Issue(s): Spectacular Spider-Man annual #11
Cover Date: 1991

Vibranium Vendetta
Title: "The Ghost and the machine"
Credits:
David Michelinie - Writer
Marie Severin - Penciler
Marie Severin - Inker

Outlaw Justice!
Title: "Outlaw Justice part two"
Credits:
David Michelinie - Writer
Alan Kupperberg - Penciler
Alan Kupperberg - Inker

Danny Fingeroth - Editor

Review/plot:
Part one of the Vibranium Vendetta ended with Arthur Dearborn transforming into Sunturion. This story shows him going crazy, attacking Spider-Man and the Black Panther in addition to the Ghost.

The Ghost flees, and Spider-Man and the Black Panther are helped out by the arrival of Iron Man.

But it's actually Spider-Man who transforms Sunturion back into Dearborn by hitting him with the microwave projector again. Dearborn tells the super-heroes that he appreciates their help, but kicks them out for trespassing. Iron Man's position is that Dearborn is a good guy whose loyalty to the company blinds him to its evil doings, and that is borne out by when we see Dearborn getting suspicious of the "NuForm" vibranium that Roxxon has created, and declining to go to his boss, Jonas Hale about the incident in the lab.

Meanwhile, the three super-heroes agree to use their individual connections to investigate Roxxon and then meet back up the next day.

Here's the sort of "connections" Peter Parker has.

The Ghost, meanwhile, returns to the Kingpin. Kingpin has set up scanners to try to get information on the Ghost's technology. But the Ghost is able to detect and negate the scanners, and threatens to kill the Kingpin if he tries to scan him again. The Kingpin deflects by noting that the Ghost failed to do what he was hired for.

Kingpin also changes the Ghost's parameters, saying to forget about stealing Roxxon's secrets and instead to just destroy them. The Ghost is very happy with that change.

Ultron later sends a squad of robots, disguised as humans, to attack Roxxon.

While Black Panther and Spider-Man are fighting them...

...Ultron enters Roxxon's lab and is confronted by the Ghost.

Of course, the Ghost is no match for Ultron.

But Ultron also withdraws when the Roxxon Security guards suggest calling in the Avengers.

Meanwhile, Iron Man tries to stop Dearborn from fleeing the scene in a helicopter. That results in another fight with Sunturion.

The fight comes to an end when Sunturion accidentally damages the Roxxon helicopter, and Iron Man saves it. The fighting nearly resumes when Iron Man starts downloading data from a computer on the helicopter, but Spider-Man pulls rank, noting that Iron Man is an Avenger and that he and Black Panther are reserve Avengers.

Later, the Kingpin sends out his assistant Pembroke to form an alliance with Ultron.

This is actually the last appearance of Pembroke, a Kingpin lackey that has been used a few times in the past year or so. I think the character was basically forgotten, but i'd like to think that Ultron kills him as a way to cope with the fact that he had to form an alliance with a human, or maybe as vengeance after the venture falls through.

And that's it for part two of this story. Marie Severin is the artist for this part, and while i love her comedic moments (slacker Spidey, Kingpin grinning at Ghost) her action shots aren't that great. Still, this story is one of the better annual events that we've seen, largely thanks to David Michelinie providing a consistent voice and using characters that he has history with from his Iron Man runs.

As for the Outlaws story, we heard last issue that Sandman was hanging out with bad guys again. He first appears in this segment, and it quickly becomes apparent that it's part of a ruse. We see him thinking that he is trying to prove himself by infiltrating this group of radical kidnappers. The kidnappers are French Canadians in Quebec, so Sandman has also proven that he's learned the lesson of Amazing Spider-Man #348, where he was admonished for tackling a domestic threat.

Then the Outlaws show up, tackling the weirdly robed terrorists.

And then Sandman himself.

And that's it for part two. The Vibranium stories in these annuals are 25 pages each, making each segment the equivalent of a full length comic. The Outlaw stories are 10 pages, making the whole story slightly longer than a single normal issue, but of course with the splash panels beginning and ending each segment, so it feels like there isn't a ton going on.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Both the Vibranium Vendetta and Outlaw stories continue directly from Amazing Spider-Man annual #25 and continue directly in Web of Spider-Man annual #7. A Rhino story from this annual is covered in a separate entry. There is also a non-canon (or maybe "i don't care if it's canon") Fred Hemback pre-Spider-Man Petey Parker story in this annual.

References:

• Events here continue directly from Amazing Spider-Man annual #25.
  
• Ultron is using a secret robot building lab identical to the one he used in California circa Avengers West Coast #67.
  
• Sunturion hits Iron Man with the same kind of energy burst that he used in Iron Man #143.
  
• Sandman joined the Avengers as a reservist in Avengers #329.
  
• He "managed ta screw that up" in Amazing Spider-Man #348.

Crossover: Vibranium Vendetta

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

The cover to this Annual boasts, “Face it heroes, it’s Ultron’s world — we just live in it!” That's amusing to me, considering how little he actually accomplishes in this story and how easily he's beaten in the Web Of annual.

This has to be one of Severin's last pencil jobs for Marvel, I would imagine.

Seems the company was putting most of the Silver Age vets on the annuals at this point. Ditko had backups in the previous year's Spidey books.

Oh look, it's Newspaper Spider-Man in the "connections" scan! :)