Issue(s): Spider-Woman #46
Cover Date: Oct 82
Title: "Yakuza"
Credits:
Chris Claremont - Writer
Stephen Leialoha & Brent Anderson - Penciler
Stephen Leialoha & Trina Robbins - Inker
Mike Carlin - Assistant Editor
Mark Gruenwald - Editor

Review/plot:
Brent Anderson and Trina Robbins are credited for "lending a hand when needed".

Jessica and her boyfriend David are attacked by assassins while out for a night swim. Sabrina Morrel shows up to help with the rescue.

Turns out they were hired by General Nguyen Coy, who is unhappy about the affect of some of Jessica's past investigations which crossed paths with him.

Jessica was shot during the attack, and she passes out. She wakes up at Sabrina's Yakuza base. But they claim they're "good" Yakuza.

However, they do know that she's Spider-Woman.

They also tell her that the Kingpin is about to meet with General Coy, and that the Defense Research Corporation (DRC), intends to assassinate one or both of them to start a gang war. The Yakuza ask Spider-Woman to stop the attempt. They also invite her to join their organization, which she defers for now.

Meanwhile, General Coy requests that the Kingpin acquire his niece Xi'an Coy Manh (aka Karma of the New Mutants).

Then Mandroids show up attempting to kill both the Kingpin and Coy, but Spider-Woman shows up to protect them.

One of Coy's goons tries to kill Spider-Woman while she's in a weakened state, but the Kingpin prevents it.

She's also able to convince him to drop the kidnapping attempt on Karma.

The Kingpin says "A charming young woman... It's a pity my relations with the other spider-person aren't nearly so cordial."

Good stuff. Leialoha's art is looking nice as usual, although i see he had some high powered help this issue.

And Claremont's writing is really good here. Unfortunately this is the last issue for this creative team, coinciding with Mark Gruenwald taking over as editor.

Quality Rating: A-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• The mention of Karma includes a footnote to the New Mutants Graphic Novel.
  
• Spider-Woman encountered Mandroids previously in Spider-Woman #34, but she didn't really fight them at that time.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

I think this is Trina Robbins' first Marvel work. She'd previously been an underground/independent comix artist for about 15 years and pretty much invented feminist comics by herself. Outside of some special Wonder Woman projects, she didn't really do superheroes at all.

Claremont quit this book in order to spend more time on upcoming X-projects.

I would put this before contest of champions, as it shows a Spider Woman/gypsymoth fight who doesn't show until #48

Can you expand on that? The Gypsy Moth appearance in CoC has to take place before SW #48 since the Moth is kidnapped at the end of #48. But i'm not sure how any of that relates to this issue being before CoC.

I'm inclined to think you're onto something, because the Marvel Chronology Project does put this issue before CoC as you suggest, but i'm just not seeing what the dependency is.

Claremont has some very strange ideas about Japan! "Good Yakuza" is in the same category as "Good Mafia." And how the notoriously insular Japanese would ever allow a Westerner (much less a Western woman!) into such an organization is unknown to me. I know it is just a comic book, but I wonder how much Claremont actually knows in this time period. It is easy to see that he must have read James Clavell's Shogun, but did he have any other knowledge? I'm thinking not. In 1982, Japan was still very mysterious and unknown to most Americans whose knowledge was limited to the Pacific War plus Clavell's book. Some people at Marvel probably knew about Japanese manga and it is possible Claremont picked up some additional "knowledge" that way.

From what I can tell, the real manga heads at Marvel at this time were Frank Miller and Mary Jo Duffy. Claremont, as you said, probably just recycled some genre fiction, applying his own particular preoccupations in the process