The Black Widow’s first appearances were as a recurring, non-costumed, Soviet-spy antagonist in the feature “Iron Man”, beginning in Tales of Suspense #52 (April 1964). Five issues later, she recruited the besotted costumed archer and later superhero Hawkeye to her cause. Her government later supplied her with her first Black Widow costume and high-tech weaponry, but she eventually defected to the United States after appearing, temporarily brainwashed against the U.S., in the superhero-team series The Avengers #29 (July 1966). The Widow later became a recurring ally of the team before officially becoming its sixteenth member.
The Black Widow appeared for the first time in her trademark skintight black costume in The Amazing Spider-Man #86 (July 1970). In short order, she starred in her own series in Amazing Adventures #1–8 (Aug. 1970 – Sept. 1971), sharing that split book with the feature Inhumans. Immediately after her initial solo feature ended, the Black Widow co-starred in Daredevil #81–124 (Nov. 1971 – Aug. 1975) and then in the super-team series The Champions, which ran 17 issues (Oct. 1975 – Jan. 1978).
