From the Comics: Black Widow Solo- Why She didn’t Originally Join the Avengers

April 11, 2020 ComicBookWire

Black Widow was introduced in 1964, she quit her life as a villain in 1966, she assisted the Avengers throughout the rest of the 60s, but she didn’t become an official Avengers until 1973. Meanwhile, in this same stretch of time, tons of other heroes and villains-turned-hero were welcomed onto the team with open arms.

So why did it take so long for Black Widow to make it on the team? Today we’re diving into Avengers #36-38, from writer Roy Thomas and artist Don Heck. These issues are a critical piece of Black Widow’s history and end up having a massive impact on her personality for decades to come.

Background

Before 1967, when these issues were published, Black Widow had mostly operated as a villain. She started out as one of Iron Man’s antagonists but went on to directly oppose the Avengers themselves. However, the evil actions of her superiors and the romantic relationship she was developing with Hawkeye, one of the Avengers, inspired her to become a hero.

As a result, she began providing some assistance to the Avengers when possible. She supplied them with information on one occasion and even saved Captain America on another.

It is also worth noting that, at this time, the Avengers roster consisted of Captain America, Goliath, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlett Witch, and the Wasp.

A mission with the Avengers

The Avengers debate offering Black Widow membership

It all started with a flying saucer.

The majority of the Avengers were on their way to deal with the arrival of a mysterious UFO and the disappearance of Quicksilver when Hawkeye hit them with a request. He stated that he believed they should offer Avengers membership to Black Widow, who he had brought with him. Goliath immediately refused and quickly got into a heated debate with Hawkeye. However, their argument was called off, as the mission at hand was too pressing to begin membership discussions at the moment.

So the group went off to investigate the UFO and brought Black Widow with them for backup. Upon arriving, they discovered that they had walked right into a trap. The flying saucer belonged to a warlike alien race that wanted to absorb the powers of Earth’s superheroes.

As you can imagine, the Avengers weren’t a fan of this idea and resisted it with force. They fought, were captured, broke free, and began fighting again. Then, the alien’s most powerful robot arrived and knocked the heroes out, with the notable exception of Hawkeye and Black Widow.

As a response, Hawkeye aimed his bow at Ixar, leader of the aliens. He demanded that the aliens call off their attack and leave Earth alone or he would shoot. Though frightened at first, Ixar’s fear turned to amusement as he remembered the Avenger’s code, which forbid them from ever taking a life. He called Hawkeye’s bluff and Hawkeye had to admit he would not actually kill anyone.

Black Widow was a different story. She raised her blaster and switched it to its most lethal setting. At first, Ixar thought that, like Hawkeye, she was bluffing. However, she explained that she was not an Avenger and did not hold herself to any such strict moral code. She told the alien leader to look into her eyes and asked if they were “the eyes of one who deals in empty words and idle threats?” Ixar backed down and vowed to leave Earth alone.

The Aftermath

After the fight with Ixar, Hawkeye did not tell his fellow Avengers about what Black Widow did to defeat the villain. He was still campaigning for Black Widow’s membership and knew that her actions would have disqualified her in the eyes of many. He resolved to bring up her admission to the Avengers at the team’s next meeting.

While on her way to this meeting, Black Widow was intercepted by Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury explained that Natasha’s ties to communist countries could help with a mission S.H.I.E.L.D. was running in the “far east”. For this mission, Natasha would have to go undercover and, thus, would have to pretend to be on the other side of the Cold War once more. Fury specifically stated that she could not reveal her cover to anyone, including Hawkeye and the rest of the Avengers.

Black Widow announces she is leaving America

Meanwhile, the rest of the Avengers were ready to vote on Black Widow’s membership. There was still some debate between Goliath and Hawkeye but Natasha put it all to rest with her arrival. She explained that she was no longer interested in Avengers membership and would be leaving for the “far east” as soon as possible. She also told Hawkeye to “forget any foolish thoughts of romance” between them.

And with that, she was gone. News reports over the next few days, secretly planned by S.H.I.E.L.D., would convince the Avengers that Black Widow’s defection was real. It was official, Natasha Romanova was not an Avenger, she was an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

These few Avengers issues are significant as they feature a radical development for Black Widow as a character. They are the first comics that show her willingness to bend her own morality to serve the greater good, something that will come up time and time again in future stories. They also develop her preference for spy games and espionage over superhero theatrics.

Black Widow continued to develop as her mission abroad became more prominent. This will be explained further in our next “From the Comics” exploration.