Marvel Team-Up #82-85 (1979)
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Sal Buscema
Letterer: Rick Parker

Spiderman crosses paths with the Black Widow who thinks herself to be someone else; a normal school teacher. Vindictive S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, who finally relinquish when Nick Fury himself shows up and shoots Widow and Spiderman, pursue her. Later Spiderman awakens and realizes that Fury shot them with a tranquilizer. He goes out in search of the Widow and finds her being held at S.H.I.E.L.D. Central. Enter Nick Fury who explains that she has been brainwashed and holds vital information that may be linked to his agents' recent abnormal behavior. 

Meanwhile, the Helicarrier is taken over by Viper with a team that includes Silver Samurai. Together with Shang-Chi Master of Kung-Fu, Spiderman, and Black Widow, Fury sets out to reclaim the Helicarrier and prevent the death of President Jimmy Carter and the entire U.S. Congress. 

• Continuity Notes
• Cover appearance on issues #82-83 & 85
• Appearances by Val, Quartermain, and Sitwell
• The Widow recues the helicarrier a second time in Marvel Fanfare #13, where its her partner Ivan who has amnesia.

Review
Complex and involving story by master scribe Chris Claremont mixes Spidey into a class-A espionage tale that is sure to please any S.H.I.E.L.D. fan. Although the cast grows with each issue, there is plenty of story to go around and no one is left robbed. The plot is eerily prophetic as Fury confronts Viper in a quest to uncover something "wrong" with S.H.I.E.L.D. echoing the future miniseries. Nonetheless the story holds itself a product of the time as Nick Fury's dubious status as a hero is used to good effect at the end of the first issue where he shoots Spiderman and Widow. Also worth noting is the intense similarity between Black Widow's identity crisis and the 90's film The Long Kiss Goodnight. Sitwell and Val make small but welcome appearances, while Quartermain is shown to have a low ESPer score as he's easily hypnotized, foreshadowing yet another future plot twist. All in all much of the plot shown here would be recycled in some way later, even the hijacking of the Helicarrier. A must have for all Fury fans.

Rating