Black Widow

FIRST APPEARANCE: Tales of Suspense #52 (April 1964)

The exact year and location for the birth of Natasha Romanova is unknown, as are who her parents were. It has been rumored that Natasha (whose name in Russian is: Наталья Романова, Наташа Романова, Наталья Романова-Шостакова) was somehow related to the last ruling czars of Russia, but this rumor was never proven.

There are varying accounts of Romanova's early life. One account states that in 1928, there was a fire in Stalingrad which burned down the building that infant Natasha and her mother were living in. According to the account, just before dying in the fire, Natasha's mother threw her out the window to a Russian soldier below. The story goes that the soldier's name was Ivan Petrovitch, and that he watched over Natasha for her entire life, remaining by her side as her "foster father".

According to the tale, while Natasha was under Ivan's protection, many adversaries attempted to attack her. Baron von Strucker was said to have successfully abducted Natasha and presented her to the organization of assassins called the Hand in Madripoor. Natasha had in fact been working under orders from an unknown source and her 'abduction' was to lead her into pretending to become a Master Assassin for the Hand when in reality she was to assassinate their Jonin. Logan learned of this and killed the Jonin instead while also freeing Captain America under the guise of rescuing Natasha. According to this account, Natasha then grew and matured, proving herself to be an amazing athlete and scholar, while gaining distinction in the USSR as a ballerina.

Another account establishes Natasha as being raised from very early childhood by the U.S.S.R.'s "Black Widow Ops" Program in addition to Ivan Petrovitch's care. Petrovitch was said to have taken her to Department X, with 28 other young female orphans, where she was trained in combat and espionage at the covert "Red Room" facility. There, she was bio-technologically and psycho-technologically enhanced; an account that provides a rationale for her unusually long and youthful lifespan. In this account she never really trained in ballet in the Bolshoi Theatre, having instead been implanted with artificial memories of doing so. Supposedly during her training, Natasha was contacted by the Enchantress, who manipulated her simply for the sake of it, mystically suggesting to Romanova that she should free herself. However, when Natasha tried this, the Enchantress herself stopped her from escaping. According to the tale, though, Romanova's effort proved her value to the program's organizers, who would had otherwise "discarded" Romanova.

Regardless of which account is accurate, eventually it was arranged for Natasha to marry Alexi Shostakov, a distinguished Soviet test pilot. She would later be blackmailed into agreeing to act as a spy when her husband's life was threatened. The Soviet government intelligence (KGB) decided that the skill set of Natasha and Alexi would make them superb special operatives, and split them up while Alexi was away on a mission. Trained as the Red Guardian, Alexi became the Soviet Union’s answer to the United States' Captain America. Natasha was told that her husband died in an experimental rocket crash. She was drafted into the KGB and became their best operative, becoming excellent at fighting and information gathering. During this time she had some training under the Winter Soldier. It was there that she was first dubbed the “Black Widow.”

Natasha later saved Logan from Hydra assassins when he surfaced in America without any memories of his past. She encountered the man again some time later when she was on a KGB mission to stop three unknown American spies (Logan, Carol Danvers and Ben Grimm) from stealing Russia's Red Storm Project.

Black Widow was assigned to assist Boris Turgenov in the assassination of Professor Anton Vanko for defecting from their country by infiltrating Stark Industries in America. Tony Stark, the original Iron Man, continually foiled her schemes against Stark Industries. Romanova later met the novice archer Hawkeye and set him against Iron Man, and later helped Hawkeye battle Iron Man. Unfortunately, Hawkeye's association with Russian spies would label him a criminal in his early career. Black Widow and Hawkeye next clashed against the novice super-hero Spider-Man. They resumed their focus on Tony Stark, clashing with Iron Man twice more - the first being an attempt to raid Tony Stark's munitions plant.

When that mission ended in failure, she was taken back to Russia by her masters and given a new costume that allowed her to scale walls as well as a device that allowed her to fire lines to swing from. She once more attempted to get Hawkeye to help her destroy Iron Man. The pair almost succeeded, but when Black Widow was injured, Hawkeye retreated to get her to safety. During this period, Romanova was attempting to defect from the Soviet Union and began to feel love toward Hawkeye, weakening her loyalty to her country. When her employers learned the truth, they had her gunned down, sending her to a hospital, convincing Hawkeye to go straight and seek membership in the Avengers.

Captured by her masters again and brainwashed, Black Widow was forced to hire the Swordsman and Power Man to destroy the Avengers. This plot eventually failed when the Avengers defeated both of the villains and Natasha shook off the effects of the brainwashing. Attempting to make amends with the group, she assisted them against the racist group known as the Sons of the Serpent.

Having been granted amnesty, Natasha made a bid for membership in the Avengers, aiding them in their battle against the Ultroids. She threatened to kill their leader Ixar if he did not leave the Earth, winning the victory, however Hawkeye covered up this fact so that she could get membership in the group even though she violated their code of ethics regarding killing. However when Nick Fury hired her to spy on her former master on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D., she was be forced to decline membership with the Avengers and publicly broke off her relationship with Hawkeye. As part of her mission, the press branded her as a traitor, breaking Hawkeye's heart.

Arriving in China, the Black Widow was not easily trusted and subjected to the Psychotron device, a machine that could brainwash anyone. She proved to be too strong willed and had to be gassed and kept locked up. Learning that Natasha was now a prisoner of her former Communist masters, the Avengers traveled to China to rescue her, clashing with the Red Guardian, Natasha's ex-husband who was thought to be dead. The Avengers with the help of Natasha defeated the Communists plot to use the Psychotron against the western world. During the course of the battle Natasha was injured and the Red Guardian seemingly perished in the battle. After time recovering in the hospital, Natasha returned to Avengers Mansion and came to the decision to give up her career of costumed adventuring. However this proved to be short lived as she returned to super-heroics shortly thereafter, however her romance with Hawkeye became strained as he was usually too busy with Avengers business to pay attention to her. Fed up with staying out of action, Black Widow accepted another assignment from S.H.I.E.L.D. to prevent Egghead from using an orbital platform to hold the world ransom. She was captured, prompting Hawkeye (who still loved her) to use Henry Pym's growth formula to become the new Goliath and rescue her. She aided the Avengers in stopping Egghead, although it ended in the seeming death of Egghead and Goliath's brother Barney. After a prolonged absence, the Black Widow eventually ended her relationship with Goliath.