I had totally forgotten about this episode, until the "swinging seventies" line brought it back. This version of Black Widow was clearly based on Diana Rigg's Emma Steele from TV's "The Avengers"; I suspect the Spiderman envy was there to head off the expected legal challenges, so that Marvel could claim she's a variation of their own IP.
I don't know why I didn't make the Emma Peel association, as I'm sure I did when i read the comic back in the day. When I was 12, Steed and Peel were the only legit Avengers for me.
Interestingly enough, when the actual Spider-Woman came out, she didn't swing or wall crawl or have web shooters at all. She also wasn't very soft and cuddly either.
I have a feeling it was a marketing reason. This is back in the day when Spider was popular, but the avengers and related characters were like B listers at best sales wise. She already had a spider motif and was gonna get some vaguely spider-man like power (really, just trope ninjay/spy gadgets + minor spider motif related), if I am trying to set her up as a solo book back in the day, I am totally using Spidey to try to sell her to the public.
@@dreamlandnightmare not exactly Spidey and Natasha have more in common than tony and hulk Since the whole "female spidey" came from the fact that both are based of arachnids Of course is not enough to call her a copy but you get the point
8:03 The thing that really gets me about about JJJ loudly declaring that Black Widow swinging past must be part of some nefarious scheme of Spiderman's is that it would have been a much better starting point for setting up the conflict between the two heroes.
Not being a Marvel reader I was totally unaware of that earlier costumer. Never mind female Spider-man, it makes her look like a Marvel version of Black Canary. Maybe Red Canary. As you will.
Idea time, how about covering all the times Mary Jane is taken over by Red Sonja? And how her (non-warrior) body can actually keep up with all the stuff that Red Sonja does with it?
In the 1990s animated series, she knows Judo, and according to someone commenting for a video about MJ, she is, in Peter's words, everything Peter couldn't be without the spider-bite. Another person said that the Sam Raimi movies RUINED her character, which is true (I feel the same about the USM comics- that version seems like a glass doll)!😐
I was aware of that comparison... From this cover alone and no where else, like they make it seems she's on Spider-Man's level of power, but she's not, and never has. Also that costume is classic Black Widow, no matter what look you think about, it usually goes back to this, rather than her 60's look. Even in later changes, like her 80's look with a short hair cut, a flatbed collar, a grey jumpsuit with a... Spider logo on her right chest yabbo... It's always pretty consistent to the former look.
Honestly Spider-Man’s level of power changes to suit his combatants. He sometimes battles the Hulk or the Juggernaut to a draw- While sometimes he can’t catch the Rocket Racer. The Marvel Universe Handbook has him capable of pressing Circa 10 tons Which is obviously super human strength. Yet he seems to sometimes get punched and knocked for a loop by non super human strength Opponents. Yes I get that BW is not super human - But I also think that has become over emphasized by the MCU depiction of her. By constantly surrounding her with CGI powered Hulk, IronMan and Thor, It emphasizes her non -super humanness . I like Scarlett Johansson, but frankly I prefer the Black Widow who hung out with Daredevil in his title in the early Seventies (When she actually seemed Russian). Batman is not super human and his movies don’t dwell on that aspect of him.
I kinda liked the short hair & grey costume (even if the spider placement was a bit much). But it's not a hill I'd die on. The black is great. Her MCU tactical gear is the best, IMHO. :) Also: You remind me that Natasha fit much more naturally into Daredevil's world than Spider-Man's: Daredevil is more at home with moral complexity & ambiguity than wise-cracking every-nerd Peter Parker. But whereas both Matt & Peter are rooted in Hell's Kitchen & Queens, Natasha's an international player who doesn't get to settle down for long in one place (a fact painfully demonstrated by recent events in her solo comic).
@@saavedra77 Funny you mention how she fits in DD world. The writer of her Amazing Adventures series, the one this Spider-Man comic is a backdoor pilot to, must have thought the same since in that series Natasha adventures are far more similar to Matts that to Peters. She fought for social causes in a specific, poor neighborhood, interested in helping the community get better but not necessarily by working with the police. Not to mention the ridicoulus amount of guilt she has about the deaths happening around her, a level of self-pity closer to the religious nature of Matts guilt. Its all prety advanced, especially considering that those aspects of Matt character were only developed after this series happened. Its a pitty that it didnt have any interesting villains to make it more endaging, initially just fighting thugs and then a couple of bad guys who are so lame that they probably havent show up since then. It didnt help matters that Natasha didnt seem to have any sort of live outside of being, somehow, rich and the Black Widow. The concept of not having a secret identity was also interesting but, much like the rest of the series, it didnt go nowhere. But i went way off topic. What i wanted to say its that if you were to compare Natasha to someone else, particulary the Natasha this issue was a promocional trailer for, it would be to Batman. She is a rich socialite that moonlights as a vigilante with the help of her chofer/father figure (though Alfred wouldnt become a father figure for Bruce until after this series). She has no powers, only years of training and handy gadgets that fit her alias. She wants to help people to deal with her trauma, only causing herself more issues as it goes on (this one admitely works for most heroes). She has a possible romantic interest in the form of a reporter who wants to help her out while making stories out her adventures. It checks all books (well, most of them).I dont know if the comparition was intended a the time,but it would be interesting if they would go for that angle again in the future.
@@pedrovallefin8406 Interesting! I was only aware of her role as a supporting character in the 1980s Daredevil series. (The period when she wore the grey uniform & short hair.) So 1960s writers tried making her a Spider-Man analogue and a sort of Batwoman before finding their way back to the espionage theme? Seems ironic, considering how prevalent spy shows were in the 1960s. And Marvel had Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD, right? Also, it strikes me that the guilty conscience constitutes a sort of through-line in portrayals of Natasha, from the 1960s through the MCU.
@@saavedra77 Yeah, i dont sure why they didnt stick to the spy angle either. I guess someone back then really did thought that she worked better as a "female Spider-Man" and that was they put her in a more urban role. And, since Nick Fury spy comics were closer to a Borne movie with more guns and espandex, maybe they thought her (inexistent) power set didnt work for that sort of stories. But this issue give her more powers and make clear she is a capable fighter. And at the end of the day, Fury & the boys were just trained people with big guns. She could have kept up with them. I suposse there was a bit of a mysoginistic side to it, to no one surprise. And they lean into the guilty conscience aspect a bit too heavily. In the current widow it makes more sense since its an important part of her current backstory that she is a murderer. She was raised to be a murderer. In comparition, the Natasha of back them was just a housewife turned spy that have seminly killed no one even though she trained for it. So her guilt of the time came from being in the sidelines when her husband died and felling responsable about it. But they insist a bit too much on it and, since it seems Nat has no life outside lounging in her penthouse, it feels a bit like wallowing in selfpity. So when some random guy she tried to help dies by the hands of lame villain n°1 (the leader of a cult dressed in a star-spranged onesie) if only gets worse. Really, the problem was that it lacked class. There's not one issue where she dosent talk about "the curse of the black widow", and how everyone around her dies. But the only one close to hee thought the stories is her chofer/father Ivan. So the whole things feels superficial cause her character feels superficial. But that didnt mean they werent full of potencial. Like you said, the guilty coonscience is the one thing that seemed to stick around. And the current run kinda drinks from this with Natasha being the sole protector of a dirty city. Even the villain is a less lame version of the astrologer?, with the cultist leader angle and all. But i think the closest aspect of both of them is the way they showcase the human side of Nat. How she is constantly looking back on her marriage, seminly missing the people they both were togheter since both of them were fecked up by their goverment in similar ways (she have to become a spy, he have to become their Captain America). While nowadays, Nat is mising the familly she never thought she could have, even though she knows it wasnt truly real. That family focused aspect of the character is interesting cause is not something one would catch at first glance.
It's eye-popping. Like, "What's this *fee-male* doing out here, doing man stuff?" Or: "OMG, I don't know if I can control myself around this *fee-male* ..." Did people ever talk like this in life? Refer to women clinically as "females" in conversation? I can remember as far back as the '70s & don't recognize it.
@@seanraines5871 Remember, Ferengi consider clothing females a sign of depravity, either of the person or culture insisting upon it. Why? Because clothing a female is an invitation to fantasize about them unclothed.
This was my first issue of Spider-Man as a child and yes I looked at her as a female Spider-Man. I see her more as competing with Batgirl than Supergirl. Her origin was similar to Barbara's in it's description of their various gadgets. Batgirl had a back up feature in Detective at that time. Yes some of the plotting and dialogue may seem dated now but there's no denying she was super fabulous too. This little gay boy adored her!
Sasha should get into voiceover work! I really enjoy her reading the early Supergirl stuff. Sasha does ditzy blonde *quite* well, both male and female.
Sasha is really good at this stuff. She has an excellent voice and great camera presence. I can't help but think that she is destined for bigger and better media jobs, and we will all be looking back and saying, "I remember back when she was just the girl from Casually Comics."
This was actually my introduction to Black Widow, in a book called The Superhero Women by Stan Lee. It confused the heck out of me later when she had nothing really to do with Spider-man
One of the best things Stan Lee was great at was cross promotion. I think all the 'female Spider-Man' talk was his way of drumming up the character in what was THE best selling book in the Marvel line, trying to give her the best push possible. I'd say she was one of his favorite characters, since even when her solo series didn't work out, she moved on to co-headline Daredevil's book.
A gorgeous redhead in a black catsuit, spy, martial artist, Avenger... I'm talking about Emma Peel of course! Peel was portrayed by Dame Diana Rigg (RIP) on the TV show The Avengers from 1965-1968 (The show started in 1961 and ran till 1969). How there are two The Avengers I don't know, the British TV show started 2 years before the comic series, and there was a The Avengers (1998) movie before The Avengers (2012). The TV show is also where Marvel nicked the Hellfire club from.
Because the Avengers was British, and Earth's Mightiest Heroes, The Avengers was American. And when Stan created the team, none of us rebels (Americans) had ever heard of the spies.
There's an agreement of some kind now that comics adaptations of the TV series are called "Steed and Mrs Peel" or somesuch to differentiate them from those other Avengers.
But at this time she hadn't been a member. She just hung around Hawkeye, trying to convince him to betray them. She joined later after this comic, when she and her soon to be ex boyfriend Daredevil helped them against Magneto.
It's interesting (to me, at least) that the Ultimate Universe version of Jessica Drew, who was an actual clone of Peter Parker, changed her alias to Black Widow shortly before the Ultimate Universe was destroyed.
Yeah, i dont know how no one found weird the idea of adapting the character that way. Its a little better when you realize that the MCU Red Guardian is a sort of fusion of the original RG, her ex-husband, and Ivan, her father figure. They basically took the personality of the later with the suit and name of the former. Which makes sense, since og Alexei didnt have much of a personality. Consequence of dying in his first story and not coming back until more that 40 years later. The MCU Alexei does has a bit of what was shown of the character in his first apearance, oddly enough. They are prety similar in a way. I dont know if that does the whole "husband to father" thing better or worse though.
The only time I ever thought of the Black Widow as being similar to Spidey in any way was in a comic where she was teamed up with Shang-Chi to retake the SHIELD helicarrier from Madame Hydra.
Comixology is having a Marvel BOGO sale so I bought a bunch of Black Widow today before seeing the movie. And I was super thrilled when she used the web shooter device from this comic. Excellent timing! Thanks!
I wouldn't mind cuddling up to Black Widow, but when I saw the video's title, I thought of Jessica Drew first. I didn't even know she had that tech. I just knew about her spy tech. I'd have Spidey and Black Widow team up, like have them look for some sort of McGuffin that would be explained more in her series.
"It's like he was born that way!" But... he wasn't??? He got bitten by a radioactive spider and somehow didn't die, his powers had nothing to do with training or mutants or whatever. It could have literally been *anyone* who got powers that day! Heck lady, it could have been *you* that got powers that day!
the first time I ever saw Black Widow in comics was in one of those great big comic books they used to do in the 70's with a collection of Spidey team-ups. Thinking back it was the first time I ever saw the X-men, and Morbius too. I had no clue what was going on with those extra arms Peter had in the Morbius story. Anyway, I think Widow was wearing gray and had short red hair and a high collar. Peter even commented on her costume if I remember correctly. It was also the first comic book I ever read. An interesting introduction to the world of Marvel.
I don't know about the other books Stan wrote at this time of this issue, but his run on Amazing Spider-Man is full of editor's boxes apologizing to readers for taking so long to get to the action, for spending so much time on romance scenes or personal drama. Most of the time they read like he's in on the joke and knows that (at least for ASM) the readers loved the Peter Parker stuff just as much as the Spider-Man stuff.
I love how they took three or four panels to show Natasha grabbing a bottle of red hair dye and breaking out the sewing machine. Which answers the largely unasked question as to where superheroes get their costumes from.
In the JMS run of Amazing Spider-Man he did an issue where Spidey met a guy who ran a costume shop and made a business out of repairing superhero costumes.
At the time of that story's writing Spider Man is Marvel's most popular character by far. If they wanted to launch a new character tying them to Spider Man isn't a bad idea. It's probably better than saying Black Widow "is Emma Peel but with Superpowers". No pesky referencing outside franchises. It was only a couple of years after this (if I'm not mistaken) that Marvel created a Spider Woman just to lock down the copyright. Marvel eventually managed to further exploit Spider Man by just putting out more Spider Man titles, but they hadn't started that yet in 1970.
I’ll never understand why all hero first interactions are fights. I think if she saved Spidey, and he resisted her help, but they had to fight a big bad, the pilot would’ve worked better.
I always took Black Widow as more of a stoic Soviet Union trained version of Wasp.....they felt more similar to me than her compared to anyone else. I thought other people felt that way since the MCU used her instead of Wasp as a founding Avenger.
"Well actually"I'm kidding! But according to X-Men: First Class II #9 Black Widow changed her outfit because she was tired of her fishnets catching on things"(and never on any fish!) I don't know how serious that issue was suppose to be. I just bought it because it had Black Widow in her old outfit on the cover. At one point Jean refers to enemies as "witch nappers" for trying to capture the Scarlet Witch. Black Widow and Scarlet Witch have been two of my favorite superheroes since the 90s.
The 70's was the start of the "modern women's movement." NOW it's like antique futurism; a cliche idea of what things will be like. The idea that a woman would necessarily have to overcome an inevitable "I'm not even a man" hurdle on the path to self-esteem wouldn't have been considered patronizing back then.
I don't think you have to delve too deeply into this- the story was a marketing ploy to get folks interested in Natasha by paring her with a popular character before launching her solo series. As for how she was written, blame it on the time- of her recording. There have been changes since then, so things have gotten better (at least IMO).
Peter could absolutely beat Black Widow but he's just like "Hey, I know you! What's hanging?" Then he gets punched in the face and he has just had a bad day so he is going to give the widow a win.
She was co-starring with Daredevil when I was introduced to her -- but that John Romita design was always a winner. I thought she put on a pretty good show when she fought Spider-Man (for all the wrong reasons). Her acrobatic abilities were really on display there -- something we don't see enough of in current Marvel.
I have read this issue for the same reason and my take away had been that they needed a villian of the week but not because of his weakness, they couldn't be a real threat. Yeah, it's very of it's time and didn't go anywhere but it served it's purpose and did set up Black Widow as a character who was distinct from the other heroines and even her old self
I had the first issue, but traded it in ages ago. They should have put her in an all-female team instead. Valkyrie (who was squandered in the Defenders) & She-Hulk & Medusa could've been her team-mates.
3:23 _"My only escape is the forgetfulness that action - - - and danger can bring!"_ Like, concussion...? Because just running into a wall will have the same effect...
Peter just has the normal flu here. But at the time of this -recording- issue, this is about the 5th time Peter has had the flu and it's affected his spider-powers. Each time this has happened he's gone out as Spidey and been surprised that being sick is making him weaker, slower, etc. Then he figures out the only solution is to go home and stay in bed for a few days until he feels better, that his powers help him heal from injuries but they do nothing against normal viruses. Then he forgets everything he learned so the next time he gets the flu he does the same thing.
I guess that after this they realized they over-played this weakness. Cause i dont recall Peter felling all powerless because of a flu ever again. Maybe i just missed it.
@@pedrovallefin8406 Not likely. For awhile Aunt May had heart problems every 10-15 issues. Spidey has come down with normal illnesses since that story, because it's an easy way to make Spidey weaker for a fight he would otherwise be able to win. Same with having an injury In the Marv Wolfman run he fought Kingpin but had a broken arm so he wasn't able to easily defeat him.
Ah, yes. Everyone knows that the best cure for unknown illnesses that make you faint is to go soaring really high up in the air, kept alive only by your own strenght, skill and powers that said illness is weaknening
To be fair, there were times when I was younger that I was feeling rotten, but going out dancing got me sweating out the toxins and feeling much better.
@@Skeezer66 Oh I’m not protesting the exercise bit! Just the part with the risks of the particular exercise. Like Peter, honey, maybe you could have tried going for a run instead. Or a walk in the sunshine.
I bought this issue when it came out. This was a great issue, Though not much happened. Before this, Black Widow wasn’t much of a character, might be the long hair, skin tight uniform and losing the specs. After this it was her Amazing Adventure series, then Daredevil.
Man, everyone with too big gimmick was going after Iron Man it seems no wonder why he drank so much. Awesome Black Widow video I don't think it's fair to say she's just a female Spider-Man she's grown into a much more complex interesting character than that.
I don't think she ever was. It never occurred to me until seeing this story. I get the feeling Stan needed a story idea to re-introduce BW and went with this.
@@blackrazer22 Its atempt to sell the character to the reader with a forced conection to the popular hero of the company. They did the same thing with Ms Marvel when they first give her a series a few years after this, making her work as an editor in the Bugle with costant cameos of Spidey supporting characters. Even though Carol have nothing to do with that world (or being a reporter) before that.
@@pedrovallefin8406 I never know that, but that is crazy. A case could be made for BW to show up in a spidey comic, but not Ms Marvel. Stan had crazier ideas back in the 70s than I realized.
@@blackrazer22 Its not that crazy when you think about it. Basic math really. A never tried before regular series for a female character and a new one at that?+ A spin-off of a not that popular hero? That equals a far too risky move. But all of the above + being a spin off of the company most popular character? An istant sucess. Or that what one concludes if we talk about the long run. Or if succes equals having a movie, which for marvel it kinda is.
Black Widow has always been Black Widow, even when Natashaing. Yeah, even I bristled at the ' .. from the heart." talk. Yet, kinda understood it was a kind of thing from the time it was written, and was prevalent in Hollywoods returning from the war kind of ordeal, and men wearing hats and boutonneirs was just starting to go out.
I think I remember being confused by this comic as a kid, going through my uncle's collection. I'd never thought of her as being like Spiderman in her earlier appearances, nor her later ones. A definite WTF moment. That said, while there was definitely some casual sexism there, at least it wasn't quite at the "Lois will marry anything handsome" level we were seeing from DC! I know they've gotten better, but I still have trouble taking DC seriously _at the time of this recording._ ☺
I feel like Stan Lee is just being passive-aggressive. Wasn't this when Stan was just writing the words after artists basically crafted the plot themselves? He was like "what is this shit? A female Spider-Man? This is bullshit, but I guess I've _got_ to write _something,_ so whatever."
It's interesting, because this knowledge does kinda make certain character inconsistencies between words and actions make sense. I especially noticed such mismatched dialogue to panel art in early Fantastic Four.
I think this was suppose to be something to reference in case someone who was a fan of Spider-Man tried to say she was a copy of him when she got her own series
Hearing about Iron Man early villains i am starting to think his first armors were actually super clunky slabs of metals. Making avarage Joe pretty strong but somebody well trained or talented could fight him
Maybe so, but he still could fly along with that super-streght. He shouldnt have that much of a problem fighting a contortionist and a lady that walks in walls. I think Stan didnt knew how to adapt to his weight class.
Marvel early on, had a pattern of making their heroes (and would become heroes) fight each other, Hulk vs Thing, Avengers vs FF, FF and Avengers vs the X-Men, Namor vs Daredevil, and so on. Usually starting with some kind of misunderstanding about were they heroes or villains? Part of it was to rank who was stronger, part of it just to see them fight before tackling the actual villain. This story pretty much falls in that category, as well as the points you made. Great video.
Feed the algorithm. I wouldn't have thought there'd be any reason to connect her to spider-man, but to be honest I always wondered about her name and had no idea at the start that her initial "powers" were intended to be somewhat spider-based. I feel like at the time of the comic's publication (or, well, recording) it prolly wasn't as much of a stretch as it now seems.
I remember reading reprints of Black Widow's early appearances years ago as a kid and being baffled as to why she thought going up against Iron Man was a good idea. Maybe start out beating up Rick Jones and move up from there.
@@DSan-kl2yc Well, Rick Jones was close to Bruce Banner and I imagine an expert in gamma weapon technology would be something a spy would be interested in. But, in all honesty, it's mostly because Rick Jones just annoys the hell out of me.
@@harlannguyen4048 Yes, but it's probably due to that fact that I read more Marvel than DC. Most of the teenage sidekicks annoyed me, but there's something about Rick Jones that really pissed me off. Snapper would probably be number two on that list, though.
Sasha, I would like to make a request. Please do a deep dive into the comic book career of Carol Danvers. She has gone through many changes and personas over the years since being the love interest of Kree soldier Captain Marvel with all the highs and lows and one particularly cringe episode (Avengers #200, any one?)
Some Spiderman defiantly went into her design in the game Marvel's Avengers, her animations with her zip line are very much modeled after Spidey and use his signature pose when in mid-air.
Never thought of her as a female spider-man but her having spider-like tech like the boots and grappling line you mentioned sounds fitting for her namesake. It sounds cool
Her original appearence in Iron Man cast her a a Russian Spy, part film noire femme fatale, part Mata Hari, part Rosa Klebb. Black Widow's leather one piece reboot in The Amazing Spider-Man recalls the leather outfits of the character Cathy Gale in the UK TV series "The Avengers" (sic)
My belief is that they went with the "a female copy of Spider-Man" is that since she was a hero now, instead of a foe, they were trying to distance her from the original reasoning of the name "Black Widow" which was supposed to be more indicative of a female trap.. In her original no power spy appearance it was supposed to be a she'll trick seduce you and kill you like a Black Widow. Now that she's a good guy, you've got to switch to an action/power idea, along with the fact that Spider-Man is always one of Marvels most popular characters, so marketing her as a female Spider-Man is to draw a mass audience, or attempt to. Being told it's like your favorite thing makes people more likely to check it out even if they find out it really isn't. She was already an established character, but not as popular as they wanted, so comparing her to Spider-Man is marketing kind of like the putting an appearance by Wolverine became the thing to do even with already established characters later on.
As a four year old I had a view master of her fight vs Iron Man with Hawkeye on her side. So when she showed up in current comics (1978 onward)..I was really confused
It makes sense to introduce the new costume in the same book as the artist who re-designed it and based on 60s comic stan just loved to cross characters over into other books so we have a classic bad story with a++ art and a market ploy to buy another book. Makes sense in so many ways. I'm not a fan of 60s and 70s portrayal of women but I do know that stories of that time follow suit and a deviation would just turn off a reader of that time or cause too much attention. You decide on that one :-)
Black Widow: Dresses like a dominatrix
Also her: "I'm soft and cuddly"
Could have been meant ironically. Stan Lee had the tendency to make most heroes wisecracking and quippy.
Get you a hero who can do both
It's also a strange phrase considering a certain What If featuring the two of them.
I'd cuddle with one.
I love the punisher's soft and cuddly skull spandex
Frank wore kevlar, not spandex
@@Andulvar depends on the artist
I'll bet unstable molecules make form-fitting costumes extra comfy.
I love how Donny Cates doubles down on Franks soft & cuddly side in cosmic ghost rider...
@@Mitsuraga like a comfy second skin
I had totally forgotten about this episode, until the "swinging seventies" line brought it back. This version of Black Widow was clearly based on Diana Rigg's Emma Steele from TV's "The Avengers"; I suspect the Spiderman envy was there to head off the expected legal challenges, so that Marvel could claim she's a variation of their own IP.
Minor correction. It's Emma Peel.
I don't know why I didn't make the Emma Peel association, as I'm sure I did when i read the comic back in the day. When I was 12, Steed and Peel were the only legit Avengers for me.
Sure sounds very plausible to me!
Interestingly enough, when the actual Spider-Woman came out, she didn't swing or wall crawl or have web shooters at all. She also wasn't very soft and cuddly either.
"This is what happens when you order your motivation from Wish."
Can a plot summation be any more on deadly point?
So weird to call her a copy of Spider-man. I’ve never once thought of her that way.
Yeah, it makes about as much sense Iron Man being thought of as a copy as the Hulk.
I have a feeling it was a marketing reason. This is back in the day when Spider was popular, but the avengers and related characters were like B listers at best sales wise. She already had a spider motif and was gonna get some vaguely spider-man like power (really, just trope ninjay/spy gadgets + minor spider motif related), if I am trying to set her up as a solo book back in the day, I am totally using Spidey to try to sell her to the public.
@@louisvictor3473 She has the power set that inspired spider-man probably, the Tarantuala's powers.
At the time the thought probably was "She's called the Black Widow and that's a type of spider so let's put her in a Spider-Man story."
@@dreamlandnightmare not exactly
Spidey and Natasha have more in common than tony and hulk
Since the whole "female spidey" came from the fact that both are based of arachnids
Of course is not enough to call her a copy but you get the point
8:03 The thing that really gets me about about JJJ loudly declaring that Black Widow swinging past must be part of some nefarious scheme of Spiderman's is that it would have been a much better starting point for setting up the conflict between the two heroes.
It was nothing more than a device to get her into Spidey so they could showcase her own series imo.
Not being a Marvel reader I was totally unaware of that earlier costumer. Never mind female Spider-man, it makes her look like a Marvel version of Black Canary. Maybe Red Canary. As you will.
I think that the real comparison would be Talia.
It gave me Huntress Vibes mostly from the mask
I got early catwoman
Idea time, how about covering all the times Mary Jane is taken over by Red Sonja? And how her (non-warrior) body can actually keep up with all the stuff that Red Sonja does with it?
In the 1990s animated series, she knows Judo, and according to someone commenting for a video about MJ, she is, in Peter's words, everything Peter couldn't be without the spider-bite. Another person said that the Sam Raimi movies RUINED her character, which is true (I feel the same about the USM comics- that version seems like a glass doll)!😐
Her transformation into Red Sonja is physical too, not just spiritual. At least that is how it was in the first story in Marvel Team Up.
I was aware of that comparison... From this cover alone and no where else, like they make it seems she's on Spider-Man's level of power, but she's not, and never has.
Also that costume is classic Black Widow, no matter what look you think about, it usually goes back to this, rather than her 60's look. Even in later changes, like her 80's look with a short hair cut, a flatbed collar, a grey jumpsuit with a... Spider logo on her right chest yabbo... It's always pretty consistent to the former look.
Honestly Spider-Man’s level of power changes to suit his combatants.
He sometimes battles the Hulk or the Juggernaut to a draw-
While sometimes he can’t catch the Rocket Racer.
The Marvel Universe Handbook has him capable of pressing Circa 10 tons
Which is obviously super human strength.
Yet he seems to sometimes get punched and knocked for a loop by non super human strength
Opponents.
Yes I get that BW is not super human -
But I also think that has become over emphasized by the MCU depiction of her.
By constantly surrounding her with CGI powered Hulk, IronMan and Thor,
It emphasizes her non -super humanness .
I like Scarlett Johansson, but frankly I prefer the Black Widow who hung out with
Daredevil in his title in the early Seventies (When she actually seemed Russian).
Batman is not super human and his movies don’t dwell on that aspect of him.
I kinda liked the short hair & grey costume (even if the spider placement was a bit much). But it's not a hill I'd die on. The black is great. Her MCU tactical gear is the best, IMHO. :)
Also: You remind me that Natasha fit much more naturally into Daredevil's world than Spider-Man's: Daredevil is more at home with moral complexity & ambiguity than wise-cracking every-nerd Peter Parker.
But whereas both Matt & Peter are rooted in Hell's Kitchen & Queens, Natasha's an international player who doesn't get to settle down for long in one place (a fact painfully demonstrated by recent events in her solo comic).
@@saavedra77 Funny you mention how she fits in DD world. The writer of her Amazing Adventures series, the one this Spider-Man comic is a backdoor pilot to, must have thought the same since in that series Natasha adventures are far more similar to Matts that to Peters. She fought for social causes in a specific, poor neighborhood, interested in helping the community get better but not necessarily by working with the police. Not to mention the ridicoulus amount of guilt she has about the deaths happening around her, a level of self-pity closer to the religious nature of Matts guilt.
Its all prety advanced, especially considering that those aspects of Matt character were only developed after this series happened. Its a pitty that it didnt have any interesting villains to make it more endaging, initially just fighting thugs and then a couple of bad guys who are so lame that they probably havent show up since then. It didnt help matters that Natasha didnt seem to have any sort of live outside of being, somehow, rich and the Black Widow. The concept of not having a secret identity was also interesting but, much like the rest of the series, it didnt go nowhere.
But i went way off topic. What i wanted to say its that if you were to compare Natasha to someone else, particulary the Natasha this issue was a promocional trailer for, it would be to Batman. She is a rich socialite that moonlights as a vigilante with the help of her chofer/father figure (though Alfred wouldnt become a father figure for Bruce until after this series). She has no powers, only years of training and handy gadgets that fit her alias. She wants to help people to deal with her trauma, only causing herself more issues as it goes on (this one admitely works for most heroes). She has a possible romantic interest in the form of a reporter who wants to help her out while making stories out her adventures. It checks all books (well, most of them).I dont know if the comparition was intended a the time,but it would be interesting if they would go for that angle again in the future.
@@pedrovallefin8406 Interesting! I was only aware of her role as a supporting character in the 1980s Daredevil series. (The period when she wore the grey uniform & short hair.) So 1960s writers tried making her a Spider-Man analogue and a sort of Batwoman before finding their way back to the espionage theme? Seems ironic, considering how prevalent spy shows were in the 1960s. And Marvel had Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD, right? Also, it strikes me that the guilty conscience constitutes a sort of through-line in portrayals of Natasha, from the 1960s through the MCU.
@@saavedra77 Yeah, i dont sure why they didnt stick to the spy angle either. I guess someone back then really did thought that she worked better as a "female Spider-Man" and that was they put her in a more urban role. And, since Nick Fury spy comics were closer to a Borne movie with more guns and espandex, maybe they thought her (inexistent) power set didnt work for that sort of stories. But this issue give her more powers and make clear she is a capable fighter. And at the end of the day, Fury & the boys were just trained people with big guns. She could have kept up with them. I suposse there was a bit of a mysoginistic side to it, to no one surprise.
And they lean into the guilty conscience aspect a bit too heavily. In the current widow it makes more sense since its an important part of her current backstory that she is a murderer. She was raised to be a murderer. In comparition, the Natasha of back them was just a housewife turned spy that have seminly killed no one even though she trained for it. So her guilt of the time came from being in the sidelines when her husband died and felling responsable about it. But they insist a bit too much on it and, since it seems Nat has no life outside lounging in her penthouse, it feels a bit like wallowing in selfpity.
So when some random guy she tried to help dies by the hands of lame villain n°1 (the leader of a cult dressed in a star-spranged onesie) if only gets worse. Really, the problem was that it lacked class. There's not one issue where she dosent talk about "the curse of the black widow", and how everyone around her dies. But the only one close to hee thought the stories is her chofer/father Ivan. So the whole things feels superficial cause her character feels superficial. But that didnt mean they werent full of potencial.
Like you said, the guilty coonscience is the one thing that seemed to stick around. And the current run kinda drinks from this with Natasha being the sole protector of a dirty city. Even the villain is a less lame version of the astrologer?, with the cultist leader angle and all. But i think the closest aspect of both of them is the way they showcase the human side of Nat. How she is constantly looking back on her marriage, seminly missing the people they both were togheter since both of them were fecked up by their goverment in similar ways (she have to become a spy, he have to become their Captain America). While nowadays, Nat is mising the familly she never thought she could have, even though she knows it wasnt truly real. That family focused aspect of the character is interesting cause is not something one would catch at first glance.
Whenever they refer to women as "females" in old comics, I can't help but hear it in my head the way Ferengi say "Fee-males" in _Star Trek._
Ferengi have some outdated ideas too. Going far back to cave man ideas. "Shes wearing clothing. Their women wear clothing"
It's eye-popping. Like, "What's this *fee-male* doing out here, doing man stuff?" Or: "OMG, I don't know if I can control myself around this *fee-male* ..." Did people ever talk like this in life? Refer to women clinically as "females" in conversation? I can remember as far back as the '70s & don't recognize it.
@@seanraines5871 Remember, Ferengi consider clothing females a sign of depravity, either of the person or culture insisting upon it.
Why? Because clothing a female is an invitation to fantasize about them unclothed.
Anytime a man refers to human women as ‘females’ I assume they will die alone.
This was my first issue of Spider-Man as a child and yes I looked at her as a female Spider-Man. I see her more as competing with Batgirl than Supergirl. Her origin was similar to Barbara's in it's description of their various gadgets. Batgirl had a back up feature in Detective at that time. Yes some of the plotting and dialogue may seem dated now but there's no denying she was super fabulous too. This little gay boy adored her!
Sasha doing her Peter Parker voice is always a treat!😊
Indeed
Sasha should get into voiceover work! I really enjoy her reading the early Supergirl stuff. Sasha does ditzy blonde *quite* well, both male and female.
Sasha is really good at this stuff. She has an excellent voice and great camera presence. I can't help but think that she is destined for bigger and better media jobs, and we will all be looking back and saying, "I remember back when she was just the girl from Casually Comics."
This was actually my introduction to Black Widow, in a book called The Superhero Women by Stan Lee. It confused the heck out of me later when she had nothing really to do with Spider-man
One of the best things Stan Lee was great at was cross promotion. I think all the 'female Spider-Man' talk was his way of drumming up the character in what was THE best selling book in the Marvel line, trying to give her the best push possible. I'd say she was one of his favorite characters, since even when her solo series didn't work out, she moved on to co-headline Daredevil's book.
A gorgeous redhead in a black catsuit, spy, martial artist, Avenger... I'm talking about Emma Peel of course! Peel was portrayed by Dame Diana Rigg (RIP) on the TV show The Avengers from 1965-1968 (The show started in 1961 and ran till 1969). How there are two The Avengers I don't know, the British TV show started 2 years before the comic series, and there was a The Avengers (1998) movie before The Avengers (2012). The TV show is also where Marvel nicked the Hellfire club from.
Because the Avengers was British, and Earth's Mightiest Heroes, The Avengers was American. And when Stan created the team, none of us rebels (Americans) had ever heard of the spies.
There's an agreement of some kind now that comics adaptations of the TV series are called "Steed and Mrs Peel" or somesuch to differentiate them from those other Avengers.
In the next Into the Spiderverse movie, I NEED you to voice one of the Spider-Men
And Black Widow needs to show up because after all, she is only just a female version of Spider-Man.
But at this time she hadn't been a member. She just hung around Hawkeye, trying to convince him to betray them. She joined later after this comic, when she and her soon to be ex boyfriend Daredevil helped them against Magneto.
It's interesting (to me, at least) that the Ultimate Universe version of Jessica Drew, who was an actual clone of Peter Parker, changed her alias to Black Widow shortly before the Ultimate Universe was destroyed.
I actually remember this issue as part of my uncle's collection. I'd always wished Widow and Spidey would team up more often.
I think I've had an epiphany: Black Widow's new look here is heavily inspired by Emma Peel!
The MCU’s Black Widow’s husband Red Guardian is now her undercover father. Keeping things in the family
Yeah, i dont know how no one found weird the idea of adapting the character that way. Its a little better when you realize that the MCU Red Guardian is a sort of fusion of the original RG, her ex-husband, and Ivan, her father figure. They basically took the personality of the later with the suit and name of the former. Which makes sense, since og Alexei didnt have much of a personality. Consequence of dying in his first story and not coming back until more that 40 years later. The MCU Alexei does has a bit of what was shown of the character in his first apearance, oddly enough. They are prety similar in a way. I dont know if that does the whole "husband to father" thing better or worse though.
There are many other who took on the mantle of Red Guardian
That was a bizarre twist and feels like a ruination of the character and her comic origins.
The only time I ever thought of the Black Widow as being similar to Spidey in any way was in a comic where she was teamed up with Shang-Chi to retake the SHIELD helicarrier from Madame Hydra.
Comixology is having a Marvel BOGO sale so I bought a bunch of Black Widow today before seeing the movie. And I was super thrilled when she used the web shooter device from this comic. Excellent timing! Thanks!
I remember pouring over that issue when I was little! Probably explains this thing I have about catsuits, if not redheads, now...😍
Welcome, friend!
I wouldn't mind cuddling up to Black Widow, but when I saw the video's title, I thought of Jessica Drew first. I didn't even know she had that tech. I just knew about her spy tech. I'd have Spidey and Black Widow team up, like have them look for some sort of McGuffin that would be explained more in her series.
Grrl you made me fall in love with comic books all over again
Obviously she lives the wig life, that's why her hair was different.Bugle headline ' Female Spiderman also a menace'
"It's like he was born that way!" But... he wasn't??? He got bitten by a radioactive spider and somehow didn't die, his powers had nothing to do with training or mutants or whatever. It could have literally been *anyone* who got powers that day! Heck lady, it could have been *you* that got powers that day!
the first time I ever saw Black Widow in comics was in one of those great big comic books they used to do in the 70's with a collection of Spidey team-ups. Thinking back it was the first time I ever saw the X-men, and Morbius too. I had no clue what was going on with those extra arms Peter had in the Morbius story. Anyway, I think Widow was wearing gray and had short red hair and a high collar. Peter even commented on her costume if I remember correctly. It was also the first comic book I ever read. An interesting introduction to the world of Marvel.
A female version of Spider-Man?
Nah.
That would never work out…
sheer madness lol
I don't know about the other books Stan wrote at this time of this issue, but his run on Amazing Spider-Man is full of editor's boxes apologizing to readers for taking so long to get to the action, for spending so much time on romance scenes or personal drama. Most of the time they read like he's in on the joke and knows that (at least for ASM) the readers loved the Peter Parker stuff just as much as the Spider-Man stuff.
I am lost staring at your glasses, kept by your voice and entertained by your content. Awesome job!!
I love how they took three or four panels to show Natasha grabbing a bottle of red hair dye and breaking out the sewing machine.
Which answers the largely unasked question as to where superheroes get their costumes from.
In the JMS run of Amazing Spider-Man he did an issue where Spidey met a guy who ran a costume shop and made a business out of repairing superhero costumes.
Wow Natasha used to talk like Stan Lee! Glad she grew out of that.
At the time of that story's writing Spider Man is Marvel's most popular character by far.
If they wanted to launch a new character tying them to Spider Man isn't a bad idea. It's probably better than saying Black Widow "is Emma Peel but with Superpowers". No pesky referencing outside franchises.
It was only a couple of years after this (if I'm not mistaken) that Marvel created a Spider Woman just to lock down the copyright. Marvel eventually managed to further exploit Spider Man by just putting out more Spider Man titles, but they hadn't started that yet in 1970.
I will always be amused by the Spider-Man voice! Thanks for the Black Widow information!
"this is what happens when you order your motivation from wish" had me rolling!!!
I’ll never understand why all hero first interactions are fights. I think if she saved Spidey, and he resisted her help, but they had to fight a big bad, the pilot would’ve worked better.
I always took Black Widow as more of a stoic Soviet Union trained version of Wasp.....they felt more similar to me than her compared to anyone else. I thought other people felt that way since the MCU used her instead of Wasp as a founding Avenger.
"Well actually"I'm kidding! But according to X-Men: First Class II #9 Black Widow changed her outfit because she was tired of her fishnets catching on things"(and never on any fish!) I don't know how serious that issue was suppose to be. I just bought it because it had Black Widow in her old outfit on the cover. At one point Jean refers to enemies as "witch nappers" for trying to capture the Scarlet Witch.
Black Widow and Scarlet Witch have been two of my favorite superheroes since the 90s.
The 70's was the start of the "modern women's movement." NOW it's like antique futurism; a cliche idea of what things will be like. The idea that a woman would necessarily have to overcome an inevitable "I'm not even a man" hurdle on the path to self-esteem wouldn't have been considered patronizing back then.
Stan Lee sure had a lot to say about "females" and relationships with them.
I don't think you have to delve too deeply into this- the story was a marketing ploy to get folks interested in Natasha by paring her with a popular character before launching her solo series. As for how she was written, blame it on the time- of her recording. There have been changes since then, so things have gotten better (at least IMO).
Peter could absolutely beat Black Widow but he's just like "Hey, I know you! What's hanging?" Then he gets punched in the face and he has just had a bad day so he is going to give the widow a win.
This would be like if DC made a comic where Black Canary tries to prove she's more than just the female Hawkman.
She was co-starring with Daredevil when I was introduced to her -- but that John Romita design was always a winner. I thought she put on a pretty good show when she fought Spider-Man (for all the wrong reasons). Her acrobatic abilities were really on display there -- something we don't see enough of in current Marvel.
Please do one on the young justice comic
I have read this issue for the same reason and my take away had been that they needed a villian of the week but not because of his weakness, they couldn't be a real threat. Yeah, it's very of it's time and didn't go anywhere but it served it's purpose and did set up Black Widow as a character who was distinct from the other heroines and even her old self
"And that means my brain is down here…near my ‘At The Time Of This Recording’ shirt…"
"Black Widow's name has other connotations" - her power is that she marries people and then they die?
She Does Have That Power It Just Doesn't Come Much.
She eats her husbands.
A far cry from when she was a member of the Champions which had Ghost Rider, Iceman, Angel and Hercules as co-members.
I had the first issue, but traded it in ages ago. They should have put her in an all-female team instead. Valkyrie (who was squandered in the Defenders) & She-Hulk & Medusa could've been her team-mates.
@@johnpjones182 I still have the 25 cents first issue.
3:23 _"My only escape is the forgetfulness that action - - - and danger can bring!"_ Like, concussion...? Because just running into a wall will have the same effect...
Peter just has the normal flu here. But at the time of this -recording- issue, this is about the 5th time Peter has had the flu and it's affected his spider-powers. Each time this has happened he's gone out as Spidey and been surprised that being sick is making him weaker, slower, etc. Then he figures out the only solution is to go home and stay in bed for a few days until he feels better, that his powers help him heal from injuries but they do nothing against normal viruses. Then he forgets everything he learned so the next time he gets the flu he does the same thing.
I guess that after this they realized they over-played this weakness. Cause i dont recall Peter felling all powerless because of a flu ever again. Maybe i just missed it.
@@pedrovallefin8406 Not likely. For awhile Aunt May had heart problems every 10-15 issues.
Spidey has come down with normal illnesses since that story, because it's an easy way to make Spidey weaker for a fight he would otherwise be able to win.
Same with having an injury In the Marv Wolfman run he fought Kingpin but had a broken arm so he wasn't able to easily defeat him.
Ah, yes. Everyone knows that the best cure for unknown illnesses that make you faint is to go soaring really high up in the air, kept alive only by your own strenght, skill and powers that said illness is weaknening
To be fair, there were times when I was younger that I was feeling rotten, but going out dancing got me sweating out the toxins and feeling much better.
@@Skeezer66 Oh I’m not protesting the exercise bit! Just the part with the risks of the particular exercise. Like Peter, honey, maybe you could have tried going for a run instead. Or a walk in the sunshine.
Palms are sweaty. Knees weak. Arms are heavy. Goblin blood on his suit already. Or is it Aunt May’s spaghetti?
I bought this issue when it came out.
This was a great issue,
Though not much happened.
Before this, Black Widow wasn’t much of a character,
might be the long hair, skin tight uniform and losing the specs.
After this it was her Amazing Adventure series, then Daredevil.
This is just reminding me of something I saw on tumblr where Spiderman was saying it was cool Black Widow knew what radioactive spider bit her…
Lillie: “Can I fight Spider-Man? I have Gwen symboite it give me black suit and spider power.”
Your merch is always classy
LETS GOOOOOOOO! This was the first comic book I ever read.
Yeah, sometimes Black Widow had the super serum and sometimes doesn’t. So weird.
Ordered from wish! Omg, that was an awesome zinger!
Man, everyone with too big gimmick was going after Iron Man it seems no wonder why he drank so much. Awesome Black Widow video I don't think it's fair to say she's just a female Spider-Man she's grown into a much more complex interesting character than that.
I don't think she ever was. It never occurred to me until seeing this story. I get the feeling Stan needed a story idea to re-introduce BW and went with this.
@@blackrazer22 Its atempt to sell the character to the reader with a forced conection to the popular hero of the company. They did the same thing with Ms Marvel when they first give her a series a few years after this, making her work as an editor in the Bugle with costant cameos of Spidey supporting characters. Even though Carol have nothing to do with that world (or being a reporter) before that.
@@pedrovallefin8406 I never know that, but that is crazy. A case could be made for BW to show up in a spidey comic, but not Ms Marvel. Stan had crazier ideas back in the 70s than I realized.
@@blackrazer22 Its not that crazy when you think about it. Basic math really. A never tried before regular series for a female character and a new one at that?+ A spin-off of a not that popular hero? That equals a far too risky move. But all of the above + being a spin off of the company most popular character? An istant sucess. Or that what one concludes if we talk about the long run. Or if succes equals having a movie, which for marvel it kinda is.
I've enjoyed your videos for a while now but realized that I've never commented. Keep up the great work!
Black Widow has always been Black Widow, even when Natashaing. Yeah, even I bristled at the ' .. from the heart." talk. Yet, kinda understood it was a kind of thing from the time it was written, and was prevalent in Hollywoods returning from the war kind of ordeal, and men wearing hats and boutonneirs was just starting to go out.
All I know is, it’s damn near impossible to complete an Amazing Tales run.
"If I were Iron man, I'd be offended!" Hahahaha
Peter: Knees are weak..... shoulders are heavy.. Pawns are sweaty..... Mom's spaghetti
so interesting. thanks for the history lesson as always sasha 👍
Would love for you to cover the Black widow in the Avengers in the 1960's by Roy Thomas.
Great look you had Sasha.
I think I remember being confused by this comic as a kid, going through my uncle's collection. I'd never thought of her as being like Spiderman in her earlier appearances, nor her later ones. A definite WTF moment.
That said, while there was definitely some casual sexism there, at least it wasn't quite at the "Lois will marry anything handsome" level we were seeing from DC! I know they've gotten better, but I still have trouble taking DC seriously _at the time of this recording._ ☺
I feel like Stan Lee is just being passive-aggressive. Wasn't this when Stan was just writing the words after artists basically crafted the plot themselves? He was like "what is this shit? A female Spider-Man? This is bullshit, but I guess I've _got_ to write _something,_ so whatever."
But he had already written the character, before. It's not like this was his first time having to deal with her.
It's interesting, because this knowledge does kinda make certain character inconsistencies between words and actions make sense. I especially noticed such mismatched dialogue to panel art in early Fantastic Four.
You have to remember Stans humor too. He liked to "roast" his own stuff.
@@adrianomoraes5992 that's why I'm always weary of people that say Stan Lee is an inspiration of theirs.
This was just brilliant analysis,
I was 9 or 10 when this came out, and It impressed the heck out of me
YESSS covering my fav Avenger!
I think this was suppose to be something to reference in case someone who was a fan of Spider-Man tried to say she was a copy of him when she got her own series
Hearing about Iron Man early villains i am starting to think his first armors were actually super clunky slabs of metals. Making avarage Joe pretty strong but somebody well trained or talented could fight him
Maybe so, but he still could fly along with that super-streght. He shouldnt have that much of a problem fighting a contortionist and a lady that walks in walls. I think Stan didnt knew how to adapt to his weight class.
Marvel early on, had a pattern of making their heroes (and would become heroes) fight each other, Hulk vs Thing, Avengers vs FF, FF and Avengers vs the X-Men, Namor vs Daredevil, and so on. Usually starting with some kind of misunderstanding about were they heroes or villains? Part of it was to rank who was stronger, part of it just to see them fight before tackling the actual villain. This story pretty much falls in that category, as well as the points you made. Great video.
Feed the algorithm.
I wouldn't have thought there'd be any reason to connect her to spider-man, but to be honest I always wondered about her name and had no idea at the start that her initial "powers" were intended to be somewhat spider-based. I feel like at the time of the comic's publication (or, well, recording) it prolly wasn't as much of a stretch as it now seems.
I remember reading reprints of Black Widow's early appearances years ago as a kid and being baffled as to why she thought going up against Iron Man was a good idea. Maybe start out beating up Rick Jones and move up from there.
What resources can a spy extract from rick jones. It's all about getting U.S military secrets from Iron Man or stark enterprises
@@DSan-kl2yc Well, Rick Jones was close to Bruce Banner and I imagine an expert in gamma weapon technology would be something a spy would be interested in. But, in all honesty, it's mostly because Rick Jones just annoys the hell out of me.
@@bgood8299 Does he annoy you more than Snapper Carr?
@@harlannguyen4048 Yes, but it's probably due to that fact that I read more Marvel than DC. Most of the teenage sidekicks annoyed me, but there's something about Rick Jones that really pissed me off. Snapper would probably be number two on that list, though.
Could you do a video on Two-Faces burns? I feel like it constantly changes color and it would be interesting to know when the changes occurred and wh
Sasha, I would like to make a request. Please do a deep dive into the comic book career of Carol Danvers. She has gone through many changes and personas over the years since being the love interest of Kree soldier Captain Marvel with all the highs and lows and one particularly cringe episode (Avengers #200, any one?)
Some Spiderman defiantly went into her design in the game Marvel's Avengers, her animations with her zip line are very much modeled after Spidey and use his signature pose when in mid-air.
Never thought of her as a female spider-man but her having spider-like tech like the boots and grappling line you mentioned sounds fitting for her namesake. It sounds cool
8:17 Sasha, you let me down. I thought you were doing a set up to end with "There's vomit on his sweater already, aunt may's spaghetti"
I like to workout when I get sick, it helps to get better.
Seems like this would be more of a Spider Woman story rather then Widows...I never saw Spidey seduce his enemies with his Spider charm.
"That what you get when you order your motivation from wish" I'm dying over here
If there is no 'butt arched-back' pose then there is no female spiderwoman.
Sasha , I love 💕 your video and I agree the black window custom did need a change
12:55 "Captain Stacey says mah brain's down here."
Men are frequently accused of having brains located even lower! 😅
Her original appearence in Iron Man cast her a a Russian Spy, part film noire femme fatale, part Mata Hari, part Rosa Klebb. Black Widow's leather one piece reboot in The Amazing Spider-Man recalls the leather outfits of the character Cathy Gale in the UK TV series "The Avengers" (sic)
My belief is that they went with the "a female copy of Spider-Man" is that since she was a hero now, instead of a foe, they were trying to distance her from the original reasoning of the name "Black Widow" which was supposed to be more indicative of a female trap.. In her original no power spy appearance it was supposed to be a she'll trick seduce you and kill you like a Black Widow. Now that she's a good guy, you've got to switch to an action/power idea, along with the fact that Spider-Man is always one of Marvels most popular characters, so marketing her as a female Spider-Man is to draw a mass audience, or attempt to. Being told it's like your favorite thing makes people more likely to check it out even if they find out it really isn't.
She was already an established character, but not as popular as they wanted, so comparing her to Spider-Man is marketing kind of like the putting an appearance by Wolverine became the thing to do even with already established characters later on.
They actually made him a part of her characters early history not long ago.
I always liked the aesthetics of the idea of Black Widow being tide more deeply to the Spider-Man mythos.
I forget how these things go down, & I rely on you to remind me. The movie was great! Thanx 4 your hard work!
When did she get the "widow's bite" attack from her bracelets?
As a four year old I had a view master of her fight vs Iron Man with Hawkeye on her side. So when she showed up in current comics (1978 onward)..I was really confused
It makes sense to introduce the new costume in the same book as the artist who re-designed it and based on 60s comic stan just loved to cross characters over into other books so we have a classic bad story with a++ art and a market ploy to buy another book. Makes sense in so many ways. I'm not a fan of 60s and 70s portrayal of women but I do know that stories of that time follow suit and a deviation would just turn off a reader of that time or cause too much attention. You decide on that one :-)
Is this around the time Angie Bowie bought the rights to the characters of Black Widow and Daredevil?