Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 64

"Acts of Vengeance, Part 1: Ghosts of the Past"

Cover Date: November 1990

On Sale Date: September 1990

Writer: Howard Mackie
Artist: Mark Texeira
Inker: Harry Candelario
Letterer: Clem Robins
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Editor: Terry Kavanagh
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Cover Artist: Mike Thomas

At a bar on Madripoor, the mutant Wolverine attempts to enjoy a peaceful drink. Unfortunately, his peace is disturbed by two drunks fighting over the female bartender with broken bottles. The men decide (with rather poor judgment, I must say) that Logan is to be the one to decide who the bartender will go home with. When he realizes they won't take 'no' for an answer, he quickly turns their bottles on to their own necks, giving them one last chance to go away, to which they comply. Wolverine returns to his seat, but looks up to find several ninjas standing in the bar. They immediately attack the X-Man, but the battle is short-lived. He threatens one of the ninjas by sword-point, demanding to know what they want with him. The assassin tells him that they're from New York, sent by Deathwatch, but is then killed by an arrow. Logan tosses his sword behind him, killing the last of the ninjas. He stands over their bodies and says one word: "Deathwatch".

Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, NY, Dan Ketch pulls up on his bike in front of a karate studio, intending to meet his best friend, Jack D'Auria. While outside, however, he is assaulted by three drunks brandishing knives. Before anything can happen, Jack comes outside and quickly uses his karate skills to beat up the drunks. When the two boys go back inside, however, they find Jack's sensei fighting with several ninjas, who Danny recognizes as Deathwatch's men. Jack kicks Dan through the studio's window, telling him to go get help. Danny touches the gas cap on his motorcycle and transforms into the Ghost Rider. Back inside, the ninjas question the sensei, threatening the life of Jack in the process. The Ghost Rider arrives just in time, and he and the sensei quickly defeat the ninja squad. The demon picks up the wounded Jack, saying "This is twice, Deathwatch. It won't happen again."

"Cobra Kai for life!"

THE ROADMAP

Ghost Rider last appeared in Ghost Rider (1990) # 7.

Deathwatch was also responsible for the injuries sustained by Dan's sister, Barbara Ketch, in Ghost Rider (1990) # 1. Barbara died right before this story at the hands of Blackout in Ghost Rider (1990) # 7.

Jack D'Auria first appeared in Ghost Rider (1990) # 4, where it was mentioned that he studied karate.

This issue of Marvel Comics Presents also contained stories featuring Poison, Mr. Fantastic, and Blade.

CHAIN REACTIONS

Marvel Comics Presents was a strange animal, of that there is no doubt. A bi-weekly series with no advertisements that featured four rotating characters per issue, each in 8-page installments. Wolverine had long become the dominant force of the series, always claiming the lead spot for himself in a way to cement the sales of the series, and I was always okay with that because it allowed the series to focus on lesser known characters in the other serials.

But when the Ghost Rider series took off like an unexpected sales juggernaut, the decision was made to partner the character up with Wolverine in the pages of MCP. Naturally, sales went through the roof on the title, giving Marvel another example of how well the Ghost Rider character was doing. Whenever he made a guest-appearance in any title, sales for that issue went up. What's really unfortunate, and why such a sales trend quickly came to a halt, is that a lot of these sales-induced stories weren't very good. "Acts of Vengeance" is an example of that, as well.

Howard Mackie, who was also the writer on Ghost Rider, used an interesting narrative trick in this opening chapter - a technique he'll use several times throughout this story. Instead of having the two co-leads meet in this first issue, the story is split in half horizontally on the page. The top half of each page focuses on Wolverine in Madripoor, while the bottom half focuses on Ghost Rider in Brooklyn, and it's an effective technique. It allows all of the set-up for the story to be handled at once, despite the two characters being on opposite ends of the globe, and does so in a way that doesn't sacrifice momentum. We're literally given the two stories at once instead of back to back, and it does work well.

Mackie also wisely ties the story into the ongoing Ghost Rider plots right from the start, which was good to ensure that book's fans would give this story their attention instead of looking at it as an unnecessary throw-away appearance. The emphasis on Ghost Rider's story, however, doesn't mean that Wolverine gets sidelined. Both characters get equal amounts of insight and action, and this opening chapter does it's job very well - it puts the players into motion and sets up the obligatory "hero vs. hero" fight in the next issue.

Where this opening issue falters is on the artistic front, which is truly surprising considering the artist is Mark Texeira, one of the Ghost Rider's definitive artists. It's proven with this story that Texeira should only be allowed to ink his work himself, because Harry Candellario's contribution does nothing but make Tex's work look amateurish and, as much as I hate to say it, just plain ugly. You can see some of Texeira's signature style shining through in places, but it still looks like a last-minute rush job due to the inadequate inks.

So while "Acts of Vengeance" unfortunately falls apart completely in later chapters, this opener does a good job at setting up what could have been a good story.

Deathwatch's men really take a savage beating.