Revenge!

During a siege on Stark Industries by the Spymaster and his Espionage Elite, Jasper Sitwell as been shot. As Spymaster escapes, Iron Man vows to get revenge over what has happened.

The news about Jasper’s injury hits the newspapers quickly and the story is read by Madame Masque. Hearing about Jasper’s injury makes her realize that she still lives the SHIELD agent. Changing into her costume, Madame Masque heads out to the hospital to see what she can learn about his condition.[1]

By this time, District Attorney Foggy Nelson and his assistant, Matt Murdock have come to collect the captured members of the Espionage Elite. Iron Man, still furious over Jasper getting shot, tries threatening the spies to reveal the location of their employer. This forces Murdock to tell Iron Man to back off before he does something he regrets. Getting ahold of himself, Iron Man departs, vowing to find Spymaster on his own.

Meanwhile, the Spymaster meets with his employer, Sagittarius of the Zodiac crime cartel. Sagittarius is furious that Spymaster failed on his mission but decides to give him another chance and gives him orders to capture the masked crimefighter known as Daredevil.[2]

Later that day, Iron Man meets with Nick Fury at SHIELD headquarters in the hopes he can get a lead on Spymaster. Fury empathizes with how Iron Man feels, since he knows what its like to see friends getting injured from his time fighting in World War II.[3] Fury takes this opportunity to show Iron Man the Zodiac Key they recently confiscated from the Zodiac crime cartel and hopes they can get Tony Stark to examine it.[4] However, when Fury touches the Key he suddenly cannot help himself from trying to blast everyone in the room with its powerful energy. Iron Man manages to wrest the key away from Nick and contain it in a magnetic repulsor field. Due to the threat that the Zodiac Key poses, Iron Man agrees to have his “employer” look into it.

Elsewhere, Madame Masque is stopped on her rooftop travels to the hospital by Daredevil who is curious about what she is doing. As she explains how she wanted to check on the status of Jasper Sitwell the pair are snared in a net by Spymaster. The pair put up a fight but are quickly knocked out.

By this time, Iron Man has taken the Zodiac Key back to Stark Industries where he and Kevin O’Brien examine the device. Through a microscope they see strange energy patterns on the device leaving them to wonder if the weapon is alien in origin. They are joined by Nick Fury, who doesn’t like the fact that the investigation into the Key’s origins is just turning up even more mysteries. At the same time, the Sagittarius, Libra, Capricorn and Aquarius pick up the Zodiac Key’s energy signature coming from Stark Industries and prepare to launch an attack. Little do they know that Daredevil and Madame Masque have recovered from their earlier attack and are now breaking free from their bonds. Unfortunately, a force field prevents them from leaving the room they are being contained in.

When the members of the Zodiac ambush Iron Man, O’Brien, and Fury, the trio try fighting back. However, during the battle the field around the Zodiac Key drops and it begins calling out to Kevin O’Brien. He is unable to resist the call and when he grabs the Zodiac Key he cannot stop himself from using it to blast his allies. The Zodiac Cartel is then congratulated for their victory from a disembodied voice that is communicating with them through the Key. Soon, Iron Man, Kevin O’Brien, and Nick Fury are made prisoners along with Daredevil and Madame Masque. Once they have been restrained in Zodiac’s hideout below the West Side Highway, the Zodiac Key orders them to release Fury from his cell. Fury tries to attack his captors but finds himself beckoned to take the Zodiac Key. As much as he tries to resist it, Fury finds that he cannot fight its power.

…. This story is continued in Daredevil #73.

Recurring Characters

Iron Man, Zodiac (Libra, Capricorn, Aquarius, Sagittarius), Daredevil, Nick Fury, Madame Masque, Kevin O’Brien, Spymaster, Foggy Nelson, Jasper Sitwell, Espionage Elite (Number One, Four & Five)

Continuity Notes

1. Madame Masque was one the head of the Maggia and attempted to seduce Tony Stark in order to learn company secrets starting in Tales of Suspense #98. Instead she found SHIELD liaison Jasper Sitwell was an easier mark. She was exposed as the Big M Iron Man #8 and appeared to die in a plane crash in issue #12. Tony encountered her in her new identity of Madame Masque in Iron Man #19, and the pair shared a brief romance leaving her conflicted between her love of both Stark and Sitwell.

2. The identities of the three members of Zodiac in this story are not identified. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #12 identifies them as Gustav Brandt/Libra, Willard Weir/Capricorn, Darren Bentley/Aquarius, and Harlan Vargas/Sagittarius.

3. Fury’s time in World War II was mostly chronicled in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos. How he has retained his relative youth into the Modern Age is due to the fact that he takes the so-called Infinity Formula to slow his aging process, as detailed in Marvel Spotlight #31.

4. The Zodiac Key was confiscated after the Zodiac cartel was taken down by the Avengers in Avengers #72.