Acts of Vengeance; Marvel's massive crossover that occurred in books dated December 1989-February 1990 begins here!
These first two chapters (this issue is broken into 2 parts) of the beginning of Acts of Vengeance were crafted by the great Dwayne McDuffie (DC's Milestone imprint, Marvel's Damage Control). Acts of Vengeance itself was a company-wide crossover that focused on the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. The previous 3 summer crossovers were mutant heavy and Marvel's editors felt it was time for a shift in focus in order to not get stale.
Along with this issue, the following 3 editions of Avengers Spotlight highlighted the Acts of Vengeance story line. Each issue was broken into 2 parts with Howard Mackie (Ghost Rider) spinning his tales around featured character Hawkeye and his lady fair, Mockingbird. McDuffie would feature other Avengers members, usually ones who didn't have their own series or would be considered B or C list material.
In the super-villain maximum security prison, The Vault, new procedures and protocols have been enacted as the result of Tony Stark's 'Armor Wars'. No longer equipped with Stark Tech, the guards at The Vault are armed with far less superior Stane machinery. As a result, new inmate The Wizard is able to overload the armor of the chief of security and initiate a full inmate escape! (Though to be honest, the mysterious guy in a trench coat might have also helped with the outbreak...)
Avengers Spotlight wasn't the only entry Dwayne McDuffie made to the Acts of Vengeance story line. Because of the widespread destruction that occurs in the Big Apple, McDuffie utilized the resources of the superpower disaster repair company Damage Control. Created by McDuffie in 1988, Damage Control was a tongue-in-cheek miniseries that continues to operate in the Marvel Universe to this day. The Acts of Vengeance 4-issue mini was the second volume of Damage Control.
Dwayne McDuffie is considered a pioneer to other black writers and creators in the comics field today. Though others came before him, McDuffie opened a ton of doors due to his amazing career. Shortly after Acts of Vengeance, McDuffie along with several other comic creators of color established Milestone Media to create a line of books that features a more honest representation of minorities in the comic book industry.
During this time, Mcduffie created fan favorite Static, a black teen who gains electric based powers after being accidentally doused in chemicals during a gang war battle the youth was caught in the crossfire of. After Milestone folded, McDuffie brought the character back with his own Cartoon Network series Static Shock! Static would even have crossovers with members of the Justice League in both the Static Shock series and Justice League Unlimited. Though not the first cartoon to star an African American, the show, which ran for 4 seasons, has been cited as an influence for other minority focused animated series like Boondocks and The Proud Family.
The legacy of Static and others lives on as in the past couple of years, DC has revitalized the Milestone universe with several new series, albeit slightly rebooted for a 2020's audience. Sadly, Dwayne McDuffie did not get to experience this new found revival of his Milestone. McDuffie passed away due to complications from emergency heart surgery in February, 2011. He was 49 years old.
Completing this review completes Task #9 (From an African American author/artist) of the 2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.
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