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| "Acts of Vengeance" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional image for theActs of Vengeance series (Avengers #311 (Dec. 1989) -The Amazing Spider-Man #329 (Feb. 1990)). | |||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||
| Publication date | December 1989 – February 1990 | ||
| Genre | |||
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| Main characters | Loki Doctor Doom Magneto Kingpin Wizard Mandarin Red Skull | ||
| Acts Of Vengeance Omnibus HC | ISBN 978-0-7851-4464-9 | ||
"Acts of Vengeance" is acomic bookcrossover storyline running through several titles published byMarvel Comics from December 1989 to February 1990.
This company-wide fall crossover was centered on theAvengers andFantastic Four after three consecutive fall crossovers were built around theX-Men and related mutant teams. Promotional materials teased the idea of a wide array of super-villains facing heroes they had never met, or were not part of the heroes' regularrogues gallery.
The core titles of the crossover includeAvengers;[1]Avengers Spotlight;[2]Avengers West Coast;[3]Captain America;[4]Iron Man;[5]Quasar;[6]Thor;[7] andFantastic Four.[8] Major tie-ins includedThe Amazing Spider-Man[9]among other Spider-Man titles,Uncanny X-Men[10] and the secondDamage Control[11] limited series. An epilogue features inCloak and Dagger;[12]Web of Spider-Man[13] and in anAvengers Annual.[14] A humorousparody with the character theImpossible Man features in the titleSilver Surfer.[15]
A thematic sequel,Acts of Evil, was published in 2019, the 30th anniversary ofActs of Vengeance.
A mysterious stranger (theAsgardian godLoki in disguise) coerces a group of mastersupervillains to join forces in a conspiracy to destroy thesuperhero team theAvengers. Loki does this to strike back at his adopted brotherThor, and due to his bitterness that he inadvertently caused the formation of the Avengers.[16] The supervillain team consists ofDoctor Doom, theKingpin,Magneto,Mandarin, theRed Skull, andWizard. Loki also attempts to recruitApocalypse,Cobra, and theMad Thinker, but they all decline. Loki also approachesNamor, but he rejects the offer stating he is not a villain anymore.
To assist the master villains, Loki engineers a jailbreak at theVault. The lesser villains are then directed against heroes (mainly the Avengers andSpider-Man) who have never fought them before, the theory being that the unfamiliarity will act in the villains' favor.
While this does result in some unusual battles, the plan falls apart when the master villains fail to cooperate and instead bicker with each other. An example of this is where Magneto, a mutant and aJewish Holocaust survivor, attacks the Red Skull, whose Nazi beliefs include a prejudice against mutants, and imprisons him in a buried crypt. The supervillain pawns are defeated by the heroes. A frustrated Loki reveals himself and imprisons the Red Skull, Mandarin and Wizard. Meanwhile, Doctor Doom is revealed to have been using aDoombot, Kingpin makes a timely exit and Magneto is not present. The Avengers track the group and defeat the villains, with Thor forcing Loki to flee back to their home ofAsgard.[17]
Loki commits one last act of villainy and fuses threeSentinels to form the robotTri-Sentinel, so that it can destroyNew York City. The Tri-Sentinel is stopped by Spider-Man, who at the time possessed the powers ofCaptain Universe.[18]
Other villains that Loki tried to get involved as members of the inner circle of major villains (but who turned him down) areApocalypse,Cobra, and theMad Thinker.
The following issues are listed in chronological order:
The following issues are approximately in reading order:
Note:Iron Man #250 has the "Acts of Vengeance!" logo on its cover, but has nothing to do with the crossover.
| Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acts of Vengeance Omnibus | Avengers #311-313,Annual #19,Avengers Spotlight #26-29,Avengers West Coast #53-55,Captain America #365-367,Iron Man #251-252,Quasar #5-7,Thor #411-413,Mutant Misadventures of Cloak And Dagger #9,Amazing Spider-Man #326-329,Spectacular Spider-Man #158-160,Web of Spider-Man #59-61 | March 2011 | 978-0785144649 |
| Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus | Fantastic Four #334-336,Incredible Hulk #363,Punisher #28-29,Punisher War Journal #12-13,Marc Spector: Moon Knight #8-10,Daredevil #275-276,Power Pack #53,Damage Control #1-4, material fromDoctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #11-13,Web of Spider-Man #64-65,Wolverine #19-20,Alpha Flight #79-80,New Mutants #86,Uncanny X-Men #256-258, material fromX-Factor #50 | August 2011 | 978-0785144885 |
| Acts of Vengeance: Avengers | Avengers Spotlight #26-28,Avengers #311-313,Quasar #5-7,Iron Man #251-252,Avengers West Coast #53-55,Mutant Misadventures of Cloak And Dagger #9, material fromCaptain America #365-367,Thor #411-413,Avengers Annual #19,Avengers Spotlight #29 | February 2020 | 978-1302922733 |
| Acts of Vengeance: Marvel Universe | Fantastic Four #334-336,Incredible Hulk #363,Punisher #28-29,Punisher War Journal #12-13,Marc Spector: Moon Knight #8-10,Daredevil #275-276,Power Pack #53,Damage Control #1-4, material fromDoctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #11-13 | September 2020 | 978-1302923105 |
| Acts of Vengeance: Spider-Man & the X-Men | Amazing Spider-Man #326-329,Spectacular Spider-Man #158-160,Web of Spider-Man #59-61, 64-65,Wolverine #19-20,Alpha Flight #79-80,New Mutants #86,Uncanny X-Men #256-258, material fromX-Factor #50 | June 2021 | 978-1302923112 |