The Trust, Part 4

The events of this story happen concurrently with Mighty Avengers #7.

Several Days Ago

The villain named Jigsaw (Billy Russo) is trying to rob a place. Unfortunately for him, the night watchman doesn’t have the combination to the safe. To make matters worse, he is ambushed by Tigra (Greer Nelson), a member of the Initiative.[1] While she gets the drop on him, she is interrupted by some over zealous police officers who mistake her for an unregistered superhero. When they open fire on Tigra, Jigsaw makes a run for it. By the time the cops straighten things out, the real criminal has hidden in a dumpster. When the coast is clear, Jigsaw returns to his hideout at a storage facility. There he breaks down in tears over the fact that he couldn’t steal anything. That’s when he notices a note waiting for him on his cot. It is an invitation to hear an offer of untold wealth. The unsigned letter tells him to come to a building in Brooklyn.

A Few Days Ago

Russo attends the meeting and discovers that it is a gathering of a large group of supervillains. The gathering was arranged by the Hood (Parker Robbins). He tells them that the current political climate is rife for exploitation and proposes they all form a massive criminal gang under his leadership.[2] He promises them that this will be an incredibly lucrative venture. He propositions that by working together as a team and helping each other make it rich. One of the Blood Brothers asks why he should lead. They tells them to open the envelopes he has given them all. They contain seed money so they can set up their criminal empire in style. He then tells them that they will also launch a campaign of terror against those heroes in the 50-State Initiative that come after them by threatening their families. He suspects that over time they can leave Tony Stark’s grand design in shambles to the point where he will have to sell off parts of his armor to stay solvent.

When Blackout asks what would happen if they just took his money and ran, Parker tells them it is just a drop in the bucket, promising them wealth that hasn’t been seen since the days of World War II and Murder, Inc.[3] He then introduces them to his cousin, John King. He tells them that John is an extension of himself and they are to go to him when they need anything. That’s when Jigsaw brings up the promise to go after the families of those who get in their way. Parker, knowing about Billy’s recent run in with Tigra, knows exactly what he is talking about and says to watch what he does next. With that, the Hood vanishes from sight.

Later, Greer Nelson is heading back to her apartment. She is on the phone trying to appeal to her superiors at the Initiative about where the Initiative is going to place her. She doesn’t want to leave New York, but its looking like they are going to transfer her out of state. The call is over once she arrives in her apartment and she can change back into her Tigra form. That’s when she is ambushed by the Hood. He quickly beats her into submission then uses his cell phone to call her mother so Greer can hear her voice. Parker warns her that if she interferes with one of his men again he will kill her entire family. This whole thing is recorded by Jigsaw so they can show it to the rest of the gang as proof of the Hood’s earlier promises.

They later screen the video at the Bar With No Name and everyone in the Hood’s new gang celebrate. They also begin planning on who to go after next.[4] That’s when Chemistro (Curtis Carr) approaches Parker and John. He tells them about how the Owl (Leland Owlsly) is not with the gang and that he has been offering to sell something of value without the Hood’s permission.

Today

This led to the Hood ambushing the Owl’s sale of the Deathlok cyborg and recruiting his potential buyers.[5] However, rather than attack Avengers Tower with it, they formulate a plan to rob a private investment bank with billions of dollars in assets. They then use Deathlok to help them rob the banks branch in New Jersey. This heist goes off without a hitch, netting the gang millions of dollars. The amount is divided up among those involved, with Chemistro getting a 10% finders fee for getting this plan rolling. While they are going over plans to launder the money, Madame Masque gets a phone call telling her to turn on the TV.

They are shocked to see that New York City has been inundated with alien symbiotes. On top of that, the New Avengers have been taken over by the creatures are fighting with Iron Man’s team as well.[6] Seeing this, Parker views it as a moment of opportunity for his new gang.

Recurring Characters

Hood’s Gang (The Hood, Madame Masque, John King, Jigsaw, Crusader, Nitro, Griffin, Cutthroat, Tiger Shark, Chemistro, Armadillo, Doctor Demonicus, Mentallo, Wrecking Crew (Wrecker, Thunderball, Piledriver, Bulldozer), Crossfire, Mandrill, Controller, Constrictor, Deathwatch, Purple Man, Mister Fear, U-Foes (Vector, Vapor, X-Ray, Ironclad), Blood Brothers, Grey Gargoyle, the Answer, Blackout, Bushwhacker, Foolkiller, Mister Hyde, Jonas Harrow, Graviton, the Wizard), Tigra, Deathlok, New Avengers (Doctor Strange, Wolverine, Ronin, Iron Fist, Spider-Man), Mighty Avengers (Iron Man, Black Widow, Wonder Man, Ms. Marvel, Ares, Sentry)

Continuity Notes

1. Following the Civil War event, Tigra joined up with the Initiative as seen in Civil War: The Initiative #1.

2. He is referring to the climate since at the time of this story. There are a number of factors that he specifically references:

   • He says that Captain America is dead. Steve Rogers was seemingly killed by an assassin in Captain America (vol. 5) #25. In reality, he was hit with a chronal bullet and has been reliving his life in a constant loop. He will be rescued from this purgatory in Captain America: Reborn #1-6.

   • The Hood also mentions that Nick Fury is gone. Fury got in legal trouble and went underground after it was learned he launched an illegal attack on Latveria. See Secret War #1-5.

   • He mentions that the Kingpin has been “put to pasture”, this is in reference to the fact that Wilson Fist’s criminal empire has been dissolved since Daredevil (vol. 2) #36. He will return to New York’s underground in Daredevil (vol. 2) #116-119

   • Lastly, he refers to the passage of the Super Human Registration Act, which requires all superhumans to register with the government. This law divided the superhero community making half of it outlaws and pre-occupying those who have registered. See Civil War #1-7.

3. Murder, Inc. was an IRL criminal organization that was active between 1921 and 1941. They have also been depicted as an organization in the Marvel Universe, appearing way back in Marvel Mystery Comics #60.

4. One of the gang members suggest they go after Frank Castle, aka the Punisher. Castle is a vigilante waging a one man war on crime since his family was murdered years earlier but mobsters as told in Marvel Super Action #1. He often uses lethal force. At the time of this story, Castle has been putting a specific focus on costumed criminals starting in Punisher: War Journal (vol. 2) #1-3.

5. We saw the Hoods confrontation with the Owl last issue. This Deathlok is reported destroyed later in this issue. It should be noted that, per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #3, that this Deathlok was a robot duplicate and not one of the pre-existing cyborgs that have operated under that name.

6. This “Venom Bomb” was dropped on midtown in Might Avengers #7. In the following issue of that series, they will discover that this was the work of Doctor Doom.

Topical References

• The Hood gives them all $25,000 each. This was considered a large sum of money in 2007 when this comic was originally published and should be considered topical due to inflation. By 2024 standards, this would be worth over $37k.

• The Hood is depicted as having a “flip” style cell phone which were popular at the time. While these are still around, they have fallen out of common use due to the advent of smart phones. As this style of phone is on its way to obsolescence, its depiction here should be considered topical.

• Likewise, Jigsaw is depicted as using a HD camcorder to record Tigra’s beating. This type of camera has also fallen out of common use due to the advent of smart phones and its depiction should also be considered topical.

• The amount of money at Brown Brothers & Harriman Co. is worth 4.2 billion dollars. This is a double whammy of topicals because BB&H is a real world bank and the dollar figure is relevant to that period of time. 4.2 billion. Likewise the 12.7 million they stole and the 1.3 million that Chemistro get as a finders fee.