Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 8 - The Evolutionary War

Spider-Man faces new revelations about the Original Clone Saga.

Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #8

1st story: Return to Sender
Script: Gerry Conway
Pencils: Mark Bagley
Lettering: Rick Parker
Inks: Keith Williams
Color: Bob Sharon
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

The High Evolutionary is making a couple of final investigations in this penultimate chapter of the event. He goes out into space to investigate the Young Gods, a group of twelve humans genetically advanced by the various pantheons on Earth and taken away by the Celestials, but judges them "only children with god-like powers" and leaves to continue his plans. However Daydreamer reads his mind and discovers his plan with the Young Gods dividing in two over whether they should seek to stop him or not interfere in human destiny. One faction goes to confront the Evolutionary on Earth with the other following to stop them. Meanwhile Spider-Man encounters the Purifiers chasing a woman and is shocked to discover she resembles his dead former girlfriend Gwen Stacy. He soon realises this is her clone and catches up with her when she is captured by the Purifiers. Transported back to the Evolutionary's base Spidey gets caught up in the battle between the Purifiers and the Young Gods whilst the Evolutionary makes a careful study of Gwen's clone and comes to a startling revelation.

There's a lot going on in this annual so let's get the biggest problem out of the way first. The Young Gods simply do not fit into Spider-Man's world. They are a very obscure group of characters originally introduced by Gerry Conway in his early 1970s run on Thor with a later writer refining them and adding the Celestial connection. They have had very few appearances over the years, primarily because few other writers have touched them and Conway was either not at Marvel or working on inappropriate series. Here they just stick out like a sore thumb and it's easy to see why there was no great demand for them to return or be given their own series. The fight scene in the Evolutionary's headquarters (now a giant submarine) could have featured any group of heroes for all the difference it makes. And Daydreamer's role at the end doesn't match her powers which are given in the "Fact Pages" later in the annual as "Limited precognition, verbal and telepathic thought control, the ability to create 'visions'". None of this explains how she is able to neutralise and reverse the effects of a genetic virus that transforms a person "on a cellular level into a near duplicate of the original" and restore "Gwen" to her true self.

This brings us to what the annual should be notable for as the retcon here should by rights have completely stopped one of the most notorious Spider-Man stories of all time. Contrary to myth the heavy retconning of the events of the Original Clone Saga began in the 1980s before anyone had heard of Ben Reilly. The clone of Gwen Stacy had not been seen since the end of the original saga (which was also Conway's last issue of Amazing Spider-Man) when she made her peace with both Peter and what she really was and there was never any real need to bring her back. But here we get the revelation that she isn't a clone after all. The Evolutionary reveals that he wondered how a university professor could have come up with cloning (clearly forgetting that in the Marvel Universe numerous academics have been able to access and develop all manner of advanced technology) and instead that he had developed the genetic virus then kidnapped another woman similar to Gwen and infected her to create what appeared to be a complete genetic duplicate. (Incidentally the name "Joyce Delaney" doesn't appear in this annual despite what some synopses online state.)

There is so much about this that just doesn't make sense. Firstly why is the Evolutionary so concerned about the work of a long dead university professor whose work has left only one remaining clone around? There is nothing indicating that his plans for genetically advancing the human race can be derailed by this. Secondly if cloning was beyond the ability of Warren then how did he come up with the genetic virus? Thirdly if Gwen Stacy wasn't a clone then what about the others? Who was the Spider-Man clone? Carrion claimed to be a clone of Warren gone wrong so who was he actually? Finally if Gwen's clone was actually another woman then how come her disappearance wasn't noticed?

Some of this would be resolved in a forthcoming issue of Spectacular Spider-Man but it began the trend of partial retcons of the Clone Saga that didn't cover every detail and which would require further stories & retcons to clean things up, often including explaining how Carrion fitted into the new version of events. But it's also notable that the revelations in this annual should have closed off the possibility of bringing back any other clones as the genetic virus could simply have been purged from the system. (However instead the annual was largely ignored for much of the Clone Saga with the revelations here simply brushed aside until a persistent assistant editor managed to get the only issue of Scarlet Spider Unlimited to address them. But that's a story for another day.) It's a pity as the genetic virus approach would have been a much easier way to get the story settled once and for all.

It's not clear why (presumably) Conway felt the need to revisit the Clone Saga at all. Was it because there was growing public awareness that cloning did not lead to fully grown identical duplicates being made in laboratories? Was it to shut down the possibility of other writers bringing back the clones? If so then it was spectacularly unsuccessful. But the result is a big retcon of a story from thirteen years earlier that could have just left things there and then.

(On the subject of continuity this story also repeats a common continuity error by Conway. For some reason he repeatedly got the details of Peter's high school years wrong, here claiming that Peter and Mary Jane knew each other then when in fact they didn't meet until Peter was at university. Time and again he would make this error and also imply that Peter had dated Liz Allen in high school with Mary Jane disliking her then. This has appeared so many times and so clearly in his Spider-Man stories from both the 1970s and 1980s that it can't be a mere misinterpretation.)

This annual would have worked a lot better as an earlier chapter in The Evolutionary War when it would have made more sense for the High Evolutionary to be exploring genetic anomalies as he is a natural character to use to explore the truth behind Warren's experiments. It doesn't feel like a penultimate chapter at all and instead feels like a fill-in marking time between the two Avengers annuals. The obsession with the Young Gods also weighs this story down further. However there are some good moments such as the two scenes between Peter and Mary Jane as they face the memory of Gwen and just what it says about their relationship with each other. But overall this is a mess of a story weighed down by a disproportionate focus on inappropriate guest stars and a needless retcon that makes little sense.


2nd story: Opposing forces
Writer: Gerry Conway
Pencils: Mark Bagley
Inker: Mike Esposito
Letters: Rick Parker
Color: Bob Sharon
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Several of the Young Gods have travelled to Jerusalem where they discover an ancient robot buried in the hills that feeds off anger and is triggered by the presence of the Young Gods and an Israeli army patrol fighting a group of teenage Palestinian protestors. The Young Gods argue over whether to get involved and charge in but only achieve success when several come together to form the Uni-Mind.

Rather than a back-up focusing on some Spider-Man characters we instead get a solo tale for the Young Gods that shows off the differences in their philosophies about getting involved with human affairs as well as a demonstration of their powers and a rather forced message about the power of working together. This tale just shows why the Young Gods have not interested other writers as they're a rather dull cliched set of characters. Putting the story here along with five "Fact Pages" about them just adds to the sense that they've taken over Spider-Man's annual unnecessarily. It ends with a caption announcing "To Be Continued... Watch future issues of Spectacular Spider-Man to find out where!" but instead they wouldn't be seen again until a multipart story in Marvel Comics Presents in the early 1990s. And it's easy to see why. This is just a waste.


3rd story: The High Evolutionary: Kindred Spirits
Story: Mark Gruenwald
Breakdowns: Ron Lim
Finishes: Tony DeZuniga
Letters: Ken Lopez
Colors: Gregory Wright
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Chief: Tom DeFalco

This chapter tells of how the High Evolutionary returned to mortal form albeit far more advanced than contemporary humans, the creation of Counter-Earth and his relationship with Adam Warlock. The Counter-Earth saga has a notably more scientific approach and veers away from the Biblical parallel of the original story whilst there's also a retelling of the final (for then) showdown between Warlock and the High Evolutionary.

Once more the saga is retelling past Marvel stories though the encounter with Warlock was another flashback due to his own title ending before it could happen (although it was prophesised) and he was soon after killed off. That was one of Mark Gruenwald's earliest pieces of continuity surgery so with this chapter he has now come full circle. Also coming full circle is the way the Evolutionary starts and ends the chapter in his energy thought form, almost as though anyone missing this annual (such as someone who read both Avengers books but not the crossovers) would not feel they were missing something. However it's a pity that the reasons behind Warlock's false belief that Counter-Earth has been destroyed is not explained here beyond speculation that his Soul Gem is interfering with his perception. Otherwise it's a straightforward summary of a distinct period of the Evolutionary's appearances.

Other material includes "The Young Gods Fact Pages!" outlining their origin and each of the characters. Yet again it reinforces the idea that this annual wants to be a Young Gods annual. For some reason a lot of 1980s Spider-Man annuals have a tendency to forget who was the star of the series and suggests that many creators were longing for the days of Marvel Team-Up. This is especially disappointing given how important the revelation in this annual should have been for Spider-Man continuity in the long-term.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual 22 - The Evolutionary War

Spider-Man and Daredevil team up to solve a drug wars murder but bigger plans are afoot.

Okay we've hit a publishing mistake here. The back-up feature "The High Evolutionary" has a strict chapter order and the next one should be Fantastic Four Annual #21. However the lead feature in that has the first recap of the event so far in chronological order and places it after this issue. So I've opted to publish these two posts simultaneously in lead feature order.

(And this is another annual with a lot of creators so some of the labels are in a separate post.)

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #22

1st story: Drug War Rages
By Tom DeFalco
As told to David Michelinie
Photos: Mark Bagley & Mike Esposito
R. Parker signs on
B. Sharen in the red
J. Salicrup indicted
T. DeFalco shrieks

This is the first annual in The Evolutionary War to actually build on events earlier in the saga as New York deals with the consequences of the interruption of the drugs supply in Punisher Annual #1. Otherwise this annual feels quite traditional, perhaps in part because Tom DeFalco is plotting but also Mark Bagley adopts a very traditional approach to the artwork that stands in strong contrast to Todd McFarlane's contemporary work on the regular series at this time. It's a nice suitable retro feel for a story that also resorts to some traditional moves such as Spider-Man being falsely accused of a crime and J. Jonah Jameson being delighted at being proved right. There's a team-up with Daredevil and a good use of the Kingpin. But there's also the debut of a new superhero.

Speedball was the newest hero Marvel was about to launch in his own title and he's given a preview here. But it's not a very good one. There's no origin story, just a quick mention of an "accident" that gave him his powers, and the character comes across as a mess. When Robbie Baldwin encounters a force it triggers a kinetic power that sends him jumping all over the place which he tries to use to fight street level crime. There's a half decent idea in that and with some refinement to give him a degree of control that could at least all him to walk around without being terrified of brushing into anyone it might work. But the problem here is that we're given neither the origin of a new hero when he can be expected to have difficulty controlling his powers nor an appearance once he's fully come to terms with them. To add to the problems neither his creator Steve Ditko nor his regular scripter Roger Stern is working on this story and so Speedball is just thrown into this story to bounce around without contributing much that couldn't have been handled by either Spider-Man or Daredevil.

The story focuses on the mystery of the disruption to the drug supply which turns out to be down to the High Evolutionary's Purifiers killing several distributors and dealers whilst preparing a scheme to render everyone in New York unconscious and then sterilise everyone with unacceptable DNA. Although both aims have been pursued by the Evolutionary's forces in earlier annuals it's surprising to see the same team attempting both at the same time and the result is they attract too much attention with the Kingpin forcing the details out of a captured Purifier then manipulating Spider-Man and Daredevil into attacking the Purifiers' base whilst Speedball has also stumbled across the plan. There's a good complex take on the Kingpin, concerned not merely with the immediate profit margin but also with ensuring his city is kept safe and using his resources to help the heroes where necessary. He even gets the Arranger to clear Spider-Man's name by getting the real criminal to confess to the murder of the drug distributors at the start of the story. Then at the very end he is shown expressing real concern about the wider threat. It's a reminder how he prefers the stability of the existing order and is prepared to help preserve it if needs be whereas a more simplistic villain would simply throw in with the bigger foe in town.

Overall this is a pretty good example of a traditional Spider-Man story with a double team-up thrown in for good measure. Spider-Man and Daredevil work well together and the menace is pitched at the right level for them. It's just unfortunate that space is devoted to introducing Speedball who really adds nothing to this tale and does not get a very impressive introduction.


2nd story: He who laughs...
Plotter & Penciler: Steve Ditko
Scripter: Roger Stern
Inking: Jackson Guice
Lettering: Rick Parker
Coloring: Tom Vincent
Editing: Jim Salicrup

Yes that's that Steve Ditko doing the plot and pencils. It's his first work on a Spider-Man book since 1966 - but he always refused to return to the main character and so is only drawing a back-up feature. Over the next few years he would appear in several more Spider-Man annuals in this way and so it's natural to wish he could have opted to return to the main character just one more time. Instead here is what was then his newest creation.

This could almost be from Speedball's own series which launched at this time and had almost exactly the same creative team at the start. One of the curiosities of the series is how many issues have multiple stories. There were a number of anthology titles around this time - examples include Strange Tales, Marvel Comics Presents, Solo Avengers and, over at DC, Action Comics Weekly - that offered multiple shorter stories but headed titles tended to have a single story each issue or at most a back-up story that focused on some of the other cast members in a separate story strand. Doing an ongoing headed series with multiple tales of the title character(s) was an extremely retro step.

And this story feels very retro. It's about thwarted ambition fuelling false revenge as an unsuccessful ex actor tries to murder Speedball's mother, believing she turned a director against him and so he failed to get a key break part. Now working as a janitor in a theatre he plans to attack her when she visits a friend there but first has to dispose of her son. This results in Speedball (who doesn't actually call himself by that name yet; instead he thinks of himself as "The Masked Marvel", his book's subtitle) bouncing around trying to distract and knock out the would-be killer before his mother can see him.

It's a rather weak story that's constrained by the need to have Speedball's powers triggered at key moments to advance the plot. The villain's motivation is believable but his attempts get sillier and sillier. Nor is it even resolved by the hero. Again this is not a good advert for Speedball and his series.


3rd story: The High Evolutionary: Kindred Spirits
Story: Mark Gruenwald
Pencils: Ron Lim
Inks: Tony DeZuniga
Letters: Ken Lopez
Colors: Gregory Wright
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

This is another info dump heavy chapter that rushes through the introduction of the New Men, with Bova, perhaps their best known member, being shown being genetically accelerated from a Guernsey cow, then more explanation about the nature of the Werewolf, though the High Evolutionary remains sceptical about the supernatural explanations, before the body of Jonathan Drew returns animated by a sixth century ghost called Magnus to explain how the spirit of the demon Cthon has been bound to Mount Wundagore and could be awakened by the Evolutionary's work. That's a lot to take in in just six pages but it does once again reinforce just how Marvel had let Wundagore get overused in far too many characters' histories so as to produce this mix of technology and magic and even Mark Gruenwald was starting to struggle to make it all seem consistent.

One thing that does stand out is that Gruenwald (or Macchio) isn't always writing the Evolutionary's dialogue consistently as an interwar British scientist. So some of his dialogue includes stereotypical upper class phrases like "old girl" whilst he also uses the American dating format for recording his experiments. More consistent is the way the way Herbert Edgar Wyndham is now wearing his armour full time as a sign of how he is retreating ever more from the outside world into a shell. The character is portrayed consistently as a rational scientist refusing to believe tales of magic even though he admits he does not understand the Werewolf. Although the amount of backstory to wade through can be overwhelming at times this saga so far has done a good job of building up the lead character.

Other material includes the plans for Peter and Mary Jane's apartment plus two unused covers by Larry Lieber & Jack Abel and Bob Layton from the black costume era and a plug for the Spider-Man newspaper strip. This annual may not be the best example of its series at the time as the latter was in quite a bold experimental phase but it's good traditional Spider-Man and a good introduction to crossover visitors as well as making good use of the event to tell a strong story. It's just a pity that it's had a new hero thrown in to poorly promote.

Captain America 369 - Acts of Vengeance Aftermath

This issue continues the search for the Red Skull, as Crossbones leads an assault on the Hellfire Club in the belief that this is where Magneto is holding him. Meanwhile Captain America is searching for Diamondback, the ex-member of the Serpent Society trying to reform.

Captain America #369

Writer: Mark Gruenwald (all)
Penciler: Ron Lim (main)
Penciler: Mark Bagley (back-up)
Inker: Danny Bulanadi (main)
Inker: Don Hudson (back-up)
Letterer: Jack Morelli (all)
Colourist: Steve Buccellato (all)
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

This is very early in the development of Cap and Diamondback's relationship and there are obvious obstacles on both sides. Here it's Diamondback's friend the Asp who expresses the most concern, though the art is also a slight problem in depicting Diamondback incredibly young, almost a girl, in panels where she has her mask off. There's also Cap's social conservatism, making his disapproval clear when he discovers the Asp is working in a strip club. And there's the problem of Diamondback's hidden past with Crossbones which is hinted at here.

The assault on the Hellfire Club is straightforward with Crossbones leading a diverse team of the Voice, Mother Night and Machinesmith using the body of the Sleeper. Each has particular skills that are utilised in the mission as they break into the basement and search through the club's cameras, though it ultimately proves a futile search. Then they find Cap, Diamondback and Selene, the Club's Black Queen, all converging in the sewer leading to a fight. The fight itself is complicated by the close quarters and Selene's desire to avoid drawing too much attention to the Hellfire Club, but it does result in Cap and Diamondback finding themselves in an interesting situation.

The second strip focuses upon the Skull as he completes his situation trapped in the darkness. He starts hallucinating and is visited by the spirits of his past. First comes his angry father, who attacks him for his mother's death in childbirth and suggests his son follows him into suicide. Then comes another "father", Adolf Hitler, who also took his life in an underground bunker. The Skull's daughter also turns up to express her hate, whilst Arnim Zola urges the Skull to kill himself and be reborn in a perfect body. However Captain America counsels against suicide. In just five pages we get a fascinating glimpse at the Skull's life and the forces that have driven him, as well as a struggle in which his most hated foe once again wins.

This issue continues a good solid plot that continues to build on the events of "Acts of Vengeance" and show the impact on the various characters, rather than simply moving onwards. However the Cap/Diamondback relationship can seem surprising when introduced this way and also needs a little more care with the artwork to avoid unintended suggestions.

Captain America #369 has been reprinted in:

• Captain America Epic Collection: The Bloodstone Hunt (2018)

Captain America 368 - Acts of Vengeance Aftermath

This issue sees both Captain America and the Red Skull's organisation following up the events of "Acts of Vengeance", with both trying to find Magneto.

Captain America #368

Writer: Mark Gruenwald (all)
Penciler: Ron Lim (main)
Penciler: Mark Bagley (back-up)
Inker: Danny Bulanadi (main)
Inker: Don Hudson (back-up)
Letterer: Jack Morelli (all)
Colourist: Steve Buccellato (main)
Colourist: Nel Yomtov (back-up)
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

For someone so notorious a continuity watcher as Mark Gruenwald, it's surprising that this issue doesn't seem to know where it fits into place around the end of the crossover. Thus whereas Captain America and the Avengers support crew are clearly set after the climax, over in Washington DC it's implied that this is the first time a Red Skull robot is activated to take the absent Skull's place and thus would be set before the climax. Finally a panel at the end of the first story showing Magneto's current location is the same scene as happened during the Mandarin's attack in Avengers #313. This sort of thing is frustratingly all too common around crossovers and makes for much headscratching over the correct order of things.

There are some good contrasts between the way Cap interacts with Avengers support crew and the way Crossbones does with other operatives in the Red Skull's base. But there's also a strong sense that the Skull's organisation is not merely people held together by pay or fear but does contain people who actually enjoy working for the Skull and the challenges it brings. And the prospect of the organisation collapsing because of the Skull's disappearance brings real fear.

The core focus for both the hero and villains is on finding Magneto, with the real one only making a single panel appearance here. Both Captain America and Crossbones have tried the research and contacts method, but Machinesmith has his own idea - send out a robotic duplicate in public to lure the real one out. Unfortunately it gets a little silly when Machinesmith, controlling the robot through his ability to transfer his consciousness between devices, decides he has to act "very un-Magneto like" and starts chewing the scenery. And all the attempt brings is Captain America instead.

The back-up story is a quick history of Machinesmith, told by the robot himself to the Sleeper he's working on. It recounts one of the more awkward parts of the character's history - his having been the second Mister Fear, a point where the two characters' history were merged some time back. Otherwise this is a tale of how a boy became fascinated by robots and developed as an engineer and then when he was killed in battle his robots preserved his brain patterns in mechanical form. The main surprise is how explicit the story is about Machinesmith's sexuality. He's presented as a highly camp character and here he talks to the Sleeper like a surgeon operating on his own romantic partner. His dialogue about putting his consciousness into other robots and enjoying the intimacy is extremely blatant. At the end he even removes his synthetic face to reveal his robotic one and kisses the Sleeper. At first the over campness feels unnecessarily stereotypical but it's easy to forget that until 1989 the Comics Code Authority had effectively barred the depiction of LGBT characters (the precise wording is complicated, hence some had got passed it) and to some extent exaggerated clichés were the most effective ways to get the message across. The code may have just changed but editorial policy might not yet have.

Otherwise this issue is quite a good example of Mark Gruenwald's epic run on the series which really deserves a complete collection; fortunately this issue is from a period covered by the Epic reprints. It shows how to use a crossover as a useful way to create interesting developments in a series and prepares the ground for a search for the Skull.

Captain America #368 has been reprinted in:

• Captain America Epic Collection: The Bloodstone Hunt (2018)

Captain America 367 - Acts of Vengeance

And now we come to the big moment as Magneto attacks the Red Skull...

Captain America #367

Writer: Mark Gruenwald (all)
Penciler: Kieron Dwyer (main)
Penciler: Mark Bagley (back-up)
Inker: Danny Bulanadi (main)
Inker: Don Hudson (back-up)
Letterer: Jack Morelli (all)
Colourist: Steve Buccellato (main)
Colourist: Nel Yomtov (back-up)
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

This issue once again contains two stories. To get the back-up out of the way first, it features the conclusion of the Cobra's encounter with Mr Hyde, with the former rediscovering himself, changing his costume slightly and modifying his name to become "King Cobra". It's been an interesting tale of self-discovery, though it could probably have benefitted from being told over two issues rather than three. Still it's a good little piece that has made use of the continuity from the mass breakout at the Vault, showing how Mark Gruenwald was often the master of tying things up.

So too does the lead story which tackles head on one of the biggest criticisms of "Acts of Vengeance". Of all the villains in the core alliance, Magneto is by far the most complicated character and had undergone a lot of development in the preceding decade as he moved away from his traditional villainous role into a much-more ambiguous anti-hero, complete with revelations about his past. Not all creators agreed with these moves and, as discussed a bit with Amazing Spider-Man #327, this particular era saw a lot of struggle over characterisation and direction with some issues doing their best to rationalise the changes around them. In this environment, using Magneto in an alliance of leading villains that could have been assembled at any point since 1967 was not going to sit too easily when it resulted in a Holocaust survivor working with a Nazi war criminal.

All that said, it should be noted that neither Magneto nor the Red Skull has actually done a great deal in the crossover so far. Most of the work of commissioning and dispatching villains has been carried out by Doctor Doom, with the Wizard doing some of the raw heavy lifting and the Kingpin providing organisational support. By contrast Magneto may have fought Spider-Man as part of an investigation, but otherwise has done little beyond observing and hectoring the other villains sent against Spider-Man. The Red Skull has done even less, just using the breakout from the Vault to increase the capabilities of his organisation. (Depending on chronology the Mandarin may or may not have done anything yet but if the latter then change is coming soon.) It's clear from his thoughts here that the Red Skull frankly has no interest in the overall plan and it's only the presence in his office of a portal to the committee room that keeps him attending. Was this perhaps a reflection of writer and editor boredom with the crossover as well?

But regardless of motivations we get the best handling of the villains in the whole saga as Magneto swoops in to confront the Skull directly. There's no evasion as he first demands confirmation that this actually is the Nazi-era Skull then condemns him for the actions of the regime he served in. There's never any real doubt about the physical outcome of the confrontation - the Skull may have technical resources and henchmen but they're all ultimately reliant on metal and useless against the Master of Magnetism. Thus all the Skull can do is try to slow Magneto down as he seeks to escape. Instead the Skull's most powerful weapon turns out to be words:

We are very much alike, you and I, Magneto, both of us wish to see our Master Race inherit the Earth. You call my Fuehrer barbaric? Am I mistaken or did you yourself not kill hundreds of men by sinking a submarine a few years back? To help realise your minority group’s destiny, would you balk at the imprisonment of inferiors? The extermination of the unfit? Come, come, Magneto. Do not expect me to be impressed by your sanctimonious posturings of moral superiority! Let's let the past rest. We both have better things to do in the present!

At a time when in the real world there was a renewed drive to bring Nazi-era war criminals to justice, it's interesting to see some of the arguments paralleled here. There were many who opposed prosecutions, arguing that a previous generation had declared the task completed and individuals should be allowed to move on in the present. Others fiercely disagreed and were determined to bring the surviving leaders to justice. But even some demanding prosecution were attacked on their own records. Magneto's position as a fighter for mutant rights has often led to the freedom fighter or terrorist point behind argued out and it's a powerful rejoinder. When he does eventually catch and imprison the Skull he feels the need to declare "I should kill you and be done with it. But that would reduce me to the level of a common killer... make me no better than you. And I am better than you, Nazi." Instead of killing he locks the Skull in a shelter, removing the ladder and leaving just water with no way of escape. It's a brutal torture.

This story does a lot to fix the problems raised by Magneto's inclusion in the "Acts of Vengeance" and it does it brilliantly. It also seems to be aware of potential knock-on effects and so introduces Red Skull robots - a small army of androids that look identical to the villain and can replace him, similar to Doctor Doom's Doombots who are mentioned here. Whether this is deliberate preparation for later issues or simply seeding the idea to cover any future continuity problems with Red Skull appearances is unclear, but it's a nice touch.

Missing from the cover and this post so far is the star of the series. Captain America does arrive at the Skull's offices in the hope of discovering more about the conspiracy, but all he gets is a battle with the Controller and other henchmen then a wander through the wreckage as he tries to work out what's happened and who attacked the Skull. It's preparing the ground for later tales, but this is a rare issue of a series that belongs to someone other than the lead hero.

Overall this is by far the single best issue of the "Acts of Vengeance" crossover. Sometimes attempts at continuity fixes merely produce dry explanations for awkward points. This is anything but that, instead taking a messy scenario and turning it around to restore Magneto's ambiguous position without undermining his participation in the saga. It's a strong, bold chapter with some brilliant imagery and dark moments.

Captain America #367 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Omnibus (2011)
• Captain America Epic Collection: The Bloodstone Hunt (2018)

Captain America 366 - Acts of Vengeance

This issue continues the two-story format, with the back-up being a straightforward fight between the Cobra and Mr Hyde. It's an all-out action piece in which the Cobra has to overcome his fear and lack of self-esteem in order to defeat his old foe who seems unstoppable. It's an okay piece but these back-up sagas can often wind up running on for too many months due to the limited space available.

Captain America #366

Writer: Mark Gruenwald (all)
Penciler: Ron Lim (main)
Penciler: Mark Bagley (back-up)
Inker: Danny Bulanadi (main)
Inker: Don Hudson (back-up)
Letterer: Jack Morelli (all)
Colourist: Nel Yomtov (all)
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The lead story gives us our first glimpse of the full committee of leading villains as they conclude their first summit meeting. Ever the businessman, the Kingpin has been chairing the board meeting, but we don't see direct exchanges between any of the six. However Magneto shows some sense in asking the mysterious stranger whether or not the Red Skull attending the meeting is the original, who was assumed to have died some time back. Given Magneto's history established since the Silver Age it's more than a little odd that he would be willingly working with a Nazi war criminal so it's good to see him questioning this, wondering if it could be a successor.

(There had indeed been another Red Skull for a while, a Communist agent who filled in various continuity holes such as the Skull's appearances in the 1950s Captain America stories and then later killing Spider-Man's parents when Peter Parker was just a baby. However he had been killed off just before the original Skull was brought back from the dead.)

It's been notable that so far the Skull has actually done very little in the crossover beyond attending meetings, whereas Doctor Doom, the Wizard and the Kingpin have all been shown to be recruiting and directing individual villains and Magneto has personally investigated Spider-Man and the Mandarin is caught in the curse of chronology but will be seen in an already published but coming later issue. The Skull's low involvement is soon explained in his thoughts - he dislikes having to work the others and only attends out of fear they're plotting against him. It's a strong first sign of how difficult it is to get a super-villain team-up to work given the hatreds and rivalries amongst them. Indeed the Skull's main focus is on trying to take control of the mysterious stranger through the Controller's equipment rather than advancing the wider plans.

Otherwise this issue sees Captain America tracking down the Controller in the hope of capturing one of his control discs to use the technology to free the Sub-Mariner from another. It's unfortunate the Cap's earlier encounter with the Controller is explicitly referenced as it reinforces just how much this series hasn't really been conforming to the event premise of heroes being attacked by villains they've never fought before and this isn't offset by the presence of the Voice, an extremely obscure old Ant-Man foe who has also been recruited by the Skull and Crossbones but is only a peripheral presence in the fight. The conflict itself showcases Captain America at his best, both as a skilled fighter but also a cunning tactician who goes into a situation properly prepared.

Although it doesn't contain a previously unseen conflict, this issue is generally quite solid, moving the story forward for both Cap and the Skull as they grapple with the events around it. It also seems to be aware of some of the problems with the general premise of the alliance and may want to fix them.

Captain America #366 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Omnibus (2011)
• Captain America Epic Collection: The Bloodstone Hunt (2018)

Captain America 365 - Acts of Vengeance

This is another series which resorted to a lead and back-up strip format, but both tie in with the crossover, with each featuring escaped villains from the Vault and at least one attempt at recruitment made by the mysterious stranger.

Captain America #365

Writer: Mark Gruenwald (all)
Penciler: Kieron Dwyer (main)
Penciler: Mark Bagley (back-up)
Inker: Danny Bulanadi (main)
Inker: Don Hudson (back-up)
Letterer: Jack Morelli (all)
Colourist: Bob Sharen (main)
Colourist: Nel Yomtov (back-up)
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

It's not clear what level the Cobra was being invited for in the back-up story but he simply isn't interested in revenge. Over in the lead, Namor the Submariner is invited to join the central leadership bit has no interest, having abandoned his campaign against the surface world. However the Red Skull is interested and signs up. This gives us our first look at the full list of leaders with the Skull, the Wizard, the Kingpin and Doctor Doom all shown whilst both the Mandarin and Magneto are mentioned (and have been glimpsed in earlier issues). It's a very traditional collection, consisting of the arch-enemies of Captain America, Iron Man, the Human Torch, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, with the Kingpin filling a triple role for Daredevil, the Punisher and being the highest-ranking strategic foe of Spider-Man. This line-up could have been assembled at just about any time since the Silver Age and the absentees from the line-up are highly suggestive. It's also notable that the stranger announces the Red Skull's participation before he actually agrees, a sign that other villains may have signed up to a more speculative than yet achieved version of the alliance.

Both tales deal with the fallout from the escape from the Vault, with the back-up seeing the Cobra discovering that Mr Hyde has escaped and rushing to act before his erstwhile partner achieves revenge. The former sees the Red Skull (well Crossbones does the actual work) pick up the Controller, a traditional Iron Man foe, and send him to the site of the sunken Avengers headquarters to attack Captain America, using Namor the Submariner as his tool. This leads to a quick fight at both sea and on land until Cap spots the control disc on Namor's neck and realises what's happening. The Controller and Captain America had briefly clashed previously in the Captain Marvel/Thanos saga back in the 1970s, but it was a fleeting encounter and, in any case, if there's one hero who can be expected to have looked up just about every known weapon and tool of even villains he hasn't fought, it's Captain America.

With this chapter it feels like the whole "Acts of Vengeance" saga is really coming together but there's a general problem with events being scattered across multiple issues meaning that Captain America is jumping back forth across issues, but at least there's a clear explanation. As we'll see when looking at some future issues, Mark Gruenwald was often the man who stepped in to pull the event towards coherence and deal with some of the particularly odd moments. This issue is from near the middle of his epic run on the series and shows a series in its stride with the main character benefitting from consistency and a developed world.

Captain America #365 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Omnibus (2011)
• Captain America Epic Collection: The Bloodstone Hunt (2018)

Essential X-Men volume 11 - creator labels

Once more there's a volume with a lot of creators so here's the separate labels post.

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Once again, we have a volume with a large number of creators so here is a separate post for some of the labels.