MARVEL TEAM-UP #66

Stan Lee presents: SPIDEY and CAPTAIN BRITAIN -- together

”MURDER WORLD”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker/Colorist: Dave Hunt
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski | Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: Spider-Man and Captain Britain awaken in Arcade’s Murderworld, where they are soon separated to face their own deathtraps. Cap battles evil funhouse mirror versions of himself, then finds his love interest, Courtney Ross, a prisoner. While Cap tries to rescue her, Spider-Man escapes a holographic battlefield by sneaking into Murderworld’s maintenance tunnels. The web-slinger messes with the complex’s systems, then heads back out to find Captain Britain.

Spider-Man and Cap meet up and rescue Courtney, then, thanks to Spidey’s earlier mischief, Murderworld blows a fuse and explodes. The heroes and Courtney emerge from the underground complex in Manhattan, where Captain Jean DeWolff picks them up. Elsewhere, Arcade vows to rebuild Murderworld and have his revenge on Spider-Man.

POWER MAN #49

”SEAGATE IS A LONELY PLACE TO DIE!”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker: Dan Green
Letterer: Annette Kawecki | Colorists: Francoise Mouly & Ken Klaczak
Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: In the aftermath of their skirmish, Luke Cage explains to Iron Fist, Misty Knight, and Colleen Wing how he came in search of Misty: He was blackmailed by John Bushmaster to capture her and deliver her to him in exchange for a tape that would clear his name with the authorities. Thanks to her undercover work, Misty knows where Bushmaster’s secret headquarters is, and she, Iron Fist, and Power Man head out after him.

The base is revealed as Seagate Prison, the place where Luke Cage gained his super strength and steel-hard skin. Iron Fist and Misty infiltrate the prison first to find and rescue Cage’s kidnapped friends, Doctors Claire Temple and Noah Burstein. They find Claire, but learn Burstein is in another wing of the prison. Colleen takes Temple to safety while Iron Fist goes after Burstein.

Cage invades the prison via full frontal assault and learns from Misty where Burstein is. He heads that way as well, to find Iron Fist ambushed by a newly super-enhanced Bushmaster. Cage tells Iron Fist to get Burstein to safety, then fights Bushmaster. Their duel ends with an explosion that demolishes half the prison. Iron Fist finds Cage in the wreckage and Misty emerges a moment later, having gone back in to find the tape that will clear Cage’s name.

Cage, Misty, Iron Fist, Burstein, Temple, and Bushmaster’s henchman, Gadget-Man, board a speedboat and head for shore.

X-MEN/AVENGERS: ONSLAUGHT OMNIBUS

Hardcover, 2015. Collects 1996's CABLE #32-36; UNCANNY X-MEN #333-337; X-FORCE #55 & 57-58; X-MAN #15-19; X-MEN #53-57, X-MEN ANNUAL '96; X-MEN UNLIMITED #11; ONSLAUGHT: X-MEN; ONSLAUGHT: MARVEL UNIVERSE; ONSLAUGHT: EPILOGUE; AVENGERS #401-402; FANTASTIC FOUR #415; INCREDIBLE HULK #444-445; WOLVERINE #104-105; X-FACTOR #125-126; AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #415; GREEN GOBLIN #12; SPIDER-MAN #72; IRON MAN #332; PUNISHER #11; THOR #502; X-MEN: ROAD TO ONSLAUGHT; and material from UNCANNY X-MEN #287, EXCALIBUR #100 & more.

I've been waiting years for this thing. For many fans, that statement is enough to raise questions about my sanity. But I can't help it; I have really, really strong feelings attached to the "Onslaught" crossover.

Earlier this year I wrote a bit about how much I love the year or so of X-Men comics that came between "Age of Apocalypse" and "Onslaught" -- and while, as an adult, I recognize the "Onslaught" event is not as impressive as I found it in my teens, there's still a lot to like about this book.

Some years back, Marvel published a SECRET WARS II OMNIBUS. I didn't pick it up as I really dislike that storyline, but the cool thing about the book was that it included all the various crossover issues -- and SECRET WARS II crossed over with pretty much every book in the Marvel line back then. So if one were to read the SWII collection, they'd essentially be looking at a time capsule of Marvel's continuity circa 1985-86. The ONSLAUGHT OMNIBUS provides a similar experience for the Marvel of a decade later. This book gives us a wonderful snapshot of Marvel's 1996 line, for better or worse: Noseless Wolverine. Shirtless Thor. "Joseph". Ben Reilly as Spider-Man. Teenage Iron Man. The Punisher with a ponytail. G.W. Bridge in command of S.H.I.E.L.D. -- and more. It may not all be to everyone's taste -- much of it isn't even to mine -- but the fact remains that this is, in a way, "my" Marvel. And because of that, I have very fond memories of all of it, even the stuff I don't (and didn't) like.

TRANSFORMERS: WAR AND PEACE #1

"NEW WORLD ORDER"
Writer: Brad Mick* | Pencils: Pat Lee | Inks: Rob Armstrong
Backgrounds: Edwin Garcia | Layout Assists: Ferd Poblate
Colors: Espen Grundetjern, Alan Wang, & Paul Villafuerte | Letters: Paul Villafuerte

The Plot: In Alaska, the Autobots and Decepticons fight over an Autobot pod. The pod's occupant is revealed as Decepticon Scourge, but the fight is soon interrupted by a group of Transformers from Cybertron, led by Megatron's former military strategist, Shockwave. These forces subdue Megatron and capture the Decepticons, but the Autobots retreat, leaving a small force behind, led by Prowl, to monitor Shockwave's group. But Shockwave soon leaves Earth with the Decepticons, and dispatches another force to capture the Autobots.

At Autobot headquarters the next day, the Autobots debate whether to surrender to Shockwave, having been told by him that the war on Cybertron is over. Meanwhile, Prowl's team is ambushed by Shockwave's secondary force. In space, the ever-traitorous Starscream jettisons the unconscious Megatron from Shockwave's starship.

Continuity Notes: This story begins en media res a year after "Prime Directive" ended. Wheeljack, who was apparently killed at the conclusion of "Prime Directive", is seen among the Autobots. Also, Blitzwing, who was shown as an Earthbound Decepticon in an Ark II flashback in the previous story, is now among Shockwave's troops instead.

Grimlock, who, in "Prime Directive", betrayed the Autobots to join Megatron and then deserted the Deceptions as well, arrives in Alaska to aid the Autobots against Shockwave's team, then returns to Autobot headquarters. He's still wearing a Decepticon sigil on his chest, however.

MARVEL TEAM-UP #65

Readers may recall that I already wrote about this issue and the next a couple years back as part of my very first review series here, on the subject of Captain Britain. But that post was written primarily with attention to Cap’s side of the story and wasn't done “in-depth”, so here's the revised and expanded version (and forgive me if, between this issue and the next, I regurgitate a bit of that old post).

Stan Lee presents: SPIDEY and CAPTAIN BRITAIN!

”INTRODUCING, CAPTAIN BRITAIN”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker/Colorist: Dave Hunt
Letterer: Bruce Patterson | Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: Spider-Man swings across Manhattan to Empire State University, where he changes to Peter Parker for a meeting with the Dean of Students. The dean informs Peter that the school wants an exchange student from England to board with him for foreseeable future. Peter is introduced to Brian Braddock, and the pair leaves the dean’s office.

In England, a mysterious American assassin named Arcade is hired to kill Brian. Back in the U.S., later that night, Peter changes to Spider-Man for a night out, but passing police sirens outside awaken Brian, who spots the web-slinger swinging away from Peter’s bedroom. Assuming Spider-Man has harmed or kidnapped Peter, Brian changes to his alter ego of Captain Britain and gives chase.

The costumed heroes have a brief skirmish but in the end make peace. Captain Britain recaps his origin for Spider-Man, then the duo is captured by Arcade.

POWER MAN #48

Luke Cage: Wrongly convicted and sentenced to prison—reborn in a freak experiment there that gave him steel-hard skin and strength beyond belief—a man who hides his identity as an escaped convict in the role of a HERO FOR HIRE!

”FIST OF IRON -- HEART OF STONE!”
Writer: Chris Claremont | Penciler: John Byrne | Inker: Dan Green
Letterer: Annette Kawecki | Colorist: Francoise Mouly | Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: Luke Cage smashes into Danny Rand’s townhouse, where Colleen Wing is staying while her apartment undergoes a remodel. Cage pursues Colleen through the building, finally knocking her out in Danny’s study. But Colleen manages to place a phone call to Misty Knight first. Remorseful, Cage patches Colleen up.

Misty and Danny, dining at Misty’s apartment, head for the townhouse and Misty goes in first to investigate. She encounters Cage, who takes her out as well. Danny, in costume as Iron Fist, shows up next and knocks Cage out of the building. But he returns and Power Man duels Iron Fist until the Living Weapon gives in, hoping that in his heart, Cage is not a killer.

Cage proves Iron Fist correct and backs off before he can kill his foe. But his failure to take out Misty, his original target, leads him to reveal that he has doomed his two closest friends to death.

THE UNBOXING - SEPTEMBER 2015

I've got quite a variety pack this month! First, from Marvel, is something I've been awaiting for a long time. Call me insane if you must, but I have wanted an X-MEN/AVENGERS ONSLAUGHT OMNIBUS since around the time Marvel started collecting all the various nineties X-Men events in oversized hardcover format. For a while it seemed like this wasn't going to happen, as the X-Men OHC program skipped past "Onslaught" to "Zero Tolerance", then slowed down a bit. Furthermore, the full "Onslaught" event has already been collected in a line of trade paperbacks a few years earlier. But now, at long last, it's here. Watch this space for a full-length review of the book next week.

Next from Image, is RED ONE: WELCOME TO AMERICA, a graphic novel I picked up solely on the strength of Terry Dodson's artwork. I've been a fan of Dodson since his days on Marvel's GENERATION X, and while I haven't read everything he ever drew, I've picked up certain items here and there. I plan to cover RED ONE in a post next Spring.

And lastly, Dark Horse brings their collaboration with Dynamite on CONAN/RED SONJA. I don't talk much about "sword and sorcery" type stuff around here, but I'm a fan of the genre in some respects. I intend to write about this book as well next Spring, hopefully once Dynamite's companion RED SONJA/CONAN book is also released in a collected edition.

TRANSFORMERS #0 - #6

"PRIME DIRECTIVE"*
Written by Chris Sarracini | Pencils by Pat Lee
Inks by Rob Armstrong w/Erik Sander & Ferdinand Poblete
Backgrounds by Edwin Garcia | Letters by Dreamer Design | Flats by Kenny Li
Colors by TheRealT!, Ramil Sunga, Gary Yeung, Alan Wang, Shaun Curtis,
Rob Ruffalo, Stuart Ng, Angelo Tsang, Juan Malera, Matt Cossin, Pat Lee, Talent Pun
Graphic Design: Paul Villafuerte & Kevin Lee | Edits by Matt Moylan

The Plot: Several years after the Transformers' arrival on Earth, the Autobots defeated the Decepticons and attempted to return to Cybertron aboard the Ark II, along with a human expeditionary force. But The Ark II exploded after takeoff and all aboard were presumed destroyed or killed.

Three years after the Ark II's destruction, a mercenary named Lazarus has located a number of Transformers and reprogrammed them, intending to auction them off to the world's mercenaries as weapons. But the U.S. military has a Transformer of their own, Optimus Prime. Enlisting Spike Witwicky's help, the U.S.'s General Hallo awakens Optimus Prime. Prime gathers a small number of Autobots from the Ark II's undersea crash site to fight Lazarus at his arctic base. But instead, Megatron breaks free of the mercenary's control, restores his Decepticon followers, and renews his plans to conquer the Earth, this time by using a virus to transform it into a replica of Cybertron. The Decepticons escape the arctic, leaving the Autobots to face Megatron's virus.

Optimus and a handful of Autobots pursue the Decepticons (whose ranks are bolstered by the traitorous Dinobot Commander Grimlock) to San Francisco while the remaining Autobots stay behind to fight the virus. Spike, meanwhile, is taken away by General Hallo, who it turns out was actually in league with Lazarus at one time. As the Autobots and Decepticons fight it out in the City by the Bay, Hallo orders a nuclear strike against them. Superion sacrifices himself to save the city and Hallo is gunned down by the president's men. In the arctic, Wheeljack also sacrifices himself to stop Megatron's virus. The Decepticons escape San Francisco in the chaos and Grimlock departs as well, choosing to walk his own path away from the Autobots.

MARVEL TEAM-UP #64

Stan Lee presents: SPIDEY and the DAUGHTERS of the DRAGON!
”IF DEATH BE MY DESTINY…”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker/Colorist: Dave Hunt
Letterer: Bruce Patterson | Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: Iron Fist lays near death in Colleen Wing’s apartment, though his physical body is in perfect condition. Meanwhile, prowling in search of Iron Fist to finish him off, Steel Serpent recalls his origin: as Davos, the son of Lei Kung the Thunderer, he was one of two men who dueled for the right to challenge Shou-Lao the Undying. He was beaten by his challenger, Wendell Rand-K’ai, but secretly went after Shou-Lao and was defeated. Davos was exiled from K’un L’un on the same day Wendell, having passed on his chance with Shou-Lao, left for reasons of his own.

As he nears Colleen’s apartment, Steel Serpent is attacked by Spider-Man and then Collen and Misty Knight. He flees into a nearby park, where Iron Fist confronts him. The power of the Iron Fist begins to consume Steel Serpent, and Iron Fist gets the better of him, taking back his chi as Steel Serpent explodes.

Iron Fist and Misty share a kiss and the heroes head home, while in K’un L’un, Lei Kung mourns the death of his son.

MARVEL TEAM-UP #63

”NIGHT OF THE DRAGON”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker: Dave Hunt
Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Dave Hunt | Editor: Archie Goodwin

You are Iron Fist, and once upon a time, you were the Living Weapon, the finest martial artist in the fabled city of K’un-Lun and on Earth.

That has changed.

The Plot: Peter Parker arrives at Danny Rand’s townhouse to shoot a photo layout for the Daily Bugle. But Danny receives an ultimatum from someone called the “Steel Serpent” and cancels the appointment. Sensing Danny is in trouble, Peter changes to Spider-Man and follows him.

Meanwhile, Misty Knight, undercover as John Bushmaster’s moll, Maya Korday, learns that Bushmaster has helped Steel Serpent arrange his hit on Iron Fist. Misty breaks cover and flees Bushmaster’s yacht to go find Iron Fist.

In Inwood Park, Iron Fist comes face to face with Steel Serpent, who reveals himself as Davos, the son of Lei Kung the Thunderer. Steel Serpent and Iron Fist begin their duel, which is interrupted by Spider-Man. Serpent stuns the wall-crawler and takes advantage of Iron Fist’s concern for his friend to steal his chi, and the power of the Iron Fist. Misty arrives, but is too late to save her friend. Steel Serpent departs as Iron Fist lays comatose in Misty’s arms.

Continuity Notes: Narration states that it’s been two years since Danny Rand left K’un L’un in MARVEL PREMIERE #15 -- which means Claremont isn’t quite telling his stories in real time any more, given that this issue was published about three and a half years later.

TRANSFORMERS BY DREAMWAVE

Art by Pat Lee

In 2001, after drawing a picture for WIZARD magazine which apparently impressed Hasbro, young Pat Lee, president of Dreamwave Productions, landed the Transformers license. Eighties revivals were huge in the early 2000s, with the likes of G.I. JOE, MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, ROBOTECH, THUNDERCATS, and more finding homes at various comic book publishing houses, and Dreamwave's TRANSFORMERS was at the forefront of this movement.

At the time, Marvel's star was beginning to fall for me, thanks to the recently installed editorial regime of Joe Quesada and his overlord, Bill Jemas. I found myself, for practically the first time ever, branching out to other publishers for comics. And as a lifelong fan of the original Generation One Transformers, some of my attention went to Dreamwave. I recall being distinctly unimpressed with their first limited series, but when they changed writers for their second, and kept that team when they launched an ongoing series, TRANSFORMERS: GENERATION ONE, in 2004, I was won over. The ongoing quickly became the number one series, from any publisher, that I looked forward to every month. The characters as scripted by James McDonough and Adam Patyk were just the Transformers I wanted to read about, being heavily influenced by the eighties cartoon series -- and the artwork by Don Figueroa was just about perfect.

DARKSTALKERS

Story: Ken Siu-Chong
Line Art: Alvin Lee, Arnold Tsang, Kevin Lau, Joe Vriens, Scott Hepburn, Eric Vedder
Colors: Gary Yeung, Espen Grundetjern, Susan Luo,
Christine Choi, Shane Law, Omar Dogan, Kevin Yan, Arnold Tsang
Inks: Crystal Reid | Lettering: Simon Yeung, Marshall Dillon
Bonus Stories: Mark Brooks, Danimation, Alan Wang, Lesean Thomas,
C.P. & Patara, Joe Ng, Skottie Young
Managing Editor: Matt Moylan | Project Manager: Jim Zubkavich
Chief of Operations: Erik Ko

And then there's DARKSTALKERS. Another Capcom property whose rights are held by UDON, and to my knowledge, the only other such property to receive a serialized comic from the publisher, this series is set on a modern-but-gothic Earth, where demons and monsters are making a comeback after millennia in hiding. DARKSTALKERS received two mini-series from UDON, one circa 2005 and another from 2010, but both told one continuous story.

Unfortunately, that story is a bit muddled. We have, more or less, two protagonists: Morrigan, a succubus and princess of the demon realm called Makai, and Donovan, a warrior monk from Earth. Both are "Darkstalkers", beings of supernatural, and apparently evil, origins, though Donovan has harnessed his power for good as a "Night Warrior", one of the people who hunt and kill Darkstalkers. Morrigan spends the majority of the story searching for Demitri Maximoff, a Makai exiled to Earth with plans to return to the demon realm and depose her father, while Donovan travels the world in search of a suit of demonic samurai armor called Bishamon, which killed the family of his young ward, Anita.

MARVEL TEAM-UP #62

Stan Lee presents SPIDEY and MS. MARVEL -- together!

”ALL THIS AND THE QE2”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker: Dave Hunt
Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Dave Hunt | Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: At the Penn Station rail yard, Spider-Man defends himself against the Super-Skrull and notes that an overhead power grid briefly blocks the Skrull’s powers, which are supplied via a continuously running beam from deep space. The Skrull takes Spider-Man out and heads for the cruise liner Queen Elizabeth II just offshore, where he raids an antique dealer’s cabin to recover a cavourite crystal.

But Carol Danvers is aboard ship as well. She changes into Ms. Marvel and attacks the Super-Skrull, battling him until Spider-Man arrives. The web-slinger and Ms. Marvel join forces to snag the cavourite crystal and then recreate the power grid on a huge scale, blocking the Skrull’s power. Then they release their makeshift grid and toss the crystal back to the Skrull. It is super-charged by the deactivated beam, and transports the Skrull through a space warp.

Continuity Notes: This issue picks up exactly where the last left off. For those keeping score, Spider-Man has teamed up with four heroes to fight two villains across four issues covering a span of probably less than twelve hours. I love stuff like this.

Super-Skrull recalls Mister Fantastic blocking his powers once before in FANTASTIC FOUR #18.

MARVEL TEAM-UP #61

Stan Lee presents: SPIDEY and the TORCH -- together!

”NOT ALL THY POWERS CAN SAVE THEE!”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker: Dave Hunt
Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Dave Hunt | Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: As Spider-Man cleans up in the Baxter Building, he's attacked one at a time by what seem to be the individual members of the Fantastic Four. The wall-crawler is thrown from the building and rescued by the Human Torch.

The two young heroes return to FF headquarters to find the Super-Skrull waiting. A fight begins, which travels down to the Penn Station rail yard. There, while the Torch fights the Skrull, Spider-Man rigs up an electrical trap. The Torch is subdued and Spider-Man lures the Skrull into his trap -- but it fails, and the Skrull advances on the lone web-slinger.

Continuity Notes: This story begins shortly after last issue’s conclusion, meaning this is still the same night as Spider-Man’s, Yellowjacket’s, and the Wasp’s fight with Equinox (though by issue’s end, it's the next morning).

The Torch explains to Spider-Man that Super-Skrull had been trapped inside an Indian “soul catcher” by Tigra in MARVEL CHILLERS #7, who had entrusted it to the FF, and that the Skrull presumably escaped during the Equinox altercation.

WHY ISN'T THERE A SHE-HULK TV SERIES?

As the new television season gears up, I find myself wondering about this. It's a weirdly specific question, maybe, but I think it's a reasonable thing to consider. Most iterations of SHE-HULK are tailor-made for TV.

First off, I should say that NetFlix's DAREDEVIL proved to me something I had long suspected: Unencumbered by dumb network "input", a television series really is the best way to do superheroes. I love Marvel's movies, but they're really just snapshots in the characters' lives once every few years. A serialized, episodic TV series is much more in keeping with the nature of superhero comics as they have existed for decades, and that concept really serves the characters best.

But we live in a world where the A-list Marvel heroes will always be on the big screen, leaving TV for the lesser known or more obscure characters -- and I submit that, perhaps after the already announced stable of NetFlix characters -- Daredevil, Power Man, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones -- no Marvel character is a better fit for TV than She-Hulk. I'll even take that a step further and declare that no Marvel character is a better fit specifically for network TV than She-Hulk.

Yes, I just noted above that networks are dumb, and I believe that they frequently devolve TV series far below their potential with stupid, borderline insulting pandering to the broadest possible audience. But -- She-Hulk's premise is practically cast from the network mold: Jennifer Walters is a prosecuting attorney by day, party girl by night, involved in all manner of interpersonal conflicts both in and out of her workplace. The only thing that separates this from a dozen other legal "dramedies" is that the protagonist in this case happens to be six feet tall and green. She's not a superhero by trade, but of course does occasionally get into situations where she must exercise her strength. But at its core, this should be a funny, sexy, primetime TV soap opera which takes place in the Marvel Universe.

STREET FIGHTER V: THE LIFE AND DEATH(S) OF CHARLIE NASH

Story: Chris Sarracini
Art: Jeffrey "Chamba" Cruz, Hanzo Steinbach, Edwin Huang, Rob "Robaato" Porter, Long Vo
Colors: Jeffrey "Chamba" Cruz, Josh Perez, Espen Grundetjern, Rob "Robaato" Porter
Lettering: Marshall Dillon | Flats: Ludwig Olimba
Cover Art: Steve Mack w/Espen Grundetjern | UDON Chief: Erik Ko
Director of Publishing: Matt Moylan | Senior Editor: Ash Paulsen

UDON's first tie-in with the upcoming STREET FIGHTER V videogame is an original graphic novel released as a San Diego Comic-Con 2015 exclusive. UDON claims this book will not be rereleased elsewhere, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the story pop up somehow, in some other larger collection. In the meantime, however, since I was on a STREET FIGHTER binge over the summer of 2015, I opted to pick up the exclusive book and cover it here.

Apparently Capcom decided to bring back the long-dead Charlie Nash as a playable character in STREET FIGHTER V, leading to some consternation among fans. The guy had been killed off chronologically prior to the original STREET FIGHTER II, in the STREET FIGHTER ALPHA prequel series, and his death was a major part of the backstories of both Guile and Chun-Li. But with the character returning to life in the game's canon, that meant UDON would need to resurrect him as well for their ongoing stories. And, rather than regular STREET FIGHTER writer Ken Siu-Chong, this task fell to STREET FIGHTER ORIGINS: AKUMA scribe Chris Sarracini. Probably a good idea. As noted previously, Sarracini seems a much more adept writer than Siu-Chong, and a certain level of skill is required here to pull off Charlie's return.

IRON FIST #15

”ENTER, THE X-MEN”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker: Dan Green
Letterer: Annette Kawecki | Colorist: Bruce Patterson | Editor: Archie Goodwin

The tip-off had been brief and to-the-point: a valuable Rand-Meachum shipment was due to be hijacked this evening… and only Iron Fist could stop it!

It was a trap, of course. That was why you’d followed up on the tip -- to find out who was behind it and why he was after you.

The Plot: Iron Fist is ambushed by Davos, who saps more of his strength and then escapes. After the skirmish, Iron Fist heads to Misty’s apartment, forgetting that she’s on assignment in the Carribbean. Iron Fist is observed entering the apartment by the X-Men’s Wolverine.

In the Carribbean, Misty flashes back to her mission briefing from District Attorney Tower, then is greeted by John Bushmaster, the mobster she’s been sent to bring down.

Back in New York, Wolverine attacks Iron Fist. The battle is soon joined by Nightcrawler and Colossus, then Storm and finally Banshee. Iron Fist holds his own against the X-Men but ultimately surrenders when he realizes they think he’s a supervillain. Jean Grey, Misty’s roommate, returns to the apartment with Scott “Cyclops” Summers. Wolverine is berated for starting the fight, then a party is thrown.

Continuity Notes: We’re reminded via footnote that Davos ambushed Iron Fist last issue. Later, Misty recalls walking out on Danny Rand in IRON FIST #13. The flashback to her briefing features appearances from D.A. Tower, Rafael Scarfe, and Bill Hao. We also learn that, as part of her cover, Misty has apparently become Bushmaster’s lover.