In the tower of Notre Dame Cathedral, Hawkeye is fighting Batroc the Leaper and
his Brigade, Machete and Zaran. Jumping, dodging knives, and all that, he
recalls how he got into this mess…
...having
received the plane ticket to Paris for a fight to the finish with his criminal
mentor Trick Shot, he tried to assure his wife Mockingbird that he would not
go, while planning to gas her and take off anyway. She knows what he’s plotting
so uses her acrobatic gifts to dodge his gas attack but he outsmarts her in the
end and depositing her on a bed, he flies to Paris. At his hotel, an envelope
with a picture of the Cathedral was slipped under his door….
Now
Hawkeye swings on a rope over to a nearby rooftop with the bad guys in pursuit.
As he is watched by a mystery woman and her two male henchmen, the hero takes
down Zaran and Machete and, in a tussle with Batroc, they both crash through a
skylight and land on the floor of a classy restaurant. Clint leads his foe away
into a storeroom and knocks him cold. As he stands a moment to rest, Silver Sable
steps forward and tells him he is under arrest for the murder of Trick
Shot….
“Tower
of Shadows” 3/5
Writer:
Roger Stern. Pencils: Bob Hall. Inks: Stan Drake. Colors: Paul Becton. Letters:
Jack Morelli.
Synopsis:
Newly added Avenger Moon Knight is on the trail of villain Cornelius Van Lunt
and, working on a tip from an old contact, Jack “Werewolf By Night” Russell, he
hang-glides into a castle on an isolated estate in the Santa Monica Mountains. Entering
the castle, he encounters a series of traps, fighting and dodging his way
through them and, fed up, he challenges the castle’s owner to face him. The
owner obliges: it is the mysterious Shroud, passing judgment on the hero for
entering the Tower of Shadows unbidden. Shroud moves around unseen, attacking
Moon Knight from every side; Moon Knight sets off a blinding flash bomb but the
Shroud is not affected (because no one knows he’s blind). The two engage in a
wild martial arts display until Moon Knight knocks his foe on the head and the
creeping darkness dissipates. Moon Knight looks up to see the Night Shift,
Shroud’s team of supernatural heroes, including Jack Russell. Shroud explains
that this was all a test to determine whether Moon Knight had what it takes to
join the Night Shift so Shroud extends the invitation. MK mentions that he has
just joined the Avengers but Shroud counters that he would be more at home with
his group. Nevertheless, Moon Knight declines and Shroud promises to pass along
any word of Cornelius Van Lunt that he may come across and the hero departs….