeance" will likely generate, it's easy to see the attraction of piggybacking on it. However it also means there's an almost satirical take on the concept as part of the actual continuity (although I've seen some chronologies that try to decanonise it). Worse still this issue comes so early in the cycle that we're getting the humour before we've really had any of the main action.

All that said, the issue itself is a decent comedy piece. It pokes fun at the absurdities of both trying to bring quick repairs to damaged structures (in this case the George Washington Bridge) and corporate manoeuvres, whilst also showing a mess as a plea for help from the Vault accidentally gets sent to Damage Control who assume they're being asked to assess the damage and so send in a team not realising the criminals are still around. The biggest failing in the story's internal logic is the Wrecker's crowbar and Thunderball's wrecking ball being stored at the same prison as the criminals without explanation, allowing them to recover their powers in the jail break. The battle of wits to survive and escape, combined with a later arrival by Captain America, adds to the humour with the funniest scene being when the Wrecker decides to demonstrate his power by smashing through a pillar, only for John Porter (the account executive) to casually point out it's a supporting beam and this brings the roof down. The characters are a fairly typical cross section of office life, including various stereotypes such as the competent manager who fears they're out of their depth and will soon be found out, the lustful intern, the technical whiz and so forth.

Overt comedy in superhero comics is a refined taste so this issue may not be to everyone's liking. In itself it's a pretty fun piece, offering a nice take on how the consequences of all the events are dealt with. But as the second main chapter of such an important crossover (and the way it's billed on the cover leaves little doubt), it's an unfortunate interlude and it's easy to see why it's been subsequently relegated out of the main event issues and even out of continuity altogether.

Damage Control (volume 2) #1 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (2011)
• Damage Control: The Complete Collection (2015)

Avengers Spotlight 26 - Acts of Vengeance

We now come to the first main issue of the crossover. Avengers Spotlight was originally launched under the more explicit title of Solo Avengers and consisted of two stories each issue - a regular feature with Hawkeye and a rotating featuring starring just about any Avenger going. The series was retitled a few issues before this one as part of a drive to have all three Avengers books placed side by side on shelves, boosting the franchise mentality. Structuring the year's mega crossover around the Avengers was clearly another part of this drive.

Avengers Spotlight #26

Writer: Dwayne McDuffie (all)
Penciler: Dwayne Turner (all)
Inker: Chris Ivy (all)
Letterer: Richard Starkings (first)
Letterer: Jack Morelli (second)
Colourist: Paul Becton (all)
Editor: Mark Gruenwald (all)
Managing Editor: Gregory Wight (second only)
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco (all)

This issue is a slight deviation from the norm for the title. Both slots have been given over to the same story "Tales from the Vault", presented in two chapters with only the letterer changing between the two. The first chapter doesn't actually feature any Avengers and instead focuses on the Guardsmen, an elite armoured unit who patrol the Vault, a special prison for super powered criminals, as they put away the Wizard only for him to initiate a mass jailbreak. The second chapter sees Iron Man and Hawkeye enter the Vault to mop up the criminals inside, amidst a tense relationship.

There's some good use of continuity here, building on the Iron Man story "Armor Wars" where Iron Man set out to destroy all the other armour using his technology, including the Guardsmen's and caused chaos in the Vault. Subsequently Tony Stark claimed that Iron Man had gone rogue and died, with a new Iron Man appointed to replace him but many Avengers including Hawkeye never accepted this story as they know his identity. As Iron Man has only recently returned to the Avengers it's natural that the tensions continue, making Hawkeye's suspicions feel realistic rather than tensions for the sake of it. There's also a reminder of just what a minor player the Wizard has become in the Marvel universe. Back in the 1960s he was the archenemy of the Human Torch in the latter's solo strips in Strange Tales and also headed up a team of existing villains against the Fantastic Four, a task usually handled by a major league foe. But now he's sunk into irrelevance and the guards either treat him as a joke or have never heard of him. As we'll see, his use in the storyline has almost certainly been determined by his 1960s role and is one of a number of signs of throwbacks to that era.

Otherwise the formal start to the saga is actually quite low key with the mysterious stranger's conversation with the Wizard mostly taking place out of earshot. It's a reminder of how the structure of a crossover can be distorted by the order in which the titles come out in a particular month, though the alternative can be some very bizarre issues featuring none of the regular cast (or even former cast) simply because of which chapter comes.

Avengers Spotlight #26 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Omnibus (2011)

Thor 410 - Acts of Vengeance

Although it doesn't have a banner proclaiming the crossover, Thor #410 effectively starts it.

Thor #410

Words & Plot: Tom DeFalco (all)
Pictures & Plot: Ron Frenz (lead)
Finished Art: Joe Sinnott (lead)
Illustrated: Herb Trimpe (back-up)
Lettering: Michael Heisler (lead)
Lettering: Richard Starkings (back-up)
Colouring: Tom Vincent and George Roussos (lead)
Colouring: Nel Yomtov (back-up)
Editing: Ralph Macchio (all)

Coming almost midway through the run by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, this issue mainly focuses on the conclusion of a story in which Doctor Doom steals Thor's hammer to use in his latest scheme again the other Doctor Doom, also known as Kristoff. A back-up story tells a tale of Volstagg of the Warriors Three.

The back-up is one of many "Tales of Asgard" that expand the mythology of the series. It's a straightforward comedic piece, as Volstagg focused tales tend to be. The lead story includes a team-up with Hercules and She-Hulk but the latter doesn't really contribute much beyond a few comedic moments and being an extra in a fight. Otherwise this is a relatively tame tale of Hercules and Eric Masterson (a mortal man Thor has been merged with) battling with Doctor Doom's Defence Droids whilst Doom uses a device to freeze time in Latveria and invade the castle, only to find his alternate self is prepared.

As the most prominent villain in the Marvel it's inevitable that Doctor Doom will be seen a lot in the coming crossover, so this issue is handy as a quick introduction to his status quo in the period - during a period when he was assumed to have been destroyed, a record of his personality and some memories was implanted into his young ward & designated heir Kristoff who came to believe he was the real Doctor Doom. Kristoff has held power in Latveria and regards the returned real Doctor Doom to be an impostor. As a result the latter has been operating in exile, trying to regain his kingdom through a variety of schemes. Given Doom's arrogance it's unsurprising that he blames the failure of this one on Thor even though the Thunder God's involvement was inevitable once the hammer was stolen. So it's understandable when at the end a mysterious stranger appears and proposes "an Act of Vengeance!" that Doom is interested.

However Doom is not normally a Thor villain. It's a strange route to bring him into the plot and an early sign of just how poorly disguised the stranger's identity is. Otherwise this issue is a relatively straightforward tale in the Silver Age homage style that DeFalco and Frenz had refined on the series. For much of its run Thor has had a feeling of the old fashioned about it, but for a series starring a character from mythology that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Thor #410 has been reprinted in:

• The Warriors Three Unleashed (2011 Premiere Edition Classic hardcover) - back-up only
• Thor: In Mortal Flesh (2017 Epic Collection)

Iron Man 250 - Acts of Vengeance

Now we come to a curiosity. As some might have guessed from this issue's non-appearance in the lists of the crossover or the collected editions, this one is actually nothing to do with "Acts of Vengeance". Instead it's the concluding part of another storyline.

Iron Man #250

Plot/Script: David Michelinie
Plot/Act: Bob Layton
Letters: Janice Chiang
Colours: Paul Becton
Editor: Howard Mackie
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The issue is the final issue of the second run by David Michelinie and Bob Layton and, apart from a few special projects, they've not been reassembled. It's also a double-sized issue because of the number, though the use of "anniversary issue" on the opening page ignores the sixty-one previous issues carrying the Iron Man strip before the title was launched. This is as good a reminder as any of how crossovers can often find themselves intruding on a book's own developments and plans. As one of two big number issues to appear during the crossover's run it's reasonable to guess that originally this was assigned to be part of "Acts of Vengeance" then was released because of the anniversary, only for someone in production to not get the memo and slap the "Acts of Vengeance" logo on the cover.

Instead we get the concluding part of a sequel to the "Doomquest" tale from one hundred issues earlier as Iron Man battles Doctor Doom once again with time travel and the involvement King Arthur. However on this occasion they've been transported to the future, in the year 2093, when Arthur has been reincarnated to deal with England's darkest hour in a utopia no longer able to deal with threats. Unfortunately due to embryo freezing, he's in a much younger body than planned. Thus an awakened Merlin recruits Iron Man and Doctor Doom to deal with the threat from old laser satellites. In the process both Iron Man and Doom encounter their counterparts in this time.

It's surprising that Iron Man has barely encountered the Iron Man of 2020 (outside of a What If...? story and a brief cross-time clash) and now that real time is catching up it seems unlikely it will ever happen. So the encounter with the Iron Man of 2093, Andros Stark who uses the armour of his grandfather Arno, is probably the nearest we'll get. Unfortunately it's only a small part of what is quite a packed issue, with Michelinie and Layton going all out to have a grandiose "anniversary" issue, sequel and final outing all at the same time. The result is somewhat over-rushed, leaving limited time to explore the future world or give more time for interactions across the years.

This is a reasonably strong issue of Iron Man in its own right, but it loses points for the unfortunate cover that brings in readers looking for "Acts of Vengeance". Still it's a good one for the much-celebrated team to go out on.

Iron Man #250 has been reprinted in:

• Iron Man vs Doctor Doom (1998 trade paperback)
• Iron Man: Doomquest (2008 Premiere Edition Classic hardcover)
• Iron Man Epic Collection: Doom (2018)

Excalibur 14 - Acts of Vengeance

It's surprising just how many parodies "Acts of Vengeance" generated during its run. Over the course of these reviews I'll be looking at each one of them. Curiously this one appeared even before the crossover itself began.

Excalibur #14

Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Alan Davis
Inker: Paul Neary
Letterer: Agustin Mas
Colourist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Terry Kavanagh
Chief Correspondent: Tom DeFalco

Created by Chris Claremont and Alan Davis, Excalibur combined elements from both the Uncanny X-Men and Captain Britain. Based in the United Kingdom the team had a variety of unique adventures. Excalibur is otherwise one of the few mainstream universe Marvel series from this era to have escaped from "Acts of Vengeance". Maybe this is because the crossover fell right in the middle of the "Cross-Time Caper" storyline that meant the characters simply weren't available for an event on Earth (although as we'll see, this did not prevent other series from being caught up in the storyline). Perhaps it was a sign of creator autonomy, with Claremont being largely able to keep the title away from much of the Marvel universe and particularly from a rival's storyline.

This is the third chapter in the "Cross-Time Caper" which ran and ran (and ran and ran...) over a whole year, taking the team on a tour through many alternate realities. The first chunk of the issue is taken up with the conclusion of an adventure in a world where Arthurian magic has continued to the present day and where Prince William is about to marry Katherine. (I wonder if the real Prince William ever read this issue and got a hint...)

Later the team are taken to another strange Earth with a strong dose of parody of the regular Marvel universe. All the heroes and villains are fighting each other as part of "Acts of Vengeance" and each is a distorted version of their true selves. Meggan and Nightcrawler are shown a key source of the problems - two men each trying to outdo the other to generate "the latest cataclysmic cosmic cross-continuity caper". The men are drawn as Chris Claremont and John Byrne. The issue climaxes with the arrival of Galactus and an appearance by the Impossible Man.

Read in isolation this is quite a mixed issue. Interim chapters of structured sagas from this era are often somewhat impenetrable and it's a pity a full issue wasn't given over to the second reality. It's full of jokes from the Hulk with the mind of a baby to Goliath having grown so tall he reaches the edge of the atmosphere to Rick Jones being made into the ultimate fan sidekick. The digs at "Acts of Vengeance" and Byrne are fairly subtle, perhaps reflecting the limited amount that had been revealed about the crossover at that stage, though the point that each kept trying to outdo the other has something to it with the ever-growing size of these events - "Inferno" had about forty-five separate issues, "Acts of Vengeance" close to seventy with the banner alone. And the concept of heroes fighting each other’s villains isn't really delved into, although Phoenix encountering Galactus could be said to be in the spirit of the thing. All in all, this isn't really an essential issue for the event.

Excalibur #14 has been reprinted in:

• Excalibur Classic Volume 3 - Cross-Time Caper Book 1 (2007)
• Excalibur Epic Collection: The Cross-Time Caper (2018)

Acts of Vengeance - an introduction

"Acts of Vengeance "was originally published in late 1989 and was the first major crossover to be centred on the Avengers titles, following three years of X-Men based events. Guided by John Byrne (at the time writing both Avengers and Avengers West Coast), it saw villains swapping heroes in the hope of achieving vengeance by proxy.

This is a crossover where nobody seems able to agree on the precise order. For this blog I'll be broadly following the order from The (Almost) Complete Marvel Comics Guide as set out in this previous post; however there will be some changes as this blog doesn't have to accommodate the complications relating the New Mutants and X-Factor titles and so can put them into a more natural position.

Many other orders are in circulation.

In addition I'll take a look at each of the surprisingly high number of contemporary parodies that appeared during its run.

"Acts of Vengeance" has been collected in two Marvel Omnibus giant collected additions:

• Acts of Vengeance (main issues, 2011)
• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers (2011)

Crossover time

Yes this blog is back... for now.

I've decided to take a look at some of Marvel's classic big event crossovers, picking them somewhat at random.

Given the scale of these, I won't be aiming to look at the whole thing in a single post. Instead I'll be going through them one issue at a time, including obvious issues that weren't (formally) included in the crossover and also various contemporary parodies and later reworkings of the concept in What If...? Along the way I'll aim to provide Amazon links to collected editions containing the individual issues.

I've decided to start with a biggie. As I've looked at much of the core of things like "Secret Wars II", the "Mutant Massacre", "Fall of the Mutants" and "Inferno" when covering the Essentials and other collected editions, I've opted to begin with a look at "Acts of Vengeance" from 1989.