Marvel Firsts: The Lady in Black

Amazing Adventures #1 (August 1970)
"Then Came... the Black Widow!"
Gary Friedrich-John Buscema/John Verpoorten

Karen: The Black Widow has been around a pretty long time in the Marvel Universe. Starting as an Iron Man villain (and a commie!) in Tales of Suspense #52 (published April 1964), she soon switched sides and became a good guy, a frequent ally to the Avengers and Hawkeye's main squeeze. But she eventually left Hawkeye and struck out on her own, changing from her original masked outfit to a sexier form-fitting suit designed by John Romita, Sr. Her first appearance in what has become her standard outfit was in Amazing Spider-Man #86 (July 1970). Amazing Adventures #1, published a few months later, was her first solo feature, even if she shared half the title with The Inhumans (what an odd pairing!).

Doug: I always felt that Natasha was a character that writers had a hard time using. Her appearances in the Avengers were for the most part underwhelming. However, I cannot begin to imagine how Hawkeye would have reacted to seeing her in the catsuit she sports in this story. Fishnets aside, ol' Clint Barton may not have been able to contain himself! And she seems an odd choice for a solo book. Do any of our readers know if Marvel's second go-round with split books had the original intention of try-out series, or were the Inhumans and the Widow supposed to be ongoing?

Karen: Our tale opens with 'Madame Natasha' bored out of her rich little mind. At this stage of her career, she was still just as interested in fashion and fun as she was espionage. She gets a call from a well-known playboy (not Tony Stark!) who asks her to come to Switzerland with him later in the week. She's thrilled and accepts immediately. But as soon as she hangs up, she has that empty feeling again. She realizes that it's action she really craves. She thinks back on her encounter with Spider-Man, and how he defeated her. She needs to get out, to prove herself. You never know when opportunity will knock. She notices that her maid, Maria, has been crying. She asks her what's wrong, and the woman explains that her son owes money to bad men who have threatened to kill him. The Widow immediately offers to give her the money, but Maria insists that her son must work things out himself, and leaves.

Doug: How did you view Natasha in this scene? While she's compassionate toward Maria, she's "all about me" in regard to the rest of her life. She just seems pretty aimless. I thought she appeared pretty self-absorbed. Do we know how she got all of her money?

Karen: Yeah, I had the same feeling. It was as if the Widow used Maria's son's plight as the perfect excuse to put on her costume again. We get a page that demonstrates her powers, including her anti-grav shoes (!) and widow's web, which duplicates Spidey's web line. She calls Ivan and tells him to have the Rolls ready, then throws on an overcoat and heads out. As they drive to Maria's home, the Widow looks out the car window and sees the rough conditions of the neighborhood. She does some typical Marvel pondering about government and the common man and then has Ivan pull over. Apparently Ivan is unaware that his boss is the Black Widow at this stage of their relationship, which surprised me. She tells him to go home, leaving him worried, and she clambers up Maria's building.

Doug: This version of Ivan was a very far cry from the protector of his "tsarina" we'd see in the Champions a few years later. Ivan in this story wasn't half as cool as Alfred. If memory serves, it's later revealed (retconned) that Ivan had been with Natasha since her childhood. Am I off-planet in thinking he may even have been her father? Anyway, I thought it was dumb that she went to her crime investigation in the Rolls, especially since it was in the 'hood!

Karen: The Widow eavesdrops on Maria's apartment and hears a couple of typical Buscema-style thugs threatening Maria and her son. They take the kid and tell Maria to come up with the money in 12 hours or they'll kill him. The Widow decides it's time for her to act. As the men leave the building she swings down, kicking one in the face. As the other thug prepares to shoot her, the Widow uses her Widow's Bite (a ray from her bracelet) to shoot him first, paralyzing him. The first thug she attacked has recovered and is charging at her. He's huge, twice her size, and mad as heck. But the Widow takes him down with a well-placed kick. She's actually disappointed that the fight wasn't more challenging.

Doug: You know, they should have just plastered "jumping on point for new readers" all over the cover to this mag. While not a first-issue origin story, it seems to have been written with the grab of new readers in mind. But, there really isn't much of a story here, is there? We get a little history, a little motivation, some very minor characterization (but enough), a complete run-down of Natasha's powers and attributes, her relationship with SHIELD, and that fact that she's superbad when she needs to be. As far as the kidnapping, it may have been a world record for the shortest in history. The baddies don't even get off the front stoop before they're slam-banged by our heroine!

Karen: New York's finest quickly arrive and the Widow realizes her new outfit doesn't have a mask! Uh, maybe she should have considered that before? Wishing to avoid being recognized, she scampers up the building just as the cops help Maria's son up. He explains that a lady in black saved him. The Widow swings off, pondering whether she should continue in her crime fighting career - well, I think we know the answer to that one.

Doug: My suspension of disbelief was put to the test when she got into the Rolls with a trench coat on over what was obviously a black catsuit. Or was she just too good-looking that Ivan didn't even notice her strange clothing choice? Then, as you said, the whole mask thing was dumb. It made her seem way too flighty for me. The Natasha I recall was strong, self-confident, and without doubts. This gal may evolve into here, but there's certainly a ways to go.

Karen: This was an OK little story. To be honest, the Buscema art really saves it from being utterly forgettable. I think the Widow became much more interesting when she partnered with Daredevil soon after.

Doug: John Verpoorten didn't do a bad job on the inks. This Big John was Marvel's production manager, but frequently stepped into his embellishing shoes during this period. I thought in a few instances the faces were flat, but overall there was a little "pop" to the art. I agree with you that the story was unspectacular but not offending. As I said above, it's really a nice little piece of marketing if you wanted to keep new readers coming back. Unfortunately, as we saw before, the Kirby writing on the lead Inhumans feature may have chased some away!