the identity of the mysterious ally to have indeed been Phaeder. The backup stories were intended to be read in the same order as the lead stories. However, the backups in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #22 and Fantastic Four Annual #21 are transposed, creating some confusion. Amazing Spider-Man Annual #22 contains part 5 of the lead story and part 6 of the backups; Fantastic Four Annual #21 contains part 6 of the lead story and part 5 of the backups. This can be confirmed by reading the relevant stories: In the lead story of Fantastic Four Annual #21, the Watcher refers to events in the lead story of Amazing Spider-Man Annual #22; whereas in the backup of Amazing Spider-Man Annual #22 the High Evolutionary has subdued the werewolf he fought in the backup of Fantastic Four Annual #21. Related stories At the time of the crossover, Marvel was publishing a comic book based on the TV series ALF, and so ALF Annual #1 served as a tongue-in-cheek unofficial tie-in to the story in which the High Evolutionary meets ALF. Years later, the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe confirmed the canonicity of this story. In Avengers West Coast Annual #4 the U.S. Agent discovers one of the High Evolutionary's storm troopers on an unpopulated Pacific atoll, who is unaware that the Evolutionary War has ended. Thor #407 follows up on the events of Avengers Annual #17 to reveal the fates of Hercules and the High Evolutionary. Alternate Versions What If? A postscript of sorts to the series came with What If...? vol. 2 #1 (July, 1989) written by Roy Thomas, which explores the question "What if the Avengers lost the Evolutionary War?". In this version of the story, the reserve Avengers are unable to stop the High Evolutionary from detonating his bomb. As a result, the evolution of all human life on earth is hyper-accelerated. This process causes humanity to evolve beyond conflict with each other, and between humans and mutants. When Celestials eventually arrive to destroy the Earth, the combined powers of humanity's minds destroy one of them, forcing the remainder to retreat. Mutants, already one step ahead of homo sapiens on the evolutionary scale, ascend to the next level and join together to form a combined group which leaves for space, ultimately destroying Galactus and merging with Death and Eternity to form a being so powerful that it enables