Marvel Team-Up (1972) 85

Marvel Team-Up (1972) 85

Sep 1979

The Woman Who Never Was!

by Chris Claremont, Sal Buscema, Steve Leialoha, Clem Robins, Ben Sean, Allen Milgrom

Black Widow dives through the broken window after Spider-Man. She saves him but then needs saving herself when the Silver Samurai cuts the line securing her to the helicarrier. Spider-Man and Black Widow make it back into the helicarrier in time to rejoin the fight before Nick Fury and Shang-Chi are overcome by Viper, Silver Samurai, and the hypnotized agents of SHIELD.

Marvel Team-Up (1972) 84

Marvel Team-Up (1972) 84

Aug 1979

Catch a Falling Hero

by Chris Claremont, Sal Buscema, Steve Leialoha, Diana Albers, Ben Sean, Allen Milgrom

The issue opens with the reveal that Viper (who was once known as Madame Hydra) is the one pulling strings. She has captured the helicarrier and has all of its staff under her hypnotic control. The first five pages are devoted to the reveal and then a dive into her backstory.

Viper fought Captain America (during the brief period when he was known as Nomad) in Captain America 182. She was almost captured but escaped thanks to Ishiro Tagara, a cadre leader of the Japanese Red Army, an occasional ally of Hydra. The Viper and Tagara fell in love as she plotted the downfall of the United States of America.