Spider-Woman: Agent of S.W.O.R.D, Part Three

Standing around a number of dead Madripoor police officers, Jessica Drew reminds herself that none of this is not her fault. The person responsible is Madame Hydra, the mentally deranged leader of the terrorist organization Hydra. Seeing Madam Hydra, aka the Viper, again makes her think of all of the people she kept in her mind while she was held prisoner by the Skrulls and she wasn’t one of them.[1] When Madame Hydra tells her to get into her car, Jessica refuses.[2] However, she is forced to enter the vehicle after Viper threatens to kill the officers who come to investigate the gunshots.

Madame Hydra is busy talking about how glad she is to see Jessica alive and well when she notices that they are now being followed by a pair of police helicopters and takes evasive action to avoid their gunfire. All Jessica can think of is how there are always innocent bystanders in these sorts of missions and how she can’t just kill Madame Hydra. If, for some reason, she gets lucky and succeeds it just puts a target on your back for whoever succeeds her as leader of Hydra. That’s when Viper admits that she met the Skrull impostor and the pair had a deal together but she knew there was something wrong with her.[3] She gets right down to business and asks Jessica to rejoin Hydra, reminding her how she was once a member of the organization, but Drew doesn’t want to hear it.[4] Viper sees Jessica’s presence in Madripoor because she wants to return to Hydra’s ranks. When Jessica tries to explain why she is really there, Madame Hydra already knows that SWORD has hired her to go after the remaining Skrull fugitives on Earth.

She knows this because Hydra operatives have infiltrated SWORD. To prove this, Madame Hydra produces a bioscanner similar to the one Abigale Brand gave Jessica earlier. Drew looks at her own and confirms that Viper is really who she appears to be and reminds herself to check the device more regularly. Once they land on the roof of the office building that Hydra owns, Jessica is once again offered a position with Hydra. She decides that she should just kill Madame Hydra after all and tires to hit her with a venom blast. Unfortunately, Viper has a personalized forcefield to protect her. When the Hydra agents who have come to greet them raise their weapons, Viper tells them to stand down, saying that Jessica is confused right now.

When Jessica realizes that she can’t harm Madame Hydra, she stops trying to blast her and decides to at least listen to what she has to offer. Viper explains that they both share the same goal as Skrulls are a threat to Hydra’s plans. That’s when Jessica asks if Abigale Brand is a Hydra plant and is told that this isn’t the case. Jessica has had enough and tells Madame Hydra that she is going to break free, get her fellow Avengers, and bring this facility to the ground. That’s when Madame Hydra shows Jessica the Skrull that they have captured. While they were easily able to sniff him out, Hydra has yet to find a way to make him talk and decides to leave Jessica alone with the alien to try and make it talk.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Woman, Hydra (Madame Hydra), Pilli Natu

Continuity Notes

1. Spider-Woman was replaced by a Skrull impostor in Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1. She was rescued and her impostor (The leader of a Skrull invasion of Earth) was eliminated during the course of Secret Invasion #1-8.

2. Jessica states here that Madame Hydra thinks that she is her mother and then says that she saw her mother killed by her father years ago. There’s a lot going on here:

   • Madame Hydra previously has thought that Jessica Drew was her daughter in the past and it was revealed that she was under the influence of the demonic entity known as Chthon. See Spider-Woman #42-44 and Captain America #281-283.

   • There are conflicting facts surrounding the death of Meriam Drew. Original accounts in New Mutants Annual #3 states that she was murdered by a werewolf.

   • Jessica’s memory of her father killing her mother is from Spider-Woman: Origin #1, when he saw her father choking out her mother. However, as I’ve stated before, I believe this to be a false memory.

   • Even then, if the events of Spider-Woman: Origins #1-5 are to be trusted, Miriam Drew was murdered by Whiplash in issue #4 of that series. (I think that this is an impostor)

   • There is also Spider-Woman (vol. 7) #3 that has recently suggested that Miriam is still alive however that story is still on going as I write this, so if this is actaully the case remains to be seen. (September 2020)

3. Veranke, when posing as Jessica Drew was working as a double agent for SHIELD by pretending to secretly join Hydra. This, and her encounter with Madame Hydra were all detailed in New Avengers #42.

4. As detailed in Marvel Spotlight #32, Spider-Woman #1, and Spider-Woman: Origins #1-5, Jessica was brainwashed into being loyal to Hydra until she learned the truth about the organization from Nick Fury and quit the organization.