Issue 4 - The Final Battle!
Special thanks to Jim Storz for the scans of the cover and the intelligence file

MISSION COMMAND CENTRAL EYES ONLY INTELLIGENCE FILE Clearance: Maj. Gen. Steven McFarland, Dr. Harold Laurence TOP CLEARANCE ONLY Use U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL passwords for access

Today, we are pleased to announce a breakthrough in our fight against the forces of the SPIRAL ZONE. There has been much elation and relief at the top levels of Mission Command Central.

Our research and development team has taken a giant step forward, of sorts. It seems that we have been able to unearth a limited source of Neutron-90, the power source that activates the Zone Riders' suits, protecting them from the ravages of the SPIRAL ZONE.

As stated above, the source is limited. We have been able, therefore, to add to the ranks of the Zone Riders, but we have been able to do so only slowly and with great deliberation and examination of all possible personnel.

We have finally, though, come up with a new group to add to the already heroic and illustrious Zone Riders. We are ecstatic and optimistic about what this will mean in terms of guaranteeing a Free Earth.

Under the command of Dirk Courage, and joining Sgt. Wolfgang Schmidt, First Lieutenant Hiro Taka, Second Lieutenant Max Jones and Corporal Katerina Anastasia, will be the following military personnel:

Second Lieutenant Ned Tucker. Tucked hails originally from Australia. He has a masters degree in physics, and is a top Air Force pilot and demolitions expert.

He gained a reputation early for being a hotshot pilot, expertly outgunning and outflying the experts in the area. He has an almost synergistic understanding of aviation technology, allowing him to outperform previous recorded flights no matter what plane is assigned to him. He just seems to be able to get more out of a plane... even more than the planes' designers and builders ever expected.

Unfortunately, Tucker was grounded far too early in his career, since he also seemed to have problems with what he saw as an overabundance of regimentation. Sometimes the most high-flying pilots tend to forget the importance of the rules and regulations that got them off the ground in the first place.

Tucker was grounded, our records claim, in order to intimidate him so he would, as his c.o. put it, "straighten up and fly right." He was assigned to Demolition. It was supposed to be an assignment that Tucker would find distasteful. Instead, he took to it. He applied the techniques he learned with state-of-the-art technology in order to become the premier expert in his field. Again, a synergistic response to the problem.

When the Zone Riders were first organized, Tucker's expertise would ordinarily have assured him a place on the team. However, at that time, there was only enough Neutron-90 extant for five suits. Tucker had to wait.

First Lieutenant Benjamin Davis Franklin. Franklin has doctorates in chemistry and mathematics, and has been with the U.S. Navy for one year. He became the youngest member of the Zone Riders when Mission Command Central recruited him directly from the Naval Academy. The reason? While still there, Franklin theoretically perfected a way to drain some of the Neutron-90 from the existing Zone Rider suits to create two additional suits. The process did not cause the existing suits to lose a single percentage of effectiveness. Needless to say, as a reward for his fine work, Franklin was given the rank of First Lieutenant, the youngest in the history of the United Nations Defense Forces, and an invitation was extended to him to join the Zone Riders.

This was not the only reason for his appointment, however. Franklin's accomplishments brought him to our attention long before his success with the Zone Rider suits.

To say that Franklin is brilliant is an understatement. He is a wizard at computers, and can often mentally compute an answer faster than Dr. Laurence's most advanced computers can. Franklin's own computer systems are flawless. He is able to implement them with even the sparsest of technology even in the midst of SPIRAL ZONE battles. It is difficult to believe that Franklin is still only eighteen years old.

With these new additions to the team, we are sure that the SPIRAL ZONE will be completely eradicated from the planet in no time.

Overlord's recent defeat at the hands of the Zone Riders proved not to be final. Although he had to abandon his Chrysler Building stronghold, there is every indication that he will return to it.

Intelligence has learned that Overlord has already regrouped his forces. Worse, he has added to the Black Widows' numbers. We have been able to piece together some background concerning these individuals, but as usual, it is sketchy, due to the obviously dubious nature of the people involved.

Intelligence report follows:

Code name: Rawmeat. Real name: Richard Welt.

Overlord discovered this animalistic, ferocious character in Appalachia, while battling the Zone Riders there. Apparently, the Zone Riders crushed his shack with their tanks during the fray. This so enraged Rawmeat that he decided to repay the Black Widows by fighting them back armed only with his bare hands. Overlord finally managed to knock him out with a stun blast would have killed a lesser man. Overlord was so impressed by Rawmeat's uncanny, unnatural strength and stamina that he decided to have Rawmeat immunized and become a member of the Black Widows. Rawmeat has taken a place as Overlord's personal enforcer.

Rawmeat's animalistic intelligence - resembling a beast's instinct - is used to track and hunt down adversaries, like a deadly predator.

Code name: Crook. Real name: Jean Duprey.

Duprey is known to us. We have records of his military career, forwarded from Interpol and the French Air Force, where he began his military life. He later switched to the French Army. He was arrested and charged for numerous war crimes in the Desert Wars. He fled, and went into hiding somewhere in South America. In absentia, however, he was tried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

It was in South America that Overlord first encountered Crook. At that time, Overlord was trying to Zone an area on that continent where Crook had set up a lab. There is no telling what Crook had meant this lab to be used for, since, with his degrees in physiology, aeronautics and engineering, he is capable or practically anything. Even without using these skills, Crook was up to no good. He had already corrupted the local governments, manipulating the officials there. It wasn't until the Zone Riders arrived that Crook's operation was shown to be the scandal it was. Despite (or because of) this, Crook's reputation preceded him in Overlord's eyes. The leader of the Black Widows soon enlisted Crook to join his band, immunizing him and fighting alongside him on many missions.

There will be many of these missions to come. The Black Widows will return, and when they do, they will be stronger than ever.