Amazing Spider-Man 326 - Acts of Vengeance

The main appeal of "Acts of Vengeance" is that it pitches heroes against villains they've never fought before. But in some cases that may be a little difficult to arrange. At this point Spider-Man had had three ongoing titles for over a decade, as well as many more guest appearances. And that presents a strong challenge to the writers to find qualifying villains.

Amazing Spider-Man #326

Writer: David Michelinie
Penciler: Colleen Doran
Inker: Andy Mushynsky
Letterer: Rick Parker
Colourist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

As we'll see, this is from a slight period of flux on the art side of the title, with Todd McFarlane leaving and Erik Larsen coming in but it's not a clean-cut changeover with no two consecutive issues between #323 & #329 handled by the same penciller as Larsen steadily takes over from McFarlane, with this issue drawn by a filling-in Colleen Doran.

This issue comes early in Spider-Man's marriage to Mary Jane, a subject that has consumed great debate over the years and led to many deeply controversial stories as writers tried to undo it. So it's of particular notice here that the Spider-writers of the late 1980s had solved the "problem" of Mary Jane being a high-flying supermodel by getting her effectively blacklisted in the industry due to a vendetta by an obsessive stalker. Instead this issue sees her securing a job as an actress in a soap opera and also her and Peter's flat warming party in the loft of Harry Osborn's building. It's a way of bringing her down to earth and making the marriage more equal, something that writers in other periods often forgot.

Otherwise this issue sees Graviton seeking to battle Spider-Man at the behest of the Kingpin. We've yet to see the central scheme in action, but already the heroes are being targeted. At this point Graviton has mainly appeared in the Avengers titles, with a few side appearances in the likes of Fantastic Four and Thor, so he's a genuinely unknown quantity for dealing with Spider-Man. Even Graviton is surprised at the idea that the Kingpin will sort out revenge on the Avengers in trade for this, but given Spider-Man's ingenuity it's perhaps natural to deploy such a powerful foe. More surprising is that the Kingpin has realised that targeting the Daily Bugle building is an easy way to draw out Spider-Man, suggesting he might want to work on shoring up his secret identity. But the result is Graviton attacks the building and then rapidly defeats Spider-Man, leaving him in a pile of rubble.

It's a straightforward tale that shows how the overall idea of Acts of Vengeance can potentially work, at least against the less powerful foes and also how the crossover can easily fit in a title's ongoing subplots so long as they're reasonably explained.

Amazing Spider-Man #326 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Omnibus (2011)
• Amazing Spider-Man by David Michelinie & Todd McFarlane Omnibus (2011)
• Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: Cosmic Adventures (2013)