The Black Widow is accused of murder and on the run in
Moscow but the KGB agents are no match for her. She stings some of them with
her Widow’s Bite, hurling explosives to turn out the flood lights searching for
her. She is attacked by three Dobermans and finds herself in a vicious fight
with the pack leader. She is badly bitten before she can snap its neck and
repel the others with her Bites. She scales the wall, spraying pursuers with
gas, takes a car after leaving an explosive to wreck the rest of the vehicles.
She smashes through the iron gates to freedom….
Flashback to get to this point: Nick Fury did not consider
Black Widow a good choice for the mission, considering her past father-daughter
relationship with Ivan Petrovich. But Ivan has vanished and his electronics
expertise is of great value. So Natasha went to Russia in the guise of
defecting American scientist Laura Matthers. She was taken to a top-secret lab
outside of Moscow where she served as assistant to American defector Michael
Corcoran. Nat and Corcoran were attracted to one another and became lovers
though she learned nothing of Ivan. Then one night, Nat overheard a
conversation about Ivan so she donned her outfit and entered the room…and
walked into a trap. The KGB knew all along who she was and now Michael Cocoran
had betrayed her, even though he loved her. He was then stabbed to death before
her eyes and Black Widow went berserk, fighting her way out and escaping, which
is where this story began….
Observing all this in the viewer in his private submarine is
criminal Damon Dran [identity not revealed until issue #13] who had agents
withing the KGB to frame Black Widow for murder. And now he has assembled a
team of six great assassins, ordering them to bring her back alive. The
assassins are N’Kama (Zulu hunter), Deadshot Darrance (white hunter), Iron
Maiden (armored Russian lady), Laralie (cowgirl with lasso), Black Lotus
(martial artist), and Kono (Sumo). They depart in a smaller sub en route to
Hong Kong….
In a SHIELD shuttlecraft, the CIA team members criticize
Black Widow for her failure which she cannot account for. Nick Fury calls in
with some info: The distinctive knife which was used to kill Corcoran is
available in only one place in the world: a curio shop in Hong Kong. So Natasha
bandages her wounds, ponders the presence of another behind the KGB baddies,
and heads to the curio shop. She discovers the place broken into and ransacked,
the owner dead, with the same knife in his chest. Then the six assassins jump
out and within seconds they overpower Nat and take her captive….
Give that special marvelite a timely gift
Story #2Kaa’s Hunting
Writer:
Jo Duffy.
Penciler:
Gil Kane.
Inker:
P. Craig Russell.
Colorist:
Christie Scheele.
Letterer:
Jim Novak.
Synopsis
Having innocently played with the outcast Bandar-Log, the
monkey people, Mowgli is kidnapped by them to be their leader. But his friends
Baloo and Bagheera pursue to rescue him. On their way, they enlist Kaa the
serpent in their mission. When they arrive at the Bandar-Log City, the monkeys
put Mowgli into the trap and fight his friends. The trio of hunters easily
defeats the monkeys and Kaa breaks the trap, freeing Mowgli. Mowgli thanks Kaa
according to the custom of the animals, promising to pay the debt. It being
Mowgli’s fault, he apologizes to Bagheera who responds by striking him across
the face, knocking him out. Thus the fault between them is settled.
Story #3Unusu-Al Pin-Ups
Writer/Penciler:
(left blank).
Synopsis
A gallery of full-page portraits by various artists:
Self-portrait by Al Milgrom, Cloak and Dagger (Terry Austin), Hulk (Jim Shooter,
Terry Austin), Man-Thing (Bob Wiacek), Doctor Strange (an unused cover for
MARVEL FANFARE #8 by P. Craig Russell).