What If...? 39 - Timequake

What If the Watcher saved the Multiverse?

What If...? #39
Writers: Roy Thomas & Jean-Marc Lofficer
Penciler: Gavin Curtis
Inkers: Ian Akin with Don Hudson
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Ed Lazellari
Editor: Craig Anderson
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

The Watcher visits the Deputy Secretary of the Time Variance Authority and learns that his cosmic oath to not interfere has been suspended amidst the emergency. Immortus has become a quantum wave infiltrating a succession of alternate realities and will eventually reorder the multiverse. The Deputy Secretary relates the origins of the Time Keepers by the TVA's last director, "He Who Remains," at the end of the universe to teach the next universe how to avoid this one's mistakes but his first creations were flawed and became the Time Twisters, who went destroying multiple eras until "He Who Remains" negated their existence and created the Time Keepers instead. With the timelines at risk the TVA acts decisively by... holding a meeting of the board to discuss multiple matters then launching an "Anti-Immortus Campaign" of posters, leaflets and T-Shirts. Another proposal is to change Immortus's origins and so far the quartet recruited from the different timelines has been sent into Limbo where they face various guardians such as Tempus, a squad of robots and the Space Phantom's race. However the quantum wave keeps resetting events. The Watcher proposes going back to the very early days of Immortus before he was Rama-Tut or Kang, when he was just Nathaniel Richards, inhabitant of an alternative Earth where his time travelling ancestor of the same name (and Reed Richards's father) had helped rebuild the planet after an invasion. The younger Nathaniel had explored his ancestor's fort and the Watcher sees this as the key point. However the TVA are obsessed with using the "Saturnyne Symbiont" that when implanted will make it impossible for Immortus to store much Nexus energy but don't know how to get it into him. In Nathaniel's youth he explores the fort and discovers his ancestor's time machine when the TVA transport in the Fantastic Four of another timeline where they had different powers and Reed's mind now occupies Dr Doom's body. However they are too aggressive and Nathaniel suspects a trick to prevent him gaining the time machine so activates the fort's internal weaponry, killing them. In Limbo Irondroid and Dr Doom are killed and not reset when the next Immortus wave sweeps over. The Watcher suggests an alternate Fantastic Four who can convince better - a version of the team who never gained super powers. This team's Reed Richards operates a dampening field to neutralise the weapons and then tries convincing by producing a DNA analyser to prove they are related. Nathaniel is convinced and let's Sue administer the Symbiont. Things to reset with everyone returning to their timelines whilst Immortus cannot contain the power and explodes. At the end of time Immortus meets the restored Time Keepers and then a second trio appears. It becomes apparent the Watcher was actually dealing with the Time Twisters and there are two alternate realities at the end of time, one where He Who Remains replaced the Twisters with the Keepers and one where he did not. The Twisters melt away into pods and the Keepers return to watching over the timelines. Back at the TVA the Time Zone Manager returns from his holiday and the Deputy Secretaries all try to take credit. The Watcher leaves and reflects on how the threat was defeated by four special humans with no power at all.

After four chapters largely serving to recruit characters from individual timelines and set up the threat we now get a very heavy final issue with a strong dose of the comedy as the Time Variance Authority is a satire on how big organisations work or rather don't with the added gag of all the ranks of middle management looking identical and being drawn as Mark Gruenwald, Marvel's then-Executive Editor and continuity cop. There's a lot of continuity to this issue with the origins of the Time Keepers, the Time Twisters and Immortus all proving relevant to the plot whilst we also get appearances by just about any character or race ever connected to Immortus's Limbo (though, seemingly, not the Limbo of Inferno) as well as appearances by two different Fantastic Fours from the original What If...? series (issues #6 and #34 and there's nothing contradictory here that stops this being a later adventure for either team). But at it's core the narrative flows smoothly and never gets confusing in spite of the umpteen timelines, flashbacks and time travel involved.

(Immortus's original timeline is called "'Warlord's Earth' for the sake of brevity" by the Watcher, which now stands as a reminder that all the numbering of various different timelines was not used by Marvel at this time outside of Captain Britain and Excalibur.)

What's also notable is the way the threat is resolved. The Watcher may have broken his vow to not interfere rather more than he might care to remember but he's not one to get actively involved himself. Instead he uses his knowledge and travel abilities to help others reach solutions. This may be the first comic story in which he's been the headline character (the earlier comedy issues in both series don't count) but he's not going into action all powers blazing or trying to confront Immortus directly. Instead he observes and recommends, staying completely in character. However the Time Variance Authority is played for laughs and one has to wonder just how such an organisation could ever have come to play a key role in the multiverse unless there's a highly competent frontline staff. Instead salvation ultimately comes through a version of the Fantastic Four.

Normally the idea of travelling back in time and stopping a disaster through changing history is a bit of a cop-out in time travel stories. Here it seems to work that by introducing an element into a character's past it only takes effect in the relative present which is probably best not thought about in detail. But what does stand out is the way that salvations ultimately comes not through the exercising of powers but by thinking through the situation and convincing. The Fantastic Four are the foundation stone of the Marvel Universe and so it makes to sense to use a version of them to bring resolution but here we have the twist that they are without powers. And so we get an affirmation that what makes them fantastic isn't stretching or flaming on or turning invisible or rocks or for that matter having wings, stretching, having a robot body or being a super powered mind occupying another. No it's good will and knowledge that saves the day and shows how these four are special people cosmic rays or no cosmic rays. That really is the sort of insight into characters that What If...? stories can often give.

As a whole Timequake has been a rather awkward story. It's refreshing to see the series trying something a bit different and presenting a saga with consequences but it's been let down by awkward choices of alternate worlds that have required some heavy resetting to get the characters to where they're needed and several of the chapters haven't done a good job of providing a substantial story with a clear difference from the regular Marvel history. It's also been complicated by the Time Keepers and the Whisperer introducing elements into the timelines that have shifted them away from how things would otherwise have panned out. But this final chapter instead focuses upon how disruption is responded to and how the Watcher calmly finds a solution.

Although the storyline as a whole has been a bit disappointing this final chapter is easily the best. It presents a very different take and approach from a traditional super comic, reflecting how different a character the Watcher is. It also makes good use of a couple of classic What If...? stories without having to make changes of one kind or another to get the characters to where they need to be. Instead it gives us an opportunity to see how the characters respond in different circumstances whilst still being true to themselves. The series is at its best when it does this. It also gives the Watcher the opportunity to do more than merely narrate or observe and Uatu comes out the stronger. The whole story may have been weak but this is a fantastic conclusion.

(There is also a one page gag strip entitled What If Magneto Was Stuck in an Elevator with Colossus, Iron Man and Doctor Doom? credited to "Cullen Montano Going Joyce". It's a silly premise and the punchline just doesn't come off.)

What If...? 38 - Timequake

What If Thor had become a thrall of Seth?

What If...? #38
Writers: Roy Thomas & R.J.M. Lofficer
Pencilers: Marshall Rogers & M.C. Wyman
Inkers: Sam Delarose with Rod Ramos
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Renée Witterstaetter
Editor: Craig Anderson
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

As a second Time Keeper vanishes from existence attention turns to another timeline. Here Seth triumphs in his assault of Asgard, capturing Odin whilst his forces slay many of the prominent warriors including Sif. Thor is thrown in a dungeon alongside Karnilla and learns that Loki as allied with Seth whilst Grog declares his intentions towards Karnilla. Seth turns his attention to attacks by other pantheons with the Celtic Gods attacking whilst the leaders of other pantheons meet with Mephisto and plan a liberation attack. The Watcher notes this would destroy the Earth but the Time Keeper says the only alternative is to rescue Odin who is the Nexus. The Watcher departs. A drunk Grog goes to visit Karnilla when he is attacked and killed by the vampire Wolverine whilst Thor is released from the dungeon by Dr Doom and Irondroid. The Whisperer appears and explains the need to save the reality. Observing, the last Time Keeper notes he will soon have to intervene. Thor and his cross dimensional allies invade a chamber where Odin is being drained of his power and attack Seth and Loki with the Time Keeper sending in a Protectdroid robot who mimics a combination of the four's appearance and powers. The battle rages until Loki flees, the Protectdroid is destroyed, Seth subdued and Odin released. The last Time Keeper vanishes from existence as the Whisperer appears and reveals himself to be Immortus, having escaped as his own realm of Limbo was a poor prison and he could use the Nexus power for his own ends. He now plans to become the master of time and leaves. Wolverine realises he has been used. Meanwhile the Time Variance Authority realises the danger of Immortus conquering all timelines but the Time Zone Manager is on holiday and none of the hordes of Deputy Secretaries has an idea what to do.

The fourth chapter of Timequake is the first to not be based on a previous issue of What If...? Instead it draws on a then-recent Thor storyline that took the Thunder God away from Earth around the time of the end of The Evolutionary War and the start of Inferno. Here the twist is literal with Seth's serpent form managing to overcome Odin followed by the almost stock gratuitous mass killing of regular characters such as Fandral, Hogun and Sif. But other than showing that Seth's conquest raises concerns amongst the other pantheons and their reluctance to act without the consent of their own death gods, this story doesn't really tell us anything new about the Asgardians or the Egyptian Death God. Instead the timeline soon becomes a proxy battle for the Whisperer and the Time Keeper as they each send in their agents to either rescue Odin or ensure his death. Again we have an issue that devotes a lot of time to fights rather than exploring the ramifications of the change to history or showing how the characters react to such circumstances.

The overall Timequake plot steps up a gear with the revelation that for all the grand powers of those trying to look after the timelines there is a lot of temporal stupidity going around. The Time Keepers are revealed to have used an utterly inappropriate prison to contain Immortus whilst the endless faceless bureaucrats of the Time Variance Authority are good at blaming each other but utterly useless at original thinking when a solution is needed. That the Whisperer is Immortus is actually a surprise as early chapters suggested that this was the Watcher taking discrete action but it would have helped if the summaries at the start of each chapter had included some other suspects Zarko the Tomorrow Man (who had recently reappeared in Thor only a few months before this was published) who was the antagonist in the Time Keepers' original appearance.

Overall this chapter has made a decision to focus on the Timequake plot at the expense of worldbuilding the alternate timeline seen and so the latter gets very little attention with the subplot of the other pantheons planning an attack going nowhere beyond explaining their absence at the climax. Instead it brings together a quartet of characters from across the different and shows they can work together despite their very varied origins as well as revealing the identity of the Whisperer. As a result it feels slight again. The underlying problem is that Timequake is a story being told in a single title but has the feel of a crossover between multiple series and so individual chapters are unable to advance it very much before the climax. As a result so far the whole thing has been disappointing.

What If...? 37 - Timequake

What If Wolverine and his X-Vampires conquered the world?

(Yes I know that's not the title on the cover but often the stories inside vary a bit from the logo friendly cover titles. This one is more different than most.)

What If...? #37
Writers: Roy Thomas & R.J.M. Lofficer
Penciler: Mark Pacella
Inker: Panosian & S. Montano
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Renée Witterstaetter
Editor: Craig Anderson
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

The Watcher comments on how he previously observed a world where the X-Men were turned into vampires by Dracula and conquered Manhattan until they were killed by the Punisher with the spirit of Dr Strange. But there is another timeline where Wolverine killed the Punisher first and which contains the next Nexus, Jean Grey. In the timeline Mr Sinister seeks the Darkhold book to purge the vampires, fighting off the vampiric X-Terminators in underground tunnels, whilst Madelyne Pryor plots with N'astirh and S'ym and opens the link to Limbo. Wolverine learns of the demons and leads the X-Vampires against them, killing S'ym. Meanwhile N'astirh is killed by Dormammu who allies with Madelyne and brings the Mindless Ones from his realm to Earth. Many of the X-Vampires are killed and Mr Sinister offers the survivors magic power from the Darkhold to deal with the Mindless Ones and demons if they will agree to being exiled from the planet afterwards. In the final showdown Madelyne and Jean Grey fight when the Whisperer intervenes to pull Jean's spirit away and warn her of potential universal destruction. Jean summons up the Phoenix Force and defeats Dormammu. The X-Vampires go into exile but the Whisperer takes Wolverine with him. Mr Sinister announces plans to clone and recreate the X-Men whilst the Watcher tells the Time Keepers they have lost again as one of the trio fades from existence. Elsewhere the Time Variance Authority detect a massive timequake.

Okay this is an improvement on the first two chapters by presenting an alternate timeline that stands on its own even if it branches off from an earlier What If...? story (issue #24 of the second series) and also avoiding having any interference by the Time Keepers so we can see how things flow without artificial alteration, at least until the Whisperer steps in at the end. It's a refreshing change and makes for what feels like a more regular issue of What If...? rather than a confused mess caused by the Time Keepers diverting foes in an already diverged timeline.

However there isn't any substantial explanation for how this timeline branched off from the main one in the first place or for that matter why the X-Vampires (made up of both the X-Men and X-Factor) and X-Terminators are largely drawn from the late 1980s with costumes and mutations when the original X-Men and Dracula story was from 1982. Or how Jean is able to summon up the Phoenix Force when the point of divergence is from a time when she was presumed dead and she only encountered the remnant of the force in the regular Inferno. The story presents the X-Men almost as they were appearing in contemporary comics with no real regard for history and continuity and it shows in what's not a particularly substantial story. Notably absent from the story are the New Mutants even though reference is made to S'ym wanting the "Sword of Illyana". Instead Madelyne alone appears to be the sole women whom N'astirh and S'ym use to open the portal and there's also no sign of Nathan Christopher. One thing the story does try to do is to establish the demons' Limbo and Immortus's Limbo as being the same dimension although this goes against the way both have been portrayed over the years.

Mark Pacella was taking over pencilling X-Force from Rob Liefeld at this time and brings that style here with this issue featuring lots of dramatic awkward poses and excessive liney faces in a story that's full of endless fights. There isn't a great deal of substance to this tale beyond a succession of foes offering alliances and battles between a succession of different monsters. Even though this was written and edited outside the X-Men family of titles it feels like it shows how radically things had changes in the books in just over three years. Also annoying is a panel near the end that requires the book (or the reader's head) to be turned on its side to be read, something that was again happening more and more as the decade proceeded.

Overall this chapter fixes the problems of the first two but succumbs to the problems that were besetting the X-Men titles and the wider industry in this period. There's a case that this issue is actually a good alternative reality take on what contemporary titles were like but that's pretty damning of the wider industry. However it is the best chapter of Timequake so far.

What If...? 36 - Timequake

What If the Cosmic Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy had been defeated by Korvac?

What If...? #36
Writers: Roy Thomas & R.J.M. Lofficer
Penciler: Dave Hoover
Inkers: Ian Akin & Michael Bair
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Renée Witterstaetter
Editor: Craig Anderson
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

The Time Keepers recap their plan to the Watcher who is secretly aware of the involvement of the being known as the Whisperer. The second nexus is found in a timeline where the Vision took over Earth's computers to become a benevolent dictator and by the 22nd century had led the Earth to galactic victory over the Kree and Skrulls. The Vision himself is the Nexus and the Time Keepers thus divert this reality's Korvac on his journey back in time from the 31st century to arrive in the 22nd. Korvac is intrigued by the Vision and pops back to his own time where he captures and mesmerises the Guardians of the Galaxy. Returning to the 22nd century they capture the Cosmic Avengers - consisting of Commander America, Jhen the Gammazon, Irondroid and Tachyon Torch, generally descendants or genetic constructs of the 20th century heroes - and use them to infiltrate the moon Deimos where Korvac interfaces to battle the Vision in Cyberspace whilst the two super teams secure the complex there. One of the Vision's sub-routines contacts Earth and a ship is dispatched containing Captain John Fury Jr and the Space Commandos. On Deimos they battle the heroes when Fury is briefly visited by the Whisperer who tells him that if Korvac wins the result will be intergalactic destruction. Fury uses an ultrasound setting on his gun to release first the Cosmic Avengers and then the Guardians from Korvac's control. They discover that Korvac has beaten and destroyed the Vision and now controls all the galaxy's computer systems. Whilst the others battle endless robots Yondu has an idea and takes Irondroid to Korvac's physical form where Irondroid duplicates and reverse Korvac's mental patterns to transmit a cancelling wave into the system destroying Korvac. However the Vision is dead. The Time Keepers tell the Watcher that now the Nexus is gone and the timeline is unlikely to sustain itself for long and turn their attention to the next timeline. Meanwhile the Whisperer takes away Irondroid.

This second chapter is a sequel to a less well-known What If...? story from issue #19 of the second series. Little of that story is recapped with the detail of the Vision having become a supercomputer dictator generally sufficient but one consequence is that the Cosmic Avengers are not introduced too well and it's only through dropped dialogue moments that it becomes clear what their various relationships to the present day heroes are. The Guardians of the Galaxy are also not detailed too well until their fight with the Avengers towards the end of the issue and when characters have been mesmerised from their first appearance it's hard to tell what they would normally be like.

This story is inadvertently extremely of its time with the battle between the Vision and Korvac taking place in "cyberspace" and reflects the absolute obsession with virtual reality in so much science fiction and fantasy in the early 1990s. At least here the Vision tells Korvac it is primarily a simulation in their minds' eyes but this bit really dates the story which is surprising for something already set in a different time. But it's also curious that for all the advanced technology Korvac still has to interface with the Vision through plugging into a physical socket.

Also awkward to understand is the precise relationship between this timeline and the future from which Korvac comes. A lot of time travel stories in Marvel have complicated things further by having the different time zones be alternate realities with no direct relationship to each other but this is rarely explained and so it's not clear how Korvac's time can be the future of both this timeline and the regular timeline or just what the impact of the Time Keepers' intervention in diverting him is. Nor is there any real exploration of the consequences of the Vision's death. Though John Fury Sr talks about the human race taking back control of things and the Watcher suggests the timeline will survive, nothing is shown of what happens when a super computer running everything is suddenly no longer there. That's a pretty big blow for such a society.

Instead this issue ultimately boils down to multiple fights that are all the consequence of the Time Keepers interfering to send Korvac into the era. There's no real exploration of the implications of the alternative timeline or to do much with the Cosmic Avengers. This issues feels rather decompressed to cover up a thin set of events and just an excuse to have an unusual combination of characters fighting. Timequake continues to disappoint.

What If...? 35 - Timequake

What If the Fantastic Five had invaded the Negative Zone?

The last Inferno What If...? issue is part of an unusual experiment for the title. Rather than a simple standalone tale it's part of a five part saga entitled Timequake which I'll look at in whole.

What If...? #35
Writers: Roy Thomas & R.J.M. Lofficer
Penciler: Joe Phillips
Inker: Sam Delarosa
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Marie Javins
Editor: Craig Anderson
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

In contrast to the usual opening, rather than simply explaining the original history and the point of divergence of the story, here he explains about individuals called a "nexus" who have the power to affect probabilities and the future. Amongst them are the Time Keepers at the end of time who appointed Immortus as Custodian of the Time Stream with the task of pruning alternate realities that threatened their existence. However Immortus tried to use the Scarlet Witch to control all the Nexus Power and so the Time Keepers immobilised him and focused all the Nexus Power through him to preserve the timeline. But now they have discovered four nexuses in realities that escaped the pruning who must be destroyed. The Watcher observes their efforts...

The first reality is one seen before where Spider-Man joined the Fantastic Four early in both their careers. Sue is soon to give birth but she and the child are in danger because of the cosmic rays that gave the original four their powers so Reed leads the rest of the Fantastic Five in the Negative Zone to find an anti-matter element to save her. Observing the Time Keepers identify the unborn child (Franklin) to be the nexus and seek to prevent his birth through an agent - Annihilus. Spider-Man is captured but breaks free, taking Annihilus's cosmic rod with him not realising it is what the Five are searching for. The Time Keepers turn to another pawn - Dr Doom. As the Five journey to leave the Negative Zone they are attacked by Doom who seizes the rod but then a pursuing Annihilus intervenes and the two villains fight. Then Doom's spirit is drawn out by a being known as the Whisperer opposed to the Time Keepers who explains they have lied to Doom and how if Sue and her child dies it will lead to Reed going insane and a nuclear war destroying the world. Doom concludes he is being told the truth and throws the rod to Reed telling the Five to flee. Doom and Annihilus battle until consumed in an explosion whilst the Five make it home and save Sue and her child. The Time Keepers comment that one loss is unimportant and they intend to destroy the other three timelines but wonder why Doom helped Reed. They are unaware that Doom was rescued by the Whisperer.

There's a lot going on in this issue and comparatively little is focused on the headline characters. And there's a lot of confusion even in the narration about the relationship of this story to what was seen previously. The very first issue of the original What If...? series (which was written by Roy Thomas and reprinted in The Best of What If trade paperback just a couple of months before this issue hence the limited recap) had focused on Spider-Man joining the Fantastic Four with an effect on the dynamics of the team that ultimately led to Sue leaving the team and marrying the Sub-Mariner. A sequel in issue #21 of the original series (which wasn't written by Thomas or reprinted in the trade paperback) saw the rump of the Fantastic Five steadily break up in severe acrimony to the point that Reed and Johnny launched an attack on Atlantis. Reed ultimately saw the error of his ways and devoted his life to peace between the surface and undersea kingdoms but Johnny was left angry for a future attack. Here the Watcher initially speculates that this isn't actually the reality he observed before but later he hears Reed commenting on how Sue had returned to him and Namor had generously reversed the process that made her breath underwater and the Watcher concludes this is the reality he observed before. However whilst this is credible for a sequel to the events in issue #1 it is not for #21 given the way the Fantastic Five had fallen apart in acrimony and Reed's eventual acceptance of the situation. It is probable that either Thomas had forgotten or was unaware that the original series had had a sequel to the first issue or else this is the comic equivalent of one of those years later film sequels that is a selective sequel to the early movies but deliberately ignores or even contradicts the later movies that are not held in such high regard.

The idea of doing a story based around multiple alternate realities with cosmic entities having an interest in them isn't bad in itself. But it's somewhat at variance with the core principle of What If...? to tell a story of how things might have happened differently if one key element had changed. And with so much explanation at the front the actually reality itself is not very well explained to the point that even the Watcher is confused whilst the story is little more than a retelling of the events of Fantastic Four Annual #6 (the credits even call out the Lee-Kirby issue) with added Spider-Man but ultimately follows the same course until the Time Keepers intervene to add Dr Doom to the equation only for the Whisperer to convince Doom to help the Five. The only real suggestion of dramatic changes comes with the Whisperer explaining how the death of Sue and her child will send Reed over the edge. But this is far from the first What If...? story to show Reed losing first Sue and then his marbles and it is a little hard to credit the idea that he's only one woman away from bringing about the destruction of the planet.

The wider Timequake plotline is also a bit hard to get excited about as it feels rather abstract at this point. The Time Keepers are trying to preserve their timeline but it's really unclear how the nexus beings in alternate timelines threaten it. Instead he have some obscure cosmic entities trying to do something unclear whilst a mysterious being is secretly working against them and scores an initial victory.

Ultimately this is unsatisfying on all levels. Despite presenting an alternative version of the Fantastic Four with Spider-Man as a member it does absolutely nothing more than just retell a classic plot a quarter of a century later. Nor does it make the outside forces intervening sufficiently interesting to care about their effects. And by presenting the story as a sequel to a previous What If...? but ignoring a previous sequel and reversing the changes in those issues before this one even begins the result is an unsatisfactory continuation. All in all forgettable.

(There's also a brief piece entitled What If... Lady Deathstrike got a hangnail? but it's a single one panel gag cartoon and not very funny.)

Avengers Annual 19 - Acts of Vengeance

Avengers Annual 19 came out the summer after "Acts of Vengeance" and contains the last word on the event. But that's only one of five stories contained within it and so first a look at the others.

Avengers Annual #19
Editor: Howard Mackie
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

"Beat Me in St. Louis..."

Writers: Roy and Dan Thomas
Penciler: Herb Trimpe
Inker: Jeff Albrecht
Letterer: Rick Parker
Colourist: Paul Becton

The lead story is the fifth part of the crossover "The Terminus Factor" which ran through four other annuals. All five are listed on the contents page but out of context this chapter is a story of both Avengers teams plus the unofficial Great Lakes Avengers and various reservists or guest stars all converging on St Louis to fight off a much-enhanced Terminus. Meanwhile Thor has lost his hammer and is floating in space. There's too much unexplained here and way too many characters for this to work on its own and it just becomes a confusing fight. Marvel had just switched from running one single crossover over all annuals to multiple ones where the books naturally overlapped but it still produced complicated stories that are near impossible to understand on their own.

"Media Watch"

Story: Dwayne McDuffie
Pencils: Jim Reddington
Inks: Andy Mushynsky
Letters: Jack Morelli
Colour: Ed Lazellari

This is a short little piece looking at how a part of the media react to events like Terminus. It's presented in the form of "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney", a satirical opinion piece from the real life 60 Minutes current affairs show. Having never heard of Rooney or his slot and being barely aware of 60 Minutes (to the best of my knowledge it's never been broadcast in my country) most of the intended effect is completely lost on me and the style is very different from This Week's "Take of the Week".

"Clowning Around"

Words: Gruesome Gary Barnum
Pencils: Starving Steve Buccellato
Inks: Mighty Mickey Ritter
Letters: Rowdy Rick Parker

This is a comedic piece as a group of Avengers visit the construction of their new mansion and a string of villains show up to attack them. The construction workers are terrified of the damage that such a battle would bring so work to take out each villain before the heroes even know they're there. As a result the visiting Avengers just assume the workers are being rather silly. It's a good fun little tale of the sort that only an annual back-up strip can do.

"The Day the Strangers Came"

Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Richard Howell
Letters: Jack Morelli
Colours: Richard Howell

This is easily the highlight of the annual, telling of a young boy who lives in a Midwestern hotel and is a huge fan of the Avengers. When he spots the Sons of the Serpent are active in the area he duly reports it and soon discovers that the Avengers are in town, enjoying doing the right thing. Then he discovers who the local leader is and what he's planning to do. Written by Kurt Busiek some years before Marvels this does well to show how the heroes impact the world around them and the pain when duty demands doing the wrong thing.

"Acts of Vengeance Epilog"

Words: Mark Gruenwld
Pictures: Vince Mielcarek
Inks: Bob Downs
Letters: Janice Chiang
Colours: Dave Sampson

But this is the reason for this post. Mark Gruenwald was Marvel's keeper of continuity in this period, to the point that he wound up being depicted as the director of the Time Variance Authority which served a similar purpose in the comics, and would often write stories that would untangle major discontinuities. We've already seen Captain America #367 which sorts out the mess of Magneto's participation in the alliance in spectacular fashion and here Gruenwald takes on the central problem of "Acts of Vengeance" - the lack of a clear narrative structure to the crossover. Here we get an order, presented in the form of a debriefing by Captain America, Thor and the Vision making use of reports and testimony from the Wizard.

Questions like just where the rest of the Avengers were when Avengers Island was attacked and sunk, and again where the main team was during Freedom Force's attack, why only some of the androids help captive on the island escaped and how the Red Skull could attend the last few meetings despite having been locked away by Magneto are all explicitly answered here. There are a few additional moments added such as a battle between Captain Marvel and Klaw, or a final encounter with the remains of the villains' alliance. Though it has to be said that the depiction of the Wizard's capture differs significantly from that in Avengers Spotlight #29 which is especially surprising for a story seeking to untangle confused continuity.

This is setting out to sort out confusion first and foremost rather than tell a story in its own right and so the narrative is slightly bogged down through covering many of the individual battle sideshows. It's also over dramatic in suggesting this is the team's biggest setback when only one part-time reserve Avengers (Stingray) has been seriously injured and there have been other attacks that devastated Avengers' bases and left many injured including the referenced capture of the old mansion by the Masters of Evil. And the Vision's suggestion that the Avengers should be more proactive in future isn't taken up. The last panels see Gruenwald give Captain America the last word which is ultimately about how important co-operation is and how the villains' alliance failed because they couldn't do this. Overall this is a good attempt to fix things afterwards, but really the crossover should have been doing things better at the time.

This is a fairly typical annual for the era with the main feature really not something to be ventured into solo, but the back-up features offer a mixture of continuity, comedy, pathos and unusual takes on things around them. The "Acts of Vengeance" epilogue is only a small part of it but shows a dedication to making the big picture clear existed in at least some parts of Marvel at the time.

Avengers Annual #19 has been reprinted in:

• Avengers volume 3 #27 (2000) - "The Day the Strangers Came" only
• Acts of Vengeance Omnibus (2011)

Alpha Flight 80 - Acts of Vengeance

This issue is a combination of one big battle between three different factions and a massive infodump about Llan the Sorcerer and how he's been manipulating a lot of recent events in order to produce the necessary violence to generate a spell to open the "Eye of the World", also known as the "Gateway of Night", in order to access dark power.

Alpha Flight #80

Writer: James D. Hudnall
Penciler: John Calimee
Inker: Mike Manley
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colourist: Bob Sharen
Managing Editor: Marc McLaurin
Editor: Danny Fingeroth
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The first problem is that the magic used in the story is not made terribly clear in all circumstances. So whilst it's explained that the participants in the fight were all manipulated in order to produce the violence, it's not clear why this has to be done in Winnipeg, a city barely a hundred kilometres from the Canadian-US border and nowhere near the Eye's location way up in the north. If it's because somehow the violence has to be generated on Canadian soil, as the previous issue and Talisman's insistence that the villains be thrown out of the country implies, then it becomes especially silly as the idea ancient magics are tied to modern political entities within artificial boundaries (and it's hard to think of a bigger artificial boundary than the Canadian-US border) is just risible.

Quite a chunk of the story is taken up with the origin of Llan, but it feels a waste as he doesn't directly interact with the fight in Winnipeg. Instead this feels like preparation for future issues of the series which is great for regular readers but there's been nothing in these two issues to encourage people picking them up because of the crossover to hang around. The connection to events elsewhere is tangential to say the least and the choice of villains shows another sign of poor communication as the Owl has been used elsewhere in Fantastic Four and there's no explanation given for him being here as well. The battle itself is intense yet feels strangely inconsequential, with Talisman continuing to manipulate the other members of Alpha Flight to bring a conclusion.

Overall these issues feel very much like they were written parts of a regular ongoing saga then suddenly realised they had to take part in the crossover and so hastily pulled in a few villains from other series with a contrived explanation. The result is another extremely disappointing chapter that just doesn't feel a real part of "Acts of Vengeance" but rather a terrible advert for the current series.

Alpha Flight #80 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (2011)

Alpha Flight 79 - Acts of Vengeance

We come now to the first issue of "Acts of Vengeance" featuring Canada's superhero team, Alpha Flight. Or maybe not quite, as this issue comes during a period when the team has been ordered to disband by the Canadian government and replaced by Gamma Flight. However the Alphas are still operating independently out of a new headquarters in Edmonton.

Alpha Flight #79

Writer: James D. Hudnall
Penciler: John Calimee
Inker: Mike Manley
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colourist: Bob Sharen
Managing Editor: Marc McLaurin
Editors: Carl Potts and Danny Fingeroth
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The problem is that this issue, written by James Hudnall and drawn by John Calimee, isn't very good at explaining the current status quo, with most of the key details coming on the penultimate page. And more generally there's not a great deal to introduce the team and explain who the current members are. Alpha Flight does not interact that much with the rest of the Marvel Universe due to their location and so prior knowledge cannot be assumed. Especially as this story implicitly suggests they have been forgotten by the alliance of supervillains since they aren't specifically targeted. Rather the main focus of this issue is about a load of nasty things coming into Canada from the United States, whether villains fleeing the Super-Powers Registration Act or pollution that's destroying the fish and wheat.

Unfortunately these elements seem awfully contrived. The pollution scenes feel especially tacked on - one is the opening page of the story, featuring characters not seen elsewhere, the other is in a field as Vindicator flies over. Both scenes just push the point of greater pollution being created by Canada's neighbour to the south, in an era when there was a sudden explosion in concern about the environment, but it feels overtly preachy. The villains coming as well isn't convincing either. As seen elsewhere, the Act is only draft legislation before the US Congress and most of the villains are high on wanted lists anyway. The story may be trying to evoke the Vietnam War draft dodgers who fled by moving to Canada but again feels odd. And the reaction from Talisman may be focused on the potential for the villains to become agents of some foe called the Sorcerer (another ongoing plot point that isn't explained for crossover readers) but the response is simply "we have to deport them" in an issue called "Outsiders". This attempt at Canadian eco-nationalist propaganda, written by someone from California, feels very awkward and stilted.

The villains in question are Nekra, the Scorpion, the Owl and the Asp, though the last two are only shown arriving on the final page. All are converging on Winnipeg and so Alpha Flight's Talisman starts transporting individual team members to pick the villains off one by one before they can unite. The fights soon attract the attention of Gamma Flight.

This is one of the weakest issues in the whole "Acts of Vengeance" crossover. There's no real attempt to introduce the current situation for readers brought in for the event (most of whom probably won't have stayed around), some terrible attempts at analogies, excessive preachy points in scenes that serve no other purpose and a rather random use of the cast. The result is a rather tedious slog.

Alpha Flight #79 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (2011)

Quasar 7 - Acts of Vengeance

There's a handful of issues that don't have an "Acts of Vengeance" banner that nevertheless form part of the crossover. One such is Quasar #7 in which the cosmic Avenger encounters the cosmic powered Spider-Man. The two have met before, back in the days of Marvel Team-Up before Quasar went off into space for years, but we now get Spider-Man's only interaction with any other hero whilst he has his powers (the Hulk of this era doesn't count). It's reasonably self-contained, which is probably why it's been left out of all the Spider-Man based collections of the cosmic storyline.

Quasar #7

Writer: Mark Guenwald
Penciler: Mike Manley
Inker: Danny Bulanadi
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colourist: Paul Becton
Editor: Howard Mackie
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

In spite of the lack of a crossover banner, we get a foe that neither have fought before, Terminus, the alien destroyer of worlds. There's no link to the alliance of leading super-villains, just a menace that has resurfaced from where it was trapped and setting out to devastate the Earth. Earlier we get the almost obligatory fight between super-heroes when Quasar investigates Spider-Man as part of a mission to check all aliens on Earth in order to find the one predicted to kill his mentor Eon. Spider-Man has no time for this and lashes out, firmly explaining he doesn't need help to find out what's going on.

But despite this, Spidey responds to a call for help later on when Quasar discovers Terminus coming close to attacking New York and quickly realises he can't deal with the menace on his own. Thor is unavailable and the offered Captain America would be no use, but Spidey's strength comes in handy. Spider-Man has his doubts, but Quasar knows what buttons to press by pointing out the webslinger claims to now be the strongest man on Earth and has friends and family in the city.

Given the scale of the menace that Terminus threatens, it's a rather quick dispatch and suggests the primary purpose of the story is to move the planet wrecker into a particular position in preparation for a forthcoming larger story. As a result this story is quick and inessential.

Quasar #7 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Omnibus (2011)
• Quasar Classic Volume 1 (2012)

Quasar 6 - Acts of Vengeance

Although not quite the newest hero around, Quasar's low profile and restricted field of operations before he got his own series means that he hasn't attracted much attention so far. At times he seems to be the only Avenger free to deal with menaces, whether the attack on Avengers Island or here. Being relatively inexperienced (though not unskilled - he's had Shield training), it also means that most villains will not have encountered him, thus it should be easy to find foes for him

Quasar #6

Story: Mark Guenwald
Pencils: Paul Ryan
Inks: Danny Bulanadi
Letters: Janice Chiang
Colours: Paul Becton
Editor: Howard Mackie
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

So it's a surprise that one of the four he encounters in this issue is Klaw the Master of Sound who he has clashed with before in his days as head of security at Project Pegasus, which even gets referenced. However this is partially explained away as he's the only Avenger available to go and round up escapees from the Vault as they show up, rather than any of the leaders of the alliance explicitly assigning them to deal with him. Klaw ultimately only appears over three pages and drops out of the action (literally) when another foe shows up. But even this is not the quickest with Venom, prominently advertised on the cover, taken out in just the first two pages. It can be easy to forget just how quickly Venom took off, having debuted less than two years earlier (and his appearance hasn't yet been refined by Erik Larsen), and this appears to be his first appearance outside the Spider-Man titles. A glance at the cover and issue suggests that the marketing department wanted Venom prominently highlighted on the cover, hence the addition to the cover, but both Mark Gruenwald and editorial didn't care much for him, hence the rapid dismissal.

The main action comes when the Living Laser shows up to free Klaw, only to find his energy tapped by Quasar, causing him to flee and end up on the Moon. There in the Blue Area they find the home of the Watcher before Quasar finds he's disturbed a burglary by the Red Ghost. It's good to see a mixture of foes and even a cosmic entity in the series, but the bitty nature of it suggests a plot rushed together that kept on having to add foes as there's nothing really linking Venom, the Living Laser and the Red Ghost beyond encountering Quasar. None of them appear to be part of the broader operation and the Red Ghost isn't even an escapee from the Vault. Instead we just get a random set of foes in the course of Quasar's adventure as though the series is having to mark time.

As a result this is a rather disappointing chapter in the saga. This is a pity as the series is being pushed as one of the core titles due to Quasar's involvement in the Avengers (hence its presence in the main Omnibus rather than the Crossovers), but it's a reminder that large crossovers can often demand more issues of a title than there are things to do.

Quasar #6 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Omnibus (2011)
• Quasar Classic Volume 1 (2012)
• Spider-Man Vs. Venom Omnibus (2018)

Quasar 5 - Acts of Vengeance

If there's one hero more than any other for whom it would have been easy to find foes he hasn't fought before it must surely have been Quasar. Relatively little used in his first few years before disappearing into the limbo of outer space for another five or so, his series had only going a few months when "Acts of Vengeance" came along.

Quasar #5

Story: Mark Guenwald
Pencils: Paul Ryan
Inks: Danny Bulanadi
Letters: Janice Chiang
Colours: Paul Becton
Editor: Howard Mackie
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Such is his newness to the scene that despite being a member of the Avengers he still has to explain who he is to security guards as he goes. He's also still working out how to juggle the various aspects of his life, including getting his day job business off the ground. This series was quite a personal project of writer Mark Gruenwald and the care and attention they give shows.

The first half of the issue concentrates on Quasar's Avengers activities as he works with Stingray on salvaging equipment from the sunken Avengers Island, followed by the joys of civilian life. Meanwhile the mysterious stranger at the heart of the conspiracy recruits the Absorbing Man to the scheme and gives him the power to fly by hurling his ball and chain. It's curious to see this task handled by the stranger when up to now he's largely focused on bringing the six lead villains together, but it's noticeable that he both has the power to upgrade the Absorbing Man's abilities and also knows where to find him when the latter has pulled himself from the muck in a lake. The Absorbing Man is one of the most flexible foes in the entire Marvel universe because his ability to take on the properties of whatever substance he touches means that he can reach whatever power level is necessary to provide a serious challenge. Here that becomes especially so as he absorbs the properties of variously a piece of adamantium, Quasar's energy constructs and then the quantum bands.

Quasar is competent but lacking knowledge and experience of his foe, making for quite a classic encounter in the event since the lack of knowledge proves critical. Consequently he inadvertently screws up in allowing the Absorbing Man access to critical power and then has to watch in horror as his foe absorbs a potentially explosive power then heads towards a city, resulting in a critical dilemma for Quasar as he has to work hard to stop a major explosion in a populated area. It's a tough call for him, though in the aftermath Captain America relieves some of the guilt by providing some critical knowledge that suggests things didn't quite go as Quasar thought.

This is pretty much the quintessential first issue of a title's contribution to a big crossover. It introduces the hero and his world in a way that's easily accessible for new readers without becoming a drag, takes the basic premise of the crossover and applies it to logical characters, then gives us a strong confrontation. Often crossover issues forget that they're also serving as a sampler for the series, but this one instead rises to the challenge.

Quasar #5 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Omnibus (2011)
• Quasar Classic Volume 1 (2012)

Iron Man 252 - Acts of Vengeance

The next Iron Man issue once more sees Iron Man take on a foe whose powers make for a pretty even match but whom he hasn't encountered before. Chemistro had been previously confined to battling Luke Cage in his various identities but now gets greater exposure. There's also a small power enhancement as the Wizard has turned the alchemy gun into wrist blasters, making Chemistro harder to disarm.

Iron Man #252

Writer: Dwayne McDuffie
Penciler: Herb Trimpe
Inker: Al Milgom
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colourist: Paul Becton
Editor: Howard Mackie
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

This is in fact the third Chemistro, brother to the first who has reformed and now works for Stark Prosthetics. Unfortunately this leads to a little confusion at times because the story isn't always certain which of the Carr brothers is Curtis and which is Calvin, with the names leaping back and forth. There's element of sibling rivalry to the tale as the younger brother and current Chemistro aims to come out from his brother's shadow by disposing of Iron Man but he's also a mercenary for hire. Indeed such is his business approach that when Iron Man gets angry about the cost of the damage to the compound, Chemistro turns a building into gold as reimbursement. The ability to change the elements in an object is a strange power but given an explanation here of being generated a form of radiation that's never been duplicated. As pseudoscience explanations go, it's far from the worst in the Marvel universe.

Iron Man finds himself battling a foe who can both easily destroy his armour and trap him with a single blast, thus requiring a lot of ingenuity to overcome and defeat the villain. He's helped by the loyalty of those around him, most notably the elder Carr brother and James "Rhodey" Rhodes, showing how far Iron Man is from the obnoxious jerk he has been portrayed as from time to time. There are also some good moments for Tony Stark out of the armour, in one case literally so when the armour is turned to lead and then destroyed with acid, resulting in Tony in just his underwear having to hitch-hike his way back to the office.

Although the action scenes mean the plot is somewhat slight, this is still a pretty solid issue that continues to show the lead character and title in a favourable light whilst finding a credible foe for him to battle. It also does a good job at explaining his absence from the other Avengers during the "Acts of Vengeance" so far.

Iron Man #252 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Omnibus (2011)
• Iron Man Epic Collection: Doom (2018)

Dr Strange Sorcerer Supreme 13 - Acts of Vengeance

The final Dr Strange issue of the crossover is once again divided in two.

Dr Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #13

Writer: Roy Thomas (all)
Writer: Dann Thomas (main)
Writers: Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier (back-up)
Artist: Jackson Guice (main)
Artists: David Day and Dan Day (back-up)
Lettering: Janice Chiang and Michael Heisler (main)
Lettering: Joe Rosen (back-up)
Colours: Max Scheele  Tom Vincent (all)
Assistant Editor: Mike Rockwitz
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The back-up story is a further chapter from "The Book of the Vishanti", continuing the story of the Darkhold and the Montesis guarding it, along with the rise of both the Ancient One and Dracula. It feels a more coherent piece than the previous chapter, not least because of the easily recognisable elements of the existing mythology.

The lead story follows on from the previous issue and sees the Enchantress force Arkon, the ruler from another dimension, to attack Doctor Strange. Arkon is additionally motivated by a desire to make Clea his queen, allowing him to add the Dark Dimension to his realms as well. This leads to a somewhat unlikely hand to hand duel with Doctor Strange, who has never been much of a physical fighter and although his survival is explained at the end it just seems bizarre that he would ever agree to such a fight. Much of this issue, and indeed the previous one, has focused on the strength of the relationship between Stephen and his wife Clea even though they are usually dimensions apart. Each faces an alternate admirer of a kind and each rushes to the defence of the other in their own ways.

Arkon's motivations are also easily understood - he's two stages removed from the central "Acts of Vengeance" conspiracy and thus isn't motivated by that at all but rather simply by the fact the Enchantress has stolen his thunderbolts that can get him home. Still it solves the general problem of finding foes who can present a sufficiently powerful challenge to Doctor Strange and at the same time come under the direction of a conspiracy of distinctly mortal villains.

Overall this is an uptick after the previous issue but not the most dynamic and there's increasingly a sense that this is a series that wants to hurry up and finish its part in the crossover and then get back to telling its own stories. It's a reminder that with such a sweeping event not every creator is always enthusiastic all of the time.

Dr Strange Sorcerer Supreme #13 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (2011)

Dr Strange Sorcerer Supreme 12 - Acts of Vengeance

One of the unfortunate things about this sort of crossover is that it's often better to read several issues of a particular title in close proximity rather than leaping backwards and forwards. Just about every order I've seen for "Acts of Vengeance" does this for at least some issues.

Dr Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #12

Writer: Roy Thomas (all)
Writer: Dann Thomas (main)
Writers: Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier (back-up)
Artist: Jackson Guice (main)
Artists: David Day and Dan Day,
Lettering: Janice Chiang (main)
Lettering: Joe Rosen (back-up)
Colours: Gregory Wright (all)
Assistant Editor: Mike Rockwitz
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Once again, we have an issue of the series with the cover lacking the full title. And once again we have a breach of the crossover's premise, as Doctor Strange has encountered the Enchantress before and acknowledges it. (For those wondering where, they clashed in Defenders #4, which introduced the Valkyrie, and again in Defenders #107 to #109, which set out to untangle the mess of the Valkyrie's continuity.) With Doctor Strange having been the anchor for the original Defenders, who in turn battled many a magical and mythical entity, it does become a problem finding existing villains on his power level who can be sent against him for the first time.

The story itself is pretty straightforward, with the Enchantress seeking to seduce Doctor Strange to steal his magic but Strange's disciple Rintrah does everything he can to protect his master. The Enchantress's motives are believable and she's often been shown to partake in various mortal criminal endeavours (most notably the Masters of Evil) when she can secure her own ends in the process. The presence of the Executioner may surprise many as he had died by this point, but a suitable explanation is given. Otherwise this is a relatively quick character piece that helps develop both Rintrah and Clea, Strange's wife, without doing too much wider in the broad scheme of things.

There's also a back-up story, another chapter of "The Book of the Vishanti", telling here how the Darkhold scrolls came under the protection of the Roman Catholic Church and specifically the Montesi dynasty. It's not as compelling as the previous chapter and on the last few pages the story seems to realise its dullness so resorts to recapping how the Darkhold contains the spells that could clear the Earth of all vampires for good and how the latter tried to get hold of it.

All in all this a rather dull entry in the overall crossover and suggests that perhaps not every issue of every month needed to be given over to it (and indeed we'll see some series which only have one or two entries). The fact that it resorts to a villain Strange has encountered before just adds to the padding nature of it.

Dr Strange Sorcerer Supreme #12 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (2011)

Dr Strange Sorcerer Supreme 11 - Acts of Vengeance

The title on the cover of this issue is a little confusing as the phrase "Sorcerer Supreme" is missing; nevertheless this is part of the series's full title (and hence causes a lot of confusion for people trying to navigate the various different Doctor Strange series). Back in the day further confusion was caused by this series being a direct market only one, allowing it a higher price tag, artwork right up to the edges and fewer adverts, but at the cost of a lesser prominence. In universe, the lead character would no doubt like such a lower profile.

Dr Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #11

Writer: Roy Thomas (all)
Writer: Dann Thomas (main)
Writers: Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier (back-up)
Artist: Jackson Guice (main)
Artists: David Day and Dan Day,
Lettering: Janice Chiang (main)
Lettering: Joe Rosen (back-up)
Colours: Tom Vincent (all)
Assistant Editor: Mike Rockwitz
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The issue focuses on Doctor Strange first trying to deal with the consequences of his younger brother having become a vampire, including a flashback detailing Stephen's dirty secret about how he neglected his family, leading to Victor's death. The problem is that this is a very awkward addition to the hero's backstory. As he himself admits, the accident that killed his brother didn't lead him to remorse about his attitude, and instead he paid to have his brother's body cryogenically preserved, paid for by a trust fund that wasn't affected by his later descent into alcoholism. The idea that a top surgeon would put his faith in the possibility his brother could one day be brought back to life, or even just pretend as a way to avoid his guilt, doesn't ring true. Nor does the idea that Stephen was careful enough with his finances to ring-fence the arrangements to keep Victor on ice, yet drank everything else away after the accident that ruined his hands. The result is a bodged continuity implant that in the long run can only really be justified if something sufficiently interesting is done with Victor.

The other part of the story focuses on a sensational biography of Doctor Strange recently written by Morgana Blessing, leading to both author and subject winding up on a late evening chat show with Strange hoping to be dismissed as a fake and have the attention disappear. The tactics of the show in getting both guests onto the set are somewhat dubious as is the instant publicity, but this is the hook to draw in the villain of the piece, the Hobgoblin. This is the second Hobgoblin, widely dismissed by other characters, writers and readers as a joke sullying the Goblin legacy, and recently he received a curious power upgrade during "Inferno" when he was given demonic powers that also transformed his appearance. As a result he is now a stronger match for the magician than the latter assumes, able to evade a number of the spells. However he's true to his mercenary roots, having been sent by Doctor Doom to dispose of Strange, and the resulting battle feels more balanced than it might otherwise have been. It also has some consequences for the fall out from Blessing's biography. As a result the wider crossover easily fits into the ongoing flow of events without any significant disruption to the ongoing flow of the series, instead enhancing it.

There's also a back-up story, "The Book of the Vishanti: The Curse of the Darkhold Part III - Dawn of Blood". This is another piece of mythology building and refining that explains some of the key mystical forces and books through the ages. It's a decent piece but, as is often the case with these sorts of back-ups, it has no bearing on the main strip.

Dr Strange Sorcerer Supreme #11 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (2011)

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)