Acts of Vengeance (Event)

The so-called "Prime Movers" (Dr. Doom, Magneto, Kingpin, Wizard, Mandarin, and Red Skull) were originally tricked into thinking that the Acts of Vengeance were each individual's idea by Loki who posed as an unassuming man in a white suit and played at being their personal assistant/lackey, making each believe they were really in charge.

The idea was that after years of being constantly beaten by the many super-heroes, it was time that the villains stopped attacking the same targets they always attacked, and focused on ones they had never faced. By doing so, they hoped to take the heroes off-guard and easily defeat them.

• The Acts of Vengeance event saw the debut of Psylocke in the body of Kwannon for the first time, and going by the name "Lady Mandarin" (while serving as an ally of the original Mandarin). Ironically though, the storyline has no real ties to the actual arc of the storyline.

• This event also saw the last appearance of Avengers Island.

• Despite all three being labeled with the Acts of Vengeance cover tag, only the third of the New Mutants issues is really involved in the Acts of Vengeance. The remainder are about the New Mutants continuing adventures on Asgard, a storyline that started before Acts of Vengeance began.

• Spider-Man gained the Captain Universe powers during his Acts Of Vengeance arc, which helped him to defeat the Tri-Sentinel created by Loki.

• Also The Leader was intended to participate in the acts but he declined the offer to join the Assembly of Evil.

• The usage of Magneto in the crossover led to much controversy amongst many writers at Marvel at the time. This in particular led to Mark Gruenwald famously writing Captain America #367, which retconned Magneto's entire involvement in the John Byrne penned comics as being nothing more than a facade for his true mission: to capture and kill Red Skull by way of burying him alive in an underground bunker.

Recommended Readings[]

• Alpha Flight Alpha Flight #79, Alpha Flight #80
• Amazing Spider-Man Amazing Spider-Man #326, Amazing Spider-Man #327, Amazing Spider-Man #328 and Amazing Spider-Man #329 (aftermath).
• Avengers Avengers #311, Avengers #312, Avengers #313, and Avengers Annual #19 (aftermath).
• Avengers West Coast Avengers: West Coast #53, Avengers: West Coast #54, and Avengers: West Coast #55
• Avengers Spotlight Avengers Spotlight #26, Avengers Spotlight #27, Avengers Spotlight #28, and Avengers Spotlight #29
• Captain America Captain America #365, Captain America #366, and Captain America #367
• Cloak and Dagger Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger #8 (prelude), Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger #9
• Damage Control Damage Control (Vol. 2) #1, Damage Control (Vol. 2) #2, Damage Control (Vol. 2) #3, Damage Control (Vol. 2) #4
• Daredevil Daredevil #275, Daredevil #276.
• Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #11, Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #12, Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #13.
• Fantastic Four Fantastic Four #334, Fantastic Four #335, Fantastic Four #336.
• Incredible Hulk Incredible Hulk #363
• Iron Man Iron Man #251, and Iron Man #252.
• Marc Spector: Moon Knight Marc Spector: Moon Knight #8, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #9, Marc Spector: Moon Knight #10.
• New Mutants New Mutants #84, New Mutants #85, New Mutants #86.
• Power Pack Power Pack #53.
• Punisher Punisher (Vol. 2) #28, Punisher (Vol. 2) #29
• Punisher War Journal Punisher War Journal #12, Punisher War Journal #13.
• Quasar Quasar #5, Quasar #6.
• Spectacular Spider-Man Spectacular Spider-Man #158, Spectacular Spider-Man #159, Spectacular Spider-Man #160.
• Thor Mighty Thor #410 (prelude), Mighty Thor #411, Mighty Thor #412.
• Uncanny X-Men Uncanny X-Men #256, Uncanny X-Men #257, Uncanny X-Men #258.
• Web of Spider-Man' Web of Spider-Man #59, Web of Spider-Man #60, Web of Spider-Man #61, Web of Spider-Man #64, Web of Spider-Man #65.
• Wolverine Wolverine (Vol. 2) #19, Wolverine (Vol. 2) #20
• X-Factor X-Factor #50.
• What The...?! What The--?! #6 "Smacks of Vengeance"
• What If..? What If...? #31 "What if Spider-Man had kept his cosmic powers"