| Black Widow | |
|---|---|
Cover of Black Widow #1 (April 2010) by Daniel Acuna. |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Tales of Suspense # 52 (April 1964) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Don Rico Don Heck |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Natalia Alianovna Romanova |
| Team affiliations | S.H.I.E.L.D. Avengers Champions KGB "Marvel Knights" Mighty Avengers Lady Liberators Thunderbolts Secret Avengers Heroes for Hire |
| Partnerships | Daredevil Hawkeye Boris Turgenov Captain America (Bucky Barnes) |
| Notable aliases | Natalie Rushman, Laura Matthers, Natasha Romanoff, Oktober, Yelena Belova |
| Abilities | Slowed aging Enhanced immune system Peak athletic condition Extensive military, martial arts, and espionage training Hypnosis |
Black Widow (Чёрная вдова, 'Chyornaya vdova') (Natalia "Natasha" Alianovna Romanova,[1] also known as Natasha Romanoff) is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe. She was created by editor and plotter Stan Lee, scripter Don Rico and artist Don Heck, and first appeared in Tales of Suspense #52 (April 1964).
The Black Widow was played by Scarlett Johansson in the 2010 motion picture Iron Man 2. She has also been confirmed to appear in the upcoming motion picture The Avengers in 2012.
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The Black Widow's first appearances were as a recurring, non-costumed, Soviet-spy antagonist in the feature "Iron Man", beginning in Tales of Suspense #52 (April 1964). Five issues later, she recruited the besotted costumed archer and later superhero Hawkeye to her cause. Her government later supplied her with her first Black Widow costume and high-tech weaponry, but she eventually defected to the United States after appearing, temporarily brainwashed against the U.S., in the superhero-team series The Avengers #29 (July 1966). The Widow later became a recurring ally of the team before officially becoming its sixteenth member.
The Black Widow appeared for the first time in her trademark skintight black costume in The Amazing Spider-Man #86 (July 1970). In short order, she starred in her own series in Amazing Adventures #1–8 (Aug. 1970 – Sept. 1971), sharing that split book with the feature Inhumans. Immediately after her initial solo feature ended, the Black Widow co-starred in Daredevil #81–124 (Nov. 1971 – Aug. 1975) and then in the super-team series The Champions, which ran 17 issues (Oct. 1975 – Jan. 1978).
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the Black Widow appeared frequently as both an Avengers member and a freelance agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. She starred in a serialized feature within the omnibus comic-book series Marvel Fanfare #10–13 (Aug. 1983 – March 1984), written by George Pérez and Ralph Macchio, with art by penciller Perez. These stories were collected in the one-shot Black Widow: Web of Intrigue #1 (June 1999).
The Widow guest-starred in issues of Solo Avengers, Force Works, Iron Man, Marvel Team-Up, and other comics. She appeared in several mid-1980s issues of Daredevil, as well as a four-issue arc in issues #368–371 (Oct. 1997 – Jan. 1998) and as a recurring guest in Daredevil vol. 2 (1998–present). She co-starred in two graphic novels—Fury/Black Widow: Death Duty with Nick Fury, Marvel UK's Night Raven and Punisher/Black Widow: Spinning Doomsday's Web with the Punisher—as well as a three-issue arc, "The Fire Next Time", by writer Scott Lobdell and penciller Randy Green, in Journey into Mystery #517–519 (Feb.–April 1998).
A new ongoing Black Widow comic title debuted in April 2010. The first story arc was written by Marjorie Liu with art by Daniel Acuna.[2] Beginning with issue #6 (Sept. 2010), the title began being written by Duane Swierczynski, with artwork by Manuel Garcia and Lorenzo Ruggiero.
Aside from the arcs in Marvel Fanfare and Journey into Mystery, the Black Widow has starred in four limited series and four graphic novels.
The three-issue Black Widow (June–Aug. 1999), under the Marvel Knights imprint, starred Romanova and fully introduced her appointed successor, Captain Yelena Belova, who had briefly appeared in an issue of the 1999 series Inhumans. The writer for the story arc, "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" was Devin K. Grayson while J. G. Jones was the artist. The next three-issue, Marvel Knights mini-series, also titled Black Widow (Jan.-March 2001) featured both Black Widows in the story arc "Breakdown", by writers Devin Grayson and Greg Rucka with painted art by Scott Hampton.
Romanova next starred in another solo miniseries titled Black Widow (Nov. 2004 – April 2005), also under the Marvel Knights imprint and written by science fiction novelist Richard K. Morgan, with art initially by Bill Sienkiewicz and later by Sienkiewicz over Goran Parlov layouts. A six-issue sequel, Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her (Nov. 2005 – April 2006; officially Black Widow 2: The Things They Say About Her in the series' postal indicia), by writer Morgan, penciller Sean Phillips, and inker Sienkiewicz, picks up immediately where the previous miniseries left off, continuing the story using many of the same characters.
She starred in the solo graphic novel Black Widow: The Coldest War (April 1990), and co-starred in three more: Punisher/Black Widow: Spinning Doomsday's Web (Dec. 1992); Daredevil/Black Widow: Abattoir (July 1993); and Nick Fury/Black Widow: Death Duty (June 1995), also co-starring Marvel UK's Night Raven.
Black Widow is also featured in the short story Love Is Blindness, where she instigates a humorous fight with Elektra over Daredevil's affections. The comic is stylized to look like Japanese animation and uses images, not words, inside the speech and thought bubbles to convey what the characters are saying/thinking.
In 2010, the year in which the character, called only Natasha Romanova, made her film debut in Iron Man 2, the Black Widow received two separate miniseries. Black Widow and the Marvel Girls was an all-ages, four-issue series that chronicled her adventures with various women of the Marvel Universe, including Storm, She-Hulk, the Enchantress, and Spider-Woman. It was written by Paul Tobin, with art by Salvador Espin and Takeshi Miyazawa. The second four-issue miniseries, Black Widow: Deadly Origin, was written by Paul Cornell, and featured art by Tom Raney and John Paul Leon.
Natasha was born in Stalingrad (now Volgograd), Russia. The first and best-known Black Widow is a Soviet agent trained as a spy, martial artist, and sniper, and outfitted with an arsenal of high-tech weaponry, including a pair of wrist-mounted energy weapons dubbed her "Widow's Bite". She wears no costume during her first few appearances but simply evening wear and a veil. Romanova eventually defects to the U.S. for reasons that include her love for the reluctant-criminal turned superhero archer Hawkeye.
Romanova's parents were killed in a fire when Romanova was a child. She was saved from death herself by Ivan Petrovitch, who raised her as a surrogate father. He first appears in Marvel continuity in the Widow's 1970s Amazing Adventures feature, in which he is introduced as her chauffeur and confidant, without this back-story revealed. Romanova as a child appears in a flashback[3] to 1941, in which Petrovitch, the superhero Captain America, and the mutant Logan who would become the superhero Wolverine, rescue her from Nazis on the fictional island principality of Madripoor.
A revised, retconned origin[4] establishes her as being raised from early childhood by the U.S.S.R.'s "Black Widow Ops" program, rather than solely by Ivan Petrovitch. With other young female orphans, she is trained in combat and espionage at the covert "Red Room" facility. There, she is biotechnologically and psycho technologically enhanced—an accounting that provides a rationale for her unusually long and youthful lifespan. While there, she was trained by, and a lover of, the Winter Soldier.[5] Each Black Widow is deployed with false memories to help ensure her loyalty. Romanova eventually discovers this, including the fact that she had never, as she had believed, been a ballerina. She further discovers that the Red Room is still active as "2R".
Natasha married the renowned Soviet test pilot Alexi Shostakov. When the Soviet government decided to make Alexi into their new operative, the Red Guardian, he is told that he can have no further contact with his wife. Natasha is told that he had died and is trained as a secret agent separately.
Romanova grows up to serve as a femme fatale who attempts to seduce American defense contractor Tony Stark and inevitably confronts his superhero alter ego, Iron Man. On her first mission in the United States, she and her partner Boris Turgenov are sent to America to assassinate Prof. Anton Vanko. The pair battle Iron Man, and Turgenev steals and wears the Crimson Dynamo suit. Vanko sacrifices himself to save Iron Man, killing Turgenev in the process, using an unstable experimental laser light pistol.[6] Romanova later meets the criminal archer Hawkeye and sets him against Iron Man,[7] and later helped Hawkeye battle Iron Man.[8]
Romanova later attempts to defect from the Soviet Union, but is wounded by a KGB agent.[9] The KGB brainwashes her, and with the Swordsman and the first Power Man, she battles the Avengers,[10] a superhero team she joins as a costumed heroine herself when she eventually does successfully defect.
Later still, she begins freelancing as an agent of the international espionage group S.H.I.E.L.D. She is sent on a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. mission to China by Nick Fury. There, with the Avengers, she battles Col. Ling, Gen. Brushov, and her ex-husband the Red Guardian.[11] For a time, as historian Les Daniels noted in a contemporaneous study in 1971,
...her left-wing upbringing was put to better use, and she has lately taken to fighting realistic oppressor-of-the-people types. She helps young Puerto Ricans clean up police corruption and saves young hippies from organized crime. [...] [The splash page of Amazing Adventures #3 (Nov. 1970)] reflects the recent trend toward involving fantastic characters in contemporary social problems, a move which has gained widespread publicity for Marvel and its competitor, DC.[12]
During her romantic involvement with Matt Murdock in San Francisco, California, she operates as an independent superhero alongside Murdock's alter ego, Daredevil.[13] There she tries unsuccessfully to find a new career for herself as a fashion designer. Eventually, her relationship with Murdock stagnates, and after briefly working with Avengers finally breaks up with Murdock.[14] She later returns to his life just as he begins dating another woman, Heather Glenn,[15] prompting her to leave New York.[16]
After being poisoned by members of the Hand, Natasha denied medical aid and fought her way past S.H.I.E.L.D agents in a bid to seek out Matt. Her body briefly succumbed to the poison, but she was revived by Stone, a pupil of Matt's mentor Stick. Natasha found that Matt had been going through personal hardships in light of his one true love, Elektra's reappearance, apparent betrayal, surprising redemption, and recent murder. She also reconciled with Foggy, and learned from him that Matt's relationship with his fiance Heather had degenerated into a bitter, almost misogynistic power struggle stemming from Matt's depression over Elektra's death. Natasha and Foggy arranged for the two to break up, sending forged farewell letters to both parties.[17]
Despite helping Matt to overcome the Hand and revive Elektra, Natasha realized that Matt still only thought of her in platonic terms, despite how much they loved the other, and elected to restrain herself from any advances.[18]
After their breakup, the Widow moves to Los Angeles and becomes leader of the newly created and short-lived super team known as The Champions, consisting of her, Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze), Hercules (with whom she has a brief romance), and former X-Men Angel and Iceman.[19]
Her friends often call her "Natasha", the informal version of "Natalia". She has sometimes chosen the last-name alias "Romanoff"—evidently as a private joke on those who are not aware that Russian family names use different endings for males and females. She has been hinted to be a descendant of the destroyed Romanov royal family and a relation to Nicholas II of Russia.
Natasha crosses Daredevil's (Matt Murdock) path again when he attempts to slay an infant he believes to be the Anti-Christ. After Daredevil's one-time love, Karen Page, dies protecting the child, Natasha reconciles with Murdock, revealing she still loves him, but noting that he is too full of anger to commit to a relationship with her.[20]
Natasha later becomes aware of Yelena Belova, a young woman who is the second Black Widow, who had also been trained at the Red Room. Yelena, obsessed with being the sole Black Widow, encounters Natasha while each attempts to retrieve the "Endless Fury" bioweapon, which explodes near them. Natasha later trades appearances with Yelena through cosmetic surgery to demonstrate to her successor that they are fundamentally interchangeable depending on her master's goals. Natasha later discovers that dozens of other women had been trained as Black Widows, and all are now being hunted down and killed. While investigating the murders, freelance agents Max Hunter and a female known only as Kestrel are hired to kill Natasha; during their pursuit of her, they gun down Natasha's old friend Phillip Dexter. In retaliation, Natasha kills Hunter and publicly humiliates Kestrel. With information gleaned from Kestrel, Natasha finds and kills the mastermind of the Black Widow murders: an aging CEO who intended to use part of their genetic structure to create a new chemical weapon.
During the Superhero Civil War, Natasha becomes a supporter of the Superhuman Registration Act and a member of the taskforce led by Iron Man.[21] Afterward, the registered Natasha joins the reconstituted Avengers. When S.H.I.E.L.D. director Tony Stark is presumed killed and deputy director Maria Hill incapacitated, Natasha assumes temporary command of S.H.I.E.L.D. as the highest-ranking agent present.
Later, Tony Stark assigns Natasha to convey the late Captain America's shield to a secure location, but is intercepted by her former lover, Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, who steals the shield. Natasha and the Falcon then rescue Barnes from the Red Skull's minions, and bring him to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, where Stark convinces Bucky to become the new Captain America. Afterward, Natasha accompanies Bucky as his partner for a brief time until she is called back by S.H.I.E.L.D.[22] She later rejoins him and Falcon for the final confrontation with the Red Skull, helping to rescue Sharon Carter. She and Bucky have restarted their relationship.[23] She later plays an important role in the capture of Hercules. However due to her respect of the Greek god, she let him go.[24] Soon Natasha, along with the rest of the Avengers, gets involved in the current Skrull invasion.[25] Afterwards, she stayed as Bucky's partner.[26] She also assists former director Maria Hill in delivering a special form of data to Bucky.[27]
Norman Osborn discovered Yelena Belova breaking into an abandoned S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, and offered her the position of field leader of the new Thunderbolts. On her first mission, she and Ant-Man take control of Air Force One with the Goblin, Doc Samson, and the new President aboard.[28] It was suggested she faked her apparent death (as the Adaptoid) but it is never explained how.
A conversation with the Ghost implies that Yelena is working as a mole for someone else and that she may even be someone else disguised as Yelena. She is later seen talking privately through a comm-link to Nick Fury.[29]
Osborn orders Yelena to lead the current Thunderbolts to kill former Thunderbolt, Songbird. Fury orders "Yelena" to rescue and retrieve Songbird, for the information she might possess about Osborn and his operations. Yelena finds Songbird, and reveals to her that she was really Natasha Romanova in disguise.[30] She tries delivering Songbird to Fury, but the Thunderbolts have also followed them.[31] The trio are captured as Osborn reveals he had been impersonating Fury in messages all along to set Natasha up in order to strengthen the Thunderbolts and lead him to Fury. She and Songbird are brought to be executed but manage to escape when Ant-Man, Headsmen and Paladin turn on the rest of the Thunderbolts and let them go.[32]
At the start of the Heroic Age, Natasha is recruited by Steve Rogers into a new black-ops wing of the Avengers, dubbed the Secret Avengers. She travels to Dubai with her new teammate, Valkyrie, where they steal a dangerous artifact which the Beast then studies, noting that it seems like a distant cousin of the Serpent Crown.[33] In the story "Coppelia," she encounters a teenage clone of herself, code named "Tiny Dancer," whom she rescued from an arms dealer.[34]
The Black Widow is a world class athlete and gymnast, expert martial artist (including karate, judo, aikido, savate, various styles of kung fu, and boxing), marksman, and weapons specialist as well as having extensive espionage training. She is also an accomplished ballerina.
The Black Widow uses a variety of equipment invented by Soviet scientists and technicians, with later improvements by S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists and technicians. She usually wears distinctively shaped bracelets which fire the "Widow's Bite" electro-static energy blasts that can deliver charges up to 30,000 volts, as well as "Widow's line" grappling hooks, tear gas pellets, along with a new element introduced during her ongoing series during the "Kiss or Kill" arc called the "Widow's Kiss"; an aerosol instant knock-out gas she has modified. She wears a belt of metallic discs, some with disc-charges containing plastic explosives, others have been shown to be compartments to house other equipment. Her costume consists of synthetic stretch fabric equipped with micro-suction cups on fingers and feet, enabling her to adhere to walls and ceilings. In the 2006 "Homecoming" mini-series, she commented that she did not wish to use weaponry belonging to her traditional costume any more and was seen using knives, unarmed combat, and various firearms, but she has since began using her bracelets again. While in disguise as Yelena Bolova when infiltrating the then Osborn-sanctioned Thunderbolts during "Dark Reign" she used a specialed multi-lense goggle/head-carapace that demonstrated various technical abilities enhancing vision and communication. Later, she has used a modified gun based on her Widow's Bite wrist cartridge, during her adventures alongside the new Captain America.
The Black Widow has been enhanced by biotechnology that makes her body resistant to aging and disease and heals at an above human rate; as well as psychological conditioning that suppresses her memory of true events as opposed to implanted ones of the past without the aid of specially designed system suppressant drugs, attempts to do so result in extreme biological reactions, indicated as vomiting and black-outs.
Within 2010's Black Widow: Deadly Origin miniseries another level to the Biotechnology that Natasha has been subjected to wear "nanites", designed to be passed from her body with even the slightest touch. These nanites were apart of something called the "Icepick Protocol" and when activated could incite someone to homicidal rage. A counter form of these were also introduced to her body so as she could neutralize the activated nanites in another.
In Marvel 1602, a world where superheroes have started to appear several hundred years early, Natasha is a freelance spy and "the most dangerous woman in Europe." Initially allied with Matthew Murdoch (Daredevil's 1602 counterpart), she later betrays him to Count Otto Von Doom.
Natasha is still working (and sleeping) with Count von Doom during Marvel 1602: Fantastick Four, when she is captain of his flying ship. However, when she questions his plan to take the ship to the edge of the world, he pushes her over the side and appoints the Wizard captain.
Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow appeared in the comic-book series based on the animated television series The Avengers: United They Stand comics.
Natasha is seen as a member of the Soviet Super Soldiers.[35] Natasha later appears a member of Shang-Chi's Red Dragons,[36] and is mentioned as a member of S.H.I.E.L.D.[37]
She appears in the New Dawn arc where The Executioner and she are hired by Mordo to kidnap Bruce Banner. They manage to succeed in doing so, with her escaping with Bruce while Tigra is dealing with The Executioner intent on keeping the reward for the job herself. However during her escape, Bruce turns into The Hulk and destroys the submarine they were in, presumably killing her.
Black Widow is among the Avengers who are infected by the Sentry in Marvel Zombies vs. the Army of Darkness. She is seen consuming a yorkie puppy. Later, in the original Marvel Zombies series, she is among the zombies who attack the Silver Surfer, and is presumably destroyed.
Under the Ultimate Marvel imprint Natasha Romanova is a member of the Ultimates, this universe's analogue of the Avengers. She debuted in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #14 (June 2002) in a story written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Terry Moore, before becoming one of the major characters in writer Mark Millar and penciller Bryan Hitch's The Ultimates, debuting there in #7 (Sept. 2002).
Romanova is a former KGB spy and assassin, nicknamed the Black Widow. She was originally part of the Ultimates' covert operations ("black ops") team but with the emergence of the Chitauri threat was subsequently moved to public status after a publicly acceptable background was written for her. The Widow has genetic or cybernetic enhancements making her far better in combat than the average human. After accepting a marriage proposal from Tony Stark, she receives a black suit of Iron Man armor as an engagement present, along with a set of nanites to control the armor.
Romanova is later revealed as a traitor, responsible for killing Hawkeye's wife and children, revealing Bruce Banner's connection to the Hulk to the public and collaborating with the Liberators in their invasion of the United States. After she holds Stark hostage in an attempt to extort his fortune, Stark activates the nanites in her bloodstream, freezing her body in place, before knocking her unconscious. She appears later in an emergency clinic, having cut open her wrists to bleed out the disabling nanites. Hawkeye kills her in revenge for her part in the murder of his family.
By Ultimates 3 #1 a sex tape between Natasha and Tony Stark has been leaked to the public. According to Janet Pym, the tape is of unknown origin and seems to have been professionally done with "close ups". Stark is shown to be in a state of depression over Natasha's betrayal and subsequent death. It is later revealed that one of the Ultrons, calling himself Yellowjacket had leaked the tape. During the Brotherhood attack on the Stark Mansion, Mystique shapeshifts into Natasha to get close to Tony in an attempt to kill him but is knocked unconscious by Wasp.
The Black Widow was ranked as the 176th greatest comic book character in Wizard magazine.[50] IGN also ranked her as the 74th greatest comic book character stating that wherever conspiracy and treachery are afoot, you can expect the Black Widow to appear to save the day.[51]
| Title | Material Collected | ISBN | Publication Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black Widow, Vol. 1: Homecoming | Black Widow #1-6 | 0785114939 | May 11, 2005 |
| Black Widow Vol. 2: The Things They Say About Her | Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her #1-6 | 0785117687 | June 7, 2006 |
| Black Widow: The Sting of the Widow | Tales of Suspense #52, The Amazing Spider-Man #86, Amazing Adventures vol. 2 #1-8, and Daredevil #81 | 0785137947 | September 2, 2009 |
| Black Widow: Deadly Origin | Black Widow: Deadly Origin #1-4 | 0785143017 | March 17, 2010 |
| Black Widow: Web of Intrigue | Marvel Fanfare #10-13, Bizarre Adventures #25, and Black Widow: The Coldest War | 0785144749 | April 7, 2010 |
| Black Widow: The Name of the Rose | Black Widow #1-5, Enter the Heroic Age | 0785143548 | January 5, 2011 |
| Black Widow: The Itsy-Bitsy Spider | Black Widow vol. 1 #1-3, Black Widow vol. 2 #1-3 | 0785158278 | November 16, 2011 |
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