Issue(s): Web of Spider-Man annual #9
Cover Date: 1993
Title: "The origin of the Cadre / Chaos... is the Cadre! / Things to come / Mayhem in the streets"
Credits:
Terry Kavanagh - Writer
Nelson Ortega / Chris Marrinan / Vince Evans / Fred Haynes - Penciler
Don Hudson / Keith Williams / Bill Anderson / Tim Tuohy - Inker
Eric Fein - Editor

Review/plot:
The credits above reflect three chapters of the main story, with a different penciler & inker for each chapter, and then a back-up story. There's also another back-up story covered in a separate entry.

Whoever gave Terry Kavanagh that book about the Knights of Templar needs to be taken out and shot. It was one thing when it Kavanagh was cluttering up the Moon Knight book with all that stuff because who cares, it's Moon Knight. But now it's infecting Spider-Man stories as well.

This is a 1993 annual (despite the placement), and we actually get not one, but three crappy new characters: Vortex, Shard, and Dementia, who are collectively known as the Cadre.

They were raised by the Templar Knights. Here they are as kids.

Their keeper in the Templar organization is a mysterious "Chloe", a name that might be triggering your Moon Knight sense.

The Templars have been keeping the Cadre's origins a secret from themselves (they are "Hellbent", which will have meaning to the three people able to follow Kavanagh's Moon Knight series), and they've also been keeping them isolated from the outside world. But one day the Cadre decide to break out to search for their parents (coincidentally at the same time that Seth the Immortal sends a group of Hellbent to attack the Templars), and they wind up in a confrontation with Code Blue. And then Spider-Man comes along.

He settles things down and the Cadre go back with Chloe. Dementia is the most troubled of the three, and she's getting help from Chloe. The other two say that when Dementia gets better, they'll go searching for their mom.

I'm fairly confident in saying that i couldn't care less about these characters even if i wasn't aware of what a trainwreck Kavanagh's series was, but that does give me an extra reason to hate them.

In a Cloak & Dagger back-up story, Mayhem goes wild.

Cloak and Dagger overcome the adversity of horrible art to put a stop to her.

Dagger is afraid that she's killed Mayhem, but a wisp of smoke seems to indicate otherwise.

Quality Rating: D

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - first Cadre (Vortex, Shard, Dementia)

Chronological Placement Considerations: This story has to take place before Moon Knight #50, since it is referenced there. But there a whole bunch of dependencies for Moon Knight that cause his issues to get pushed back in publication time, so this has to get pushed back too. Luckily Spider-Man's appearance in the main story is pretty generic, and the Cloak and Dagger story is also context free. But a Nightwatch story from this issue can't take place so early, so it is covered in a separate entry.

References:

• Chloe says that she needs to "activate the 'Bloodline Agenda' before Seth the Immortal", and we're pointed to a story "climaxing in Moon Knight #50".

Crossover: 1993 Annuals

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

I think the Cadre would have been much more interesting if they stayed in their kid appearance.

The Cadre was also the name of a super-villain team at DC. They were the team that first fought the so-called "Justice League Detroit" in the ongoing in the mid-80s. I remember them being equally unmemorable.

"It was one thing when it Kavanagh was cluttering up the Moon Knight book with all that stuff because who cares, it's Moon Knight. But now it's infecting Spider-Man stories as well."
Kavanagh doesn't stop here- he also drags the Hellbent into X-Man.