Book Review: Black Widow: Marvel Team-Up by C. Claremont et al.

Black Widow: Marvel Team-Up written by Chris Claremont and others with art by Sal Buscema and others

This is another anthology of Black Widow adventures, this time featuring her working with other Marvel superheroes:

Marvel Two-in-One #10 (The Thing and Black Widow)--Black Widow is in a car chase through Central Park and almost crashes in to Ben Grimm (aka The Thing) whose on a date with his blind girlfriend Alicia Masters. Ben knocks the car out of the way and tosses Alicia to safety, but he and Black Widow are captured by her pursuers. They take the two heroes to their evil lair in the middle of the Atlantic. The bad guys plan to drop the biggest nuclear bomb ever to the bottom of the ocean, causing a radioactive tidal wave that will wipe out the American east coast. The Widow and the Thing work together to thwart the plan. The story is a fairly standard action yarn. Black Widow and the Thing make an unlikely but fun team.

Marvel Team-up #57 featuring Spider-man and Black Widow--Spider-man thwarts a gang of thieves in the post-Christmas lull in crime. They are working for the Sliver Samurai, who has some bigger, unidentified scheme. Meanwhile, Black Widow has returned to New York at the summons of Nick Fury, only to find the safe house seemingly abandoned. As she goes in search of Fury, she sees the energy blasts from the Samurai's sword. She investigates and the team-up begins. It's a fun action story but it's just the start of some other arcs in other comics.

Marvel Team-up #82-85 featuring Spider-man and Black Widow (and Nick Fury and Shang Chi)--Spider-man discovers a red-headed woman about to be mugged in an alleyway. She sure looks like the Black Widow but she claims she's Nancy Rushman, a New York school teacher. She can't remember her address or what school she teaches at, so there's a mystery to solve. Unfortunately, they are attacked by a S.H.I.E.L.D. taskforce before they can get more clues. The story spins into a larger conspiracy...pretty typical for a story from the 1970s! It's another entertaining story that moves at a good pace.

Marvel Team-up #98 featuring Spider-man and Black Widow--They are back together, this time fighting gun runners in New York City. Nothing too special about this story, other than it seemed a little short.

Marvel Team-up #140-141 featuring Spider-man, Black Widow, and Daredevil--A New York City blackout leads to rioting. Spider-man is just short of preventing a pawn shop owner from being killed by the neighborhood gang. The gang points the finger at an innocent man who is being represented by Daredevil's regular identity, lawyer Matt Murdock. Matt needs help finding proof of innocence (other than his ability to listen to someone's heartbeat and detect if they are lying). Ex-girlfriend Black Widow steps up to help Matt. Spider-man wants to investigate because he feels guilty about not saving the pawn broker. So they work together, though a bigger conspiracy is at hand. Also, Spider-man is snatched mid-story for the Secret Wars crossover, when he got the black suit that turned out to be the symbiote Venom, a whole other story. He returns to this story, which comes to a satisfactory conclusion.

Marvel Comics Presents #53--Black Widow and Silver Sable hunt the same villain in Paris, France, eventually fighting over him at the Eiffel Tower. The story is very short and fairly entertaining. It even manages to avoid the fight between the two females looking like some sexist cat fight. It's just a fun showdown between two evenly-matched fighters.

Marvel Comics Presents #70--Black Widow teams up with Soviet superhero Darkstar (A Russian mutant with Darkforce energy, whatever that is) and Starlight (another Russian hero who is under the mind-control of the Presence, an overpowered Russian who got his power from exposure to nuclear radiation). They manage to free Starlight from the mind-control so she can talk some sense into the Presence. The story is very short and feels like it serves some other ongoing narrative.

Marvel Comics Presents #93--Black Widow and Daredevil infiltrate a secret Hydra base and take it out. Another quick, fun story, especially when the Widow has to talk blind Daredevil through disarming the self-destruct bomb.

Mildly recommended--the stories vary in quality but most are fine. Nothing is a must-read; nothing made me sorry I read it.