New Mutants 69 - Inferno Prologue

The New Mutants make their way to Spyder's parlour as they discover the truth about Gosamyr.

New Mutants #69

Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciller: Bret Blevins
Inker: Al Williamson
Letterer: Ken Bruzenak
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Spyder arranges for the New Mutants to land safely on his planet but Gosamyr's powers continue to wreak havoc amongst them with Dani (Mirage) running off the ship at the first opportunity to get attack by thugs whilst Illyana (Magik) retreats into depression and the others get ever more tense with each other. Only Warlock seems immune and he eventually realises what Gosamyr is and how her powers have affected the others. Rushing to rescue Dani the New Mutants pass through Limbo where Illyana transforms into the Darkchilde and back on Spyder's world she finds she cannot change back. Back on Earth Magneto is also descending as he reflects on how he thought he had found a better way to the old days but his students refuse protection and so he must protect them in the way he knows best. The New Mutants come to Dani's rescue but Illyana's sword turns a robot into a monstrous demon and then she attacks Gosamyr revealing a monstrous true self. Gosamyr comes to realise that not every being acts the way her culture has brought her up and they head for Spyder's lair to rescue Lila.

This is a more action packed chapter than the previous ones but there's still far too much emphasis on the effect Gosamyr has on those around her. It's meant to parallel how a group of friends can be broken up by a single attraction but here it struggles as the script is trying to make Gosamyr both sympathetic and devious and it doesn't always succeed. Of more interest is Illyana's continued breakdown, being unable to change back out of her Darkchilde form and getting ever angrier and bloodthirsty. The contrast with the way Magneto is calmly drifting back into his old ways, shown most vividly by the way he dons his old helmet, out of frustration at his failures to keep his students safe is striking. Otherwise Spyder's world is not a terribly interesting environment and the alien inhabitants are completely forgettable.

Once again we have a slow chapter of a story arc with more issues than it can really sustain based around a character who's been terribly thought through. This arc is easily the worst story in the whole of X-Men: Inferno Prologue and it's a relief there's only one more issue to go.

New Mutants 68 - Inferno Prologue

The New Mutants head in to space to pursue Spyder's ship but find the influence of Gosamyr causes them to got through strange things.

New Mutants #68

Writer: Louise Simonson
Artist: Bret Blevins
Letterer: Ken Bruzenak
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The issue starts out in Limbo as Illyana (Magik) seeks to recreate her Scrying Glass from the shattered fragments. She manages to identify Spyder's ship before the glass explodes again and as it will have moved the team teleports to Gosamyr's ship to pursue it. On board the power of Gosamyr soon becomes clear as she seduces Bobby (Sunspot) and encourages Rahne (Wolfsbane) to indulge her feelings then tricks Dani (Mirage) into creating a solid illusion of Rahne's desire - a gallant Sam (Cannonball) who courts her. The illusion disappears when Dani has to create another to trick officials on the planet they have pursued Spyder's ship to and this causes the team to start lashing out at each other. Worse still when Dani created what the official wanted to see it turned out to be not authorisation papers but a bribe - and a superior has discovered this.

This story arc is incredibly slow and decompressed with the issue taking an unnecessary detour into Limbo to once again show how Illyana's powers over it are breaking down and something dark is on the horizon then spending an extended period on the ship in which Gosamyr's powers and tricks are disrupting the team's dynamics. As well as seducing Bobby she plays upon Rahne's feelings for Sam, even dressing her up and giving her a wig to resemble Lila. Of the boys only Warlock seems immune whilst the manipulation turns Rahne against Dani and then Dani against Gosamyr.

It's hard to escape the feeling that this story arc has been given more issues than necessary in order to tread water before the upcoming crossover. The problem is that it results in an extremely slow pace that's compensated for by a focus upon characters - and when the key character is an unlikeable silly cliche like Gosamyr that's not a good move. Taking the team into space could have opened up many good ideas but so far it's wallowed in bad ones.

New Mutants 67 - Inferno Prologue

Cannonball goes to a concert but finds his promise to not use his powers was rash.

New Mutants #67

Writer: Louise Simonson
Artist: Bret Blevins
Letterer: Ken Bruzenak
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Sam secures permission to go to a Lila Cheney concert but promises to not use his powers. However the concert also attracts the interest of an alien slave owner called Spyder who regards Lila as his "property" through forcing her previous owner into bankruptcy. He sends his monstrous "accountants" to retrieve her at the concert with the rest of the New Mutants rushing to try to save Lila. Meanwhile Gosamyr, a slave of Spyder's, escapes and makes her way to Earth where she pleads to the New Mutants for help to save her family. She soon has Sunspot enthralled with her. Elsewhere Limbo continues to get worse and Illyana comments on how this reflects her own descent.

This is a relatively slow paced issue to kick off the last storyline before Inferno. And it introduces one of the worst conceived characters in the whole run of the series. Gosamyr is an alien with empathic powers and combined with the way she is drawn as a sexy young alien the result is an intergalactic seductress which is a highly dodgy approach that would almost certainly not be followed today. Spyder is a little better, an intergalactic businessman whose holdings include living beings and whose business methods including forcing bankruptcies to acquire assets. It's easy to see him as a parody of real life businessmen whose methods could leave chaos in their wake (something Marvel itself would experience in the next decade).

Otherwise we have a continuation in the seemingly endless pattern of the New Mutants being placed under restrictions by Magneto and getting round them one way or another. This situation cannot endure indefinitely any more than the deterioration of Limbo. Overall this issue is relatively relaxed to build the characters for the story arc but as one of the key ones is so ill conceived it dargs the whole thing down.

Silver Surfer Annual 1 - The Evolutionary War

The Surfer comes back to Earth to have his DNA mapped.

Silver Surfer Annual #1

1st story: Adam
(At least that's what the internet thinks this story is called. The title lettering is extremely hard to read.)
Story: Steve Englehart
Pencils: Joe Staton
Inks: Joe Rubinstein
Letters: Ken Bruzenak
Colors: Tom Vincent
Editor: Craig Anderson
Chief: Tom DeFalco

Silver Surfer was the other big new successful series of this time and again one that's difficult to fit into a major Earth based crossover event. The whole thrust of the series was to get the Surfer away from Earth and into outer space where he encountered all the major cosmic races and entities. Meanwhile the High Evolutionary is focused on a plan to advance life on Earth. Somehow these two very different approaches have to matched.

The solution was to have the Evolutionary interested in the genetics of humanoids and seek to have the Silver Surfer's DNA mapped. For this he turns up at Olympia, home of the Eternals, and talks these beings into agreeing to undertake the task. Meanwhile the Surfer has decided to return to Earth to find the son of his recently deceased girlfriend Mantis though once he reaches the planet this gets forgotten for the rest of the annual.

Part of the complication is that this annual, more than most in this period, is wedged firmly into the ongoing narrative of the regular series. As a result the Surfer suddenly has to find a reason to be brought to Earth and then forget about it, before continuing his regular adventures. To tie things in with the regular narrative even further this issue also sees the resurrection of the Super Skrull, who has been spending a long time as disembodied radioactive particles orbiting the Earth but has now been resurrected as he could potentially restore his race's ability to change shape. Consequently this annual feels more like a special of the regular series than a chapter in an ongoing saga. It also brings the Surfer into contact with one of the most confusing sets of beings in the Marvel universe, the Eternals.

The Eternals were created by Jack Kirby during his mid 1970s return to Marvel and the series reflected his interest in the ancient astronauts theory that postulated Earth had been visited by aliens long in the past and much mythology was based on these meetings. As recounted by the Evolutionary in the opening pages the Eternals were created by the Celestials as an advanced race and went on to inspire many legends. The problem is that the series appeared to be intended by Kirby to take place in its own universe but later Marvel writers incorporated it into regular continuity which threw up its own problems, not least because the Marvel universe already depicted the Greek Gods and other pantheons as actual beings and so the Eternals had to co-exist with them and be confused for them. There's a brief attempt to try to unpick this mess here when the Surfer tells the Eternals that during his exile he spent time on Olympia and the Eternals' city that has reportedly existed for thousands of years simply wasn't there then but this annual would prove to be the series's only encounter with the Titans of Olympia (although their cousins on Titan would appear many times under later writers) and the revelation is not followed up on. The Eternals themselves are not very impressive, being easily talked into agreeing to map the Surfer's DNA to help the High Evolutionary's plan with no signs of coercion or any real exploration as to why they find his vision attractive. Later the Surfer is able to talk his way into leaving with no great debate either.

There's a real retro feel to this annual, right down to its use of the 1960s series logo instead of the current one and a strong homage to Kirby in the artwork whilst the story is the Surfer's first full adventure on Earth since his exile was lifted. Unfortunately it can't hide the sheer pointlessness of the tale. The Super Skrull's revival could have been handled in the regular series whilst the High Evolutionary doesn't return at the end so the entire attempt to map the Surfer's DNA is ultimately redundant to the general scheme. Big crossover events often wander into series that are ill fitted for them and have a completely inconsequential and forgettable encounter and this is a strong example of this.


2nd story: Nova! Moth to the Flame
Story: Steve Englehart
Pencils: Ron Lim
Inks: Chris Ivy
Letters: Ken Bruzenak
Colors: Tom Vincent
Editor: Craig Anderson
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Nova arrives back at Galactus's ship to find her master in pain. He needs very specific help and charges her with contacting the Silver Surfer to find Sue Richards.

This isn't so much a story as a bridging scene to set-up the storyline in the next few issues of the regular series and also to get the Surfer back from Earth. It's also notable for being Ron Lim's first work on the series that would go on to make his name though here he's drawing Nova and Galactus far more than the Surfer. As a result there's not too much to say about this tale beyond how it continues the pattern of firmly anchoring this annual into the narrative of the regular series although at the cost of confusion for passing readers since how Galactus came to eat the Elders is not explained whilst the Surfer rapidly forgets his search for Mantis's son. Otherwise it's a nice showcase for the series's new artist.


3rd story: Mantis!
Story: Steve Englehart
Pencils: Ron Lim
Inks: Randy Emberlin
Letters: Ken Bruzenak
Colors: Tom Vincent
Editor: Craig Anderson
Chief: Tom DeFalco

This is another brief scene as Mantis wakes up having lost her memory of all the events since her wedding to the Cotati and finds herself living on Earth under the name "Mandy Celestine" and lacking her empathy with plants. So she remembers her human friends and sets out to find the Avengers.

There's a bit more to say on this one. A pin-up elsewhere in the annual presents Mantis as dead (she was seemingly killed in issue #9 of the regular series) which hints at a great struggle to get her back into the series over editorial objections and we'll see the character again in both of the other series written by Englehart at this time, West Coast Avengers and Fantastic Four. Steve Englehart's website details his side of some of this but to the best of my knowledge his various editors have not put their version out there in as much detail though Sean Howe's Marvel Comics: The Untold Story does give a rather different reason for why Englehart left West Coast Avengers. But whatever the truth of the behind the scenes situation the result is that over the next few months Mantis will leap from title to title as she searches for her memories and her son. Here the character's amnesia works to cover up


4th story: The High Evolutionary: The Men, The Mine, The Mountain!
Story: Mark Gruenwald
Pencils: Paris Cullins
Inks: Tony DeZuniga
Letters: Ken Lopez
Colors: Gregory Wright
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The saga continues with the land in the Balkans now identified as the site of Mount Wundagore. This begins to hint at the problems ahead because many different characters have had aspects of their backstories linked to the mountain over the years and this saga has to untangle them all. Here were see Herbert Edgar Wyndham and Jonathan Drew discovering a seam of uranium that will finance their plans and commissioning a citadel from a scientist who also wants to build an interplanetary spacecraft. There's some pretty advanced ideas for events set in the early 1930s as we learn the planned Citadel of Science will be able to travel into space itself. Meanwhile the mountain is plagued by a mysterious creature and Wyndham's mysterious benefactor returns to gift him Moloid workers to dig the mine and build the Citadel before disappearing.

This saga is starting to wade through the quagmire and it could do with some more helpful narrative captions. The mysterious stranger who gave Wyndham the genetic code and then the Moloids is never named and a caption tells us Wyndham never discovered who he was which means a key part of the story is simply explained away as a stranger wanting to foster scientific advancement. The scientist who designs the Citadel would appear to be an established character from the Marvel universe but he's using the German name "Horce Grabsheid" and is not explicitly identified as who he will become. As a result of too much info being dumped instead of explained this is the least satisfactory chapter of the saga so far.

Other material includes a gallery of pin-ups all by incoming penciller Ron Lim and inked by Joe Rubinstein. Details are given about each of the key characters in the series. Overall this is an okay Silver Surfer annual with good back-up features and a main story by the regular writer that seeks to advance ongoing plots but once again it's a very poor fit for The Evolutionary War event which really needs some chapters of much greater substance.

The Punisher Annual 1 - The Evolutionary War

The Punisher encounters an Evolutionary War on Drugs.

(Due to the large number of creators the labels for some have been put in a separate post.)

The Punisher Annual #1

1st story: Evolutionary Jihad
Script: Mike Baron
Pencils: Mark Texeira
Inks: Scott Williams
Letters: Jim Novak
Colors: Janet Jackson
Edits: Carl Potts
Eliminator in Chief: Tom DeFalco

The problem with a line wide crossover, or at least one encompassing all the series with annuals, is that it's going to take in some extremely different series with very different power levels and perspectives. Both this annual and the next one demonstrate the extremities of this as they take in what were in 1988 Marvel's hottest new series.

The Punisher had been running for less than a year when this first annual came along and so it's very likely The Evolutionary War was approved before it was realised there would be an encounter on such a scale. The nature  of this crossover overall is such that individual events can be easily added or dropped from the overall plan but the different power levels can result in some very strange aspects to the plan.

The solution here is to tell a relatively straightforward typical Punisher story in which one faction is armed with high tech weaponry. The High Evolutionary's Eliminators aren't that much more advanced than some of the other more technological foes the Punisher and so don't feel out of place here whilst the Evolutionary himself is never seen, only mentioned. However the goal in this annual is ridiculous.

Here the High Evolutionary has launched a war on drugs and comments by his Eliminators imply that they're going after the whole chain from producers all the way through to users. It just feels absurd that such a broad target would be selected for such physical resources. It would be easy to refine the target to some particular drug variant only grown in the vicinity but as it stands it's an unbelievable goal. Still the practical result is that the Punisher gets to fight some hi-tech guys in Colombia.

This is yet another tale of a fight with a  Latin American drug baron, a cliche even at the time. However Mike Baron's script gives some good development to "El Caiman", presenting him as also a devoted father and popular philanthropist who has done far more for the local people than their own government. He and the Punisher end up in an alliance of convenience against the Eliminators and there's a real sense that they've come to respect one another enough that they'll let each go when the threat is removed. However both know that this cannot be and so when they find themselves in El Caiman's aquarium at the end the Punisher has no option but to fire a bullet to break the glass and feed the drug lord to his own pet from whom he takes his nickname.

As a Punisher story this is a good one-off tale that doesn't require an in-depth knowledge of the character and his continuity to understand it. But as a chapter in The Evolutionary War it's struggling to disguise just how difficult it is to fit that event into this series. The Evolutionary's goals are just too unrealistic to make sense.


2nd story: 3 Hearts
Writer: Roger Salick
Artist: Mike Bosburg
Letterer: Ken Bruzenak
Colorist: Max Scheele

This solo tale for Microchip is named after a Japanese proverb that a person has three hearts - the one they show to the world, the one they keep to themselves and the one they don't even know about. Microchip finds out what he is capable of when he goes to the help of the widow of an old friend whose new husband has become an assassin for hire and is even trying to kill his wife lest she report him. Although Microchip has developed many weapons for others, here we see his private nervousness over whether he himself can pull the trigger when he tracks down the assassin reporting back. We also get the comedy as he smuggles an anti-tank gun into a hotel. And then the story ends with showing his deviousness and ruthlessness as he confronts the assassin and seemingly makes a deal.

It's a good exploration of Microchip's character and capabilities when he doesn't have the Punisher around him but the story's title is rather over laboured with excess dialogue seeking to justify it. But otherwise this is just the sort of piece that super-size annuals should have.


3rd story: The High Evolutionary: Pet Project
Story: Mark Gruenwald
Pencils: Paris Cullins
Inks: Tony DeZuniga
Letters: Ken Lopez
Colors: Gregory Wright
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Herbert Edgar Wyndham was expelled from Oxford after losing his temper with key professors and then he found his home was insufficiently isolated to carry out his experiments. Salvation came when he met again with Jonathan Drew whose wife had inherited land in the Balkans and so they set up a laboratory there.

It's a relatively straightforward chapter that continues the themes of Wyndham being in a hurry, impatient with the conventional speed of science and being detached from conventional society. But it also exposes a problem with the character's name and aims. Evolution is the development of a species as it adapts to conditions with beneficial mutations coming to dominate as best able to survive. By definition it is not possible to stick an organism in a machine and flick a switch to turn it into what a later evolved descendant will be. Yet that is precisely what Wyndham is shown attempting. At best he can accelerate the individual organism's development to deal with the rays of his machine but nothing more.

This flaw goes back to the character's original appearance and suggests that his creators did not have the strongest understanding of evolutionary science when they named him. It raises the question as to what is the character's actual goal.

Also included is a guide to the Punisher's Battle Van and a diagram of his New Jersey warehouse.

Overall this is a good Punisher annual but a disappointing The Evolutionary War one. The Punisher was always going to be one of the hardest characters to fit into the overall event but even so the draw here just doesn't stand up well. It is unfortunate that both the first two annuals in this event have been disappointing.

New Mutants 66 - Inferno Prologue

Illyana's descent into the Darkchilde continues as she has a showdown with Forge in Limbo.

New Mutants #66

Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Bret Blevins
Inker: Terry Austin
Letterer: Ken Bruzenak
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editors: Ann Nocenti & Bob Harras
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Continuing the confrontation from last time this issue is heavily focused on the battle between Illyana and Forge and the consequence around them. An early worrying sign comes when the Soul Sword slices through a rock despite only being able to affect magical subjects - and the rock has a leering face. The other New Mutants try to end the fight but instead they all get pulled into Limbo and held captive as Illyana transforms ever more into the Darkchilde until she stabs Forge and disrupts his magic. Then before she can kill him Dani (Moonstar) pulls out an image of Illyana's worst fear - the fully transformed Darkchilde. Oddly it proves to be the demons in Limbo who bring her to her senses when she refuses to give into temptation despite them egging her on and declines to kill Forge. But Illyana struggles to transform back and recognises in herself the monster from Destiny's prophecy.

There's not a great deal of meat to this issue with the battle taking up most of the action. Forge does fight back with both words and magic - and draws out just how much of Illyana's anger is really against herself for having transported her brother to Dallas but then not been there for the final battle. Ultimately he offers her the chance to kill him, seeing in her what he saw in himself when he was young and using his magic in Vietnam.

Otherwise the issue starts a couple of other subplots with the revelation that Magneto has taken to wearing a version of his traditional costume from his villainous days (albeit with no helmet and a big M symbol on the front) and out in space an alien called Spyder offers his slave Gosamyr freedom if she can capture Lila Cheney.

Overall this issue feels too brief. The battle of words and actions doesn't add a great deal to events and feels like it could have been wrapped up sooner especially given how long it's taken to reach this point. Nor is there much further exploration of how Limbo is reacting to these changes. Instead we have a less than satisfying issue just as the key threads start to get seeded.

What If... 31 - Acts of Vengeance

What If... Spider-Man had kept his cosmic powers?

A common feature of What If... was to do a story where a major crossover event turned out differently. The first issue of the relaunched regular series asked "What If... the Avengers lost the Evolutionary War?" and later issues offered alternate outcomes for events such as "Secret Wars" (#114), "Fall of the Mutants" (#101), "Inferno" (#6 and #37), "Atlantis Attacks" (#25), "Infinity Gauntlet" (#49 and #104), "Operation Galactic Storm" (#55 & #56), "Age of Apocalypse" (#77 and #81) and the Spider-Man "Clone Saga" (#86). It's thus a surprise to see there wasn't one focused on the core of "Acts of Vengeance" and we only get a look at an alternate ending to the story of Spider-Man's cosmic powers.

What If... #31

Writer: Glenn Alan Herdling
Penciler: Scott Alan McDaniel
Inkers: Col. Sanders III & Sam Delarosa
Letterer: Ken Bruzenak
Colourists: Tom Vincent and Co.
Editor: Craig Anderson
Chief: Tom DeFalco

The opening scene with Captain Universe possessing the dog Casey features Glenn Herdling proposing to Laura - she said yes both here and in real life though I don't know which way round the proposals came. This scene helps the Watcher to (re)introduce the Uni-Power of Captain Universe and how it came to Spider-Man before explaining how in the regular reality the Uni-Power went on to mainly possess children and animals, leaving unexplored the potential of the power being held long-term by "a powerful, intelligent host. At least not in your reality...!" This story shows that potential.

The divergent point is straightforward - the power stays with Spider-Man after his battle with the Tri-Sentinel and as a result this story doesn't have to wade through retelling loads of existing comics. The only story I can spot from elsewhere is when Spider-Man teamed up with Avengers to fight Nebula, which is here handled in two panels as his powers provide both speedy resolution and concern for Thor and Captain America.

The theme is of the conflict between "With absolute power there comes absolute responsibility" and "absolute power corrupts absolutely". Over the course of this issue we see how cosmic Spider-Man steadily seeks to solve ever greater problems in the world, but things don't always go well. There's an early encounter with the Hobgoblin who, rarely for this era of Marvel, is presented as quite a serious threat, or at least he would be if not for Spider-Man's power level. Spidey tries to remove the physical changes made by demons, but only succeeds to turn Hobgoblin's face into Peter Parker's! (An existing spell by Doctor Strange means Hobgoblin thought he had a normal face and now thinks he has a monstrous one.) There's also a quick fight with Venom (who interestingly is drawn as he looked at the time of Acts of Vengeance rather than with the modifications Erik Larsen had made in the intervening two years), who is persuaded to reform and take Spider-Man's place as a street level crime fighter. This came over a year before the Lethal Protector phase of the character began, showing how many an idea was prefigured by What If... (but also perhaps that's where some ideas should have been left).

However Spider-Man taking on the role of the world's protector is bringing personal changes, with both Mary Jane and Venom's alien symbiote no longer recognising the man they once knew so well. This brings a very poorly handled moment when Aunt May inadvertently discovers Peter's secret. Although the cosmic powers are more shocking than just being Spider-Man, it's become a bit too much of a cliché that upon learning her nephew's secret she would suffer a heart attack. Even before this he has been neglecting Mary Jane terribly and the marriage nearly collapses but eventually proves to be more durable.

In the original stories Spider-Man did wonder if he could have used his powers to stop Gaddafi and end apartheid. However this dated quickly as in the two years between then and this story the world had moved on a bit with South Africa now clearly in the process of dismantling apartheid (one of the key steps, the National Peace Accord, was signed only a few days before the issue went on sale) and Gaddafi had been surpassed as the west's main target in the Arab world. As is so often the case in comics, the actual names of leaders and countries are not used but the area is explicitly identified as the "Persian Gulf" and as Spider-Man soars into a capital city and locates the bunker the dictator is hiding in with his "Republican Guard" the artwork doesn't fail to disguise and instead gives us the wonderful image of Spider-Man capturing Saddam Hussein.

Spidey eventually tries to solve the problem of drought in the Sudan, forcibly recruiting Thor and this leads to a confrontation between the two about whether gods should allow people to seek their own destiny or intervene all the time. For a story exploring the real-world implications of having beings with such great powers, it's good to also get a realistic explanation as to why they don't set out to wipe out famine and the likes in the real world.

The finale brings a confrontation with Doctor Doom, who brings a hostage, Captain Ray Coffin who was the original wielder of the Captain Universe power. And Spider-Man doesn't hold back, leading to Doom snapping Coffin's neck, triggering the eventual confrontation between Peter's true side and Captain Universe, fought out as energy forms before bringing revelations about both Doom and what must truly be done with the Uni-Power. Thus he makes the final sacrifice by using Doom's weapon to release the power, creating a moment of universal unity, linking all minds together.

This obviously isn't a substitute for "What If... the Avengers lost Acts of Vengeance" but it was never meant to be and so shouldn't be approached in that way. Instead it's a good What If... that takes the basic concept from a storyline and shows what more could have been done but also why the regular Marvel universe couldn't go there. Unlike a lot of What If... stories it doesn't wind up with the gratuitous killing of characters for the sake of it or else being so tame as to produce a simplified alternative where a few identities, costumes and/or team memberships have changed but otherwise things are much the same. Instead it gives us a good exploration of the fundamental philosophical concept behind Spider-Man, turned up to the absolute degree.

What If... #31  has been reprinted in:

• Nowhere at all it seems.

Silver Surfer 33 - Acts of Idiocy

And now we come to another parody as the Silver Surfer encounters the Impossible Man...

Silver Surfer #33

Jim Valentino: wrote it without a care
Ron Lim: Artist extraordinaire
Tom Christopher: Inker beyond compare
Ken Bruzenak: Lettered it in his lair
Tom Vincent: Colourist with flair
Craig Anderson: Edited it in his underwear
Tom DeFalco: All he could do was stare!

The whole thrust of the 1987 Silver Surfer series was that the character belonged out among the stars, not confined to Earth. Additionally "Acts of Vengeance" came at a slightly difficult period creatively as Steve Englehart was wrapping up his run and fighting off editorial interference then came a couple of fill-in issues before the arrival of Jim Starlin with #34 who immediately kicked off the saga that would lead to Infinity Gauntlet (and the film Avengers: Infinity War). Putting the Surfer into Earth-based crossovers had already created awkward chapters in the annuals that had to contrive ways to get him back to (or at least near) the planet. Having such a powerful being lured to Earth by the alliance of super-villains just to target him would make little sense. So it's unsurprising that he was left out of it all and instead had a parody of the concept as the sole chapter of "Acts of Idiocy".

It's a straightforward issue. In it the Silver Surfer literally bumps into the Impossible Man and has to endure the latter's silliness, then deal with a fleet from an alien planet whose monarch has been insulted and wants redress. Impossible Man stories are often more about the character's wackiness and the frustration of those who have to endure him, than heavy in-depth plots. It's also quite a visual parade with the Shapeshifter taking on numerous forms ranging from Howard the Duck to Galactus to Forbush Man to Spider-Ham to it-looks-like-Superman-but-due-to-copyright-it-isn't to the Yellow Kid to Marilyn Monroe and many, many more. The Surfer is traditionally quite a noble serious character and so must be even more frustrated by this than most, yet can't let the Impossible Man be killed.

This issue may be an event driven fill-in but it's a reminder that the series as a whole went through periods when it seemed to be more about Marvel's outer space population as a whole with the Surfer at times a mere guide to everything rather than the driving force of the stories. Still here that comes with the territory.

Doing an in-universe parody of the crossover event rather than contorting to fit a deep space set series into an Earth based series is a wonderful solution to the problem. The Impossible Man is a particular taste, so this issue stands or falls depending on one's liking of him but it's quite a good portrayal of the character and he went on to encounter the Surfer a few more times, one of the more enduring relationships to have come out of the event. This is a good humorous issue of the series and a fun parody of the concept.

Silver Surfer #33 has been reprinted in:

• Impossible Man (2011)

New Mutants 84 - Acts of Vengeance

In one way or another, every single one of the four mutant titles has a somewhat awkward relationship with the "Acts of Vengeance" crossover. None has a conventional style story in which the heroes are targeted by foes they haven't fought before. Sometimes the story could just as easily have been told without the wider event. And in most cases the titles were telling multi-part stories that had moved the heroes away from their normal spheres, with the event becoming an irritating intrusion.

New Mutants #84

Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Terry Shoemaker
Inker: Al Milgrom
Letterer: Ken Bruzenak
Colourist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Thus this is really the penultimate chapter of one of the series's own storylines, with "Acts of Vengeance" now announced via a banner on the cover but confined to two pages set on Earth; the intention presumably being that the two stories can be separated for reprints if necessary. The "Acts of Vengeance" sequence is extremely straightforward, continuing events in the prison that Rusty Collins has been sent to for reasons not given here. Another inmate is the Vulture, taunted for being past it and having been ignored by the organisers of all the attacks on the superheroes. But then he discovers a new set of wings with modifications made to his designs and determines to prove everyone wrong by breaking out with a supplied explosive then reasserting his name. Rusty tries to stop him but gets carried out as the Vulture flies off. It's a straightforward sequence setting things up for a later issue but feels like it was shovelled in to meet an editorial dictat to maximise the additional sales that would come from the crossover. It also implies that the organised nature of the attacks is either rather more obvious than other series imply, or recruiters have visited the jail (which seems more likely, given the presence of the wings).

As for the rest of the issue... Oh dear. To cut to the chase this is the penultimate part of a storyline set in Asgard which Hela, the Norse goddess of death, is about to attack. This issue is focused on getting the New Mutants, the Warriors Three and various other characters plus allies altogether to help the defence. As a result it's a fast-paced piece that moves a lot of people around. In the process it completely fails to explain just what the New Mutants are doing in Asgard or who the various groups are. It seems the story was written before it was realised that the crossover was coming and nobody tried to modify it.

This is a strong contender to be the single worst issue of all the books with "Acts of Vengeance" on the cover as it makes next to no concession for readers brought in by the crossover and doesn't even try to at least wield the theme of fighting other heroes' foes into the existing narrative. As we'll see elsewhere, Louise Simonson was one of several writers who openly expressed their dislike of the crossover, but most still did what they could to accommodate it and the new audience. This issue would have been better off not putting the banner on the corner of the cover and not bringing in extra readers just to confuse them.

New Mutants #84 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Crossover Omnibus (2011)
• New Mutants Epic Collection: Curse of the Valkyries (2018)

The Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger 8 - Acts of Vengeance

Cloak and Dagger was a bimonthly series (ignore the cover dates on the issues discussed here) and so was always going to be limited in its contribution to the "Acts of Vengeance" crossover. However it managed to squeeze in an extra issue by adding the banner "Prelude to Vengeance" on issue #8 which came out before the start of the crossover, though it leads directly into issue #9, hence its placement in the order here.

The Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger #8

Script: Terry Austin
Art: Mike Vosburg
Backgrounds: Don Cameron
Letters: Ken Bruzenak
Colours: Glynis Oliver
Bachelor-Editor-No-More: Carl Potts
Chief: Tom DeFalco

Unfortunately this was probably a mistake if the intention was to draw in extra readers. This issue is almost entirely the conclusion of an existing storyline that's somewhat difficult to dive into, not least because Cloak has been apparently killed off and his cloak of darkness is now warned by the villain Ecstasy. It's also not clear why these book is entitled "The Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger" - in their origin they got their powers from a reaction to drugs and they're not so well known that the mutant connection is obvious. It feels as though Marvel was trying to capitalise on the popularity of the mutant titles by sticking "Mutant" onto as many covers as they could get away with.

Most of the characters seen watching on the cover either only appear in the last panel or not at all. Instead we get a tale on multiple levels as the original Cloak finds himself in a normalised world with a family and day job, but is haunted by seeing the same blonde woman everywhere he looks. Elsewhere Dagger is one of a group of hostages in a bank robbery led by the Crimson Daffodil, a swarve criminal with the power of persuasion but also an utterly inept group of henchmen. Meanwhile the Kingpin has hired an assassin called the Disciplinarian to locate and kill Ecstasy. The plot strands all converge on the bank in a showdown that sees Cloak and Dagger reunited. The "Acts of Vengeance" connection comes right at the end in an epilogue as visitors come to the church where Cloak and Dagger hang out, but it's entirely a trailer for events next issue.

As an individual issue of the series this is fairly okay, but an issue luring in extra readers because of a crossover really needs to do a lot more to explain what's going on and why the status quo is different from the best known. One suspects that "Prelude to Vengeance" got simply slapped on the cover in hope of a sales boost rather than the story being explicitly constructed for it. This is not one to go to great lengths to seek out.

The Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger #8 has been reprinted in:

• Nowhere at all it seems.