Black Widow has been captured by Damon Dran’s six assassins
in a curio shop in Hong Kong. Deadshot takes aim at her through his rifle’s
sight just to see how it looks; Black Lotus and Laralie object, reminding him
that their orders are to capture her alive. Iron Maiden suggests they kill her
anyway. Natasha uses their bickering as a distraction and she takes advantage,
kicking Laralie across the room and quickly taking down Deadshot and N’Kama
with only her feet. But the Sumo Kono is too solidly packed to go down easily
and he chases her swinging a chain while Black Lotus attacks from the other
side. Nat sees Deadshot drawing his gun and she flips, knocking out Lotus and
the bullet hitting Kono. She then puts down Deadshot. Iron Maiden is the only
villain standing and she cuts Natasha’s bonds to make for an even match; she
also reveals she is Melina Vostokoff, also a Soviet agent but always
overshadowed and slighted by Black Widow and now she wants revenge. The two
battle, Maiden impervious to the Widow’s Bites but not to judo. Then they are
interrupted by James Woo with a SHIELD team; Maiden crashes through them and
flees. Natasha reveal she had slipped a homing device on Iron Maiden during the
quarrel….
Black Widow and Woo trace her to a manhole cover. When she
insists on going first, Woo testily reminds her that he has jurisdiction here
and tells her to follow. They descend into the sewer where they are almost
immediately blasted by Iron Maiden, mocking Black Widow for needing assistance.
Natasha fires her Bites at Maiden but her armor shields her. They fight in
close quarters but Maiden is still protected by her armor which allows her to
deal deadlier blows. Nat tells Woo to fire beneath their foe. He does and the
gaping hole creates a suction that pulls the villainess down the drain. Woo
apologizes for his earlier disrespect; she forgives him. They probe the opening
in the sewer wall behind Iron Maiden and move through the darkness. Then Woo
vanishes and Nat is suddenly hit from multiple sides by an unseen assailant.
She does her best to hit her foe but eventually she goes down. Her enemy is
revealed to be one Snapdragon, with armor, weapons and an infra-red eyepiece….
Give that special marvelite a timely gift
Story #2Marvel Annfare
Writer:
Roger Stern.
Penciler/Inker:
Al Milgrom.
Colorist:
Michael Higgins.
Letterer:
Rich Parker.
Synopsis
Ann Nocenti is in charge while Al Milgrom is away. Roger
Stern comes in complaining that with all the editors gone, he can’t get
anything approved. She tells him to use the extra free time to write a Captain
America story for Fanfare; to inspire him she has him dress in Cap’s
(ill-fitting) costume. While Stern is trying to get into character he throws
the shield out of a window and it falls in a dumpster. Ann and Roger rush
downstairs to recover it and find a gang of hoods defacing the building with
graffiti. Ann suggests to Roger that he persuade the punks to stop it. A
nervous Roger lectures them on keeping the city clean; he comes off as a
lunatic so to humor him, the kids clean up all the graffiti. Returning
upstairs, Stern receives a package from Al Milgrom, full of approved material
that he can get to work on. Ann returns to her desk only to have Bill Mantlo
enter with a complaint….
Story #3The Rick Leonardi Portfolio
Writer:
(left blank).
Penciler/Inker:
Rick Leonardi.
Colorist:
Rick Leonardi.
Synopsis
Full-page portraits of Iron Man, Silver Surfer, Storm, Thor,
and Angel.