Marvel Age #81

Marvel's official newsmagazine turns its spotlight on villainy with this 1989 issue dedicated to the Acts of Vengeance crossover event. John Byrne's cover sets the mood perfectly, rendering a menacing assembly of Marvel's heavy-hitter bad guys — including a skull-faced figure, a hooded schemer, a horned armored villain, and an armored bruiser among others — looming in a striking magenta-on-blue palette that feels genuinely ominous. With the tantalizing tagline "This crossover may just be the last!" and Peter Sanderson's inside coverage, this is a great snapshot of Marvel hyping one of its most ambitious villain-centric storylines of the era.