Black Widow (Natasha Romanova)
Black Widow is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by editor Stan Lee, scripter Don Rico, and artist Don Heck, the character debuted as an enemy of Iron Man in Tales of Suspense #52. She reformed into a hero in The Avengers #30 and her most well-known design was introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man #86. Black Widow has been the main character in several comic titles since 1970, receiving her own Black Widow series in 1999. She also frequently appears as a supporting character in The Avengers and Daredevil.
Natalia Alianovna "Natasha Romanoff" Romanova is introduced as a spy for the Soviet Union until she defects to the United States. She subsequently joins the intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D., partners with Daredevil, and encounters a rival Black Widow in Yelena Belova. Though she has no distinct superpowers, she was augmented in the Red Room, a Soviet training facility, to increase her strength and reduce her aging. She has training in combat and espionage, and wields bracelets that fire electric shocks and project wires she uses to traverse skyscrapers.
Black Widow stories often explore her struggle to define her own identity as a spy and the trauma she endured from her life of training in the Red Room. Early stories emphasized her Soviet origin, portraying her superiors as evil and contrasting her with more noble American superheroes. Black Widow's status as a leading female character and femme fatale has influenced her portrayal, which was often contradictory as comics grappled with the conflict between traditional gender roles and second-wave feminism. The character has been heavily sexualized both by artists and by the characters with whom she interacts.
Black Widow has been adapted into a variety of other media, including film, animated series, and video games. A version of the character was portrayed by Scarlett Johansson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from her first appearance in Iron Man 2 to her final one in Black Widow. Johansson's portrayal brought increased attention to the character and influenced Black Widow's depiction in comics.
Publication history
1960s
Black Widow first appeared in Tales of Suspense #52 as an opponent of Iron Man. She was designed by artist Don Heck for a story plotted by Stan Lee and written by Don Rico under the pseudonym N. Korok. The character was portrayed as a seductress who was spying on Tony Stark for the Soviet government, making her one of several Soviet villains who faced Iron Man in the 1960s. She was infatuated with Tony Stark's looks and wealth and easily distracted by jewelry. Comics historian Brian Cronin has suggested that her name was a reference to Natasha Fatale from The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends.Black Widow first took the role of a supervillain in Tales of Suspense #64 after the Soviet government gave her a costume and equipment when they forced her to continue working for them. Her first costume took the form of a blue bodysuit made primarily of fishnet-style webbing, a cape, and a mask designed to resemble the one used by Hawkeye. With the costume came her first use of tactical equipment, including gloves that let her adhere to walls and the weaponized bracelets that later became her primary weapon. She was the villain in five Iron Man stories, all within a span of twelve issues.
Black Widow next appeared as the villain in Avengers #29–30, where she manipulated Hawkeye, Power Man, and Swordsman into doing her bidding. At the end of the story, she reformed and allied with the Avengers, as her love for Hawkeye motivated her to switch sides after recovering from brainwashing by the Soviet government. This made her one of several Marvel Comics villains who become good by defecting from the Soviet Union to the United States, symbolizing a moral preference for American individualism over Soviet communism. Her redemption coincided with Marvel's attempt at a more nuanced portrayal of Soviets and the Cold War.
Black Widow's design underwent various changes as she appeared in the following issues of Avengers. The character's backstory was expanded in Avengers #43, when she discovered that the secret identity of the Red Guardian was her husband Alexei, who had been presumed dead. This story explained that it was because of his supposed death that she trained to be a spy. After her redemption, Black Widow became associated with the fictional intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D.
1970s
Black Widow went one year without being in any new comic books until she appeared in Avengers #76 to end her relationship with Hawkeye, effectively making her an independent character. She then underwent a full redesign in The Amazing Spider-Man #86, where she was given the black costume and long red hair that became identified with her character. John Romita Sr. designed the costume, basing it on the 1940s Miss Fury comic strip. Marvel followed this the same year with a series of Black Widow stories published in Amazing Adventures, which also published stories about the Inhumans. Marvel's first series to feature stories led by a female superhero, it portrayed Black Widow as a wealthy jet setter who doubled as a crime-fighter. The first issues, written by Gary Friedrich and illustrated by Gene Colan, were about political issues. Writers Roy Thomas and then Gerry Conway moved it away from politics in favor of melodrama, developing the relationship between Black Widow and her father figure Ivan Petrovich. Amazing Adventures ran for eight issues before Black Widow was removed from the comic book so the Inhumans could have a standalone series.As the writer for Daredevil, Conway introduced Black Widow as a supporting character and established a romance between her and Daredevil as "a way to re-energize the title". She joined the series in Daredevil #81. Colan illustrated the series with drawings of Black Widow that emphasized her acrobatics and long red hair. Conway credited Colan with creating the "first empowered sexy babe" in comics. This run allowed for deeper characterization for Black Widow, and she was given a last name, Romanoff, in issue #82. Her story line in the series saw her framed for killing a supervillain, with Daredevil's friend Foggy Nelson leading the prosecution. Conway then moved the setting to San Francisco, and their relationship became the main focus of the series. The pairing was one Marvel had to handle carefully given potential backlash to an unmarried couple living together, having them live on separate floors and having Ivan live with them. Responding to criticism that his treatment of Black Widow was sexist, Conway reworked her role beginning in Daredevil #91, having her stand up for herself when she felt neglected by Daredevil. The series was retitled Daredevil and the Black Widow in the following issue.
Steve Gerber became the writer for Daredevil with issue #97, and he moved the focus away from Black Widow back to Daredevil's superhero activity in response to weak sales. Her name was dropped from the title after issue #107. She appeared in Avengers #111–112, but left the team almost immediately as she wished to return to Daredevil. Tony Isabella became the writer for Daredevil with issue #118, and feeling that the relationship dynamic between Daredevil and Black Widow harmed both characters, he set out to split them apart. She departed from the series in issue #124, with the character leaving by saying that she felt overshadowed by Daredevil and that he robbed her of her independence.
When Isabella began writing The Champions, he included Black Widow as a member. Originally intended to be a duo of Iceman and Angel, editor Len Wein mandated several changes to The Champions, including the requirement of a female character. Besides his experience writing for Black Widow, Isabella used her in hope that continuing to work with her would prevent another writer from reuniting her with Daredevil. The seventh issue of The Champions, "The Man Who Created the Black Widow", focused on Black Widow's backstory and introduced the villain Yuri Bezukhov, the son of Ivan Petrovich. Isabella wanted to continue this story by revealing Ivan to be Black Widow's biological father, but he left Marvel Comics after completing the issue. The Champions ended after 16 issues, and Black Widow was returned to Avengers in issue #173 during the "Korvac Saga". She returned to Daredevil as a supporting character in issues #155–165.
1980s
Black Widow was less prominent in the 1980s. She made an appearance in the anthology book Bizarre Adventures #25, as one of the superheroines leading a story written by Ralph Macchio and illustrated by Paul Gulacy under the issue's "Lethal Ladies" theme. The story followed Black Widow as she infiltrated a Soviet arms depot in South Africa led by her former instructor. Macchio moved away from elements he felt were reminiscent of James Bond, instead looking to the works of John le Carré for inspiration so readers "really didn't know who were the good guys and the bad guys". Black Widow made another return to Daredevil beginning in issue #187, written by Frank Miller. She was redesigned during Miller's run, giving her a more casual and masculine appearance with a gray leotard and shorter hair. She also appeared in the shared books Marvel Two-in-One and Marvel Team-Up.The anthology book Marvel Fanfare, issues #10–13, featured Black Widow in her next solo story. Written by Macchio and illustrated by George Pérez with other artists, this story had her pursue Ivan on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D. before discovering that he had been brainwashed. Macchio and Pérez had begun working on the story in 1978, but its intended publication was cancelled twice, in Marvel Premiere and then Marvel Spotlight. Macchio made it explicit in this run that Black Widow killed adversaries when necessary and obtained information from another character by having sex with him, portraying things that were usually left ambiguous in comic books at the time.