On their way home, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones stop so Luke can ask some street punks about a local drug dealer. Entering their apartment, they are met by a sinister woman in the shadows. An explosion ensues….
When he hears about the incident at a SHIELD briefing, Nick Fury rushes to the hospital where he finds Luke Cage in a coma. Jessica and Danny (Iron Fist) Rand explain how Luke suffered internal injuries and doctors are unable to penetrate his skin to perform the necessary surgery. Then Jessica wonders why Fury is there….
One year ago: Villain Killer Shrike was being interrogated by Jasper Sitwell and Jimmy Woo, asking how such a third-rate criminal could afford all the high-tech gear. After beating and threats, Shrike agreed to reveal who was backing him. In Philadelphia, Killer Shrike led them to the lair of the Terrible Tinkerer but when he tried to enter, he was electrocuted. SHIELD agents burst in but the Tinkerer had escaped. A short time later, Black Widow called Nick Fury from the airport in Latveria; the Tinkerer is there and he was met by one of the highest government officials. Fury reported to the President what they had discovered: a cadre of high-tech American villains were being funded by Lucia von Bardas, the Prime Minister of Latveria elected with US support. Fury was startled when the President told him not to follow up on this because von Bardas was America’s ally. Fury decided to stop the threat to America without official sanction….
…and now in Luke Cage’s hospital room he sees the result of his actions….
Additional material:
Character profile of Jack O’Lantern and a transcript of his interrogation, alluded to in the story (seven pages)
A one-page text article on Spider-Man
Seven pages of pin-ups by Gabriele Dell’Otto.