Marvel Comics Presents (1988) # 69

"Acts of Vengeance, Part 6: Brass Tactics"

Cover Date: February 1991

On Sale Date: December 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: Sandy Plunkett

Having arrived at Deathwatch's building, Wolverine busts down the door, Yuji and Brass close behind him. Upon entering, they find a group of ninjas that have already been defeated and left behind, the path cleared by the Ghost Rider, who had entered the building ahead of his companions. Brass, wanting nothing but to find his sister, Brigitte, tries to go further, but is stopped by Wolverine, who wants answers to the many questions that have been raised during the night. Brass throws Wolverine aside, prompting the mutant to pop his claws in anticipation of a fight. Suddenly, Brass is grabbed around the throat by the Ghost Rider, who tells the youth not to shed his ally's blood. Yuji asks the Rider to release his son, admitting that now would be a good time to give some answers. The sensei asks the group to sit, saying that it is fitting that secrets be revealed in the shadow of the enemy's stronghold. Brass makes a sarcastic comment, so his father knocks him off his feet, thanking him for respecting the wishes of an old man.

Deciding to take his father's advice, Brass tells the group his life story. His father started teaching him karate when he was a young boy, but when he entered competitions he realized that he had an edge. Somehow, he knew when an opponent was going to do as soon as he thought it. As he got older, he decided to join the navy, quickly becoming a member of the SEALS, which is where he was given the nickname "Brass". Eventually, he met a girl named Theresa and the two fell in love. However, one day in Manhattan, the two wandered across a pitched battle between the Avengers and the Mandarin. Theresa panicked and ran, and was hit by a car, killing her instantly. After doing some research, he discovered that the Mandarin was part of a criminal conspiracy, involving other villains such as the Red Skull, the Kingpin, and Magneto. Blaming them for the death of his loved on, Brass vowed to kill them all, starting by taking out some of the Mandarin's operations in Chinatown. At that point, Wolverine interrupts, saying that must be the connection between them since a few months ago he had a run-in with the Mandarin himself. Tired of talking, the Ghost Rider stands up and walks into the building, the others following behind him.

Unfortunately, the group walks into a trap, where several men are waiting atop a staircase for them. The men open fire with machine guns, prompting Brass, Wolverine, and Yuji to go on the offensive. Strangely, the Ghost Rider simply stands in the middle of the room, gesturing into the air as he's hit by round after round of bullets. Suddenly, the Rider's motorcycle busts into the room, with both he and Brass jumping on it and riding away.

Story time!

THE ROADMAP

The conspiracy referred to by Brass was the main force behind the "Acts of Vengeance" crossover in several of 1990's Avengers titles, and is the story after which this one is named. The battle with the Mandarin, during which Brass' girlfriend was killed, happened in Avengers # 313.

Wolverine encountered the Mandarin in Uncanny X-Men # 256-258.

This issue of Marvel Comics Presents also contained stories featuring Shanna the She-Devil, Daredevil, and the Silver Surfer.

CHAIN REACTION

"Acts of Vengeance" has entered the home stretch, and this issue finally gives us the origin of Brass. After appearing mostly in shadows until the previous chapter, Sean Watanabe's backstory is the main thrust of this issue. But that's not all we're given, not by a long shot.

The original "Acts of Vengeance", which is the inspiration for this story, dealt with a coalition of the top villains in the Marvel Universe who were tired of losing to their respective archenemies. While it held an interesting concept, what readers were ultimately given were three months of heroes fighting random supervillains, culminating with an unfulfilling climax that did nothing but play lip service to Avengers # 1. During one of the last chapters of the crossover, the Mandarin - predominantly an Iron Man villain - attacked Avengers Mansion in New York City, which Brass and his girlfriend unfortunately witnessed. Brass' desire for revenge on the villain conspirators isn't necessarily an original idea, considering its been done before (and better) with the Punisher, as just one example. But it does provide a good premise for this sequel to the original crossover, involving two heroes - Wolverine and Ghost Rider - that either weren't involved or only tangentially (as Wolverine was, when he first encountered the Mandarin during the original story). We're still left hanging on what possible connection Deathwatch could have to the ongoing plot, as so far it seems to hang on the Mandarin as the villain despite his absence from the story so far.

I do have to question the heroes' decision to have a sit-down Q & A session at the base of the enemy stronghold, so it feels like Mackie had to put Brass' origin somewhere and just decided to insert it here for lack of room in the last two chapters. But this is easily overlooked when the action kicks into high gear in the second half of the chapter. The battle between the four heroes and Deathwatch's men is really quite good, showing how skilled each of the men are. Ghost Rider's scene on the last page is easily the highlight of the battle, with the great image of him simply standing in the middle of the room, unphased by the hail of gunfire as he's calling for his motorcycle to come to him.

The artwork of Texeira and Candelario also picks up, and the two turn in their best work on the series so far. The opening splash page of Wolverine is excellent, and the ending battle scene is depicted nicely. Brass' two-page origin sequence is muted by some rather dull brown coloring, but the artwork is still fairly good.

Overall, "Acts of Vengeance" is finally starting to develop into a good story, despite some pretty shaky first chapters.

"To me, my motorcycle!"