Uncanny X-Men 256 - Acts of Vengeance

We come now to the first of the X-Men issues of the crossover, written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Jim Lee, the latter doing a second fill-in issue about a year before he became the series's regular artist. These are probably the best-known chapters of the whole event and have certainly had more reprints than anything else, with only Amazing Spider-Man #328 coming close. So it's surprising to see how little direct connection there is to the wider crossover. Instead this issue could easily have stood alone as one of any number where a villain from another series appears in the title without any wider motivations.

Uncanny X-Men #256

Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Jim Lee
Inker: Scott Williams
Colourist: Glynis Oliver
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Editor: Bob Harras
Tai-Pan: Tom DeFalco

For reasons that I'll discuss when looking at the next issue, the chronology of Wolverine's adventures pretty much forces the X-Men issues to be placed relatively late in the crossover under just about any order. One result is that up to now in the wider storyline the Mandarin has been the least used of the six leading villains, just appearing at their meetings in either his strange bare-chested 1980s costume or the blue battle armour that had recently superseded it. Part of the reason is that he's a rather awkward character for many creators to use, often dismissed as "A poor man's Fu Manchu" and not just by the Red Skull (who thinks this in Captain America #367) and similar comments go right back to some of the character's earliest appearances. By the late 1980s there was a growing backlash against the stereotypes and this presented problems when it came to characters created in earlier days. One solution was to transform them where possible. Ming the Merciless was recoloured green for the Defenders of the Earth cartoon, a practice that would later be applied to the Mandarin on the mid 1990s Iron Man cartoon. But that wasn't an easily available option in an ongoing fictional universe. Another option was to simply not use the characters any more, but the Mandarin's position as Iron Man's traditional archenemy again made it difficult to ignore him. However that probably explains why so few of the "Acts of Vengeance" issues wanted to use the character, especially when there was the option to get to play with some of the big-name villains like Doctor Doom instead. But here in X-Men Chris Claremont had already done a memorable story (only for John Byrne to rapidly it) and so instead picks up an underused character.

For this issue the story has decided to present the Mandarin pretty much as the Hong Kong equivalent of the Kingpin. We first see him in an office in a skyscraper, dressed in a suit and smoking a cigarette, a far cry from a mystic in a darkened underground lair full of opium smoke or indeed from a wizard in armour as he's appeared more recently, including elsewhere in the crossover. His concerns are entirely business ones, focused especially on how to develop his criminal empire and prepare for the-then forthcoming transfer of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China. And as part of expanding his power in the area he entertains an offer from the Hand, a guild of assassins who offer him a gift of a particular individual.

This issue came out during one of the oddest periods of X-Men history of all, when the remains of the team had faced defeat at the hands of the cyborg Reavers and had instead opted to run away, with most of them scattered to the winds by entering the Siege Perilous crystal to be recreated in new lives elsewhere, leaving Wolverine to find them. Coming straight off the back of a period when the X-Men were presumed dead and magic spells made them invisible to detectors, the result is that they have been an unknown force for a long time. (This also explains why they haven't been targeted by the alliance of super-villains.) A shocked Psylocke has been found by the Hand who subject her to both physical and mental changes to make her into an assassin.

This is the famous issue where Psylocke is transformed from a British telepath who felt so vulnerable in battle that she always wore armour in the field to an east Asian ninja warrior in a skin-tight costume. It's a bold transformation to say the least and it's difficult to imagine something like this being tried today. There's always controversy whenever a character's race is changed in an adaptation or alternative universe, but performing an in-continuity race change would draw far more. However back in the day Psylocke's new form proved wildly popular and explains why what was intended as only a temporary move has become permanent despite a few attempts to undo it. The in-story justification given is that "We can't have a westerner running the Hong Kong underworld". How the change is performed isn't really explained here - during the switch all we see is a dream sequence including a moment where Betsy is dragged to a make-up chair and given a full makeover, then she's seen in her new body and later we see she has been changed in reality as well. (All the stuff about Kwannon/Revanche is a later retcon and that character doesn't appear here at all.) The sequence itself mainly focuses on Psylocke's mental transformation, symbolised by her steady collection of the Mandarin's ten rings of power, as she journeys through sequences from her life. Even to a regular X-Men reader this sequence can be difficult to follow if one hadn't read the original Captain Britain stories, but to a reader only picking up the issue because of the crossover it must have been especially hard to penetrate the continuity as her past is deconstructed. Still it makes for a dramatic climax.

As a crossover chapter this is unfortunately disappointing because it basically ignores the wider plotline and contains such a continuity heavy extended scene. And the decision to alter a character's race is rather unfortunate, even if it was only meant to be temporary and did radically transform Psylocke's popularity. However the issue does well to make the Mandarin a more modern threat and builds a dark scenario for the future.

Uncanny X-Men #256 has been reprinted in:

• Uncanny X-Men Acts of Vengeance (Boxtree, 1995)
• X-Men: Mutations (1996)
• X-Men Visionaries: Jim Lee (2002)
• Essential X-Men volume 9 (2009)
• Acts of Vengeance Crossover Omnibus (2011)
• X-Men by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee Omnibus Volume 1 (2011)

Avengers Spotlight 28 - Acts of Vengeance

It's been a recurring theme throughout these reviews that "Acts of Vengeance" as a whole hasn't made the best use of the big public debate about whether superheroes should be cheered or feared and if there should be government registration of them. By and large this has been left to one title with others only making passing reference. So it's nice to see that both stories in this issue address the themes, coming from different angles.

Avengers Spotlight #28

Writer: Howard Mackie (first)
Writer: Dwayne McDuffie (second
Penciler: Al Milgom (first)
Penciler: Dwayne Turner (second)
Inker: Don Heck (first)
Inker: Chris Ivy (second)
Letterer: Jack Morelli (all)
Colourist: Paul Becton (first)
Colourist: Mike Rockwitz (second)
Managing Editor: Gregory Wight (second only)
Editor: Mark Gruenwald (all)
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco (all)

The first, written by Howard Mackie and drawn by Al Milgrom, is a straightforward tale of Hawkeye and Mockingbird discovering that criminals are posing as them to commit a string of bank robberies in Denver at a time when superheroes are increasingly blamed for the upswing in attacks and destruction. So they fly out to the city to clear their names and discover the truth of what's going on. The resolution to the fight involves one of the best uses of Hawkeye's particular characteristics and couldn't have been done by most other heroes. All in all it's quite a simple little piece.

The second is an interesting tale of the Mad Thinker setting out to help the heroes. Invited to join the leaders' alliance (in a flashback) he declines and instead makes clear he has worked out who the mysterious stranger is - "It's obvious if one thinks about it." Indeed it does seem that way. The Thinker is more concerned with the potential backlash that could undermine his own plans, so he commissions obscure giant-sized villain Leviathan, renames him "Gargantua" and sends him to attack a rally against the proposed registration act that the Wasp and Wonder Man are about to address. Gargantua isn't the most threatening villain ever and is entirely reliant on transmitted instructions but that isn't the real aim of the attack and instead everyone else wins.

Neither tale is particularly substantial but that's in part down to the restrictive format of just eleven pages with the rotating strip not really being able to carry things forward. However at this stage it's good to see some uses of the wider situation around and variations on the formula to produce some more original stories.

Avengers Spotlight #28 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Omnibus (2011)

Damage Control 2 - Acts of Vengeance

The second issue of the second Damage Control limited series once again brings a mix of slapstick humour, political and corporate satire and gratuitous guest appearances. It starts off parodying the Punisher as he makes his way into the Damage Control building intending to investigate the files to find out who is guilty of the Kingpin's corruption... only to find the firm deluged by clients amidst the widespread destruction caused by the "Acts of Vengeance". Even the Mayor of New York, Ed Koch, has turned up.

Damage Control (volume 2) #2

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

(There's a surprisingly quick topical gag. This issue came out on October 24 1989, just six weeks after Koch had lost a primary election to David Dinkins. Koch's minders are shown here wearing Koch campaign badges with Dinkins stickers pasted over them. Koch declaring he's mayor, a handy piece of explanatory dialogue for readers far from the city in space or time, is supposed to impress how important he is but Robin Chapel, the firm's director of operations, privately thinks "Yeah? Talk to me after January 1st." It's surprising how quickly this was worked into the issue.)

The Punisher tries to assassinate Chapel in order to assert his authority but is merely confronted with yet another Doctor Doom robot, although this one has a different controller, whilst She-Hulk turns up an issue early for her guest appearance, complete with her contemporary habit of breaking the fourth wall and confusing people when she did it outside her own series. Elsewhere a team is recovering Avengers mansion from the sea, with a very annoyed Captain America still complaining about events at the Vault, whilst the new boss's assistant is more interested into getting into Chapel's underwear than learning about how the firm works. Amidst all this the new boss is implementing a radical reorganisation that isn't too popular with the staff.

Much of the humour is based on seeming madness of office and corporate politics but it's done in a way that shows all the nonsense, pettiness and absurdities of the situation without being impenetrable, resulting in some quite funny moments, especially as the Punisher tries to implement serious business and gets a very different response from the norm. The wider crossover is more a backdrop to this issue than a direct driver of events, but it works to confirm the unusual nature of the situation and add to the tensions. This mini-series continues to be a fun little side part of the overall event.

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

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

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)

Punisher 29 - Acts of Vengeance

As might be guessed from the cover, this issue is one of the easiest to place in the overall order of the crossover since it features the same fight as in Avengers #312. However it also demonstrates some poor communication and editing across the crossover since the Avengers shown are the-then regular line-up of the east coast team and the venue shown inside is the exterior of the Guggenheim Museum, whereas the actual fight involves a team of mostly west coast Avengers in Avengers Park. More pertinently both Doctors Doom and the mysterious stranger are shown watching the events without the rest of the leading super-villains. It's moments like these that really undermine a crossover as the inconsistencies stand out so prominently. This becomes even more irritating when the Avengers' fight only appears in one panel despite also seizing the cover.

Punisher #29

Writer: Mike Baron
Penciler: Bill Reinhold
Inker: Mark Farmer
Letterer: Ken Lopez
Colourist: Gregory Wright
Editor: Carl Potts
Dr Doom: Tom DeFalco

At a baser level it's also something of a shock to come straight from the Avengers issue where Doctor Doom pointedly stayed aloof from the petty squabbles of the other villains whereas here his scene with the Kingpin shows a much more argumentative Doom who is openly contemptuous of his ally as a "cheap gangster" and much easier to manipulate. The story is entitled "Too many Dooms", which proves quite appropriate given the multiple portrayals of the deposed monarch. Curiously it's the other Doctor Doom, the boy Kristoff with Doom's implanted memories and personality, who comes closer to the more conventional portrayal than the real thing.

Or maybe, as the Punisher speculates, we haven't seen the real Doom at all and instead there are more impostors than a first glance would suggest?

The Punisher is left trying to navigate between the two rival Dooms, with one hoping he will destroy the other but Frank is canny enough to realise the futility of this given the number of Doombots around. Instead he opts to free himself and find a way to bargain out of the situation. This leads to him and Microchip making a dramatic escape from Latveria with even Shield as an obstacle to returning to the States. But his eventual solution proves quite logical.

As individual issues of Punisher this two-part storyline has been quite a good way of taking the crossover premise to produce a solid story with an unusual for. However as part of a wider crossover story the different presentation of a key scene in one of the core chapters and the different portrayal of Doctor Doom sticks out, making this corner rather less effective.

Punisher #29 has been reprinted in:

• Essential Punisher volume 3 (2009)
• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (2011)

Avengers 312 - Acts of Vengeance

With this issue of Avengers we see the central core of the crossover pulling together ever more. Significantly most of the Avengers seen here are from the west coast team (the Wasp, the Scarlet Witch, the Vision and Hank Pym) or reservists called up (the Falcon), a sign of how the attacks are continuing to occupy and cripple the Avengers' operational ability. So now would be a good time for a major attack by the alliance of leading villains.

Avengers #312

Artists: Paul Ryan and Tom Palmer
Writer: John Byrne
Letterer: Bill Oakley
Colourist: Christie Scheele
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Instead the alliance is squabbling. With this issue we get to see a meeting of the alliance in depth for the first time. And it's not going too well. One of the biggest criticisms of the whole alliance is that it is composed of villains with huge egos and some very different perspectives on the world. The panel showing the opening of the meeting is a glorious piece that conveys just how little the six like each other, with only the mysterious stranger holding them together, and there's a particularly nice touch in the way Magneto is staring at the Skull with undisguised hatred. Here the tensions spill over with the Red Skull and Magneto especially showing their hatred of each other and contempt for everyone else and most of the others pile in to refute the Skull's dismissal of them as "common criminals". Only Doctor Doom stands above it all. But the meeting is also a wonderful parody of the real-life world of organisations and corporations where everyone is expected to gather together in person merely to receive reports they could have been sent in writing. Absolutely nothing is achieved in this meeting though later in the issue we see the alliance watching the Avengers on monitors where it's confirmed they had nothing to do with an attack by Freedom Force and suggest taking a more active role. Luckily, we don't witness the processes of someone coming up with a motion, formally tabling it, entering in a row because of the very different meaning of the term "to table" in meetings on either side of the Atlantic, then eventually discussing the proposal etc... But overall the implication is that the limited central action is largely because of squabbling egos.

Consequently the Avengers face a group of villains who have been manipulated by the mysterious stranger without his allies' knowledge. The Blob, Pyro and Avalanche have actually fought the Avengers before in the annual that introduced Rogue and both the Vision and Scarlet Witch were on the team at the time but there's no acknowledgement of that here and instead the Avengers react like these three are an unknown quantity. Given the high profiles disagreements between the creators, one does have to wonder if John Byrne simply blanked out anything written by Chris Claremont. What should be a simple fight proves anything but, with the three villains a strong match and clearly well briefed, forcing the Avengers to find some unusual ways to take them down, especially the Blob. And all the time the fight is leading to ever greater debate amongst the public about the value of super-heroes.

This issue works well in bringing the core threads of the crossover together with the leading villains' committee meeting an especial highlight. However the clues to the mysterious stranger's identity are extremely obvious.

Avengers #312 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Omnibus (2011)
• Avengers by John Byrne Omnibus (2016)

Power Pack 53 - Acts of Vengeance

Another series whose contribution to the crossover is limited is Power Pack. At this point the book came out about every six weeks, had just come through a big storyline in which the children's powers were switched around again and was in a period of creative flux with a succession of fill-in writers including Terry Austin on this issue alongside Ernie Colon drawing his only contribution to the title.

Power Pack #53

Words: Terry Austin
Pictures: Ernie Colon
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colours: Glynis Oliver
Managing Edits: Sara Tuchinsky
Edits: Daniel Chichester
Big Edits: Tom DeFalco

Once again, we find Doctor Doom overseeing an attack on a particular set of heroes, though this time it comes in the form of a report back as he puts Typhoid Mary on a psychiatrist's couch. Since Doom has engaged a mentally unstable psychotic to discover the secrets of the Kymellian technology before killing the Power children, only to have her pursue an alternative course, perhaps the wrong villain is on the couch. It's also notable that Doom, through the Kingpin's files, has had no problem in locating the children, a sign of how they've let their secret identity slip.

At its heart, Power Pack is about a close family and sometimes the greatest threats come from those who would break up the family. Despite the ages of its protagonists (traditionally between five and twelve), this is a series that has never shied away from the darkness of the world around them. So Typhoid Mary may seem a bizarre choice of villain to pitch against them but her style in infiltrating, beguiling and then destroying proves to be the perfect approach for the crossover, if not perhaps for Doctor Doom. It is a little strange though to see her interacting with Alex almost like a girlfriend given their respective ages, though some twelve-year olds are surprisingly tall. Her attempts on the Powers' father are stronger, although a little undermined by Colon's almost cartoon style.

If there's a disappointment to this issue it's that coming straight after the children have switched powers again there should be more acknowledgement of the inexperience of Alex, Jack and Katie (Julie has regained the lightspeed powers again) beyond Alex thinking how he's never tried a particular trick that Julie mastered with the density powers. Still Mary's out of date information proves critical.

Despite this issue not better acknowledging its place in the overall series framework, this is nonetheless a more than okay chapter in the crossover, although let down a little by the art.

Power Pack #53 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (2011)

The Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger 9 - Acts of Vengeance

It's not hard to guess which of the leaders' alliance is most used in "Acts of Vengeance". And once again Doctor Doom is shown to have carried out at least the initial commissioning of the villains (though he subcontracts the details to the Jester). But it's astonishing to see that the lesser villain used more than any other is Hydro Man. Never one of the big-name Spider-Man villains, he somehow keeps getting picked for inclusion in groups across the event, even though he gets captured each time.

The Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger #9

Script: Terry Austin
Art: Mike Vosburg
Backgrounds: Don Cameron
Letters: James Novak
Colours: Glynis Oliver
Pin-Up Art: Mark Texiera, Howard Chaykin, Charles Vess, John Byrne and Walt Simonson
Editor: Carl Potts
Chief: Tom DeFalco

This is an extra-large issue that sees a team-up with the Avengers with a twist. For some reason, perhaps because they've been seen fighting Spider-Man a few times, Cloak and Dagger have turned up not on the central alliance's list of heroes to dispose of but instead on a list of potential villains to recruit. And thus the Jester has come to add them to a team that will attack an Avengers public meeting.

This is a new Jester, who has taken on the role after the original retired to become an actor. Using a new version of a villain, especially in such a key role, feels so detached from the principles of "Acts of Vengeance" that it seems most likely the Jester was picked for use and drawn into at least the previous issue before someone realised the character was no longer available and so an explanation was hurriedly worked into the script to work around the mistake. The rest of the team assembled are pretty obscure foes of limited powers, including the Rock, the Fenris twins and a robot of the Hulk. The "Assembly of Evil" isn't a complete walkover but ultimately proves not much more than a nuisance. Either Cloak and Dagger and/or the villains who declined to join, such as Typhoid Mary and the Leader, were critical missing elements or else the real target was not the Avengers themselves but rather their reputation. One of the underused themes of the crossover is the public debate about whether the super-heroes make sure safer or more dangerous for their ordinary public and a crossover in which numerous villains are attacking the heroes should provide plenty of fuel for the debate. But instead this aspect has not been used so much outside the Fantastic Four issues and so the wider backdrop is lacking here.

Going for a team-up also means a trick has been missed. Cloak and Dagger normally have gritty street level adventures against non-costumed foes and are generally isolated from much of the wider Marvel universe, so this crossover could have provided an opportunity to face them off against some bigger name established villains. But unfortunately that opportunity has not been taken and so instead we have a team-up that somewhat crowds out the stars of the book, with a somewhat lightweight fight that at times has elements of slapstick, particularly in the scenes with She-Hulk and both the Hulk robot and the Jester.

Overall this is a rather disappointing issue. It doesn't feel worthy of either a double-sized issue or of being Cloak and Dagger's sole participation in the crossover. All round it feels like a set of wasted opportunities.

The Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger #9 has been reprinted in:

• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (2011)

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.

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)