black-linda_lee-dhokf-full-runLINDA LEE BLACK

Real Name: Linda Lee Black

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Former factory worker

Group Membership:None 

Affiliations: Blackbyrd (Nathaniel Alexander Byrd), Abe Brown (post-humously)

Enemies: Caxon Oil Company (Devon Caxon, Gerald Mills, unidentified assassins),

Known Relatives: Unidentified sister

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    died on Manhattan's 42nd street;
    formerly her sister's place in a state bordering New Mexico;
    formerly a New Mexico factory

First Appearance: Deadly Hands of Kung Fu I#12 (May, 1975)

Powers/Abilities: Linda Lee did not demonstrate any specific abilities, but she was willing to stand up to authority.

    Rather than give up when she learned she was dying, she dedicated her remaining to time to expose the offending parties.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'5")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 120 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed (black and white comic; dark, likely brown)
Hair: Black

History:black-linda_lee-dhokf-collapse

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12/2 (fb)) - Working out a New Mexico factory that processed highly radioactive materials for use in other nuclear power plants, Linda Lee Black collapsed one day.

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12/2 (fb) - BTS) - Recovering, Linda Lee was told by the local doctor that she was "contaminated."black-linda_lee-dhokf-supine

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12/2 (fb)) - Linda Lee asked if this meant she was dying, and when he apologized, she shouted, "Bull!" at him.

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12/2 (fb)) - At some point, an agent of Caxon -- presumably under orders of the head local officer, Gerald Mills, or the secret power behind him, Devon Caxon -- cut the brakes cables of Linda Lee's car.

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12/2 (fb)) - Linda Lee then went to see the office of the head local office, Gerald Mills, telling him shek new that the plant was owned by the Caxon Oil Co. and that he knew the mess he and they would be in if they tried to sell the public on unsafe nuclear power and they find out. Mills interrupted, telling her that what happened to her was an unfortunate occupational accident, for which she was insured most generously. When he continued, "As to your threat of exposure, I don't--", Linda Lee stormed out, telling him, "And I'm afraid you do! The fusion program is on shaky ground right now, and when word gets out that it's owned by the oil companies of this country -- well, mister, I ain't got much time left, but I'm going to use what I got to bring you down."

    Linda Lee angrily drove away, determined that people would know what was going on out there. As she drove down the winding roads, she realized her brake cords had been cut, and she managed to jump free before her car tore through a guard rail and exploded upon hitting the ground far below. Linda wisely fled before any could learn of her survival.

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12/2 (fb) - BTS) - Police records listed Linda Lee Black as dead as a result of a motor accident, although a body was not recovered.

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12/2 (fb)) - As she was believed dead, no one sought her out, and she made it to her sister's in a neighboring state (see comments). Linda Lee and her sister typed out notes of what Linda Lee had known and experienced.

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12/2 (fb) - BTS) - As Linda Lee took a bus to New York, her sister called and hired Blackbyrd to keep an eye on her as she traveled to the United Nations (UN) building to give them a folder containing her notes on the unsafe radiation practices of a plant owned by Caxon Oil Company.

 (Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12/2) <April 1 (see comments)> - Rushing through Manhattan's Time Square, Linda Lee passed by both Blackbyrd, who was following her, and the otherwise unaware Sons of the Tiger member Abe Brown. Before either of them could appreciate what was happening, Linda Lee was shot twice in the chest on 42nd Street by a pair of agents of Caxon Oil. black-linda_lee-dhokf-shot

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12/2 (fb) - BTS) - Blackbyrd rushed to Linda Lee's side.

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12/2 - BTS) - Abe Brown subdued one of the shooters, but backed off when the other man held him at gunpoint. However, when the gunman tried to run off, Blackbyrd shot him down, apparently fatally.

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12/2) - Realizing Linda Lee was dying, Blackbyrd tried to calm and comfort her, but -- coughing blood onto the sidewalk -- she forced herself to give him her folder, "Take this, mister, please--it's all I got left to give--" before she perished. As her coughing stopped, Blackbyrd told her, "Little lady, you already gave it all!"black-linda_lee-dhokf-dying

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12/2 - BTS) - Questioned by an arriving police officer, Blackbyrd claimed to have just been a passerby when the woman was shot, but someone else in the crowd revealed how she had given him a folder. Calling Blackbyrd "boy," the officer warned him that witholding evidence was a serious charge; but Blackbyrd shoved his revolver in the officer's face, calling him "pig" and telling him the folder was given to him and was his property, that the police officer wasn't getting it without a warrant
    Backing off from Blackbyrd, the police officer decided he had a prime suspect in the man Abe had stunned, knocking the other Caxon agent out with his nightstick.

    After an ambulance took away Linda, Blackbyrd related Linda Lee's story to Abe, and Abe agreed to help get the people who had her killed and to pass on her notes to the United Nations.

    Ultimately, Blackbyrd and Abe took down the involved Caxon parties, apparently led by Devon Caxon.

Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo, George Perez, & Rico Rival.

    Blackbyrd presumably delivered Linda Lee's noted to the United Nations.

    It was the 70s when these stories were written. And MANY cops were written to be corrupt, racist pigs. And the US government was so corrupt, that it was required to seek international help from the UN. It's painful to read when you review a series of stories.
    Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12 had three primary African-American characters, named Abe Brown, Linda Lee Black, and Blackbyrd. Interesting coincidence, I guess...

    The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12 story was supposed to take place on April Fool's Day (it also said 1975, but the year is certainly topical).

    The story repeatedly refers to the power plants' process as nuclear FUSION (combing smaller atoms into larger ones). I'm no nuclear physicist, but my understanding is that nuclear power plants use nuclear fission (splitting larger atoms into smaller ones)...especially in the 1970s.

    The states that border New Mexico are Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, and Colorado.

    This profile was completed 3/20/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Linda Lee Black should be distinguished from:

sister

black-linda_lee-dhokf-sister


(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12/2 (fb)) - After learning she was dying from radiation exposure from unsafe practices at the factory in which she worked and surviving a murder attempt, Linda Lee Black was believed dead, and no one sought her out.

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12/2 (fb) - BTS) - Linda Lee made it to her sister's place in a neighboring state (see comments). Linda Lee and her sister typed out notes of what Linda  had known and experienced.

(Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12/2 (fb) - BTS) - As Linda Lee took a bus to New York, her sister called and hired Blackbyrd to keep an eye on her as she traveled to the United Nations (UN) building to give them a folder containing her notes on the unsafe radiation practices of a plant owned by Caxon Oil Company.

--Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12

Note: That's all we know of Linda Lee's sister. We don't know her first or last name; the latter wouldn't necessarily be "Black" as one or both women may have been married,they may have had different fathers, etc. It would be nice to see her in a future Abe Brown story.
images: (without ads)

Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12/2, story pg. 1, panel 2 (fleeing down times square);
          panel 7 (shot);
       pg. 3, panel 3 (dying face);
          panel 5 (handing over package);
       pg. 5, panel 3 (collapsing);
          panel 8 (telling off Mills);
       pg. 6, panel 3-4 (jumping out, car crash);
          panel 6 (full body, fleeing);
          panel 9 (with sister)
       

Appearances:
Deadly Hands of Kung Fu#12/2 (May, 1975) - Bill Mantlo (writer), George Perez (penciler), Rico Rival (inker), John Warner (assistant editor), David Kraft (associate editor), Archie Goodwin (editor)

First posted: 09/24/2021
Last updated: 12/03/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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