Cold Heart

Randy Robertson took a drink of water from his bottle before he took several deep breaths. Ever since he'd stopped working at the warehouse and had taken a job with the HABQ-FM radio station, he'd taken to lifting weights in the morning before he had breakfast and washed up in the morning. He found that it was also an ideal time to fully wake himself up and think about his agenda for the day.

Normally that was how it would have worked, but today the main subject on Randy's mind was his girlfriend, the beautiful, blonde Gwen Stacy. Their relationship was a lot more complicated than those of many other couples, since Gwen was also the masked crimefighter known as the spectacular Spider-Woman. Being a superhero had caused Gwen no end of trouble ever since she'd first put on her costume, and her relationship with Randy wasn't spared the grief.

Randy had never been fond of masked superheroes, and his relationship with Gwen had been strained when she'd had to run off to fight one of her supervillain enemies and then lied to Randy about it. It didn't take Randy long to figure out the truth, though, and Gwen had eventually explained to him just why she fought crime as a superhero.

Randy had tried to be supportive of Gwen, especially when he realized that he'd probably have done the same things Gwen had if he had been in her shoes. He'd also tried to be supportive when he'd heard that Gwen had somehow let Jack O' Lantern, one of her most dangerous enemies, discover her secret identity. Unfortunately, he couldn't stop himself from bluntly criticizing Gwen for her carelessness, something that only added to her guilt and distress.

Gwen's old guilt and dismay over her carelessness had been dredged up again after Spider-Woman's battle with the darkness-manipulating hypnotist Black Mamba. Somehow, Black Mamba had made an illusion of Randy be the one to berate Gwen, which made it all the more painful for her. Gwen had begun feeling the stress once again, which Randy found out about after their tennis date two days ago.

Now, Randy wasn't sure what he ought to feel. A part of him was still angry with Gwen for her carelessness, especially now that apparently this Black Mamba women probably knew her secret identity too. That part of Randy also hated the way Gwen constantly put herself, and by extension the people she knew, in danger because of her being a superhero.

But Randy also recognized all the good Gwen had been able to do with her spider-powers, helping people when they needed it the most. He also knew full well that Gwen had very good reasons for fighting crime with her powers. Another part of him felt that he was being unfair to Gwen, especially since it probably wasn't her fault that her enemies found her secret identity. He'd seen how guilty she'd felt because of it and how much she berated herself, particularly when she still felt compelled to act as a superhero anyway.

I was just lying to myself, Randy sighed as he got out of the shower and dried himself off with a towel. I thought that Gwen and I put all that crap behind us…shows how much I know.

I just wish I knew what the hell to do…he thought to himself in frustration.

SPIDER-WOMAN #60

"COLD HEART"

Gwen herself had indeed been thinking about many of the same things that Randy had. However, today her mind was on something else, as she made the trip to Riker's Island Penitentiary to visit Marie-Ange Colbert, better known as Tarot. Formerly bullied by the likes of Felicia Hardy and Sally Avril, Tarot had used her mutant powers to try and get revenge on her tormentors until Spider-Woman had stopped her. Since then, Tarot had experienced a change of heart, helping Spider-Woman save a number of people from the murderous Bookworm. Gwen had visited her in prison on a number of occasions, and the two women had subsequently formed their own unique friendship.

"Hello, Tarot," Gwen greeted Tarot with a smile as they sat in the visitor's room. To her delight, she saw that Tarot was looking much better than before. Tarot was being abused by her fellow inmates for being a mutant, and when Gwen found out she'd informed the Daily Bugle newspaper in the hopes that its publisher J. Jonah Jameson, a passionate supporter of mutant rights, could do something about it.

"Hi Gwen," Tarot smiled back. "It's really nice to see you again. How have things been with you?"

"I just finished a photoshoot with Vaughn-Pope Cosmetics," Gwen replied, "and I've got a couple of acting jobs lined up. What about you, though? How have things been ever since the Bugle exposed what's been happening to the mutant prisoners?"

"It's a lot better," Tarot said, seeming as if she'd had the weight of the world lifted off of her shoulders. "They've actually let me begin studying for a Psychology degree."

"You're going to become a psychologist?" Gwen asked in surprise. "That's-"

"…Not quite," Tarot shook her head, a sad smile on her face. "It's going to be a long time before I get out of here, Gwen."

"Oh," Gwen said, feeling more than a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't worry about it," Tarot reassured her. "I've made my peace with that, Gwen. Besides, it's not all bad-I can actually do some real good in here."

"How?" Gwen blinked in astonishment.

"The Bugle's expose helped make conditions better for the mutants in here," Tarot explained, "but a lot of the mutant inmates still have problems. So do a lot of the women inmates, whether they're mutants or not. I think I can help them as a counsellor. I know the kind of shit a lot of them have been going through, believe me."

"I've seen it myself, too," Gwen nodded sadly, thinking of her own abusive home life and everything she'd seen Kitty Pryde have to put up with. "So they're treating you better?"

"Yeah," Tarot nodded, "and not just the prison authorities either. Even the other inmates are treating me like a person, and not just a mascot or a freak. You really helped me out on that too."

"…I did?" Gwen asked in surprise.

"Yeah, when another one of the inmates read about what was happening in here in the Daily Bugle, he got some of his relatives to protect me," Tarot nodded.

"…Seriously?" Gwen said in surprise. "Who was it?"

In response, Tarot turned behind her and called out to someone at the back of the room.

"Hey, Donnie!" she called out.

If Gwen was astonished at Tarot receiving protection in prison, she was all the more shocked at seeing just who it was that protected Tarot. His snow-white hair and skin, and his ice-blue eyes, were all too familiar to Gwen. They belonged to Donald Gill, alias Blizzard, the first supervillain that Gwen had fought as a costumed superhero.

"Hey," Donald Gill grinned, a goofy smile on his face, as he sat down next to Tarot. "How's it hanging?" he asked Tarot.

"A lot better these days," Tarot replied with a smile. "Donnie, I'd like to introduce-"

"Hello, gorgeous!" Donald grinned, his eyes widening as he checked Gwen out. "It's a real pleasure to meet you, honey," he continued, as he gazed at Gwen admiringly.

Gwen did her best to smile back, despite her discomfort at the way Donald looked at her. It reminded her of the way he'd tried to flirt with her when they'd first met in their costumed identities. She also pointedly reminded herself of how Donald had not only protected Tarot, but had also helped Gwen protect the innocent people of New York during the supervillain riots instigated by the nightmarish Psyko.

"I'm really glad things are going well for you, Tarot," Gwen said to Tarot, turning her attention back to the other woman.

"It's all good, Gwen," Tarot nodded. "And I owe you a lot of thanks, too-you've really helped me get through all this. I honestly don't know where I'd be without you."

"Hey, you're the one who made the effort," Gwen reminded Tarot as she rose to leave. "Just keep it up, Tarot-and never, ever sell yourself short," she reminded her.

Once she'd said her goodbyes to Donald and Tarot, Gwen mulled over everything she'd seen as she headed for the exit.

For all her own problems, she felt distinctly better after hearing about how well Tarot was doing.

It was just before noon by the time Gwen got home, and she set about making herself some vegetable soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. As she was opening the soup can, she heard the front door slam. It wasn't long before Gwen's cousin Jill Stacy came to join her in the kitchen.

"What are you doing home?" Gwen asked in surprise. Jill usually didn't get home this early on Saturday, as she had gymnastics practice in the morning and usually went to lunch with her friends at the vegetarian restaurant they enjoyed.

"Dad's picking me up," Jill explained, as she took some more bread and cheese and began making some sandwiches of her own. "We're going to be having dinner with some of his relatives."

Gwen smiled at that, but she otherwise didn't think much about it. Her Aunt Nancy had conceived Jill through in vitro fertilization after she decided she wanted to have a child. Since the asexual Nancy had never been able to find anyone she wanted to conceive a child with, one of her male friends agreed to donate his sperm. While Jill and Nancy had maintained regular contact with her biological father, Gwen had never met him.

"Would you be interested in coming?" Jill asked.

Gwen just blinked in surprise at that.

"No, I can't," Gwen shook her head. "I've got to prepare for these TV roles I'm going to be auditioning for. Auditions are tomorrow, and I want to do some more practicing."

"That's too bad," Jill frowned as she went to turn the oven on. "I'm sure he'd really like to meet you and Aunt Helen."

Gwen thought about that for a moment. While she was entirely truthful about not being able to go to the dinner even if she wanted to, Gwen was also glad to have an excuse not to go.

It'd just be so awkward, Gwen realized, as she put the sandwiches on the grill. I mean, who would I know there besides Jill? I'd just feel like a fifth wheel…

It's funny how I never felt that way at large parties or at auditions and rehearsals, Gwen thought to herself as they resumed chatting while waiting for their food to cook. But just going to small groups where I don't know anybody, and I'm not part of the family…I just feel like I'd be intruding, she continued.

I wonder why that is?

The next day didn't provide Gwen with any additional answers, and in any event she had no time to think about it. Today was the first day of auditions for the TV show that Tom Ferguson, her director in the version of The Wiz that she had starred in almost a year ago, had told her about. The casting call was for appearing on several episodes of An Officer And A Mutant, a new crime drama that was set to premiere in the fall. While the airwaves were already full of crime dramas that tried to cash in on the trends started by the CSI franchise, An Officer And A Mutant put a new spin on it by making the protagonist a police officer who was also a mutant, examining how he dealt with anti-mutant prejudices and the ethics of using his powers in law enforcement.

There were a couple of parts Gwen could get, such as being a clerical worker at the police station, a witness giving a statement and even a victim of the week. The one she was really hoping to land was that of the lead character's teenage daughter, who was said to play an important supporting role. There were several other people she knew auditioning as well, and before long Gwen was chatting with them as they discussed what they'd been doing since the last time they'd seen each other.

Gwen had extensively studied the scripts, she'd brought a good supply of headshots and samples of her past work, and she had her resume all set for the casting director.

She felt confident, and she felt good about her chances. An Officer And A Mutant was being heavily promoted by NBC, and if she got any of the parts she was trying for, and did well enough at them, it would be a big boost for her still-fledgling career.

All of the cast members snapped to attention as the door to the green room opened and a woman stepped in. She conducted herself with the manner of someone who was used to being obeyed, looking down with contempt at the actors. She was both tall, almost six feet in height, and morbidly obese, looking as if she weighed nearly three hundred pounds.

Gwen didn't recognize her at first, but then her heart sank as she recognized the fat woman as Mrs. Jannetty. Gwen had run into Mrs. Jannetty twice already, the first time when she waited on Mrs. Jannetty at the coffee shop and the second time when Mrs. Jannetty had been abusing a shoe salesman who was trying to help her. Both times, Mrs. Jannetty had been extremely rude and bossy, and Gwen hadn't been able to stop herself from yelling at her. The first time, it was because Gwen had been stressed to the breaking point after an extremely bad day, and the second time because she was disgusted with how the older woman had been treating the shoe salesman.

"All right, everyone," Mrs. Jannetty was saying, an edge of contempt in her voice as she looked over the would-be actors. "You're all going to-well, well, well…" she grinned, her eyes flaring as she recognized Gwen.

"How nice to see you again, dear," Mrs. Jannetty smirked, her tone making clear that she had neither forgotten or forgiven the times Gwen had already crossed her path.

"Now, as I was saying, my name is Carol Jannetty, and I'm one of the producers on this show," she said. "I'll be helping the casting director decide which of you will be getting the roles you're all here for. We've got the order set up, so step forward as I call your names…"

Gwen had been feeling confident and good about her chances, but now with Mrs. Jannetty staring daggers at her, she was now distinctly ill at ease.

Gwen felt Mrs. Jannetty staring at her during her audition, watching from the sidelines and standing next to the casting director. Despite it all, Gwen's recital of her lines was precise and pitch-perfect. She had all four of the roles she was aiming for down cold, and didn't miss a beat despite the almost palpable loathing she saw whenever her eyes met Mrs. Jannetty's.

Once her audition was over, Gwen took the time to thank the casting director and the rest of the production crew, including Mrs. Jannetty. The director seemed impressed by her performance, but Gwen could almost feel Mrs. Jannetty's malicious smile boring into her as she left the studio.

Waiting for the bus outside the studio, Gwen felt a keen sense of frustration. It was one thing to lose acting or modeling roles that could be major boosts for her career if she genuinely wasn't good enough. While she might be unhappy about that, it wasn't that big a deal. What was far worse was knowing that she could have done so well with the roles, except that something kept coming up to likely ruin her chances of getting the jobs. Despite how well she'd done at the audition, she doubted that she'd be getting any callbacks, not with the overbearing Mrs. Jannetty as a producer on the show.

Gwen only sighed, her confidence sorely shaken.

How beautiful, Gregor Shapanka mused as he gazed at the sculpture in his hand. Perhaps I do not have as much raw power as I did with my technology, but my control is more refined, more precise, more…deadly.

The sculpture in Shapanka's hands was made of pure, crystalline ice crafted into the shape of a castle, exquisitely detailed and lovingly crafted. It was truly a work of art, all the more stunning for that no one would have expected such a beautiful thing to be crafted by someone with a heart as cold and frozen as the ice it was made of.

Gregor Shapanka was himself a strange sight, with snow-white skin and hair and eyes of a brilliant ice blue. Even that wasn't the strangest thing about him, as he had crafted the ice sculpture in his hands by a simple act of will. With his bizarre abilities to generate ice, snow and cold, creating such things was mere child's play for Shapanka.

It used to be that Shapanka had needed his special cold-generating equipment to manipulate the cold. A former employee of Stark Enterprises who had turned to supervillainy after Tony Stark had fired him for embezzlement, Gregor Shapanka had used his scientific discoveries to become the costumed supervillain Blizzard. Originally clashing with Iron Man, Shapanka had recently learned of Donald Gill, another supervillain with ice-manipulating abilities. Gill had taken the identity of Blizzard for himself, clashing with Spider-Woman in the process.

Enraged, Shapanka had come to New York and taken a group of hostages in order to force Donald Gill to fight him, so that Shapanka could kill Gill for plagiarizing his identity. Unfortunately, Shapanka had instead attracted the attention of Gill's old sparring partner Spider-Woman, who had battled and defeated him, destroying his equipment in the process. Because of the confined quarters of the bank they were fighting in, Shapanka hadn't been able to use his cold powers to their full extent, lest he kill the hostages who were his bargaining chips.

However, in destroying his equipment Spider-Woman had done something no one could ever have expected, least of all Shapanka himself. During their battle, several ice shards had pierced Shapanka's Blizzard costume and torn into his body. Spider-Woman had then blasted them with her bioelectric "sting" blasts, conducting the energy directly through the ice shards and into his body. Some of the ice shards had also pierced the cryonic circuitry of Shapanka's costume, and when they were struck by Spider-Woman's sting blasts they conducted the cryonic energy directly into Shapanka's body.

Gregor Shapanka's entire life had changed after that. His skin and hair had turned white, and his eyes had turned blue, but those were only cosmetic changes compared to the fact that he'd absorbed the cryonic abilities of his costume directly into his own body. He could generate ice walls, missiles of hail, freezing cold winds, and so much more.

All thanks to Spider-Woman.

It had made escaping from jail so easy. Given that his powers had come from his equipment, Shapanka had always been sent to an ordinary prison whenever he was defeated. This time, though, he had been able to use his new, natural powers to escape from prison. Ironically, it had been the prison guards noticing Shapanka's bizarre appearance and trying to put some power-dampening manacles on him that made Shapanka realize what had happened to him. He'd managed to escape before the guards could retrieve the manacles, and it didn't take him long to lose the police. While his escape had attracted some attention, the New York Police Department had made an effort to keep it under wraps, given how embarrassing it was.

For the last couple of months, Shapanka had been laying low. He'd been living off the money he'd saved up from previous successful crimes, getting around in public by using Mysterio's disguise technology to avoid being recognized. Shapanka had wanted to fully test the extent of his powers, getting as much control over them as possible before he struck again.

Now, after all his practice, he was ready.

Shapanka's tests had confirmed one thing, namely that he didn't have enough raw power to take on Iron Man. Tony Stark had upgraded his armored bodyguard a lot over the last few years, much more than when Iron Man had first appeared. Shapanka knew how to deal with that, though. While his old equipment had allowed him to manipulate ice and cold, Shapanka had also been using his downtime to design some new cryonics equipment that would drastically enhance his natural cold-manipulating powers. All he needed was some capital to start developing it, after which time he would be ready to take on Iron Man once again.

That would necessitate Shapanka going out in his Blizzard identity, so that he could rob and steal for the money he needed. Granted, that gave him the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone-along with wanting to kill Iron Man, Tony Stark and Donald Gill, he also wanted to kill Spider-Woman for interfering with his plans. In all likelihood, if he ran into a superhero while committing his robberies, it would be Spider-Woman.

Concentrating intently, Blizzard focused his powers. He crafted an exquisitely designed figurine of Spider-Woman, perfectly capturing her grace and beauty so that the figurine seemed to almost take on a life of its own.

Bringing his hands together, he immediately shattered the figurine into pieces.

A wide grin crossed Blizzard's face.

The next day was Monday, and there was less than a week left before May would turn into June. Gwen had spent the morning doing housework and getting groceries, but her mind was still whirling with everything from her failed attempt to stop Black Mamba to her concerns about Randy to her first audition, which she'd probably blown through no fault of her own. Changing into her Spider-Woman costume after lunch, she went web-slinging in the hopes that she might be able to clear her head. Besides, she hadn't patrolled in the last few days, and she never knew when one of her old enemies, or some new villain altogether, would come out of the woodwork.

Surprisingly, Spider-Woman didn't encounter much of anything during the first two hours of her patrol, not even ordinary muggers or purse snatchers. Spider-Woman ended up swinging over almost half of Manhattan looking for any kind of criminal activity, and the one mugging she encountered was already being dealt with by a police patrolman by the time she spotted it.

Shrugging her shoulders, Spider-Woman turned around to head for home.

At least I got a good workout, Spider-Woman thought to herself as she released her webline and then spun another. It's actually kind of nice to just get out like this and not have to worry about-

The loud screams and crashes coming from below jolted Spider-Woman out of her reverie. Landing on the side of a building and looking around frantically at the streets below, Spider-Woman saw what looked like a billowing white cloud of fog and mist emanating from a building that was clearly a bank.

Spider-Woman was utterly confused as she began scrambling down to street level.

How did Blizzard get out of jail? she wondered. I saw him there with Tarot two days ago!

It wasn't like Spider-Woman particularly cared, of course.

First it was armored cars, and now it's banks, she realized.

If he wants to go back to jail that bad, I might as well help him along…

The scene in the bank was everything that Spider-Woman had expected. Icicles were hanging from the ceiling, the floor was covered in ice and snow, the bank employees and customers were cowering against the walls, and a misty haze flew through the air. Blizzard stood with his back to her, easily freezing and then shattering the bank vault after encasing it in ice and then hitting it with a concentrated battering ram. Spider-Woman noticed that his costume seemed different than last time, being a white hooded parka overtop of a pair of beige brown pants and boots, but again she hardly cared.

Shouting at Blizzard, she fired a sting blast at him at the same time, but Blizzard easily dodged the attack as he turned around. Spider-Woman cursed, realizing that he'd probably seen her reflection in that large casing of ice he was using to open the bank vault.

Spider-Woman was caught off guard by Blizzard's laugh as he cast a burst of freezing wind at her, following it up by a wave of snow that threw her off balance. The laugh was harsh and cruel, not like the smirking, roguish Donald Gill's at all. As she braced herself and tried to regain her balance, she got a good look at Blizzard and realized how much taller this man was than the Donald Gill she was used to. The razor-sharp ice spikes he followed up with tore Spider-Woman all over, causing her to bleed as she shivered in the freezing cold he was emanating.

The webline Spider-Woman shot at Blizzard was frozen and shattered in midair, while her sting blasts were deflected by the wall of ice he raised between them. He then charged at her, sliding across the icy floor like a skater, swinging an ice-covered fist at Spider-Woman. Slowed by the cold, she barely managed to dodge the first punch, but Blizzard's second one caught her in the stomach and knocked her back. She crashed into the pillar of ice that Blizzard raised behind her and sprawled down on the ground as Blizzard followed up his advantage. Grabbing her roughly by the throat, Blizzard pulled her up so she stared into his balaclava-covered face. Blizzard's eyes were a deep ice blue, glittering with hate as they recognized it.

"I knew I'd be running into you sooner or later, you little chit," Blizzard smirked, emanating a wave of cold to chill Spider-Woman and keep her from striking back. "I suppose I ought to hold a grudge against you for turning me into a freak after your sting blasts wrecked my equipment, but I have to say I love these new powers. No my dear, I just hold a grudge because you got in my way. I don't take kindly to that, you see," he continued. Holding Spider-Woman up with one hand, he covered his free hand with solid ice and clobbered Spider-Woman, sending her flying back to crash against the wall.

Her entire body numb with cold and throbbing with pain, Spider-Woman slowly struggled to her feet. She was shivering, the skintight spandex costume she wore in the summer months doing little to keep the cold out. She barely managed to dodge the next flurry of icicle spikes, springing over and around them. The sting blasts she fired were frustratingly deflected by the ice barriers Blizzard erected, and he managed to slam her with another large ice block, knocking her off her feet once more. Spider-Woman was forced to dodge as Blizzard laughed hysterically, taking pleasure in her apparent helplessness.

"That's it, dance!" he taunted her.

Spider-Woman's mind raced as she tried to figure out what to do. A frontal attack clearly wouldn't work, not when Blizzard could see her attacks coming. Her reactions were slowed down by the cold, and Blizzard could react much more quickly than she could...

…when he knew what she was trying to do.

Spider-Woman suddenly unleashed a double sting blast from her hands, which Blizzard deflected with an ice barrier. Charging forward, Spider-Woman leapt on top of the ice barrier and fired again at Blizzard. Alarmed, Blizzard erected a second, large ice barrier to block it, but Spider-Woman then sprang onto that barrier and fired a third double blast. Skating back, caught off guard, Blizzard couldn't react in time before he was caught dead on and bowled over.

Spider-Woman followed him, her hands glowing with the energies of another sting blast, but this time Blizzard had anticipated her tactics. He countered with a flurry of large ice balls and icicle spikes, more than enough to deflect Spider-Woman's stings. To his alarm, Spider-Woman's hands stopped glowing as she switched to her webbing. Spraying it in a wide arc, Spider-Woman snagged all of Blizzard's missiles, before spinning them around in the air. Her body now warming up with the exertion, Spider-Woman sent the mass of ice and webbing flying right back at Blizzard.

Desperately skating out of the way, Blizzard managed to avoid getting hit full on with the mass, but it partially struck him and sent him spinning. As he tried to regain his footing, Spider-Woman caught him with a double shot of webbing and spun him around, releasing him to send him slamming into the far wall. Bouncing off the wall, Blizzard staggered for a few moments before falling flat on his face, unconscious.

Wrapping Blizzard up in webbing, and then adding some more webbing to her hands to protect them, Spider-Woman dragged Blizzard out of the frozen bank and back into the warm sunshine. All of the customers and staff in the bank had managed to escape while Spider-Woman had Blizzard distracted, and they cheered Spider-Woman loudly as she emerged.

Spider-Woman appreciated their gratitude, of course. More than that, though, she appreciated the warm feeling of sunshine as it warmed her chilled body.

To her immense relief, she saw that none of the people in the bank had been hurt by Blizzard. Hearing police sirens approaching, Spider-Woman knelt down and began peeling some of the webbing off of Blizzard so the police would be able to get their power-dampening restraints on the villain.

Once the police arrived, Spider-Woman realized what he'd meant by giving him powers after she'd destroyed his equipment. He was the second Blizzard she'd fought, the one who'd wanted to force Donald Gill to fight him. Her sting blasts, in reacting with his destroyed equipment, had given him natural cold-controlling powers.

This is all my fault, Spider-Woman cursed herself once more as she leapt up and swung away. I was stupid enough to give that sicko powers, and look at what he's done with them!

It was as well that none of the other Stacy women were at home that afternoon, or they would have wondered why Gwen was wrapped in an electric blanket while sitting in the sunshine.

Let's see, Gwen thought to herself…I completely failed to stop Black Mamba from killing an innocent man…I've mucked things up with Randy by telling him about the illusion Black Mamba pulled on me…an audition that could give my career a huge boost is overseen by someone with a grudge against me…and I'm directly responsible for giving a murderous criminal superhuman powers that he's probably going to hurt God knows how many people with…

…In other words, the old Stacy luck is running true to form, Gwen realized.

She then thought of the other Blizzard, Donald Gill, and how well he and Tarot were doing.

…Then again, it's not all bad, she thought to herself with a half-smile.

(Next Issue: Gwen waits on pins and needles for the call back for her audition. While she learns that she's gotten the lead in Othello, things are still tense between her and Randy as they try to work out their issues surrounding her fighting crime as Spider-Woman. In the middle of it all, Gwen runs into Black Mamba, and sets out to track the killer down and bring her to justice. All this and more in Spider-Woman #62: Snake In The Grass!)