"Acts of Vengeance" is a comic book crossover storyline running through several titles published by Marvel Comics from December 1989 to February 1990.
Publication history This company-wide fall crossover was centered on the Avengers and Fantastic Four after three consecutive fall crossovers were built around the X-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' regular rogues gallery.
The core titles of the crossover include Avengers; Avengers Spotlight; Avengers West Coast; Captain America; Iron Man;Iron Man #250 - 252 (Dec. 1989 - Jan. 1990) Quasar;Quasar #5 - 6 (Dec. 1989 - Feb. 1990) Thor;Thor #411 - 412 (Dec. 1989 - Jan. 1990) and Fantastic Four.Fantastic Four #334 - 336 (Dec. 1989 - Jan. 1990) Major tie-ins included The Amazing Spider-ManThe Amazing Spider-Man #326 - 329 (Dec. 1989 - Feb. 1990) among other Spider-Man titles, Uncanny X-Men Uncanny X-Men #256 - 258 (Dec. 1989 - Feb. 1990) and the second Damage Control Damage Control vol. 2, #1 - 4 (Dec. 1989 - Feb. 1990) limited series. An epilogue features in Cloak and Dagger;Cloak and Dagger vol. 3, #9 (Dec. 1989) Web of Spider-ManWeb of Spider-Man #64 - 65 (May - June 1990) and in an Avengers Annual.Avengers Annual #19 (1990) A humorous parody with the character the Impossible Man features in the title Silver Surfer.Silver Surfer vol. 3, #33 (Jan. 1990)
A thematic sequel, Acts of Evil, was published in 2019, the 30th anniversary of Acts of Vengeance.
Plot summary A mysterious stranger (the Asgardian god Loki in disguise) coerces a group of master supervillains to join forces in a conspiracy to destroy the superhero team the Avengers. Loki does this to strike back at his adopted brother Thor, and due to his bitterness that he inadvertently caused the formation of the Avengers.Avengers #1 (Sep. 1963). Marvel Comics The supervillain team consists of Doctor Doom, the Kingpin, Magneto, Mandarin, the Red Skull, and Wizard. Loki also attempts to recruit Apocalypse, Cobra, and the Mad Thinker, but they all decline. Loki also approaches Namor, but he rejects the offer stating he is not a villain anymore.
To assist the master villains, Loki engineers a jailbreak at the Vault. The lesser villains are then directed against heroes (mainly the Avengers and Spider-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 a Jewish 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 a Doombot, 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 of Asgard.Avengers West Coast #55 (Feb. 1990). Marvel Comics
Loki commits one last act of villainy and fuses three Sentinels to form the robot Tri-Sentinel, so that it can destroy New York City. The Tri-Sentinel is stopped by Spider-Man, who at the time possessed the powers of Captain Universe.Michelinie, David (w), Larsen, Erik (a). The Amazing Spider-Man #329 (Feb. 1990). Marvel Comics
Cast of characters Heroes Alpha Flight Box Diamond Lil Talisman Vindicator Avengers Black Widow Captain America Falcon Firebird Hawkeye Hercules Hellcat Iron Man Mockingbird Moondragon Photon Sersi She-Hulk Thor Wasp Wonder Man Clea Cloak and Dagger Daredevil Doctor Strange Fantastic Four Mister Fantastic Invisible Woman Human Torch Thing Gamma Flight Wild Child Witchfire Hulk Moon Knight New Mutants Rusty Collins Skids New Warriors Firestar Justice Namorita Night Thrasher Nova Speedball Nick Fury Power Pack Alex Power Jack Power Julie Power Katie Power Puma Punisher Quasar Silver Surfer Spider-Man West Coast Avengers Hank Pym Human Torch (android) Scarlet Witch U.S. Agent Vision X-Men Jubilee Psylocke Wolverine
Prime movers Loki Doctor Doom Magneto Kingpin Wizard Mandarin Red Skull
Villain participants Absorbing Man Angar the Screamer Arkon Armadillo Asp Assembly of Evil Hulk Robot Fenris Hydro-Man Jester Rock Awesome Android Baron Brimstone Beetle Boomerang Brothers Grimm Bushwacker Cactus Chemistro (Calvin Carr) Coachwhip Constrictor Controller Crossbones Dittomaster Dragon Man Eel (Edward Lavell) Electro Enchantress Executioner Flying Tiger Freedom Force Avalanche Blob Pyro Gargantua Giganto (Deviant Mutate) Goliath (Erik Josten) Graviton Grey Gargoyle Grey Hulk Griffin Hobgoblin (Jason Macendale) Hydro-Man Juggernaut Killer Shrike Klaw Kristoff Vernard Lady Mandarin Living Laser Llan the Sorcerer Mad Dog Man-Ape Mister Hyde Mole Man Molten Man Namor (mind-controlled by Controller) Nekra Nitro Orka Owl Plantman Quill (Resistants Version) Ramrod Rattler Red Ghost Rhino Ringer (Keith Kraft) Scarecrow Scorpion Screaming Mimi Sebastian Shaw Shocker Stilt-Man Super-Adaptoid TESS-One Terminus Tiger Shark Tinkerer Titania Trapster Tricephalous Tri-Sentinel Typhoid Mary U-Foes Ironclad Vapor Vector X-Ray U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M. Anarchy Flag-Smasher Ultron-13 Vanisher Venom Voice Vulture Water Wizard Whirlwind Wrecking Crew Bulldozer Piledriver Thunderball Wrecker Yetrigar
Other villains that Loki tried to get involved as members of the inner circle of major villains (but who turned him down) are Apocalypse, Cobra, and the Mad Thinker.
Issues and events The following issues are listed in chronological order:
Thor #410 (one page only) - #411 The Mutant Misadventures of Cloak & Dagger #8 (one page only) Avengers Spotlight #26 The New Mutants #84 - (two pages only) - #85 The following issues are approximately in reading order: Avengers Spotlight #26 The New Mutants #86 X-Factor #50 (six pages only) Damage Control (vol. 2) #1 The Avengers #311 Thor #410 Captain America #365 Fantastic Four #334 The Amazing Spider-Man #326 The Spectacular Spider-Man #158 Wolverine (vol. 2) #19-20 The Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger (vol. 3) #8-9 Web of Spider-Man #59 Power Pack #53 The Incredible Hulk #363 Marc Spector: Moon Knight #8-9 Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #11-12 Fantastic Four #335-336 The Amazing Spider-Man #327 The Spectacular Spider-Man #159 Web of Spider-Man #60 Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #13 Marc Spector: Moon Knight #10 Alpha Flight #79-80 Daredevil #275-276 Thor #411-412 Avengers West Coast #53 Quasar #5 Avengers Spotlight #27 Iron Man #251 The Amazing Spider-Man #328 The Spectacular Spider-Man #160 Web of Spider-Man #61 Uncanny X-Men #256-257 The Avengers #312 The Punisher (vol. 2) #28-29 The Punisher War Journal #12-13 Captain America #366 The Mutant Misadventures of Cloak and Dagger #10 Iron Man #252 Avengers West Coast #54 Quasar #6-7 Avengers Spotlight #28 The Avengers #313 Captain America #367 Avengers Spotlight #29 Avengers West Coast #55 The Uncanny X-Men #258 The Amazing Spider-Man #329 The Incredible Hulk #369 Web of Spider-Man #62-63 Damage Control (vol. 2) #2-4 Web of Spider-Man #64-65 The Avengers Annual #19
Note: Iron Man #250 has the "Acts of Vengeance!" logo on its cover, but has nothing to do with the crossover.
Collected editions +TitleMaterial collectedPublished dateISBNActs of Vengeance OmnibusAvengers #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 #59-61March 2011Acts of Vengeance Crossovers OmnibusFantastic 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 from Doctor 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 from X-Factor #50August 2011Acts of Vengeance: AvengersAvengers 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 from Captain America #365-367, Thor #411-413, Avengers Annual #19, Avengers Spotlight #29February 2020Acts of Vengeance: Marvel UniverseFantastic 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 from Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #11-13September 2020Acts of Vengeance: Spider-Man & the X-MenAmazing 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 from X-Factor #50June 2021
References
External links Acts of Vengeance at Marvel.com Acts of Vengeance at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe