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166-720: The series is published out of order, though have a completist goal. Marvel's Senior Vice President of Sales David Gabriel said: "When all is said and done, the Epic volumes will fit seamlessly next to one another on readers' bookshelves, presenting a complete and unbroken run of each title." The original announcement consisted of six titles at the pace of one volume a month, with Gabriel adding: "Marvel's most storied titles — including Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, Captain America, Fantastic Four, Iron Man and Thor — are going Epic." The first book, The Enemy Within , Iron Man's 10th numbered volume,

332-607: A Doctor Doom mask-wearing Reed Richards work to undo what Maker has done. Marvel Comics later revealed in June that following the end of Ultimate Invasion, a one-shot called Ultimate Universe #1, written by Hickman and drawn by Stefano Caselli, will release in November and set the stage for a new line of Ultimate Universe comics. The plans have been laid out by Jonathan Hickman, Bryan Hitch, and C.B. Cebulski. In September 2023, Marvel revealed that one of these new titles would be

498-404: A symbiote in an Alchemax lab. As a superhero, Black Widow seeks to right the wrongs she committed earlier in life. She is more willing to kill adversaries than most superheroes, and she has been described as emotionally cold since her first appearance. Black Widow is naturally independent, and she capably works alone. Black Widow projects an air of confidence in her civilian life, and she

664-597: A 2013 storyline. The story, however, is largely a team-up of characters from the Ultimate and mainstream Marvel universes, with only a superficial relation with the plot of the crossover. Matt Little from CBR suspected that the story may have been conceived at some earlier point, and then slightly modified to serve as a tie-in for Secret Wars . Aaron Davis , Morales' uncle, makes his first Marvel-616 appearance in Spider-Man #234. The Maker , an evil Reed Richards ,

830-487: A CEO of the Wizard magazine: reboot the heroes to their original character premise. Marvel's editor-in-chief Joe Quesada preferred to start an imprint with new heroes, but accepted Jemas' proposal. The working title for the imprint at that point was "Ground Zero". Unlike previous reboots, there was no in-story explanation for the existence of the imprint, and the standard comic books were still being published, unaffected by

996-460: A Marvel creative team, beating out Stan Lee and Jack Kirby on Fantastic Four . Ultimate X-Men was also launched in 2001. It was initially delayed by the search for a creative team, and even Bendis' proposed scripts were rejected. The new title was finally given to Mark Millar , who had a controversial run in DC's The Authority . The two authors had conflicting styles: Bendis sought to modernize

1162-483: A billion dollars in 1993, had declined to 270 million. Comic books were briefly seen as valuable investments and sales shops flourished, but prices dropped as the speculative bubble popped in the early 1990s. In addition, the poor reception of the Batman & Robin film cast doubts on the prospects of any other comic book cinematic adaption. Marvel Comics went through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, many notable artists left

1328-569: A blue being of energy and the depiction of Harry's transformation into Green Goblin. The 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is based on the Ultimate Galactus Trilogy , in particular the design of Galactus . The franchise was rebooted in 2015 with Fantastic Four , which is strongly based on the first arcs of Ultimate Fantastic Four . Sony made an animated Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: Into

1494-538: A cape, and a mask designed to resemble the one used by Hawkeye . With the costume came her first use of tactical equipment, including gloves that let her adhere to walls and the weaponized bracelets that later became her primary weapon. She was the villain in five Iron Man stories, all within a span of twelve issues. Black Widow next appeared as the villain in Avengers #29–30 (1966), where she manipulated Hawkeye, Power Man , and Swordsman into doing her bidding. At

1660-399: A consistent series of events. The series featured a more violent Black Widow and ran for six issues. Morgan then wrote another six-issue series, Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her , in 2006 with Sienkiewicz and Sean Phillips . This continued from the previous series and followed Black Widow as she went on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D. An alternate version of Black Widow was created for

1826-769: A cyborg and went insane, forcing her to kill him. Black Widow was previously married to the Red Guardian through an arranged marriage. He was believed dead, and he later sacrificed himself to save her. Bucky Barnes was one of Natasha's instructors in the Red Room while he was the Winter Soldier, and they were romantically involved while working together for the Soviet government. After the Secret Invasion , Black Widow worked alongside Barnes, who had taken

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1992-562: A domineering role in their relationship, and the couple were sometimes physically abusive toward one another. Though Black Widow was written out of the series after leaving him in 1975, they got back together in 1978 until he left her for Heather Glenn in 1980. Black Widow and Daredevil remained friends and continued relying on each other as superheroes. Many of Black Widow's enemies, such as Damon Dran and Bullseye , come from her time working alongside Daredevil. She has come into conflict with The Hand several times throughout her life and

2158-533: A good versus evil portrayal of the Cold War . Black Widow's design underwent various changes as she appeared in the following issues of Avengers . The character's backstory was expanded in Avengers #43 (1967), when she discovered that the secret identity of the Red Guardian was her husband Alexei, who had been presumed dead. This story explained that it was because of his supposed death that she trained to be

2324-453: A leading female character has influenced her portrayal, which was often contradictory as comics grappled with the conflict between traditional gender roles and second-wave feminism . The character is heavily sexualized both by artists and by the characters with whom she interacts. Natasha Romanoff was portrayed by Scarlett Johansson in the live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchise from 2010 to 2021, and voiced by Lake Bell in

2490-491: A less notable degree. The film Spider-Man was released in 2002, two years after the start of Ultimate Spider-Man , and also provided a higher character development for Uncle Ben before killing him in Spider-Man's origin story , while also modifying the character's origin story, by writing a genetically-modified spider, instead of a radioactive spider, as the source of his spider-powers and replacing Mary Jane-Watson, as

2656-533: A member of the Avengers with its new roster in Avengers #343 (1992). This led to her becoming the leader of the Avengers for a period of time. Her association with the Avengers increased her prominence among Marvel superheroes, allowing for appearances in Captain America and Force Works . Black Widow returned to Daredevil in issue #362 (1997), which had her become more vengeful as she responded to

2822-412: A new costume for Black Widow based on the 1940s Miss Fury comic strip, but Colan was the artist for the series; his drawings of Black Widow emphasized her acrobatics and long red hair. Conway credited Colan with creating the "first empowered sexy babe" in comics. This run allowed for deeper characterization for Black Widow, and she was given a last name, Romanoff, in issue #82 (1971). Her story line in

2988-884: A new team of sidekicks and partners fighting alongside her, and "Die by the Blade" concluded the 15-issue series with Black Widow and her team fighting a human-trafficking ring. Black Widow's character underwent a major redesign in Venom #26 (2023) when she became the host of a symbiote . She was given a new costume designed by CAFU, based on the appearance of Venom . The symbiote version of Black Widow made appearances in Thunderbolts by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Geraldo Borges, and then in Black Widow & Hawkeye by writer Stephanie Phillips and artist Paolo Villaneli. As

3154-406: A notable landmark in the comics being featured in the film. Spider-Man: Homecoming also had aspects of the comics like Parker's age, a younger Aunt May , introducing Aaron Davis and revealing the presence of Miles Morales and Stark mentoring Spider-Man though without S.H.I.E.L.D. and other heroes being involved like in the comics, and in the same film where Stark sports an armor reminiscent of

3320-406: A range of 20 feet and can emit up to 30,000 volts. The bracelets also function as radio transmitters. Besides her bracelets, Black Widow sometimes carries explosives in her belt. The fingers and feet of her outfit contain microscopic suction cups that adhere to surfaces with an electrostatic charge. The character of Black Widow was first introduced as a Soviet communist, and her origin is defined by

3486-787: A relationship with Daredevil . After she is framed for murder and clears her name, Natasha moves in with Daredevil in San Francisco . She eventually leaves Daredevil and spends time alone in San Francisco in severe poverty. Natasha then becomes a Russian language instructor at UCLA and joins the short-lived superhero team the Champions , who appoint her as team leader. After the Champions disband, Natasha encounters The Hand. They poison her, and she dies as she reaches Daredevil to ask him for help. One of Daredevil's allies, Stone of

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3652-613: A relaunch of Ultimate Spider-Man written by Hickman and illustrated by Marco Checchetto and will begin publication in January 2024. This iteration of the story will focus on Peter Parker, having been bitten by a radioactive spider in adulthood as opposed to a teenager, balancing his heroics with his dedication as a family man towards raising his two children with his wife Mary Jane Watson . The following month during New York Comic Con , Cebulski and Hickman announced Ultimate Black Panther written by Bryan Hill with art by Caselli and

3818-521: A relaunch of Ultimate X-Men written and illustrated by Peach Momoko to begin publication following Ultimate Spider-Man in February and March 2024, respectively. Titles in this section are organized by approximate publication date and line title. Brian Michael Bendis wrote the first comic book of the Ultimate imprint, Ultimate Spider-Man , launched in 2000. This was his first work for Marvel Comics. He later worked in other comics of

3984-516: A revolving cast of characters, major storylines include The Kree-Skrull War (Volume 5: This Beachhead Earth ); Under Siege (Volume 16); and The Korvac Saga (Volume 10: The Yesterday Quest ) Even though the Epic Collections are titled Avengers West Coast , the comic was published as The West Coast Avengers up until issue #46. Volume 7: Ultron Unbound contains the first appearance of James Rhodes as War Machine , as well as

4150-496: A second three-issue Black Widow miniseries featuring the Natasha and Yelena Black Widows in 2001, alongside co-writer Greg Rucka and artist Scott Hampton . Black Widow returned to Daredevil in its "The Widow" storyline (2004) by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Alex Maleev . Richard K. Morgan wrote Black Widow: Homecoming in 2004 with Bill Sienkiewicz and Goran Parlov , simplifying Black Widow's backstory into

4316-652: A seven-issue run in Marvel Spotlight , the Johnny Blaze version of Ghost Rider got his own ongoing series. The book ran for 11 years, and 81 issues, from 1973 to 1983. Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch Epic Collection Vol. 1: Vengeance Reborn was originally solicited as Ghost Rider Epic Collection Vol. 6 Vengeance Reborn . The decision to split the line was taken shortly before the book went to print with distributor, Penguin Random House, reflecting

4482-1712: A side character in The Tomb Of Dracula series, beginning in 1973. He largely disappeared from Marvel Comics between 1976 and 1992, when he reappeared in Ghost Rider . The first comics appearance of Captain America was in Captain America Comics #1 from 1940, printed by Timely . Nothing from that era is collected in the Epic Collection , which begins with the character's Silver Age return, in Strange Tales #114, from 1963. Notable storylines include Mark Gruenwald's Captain America No More , which stretches through Vol. 14: The Captain ; Death Of The Red Skull by J. M. DeMatteis in Vol. 11: Sturm und Drang ; Operation: Rebirth by Mark Waid in Vol. 22: Man Without A Country ; and The Strange Death Of Captain America by Jim Steranko in Vol. 2: The Coming... Of The Falcon . The villain Carnage has never had an ongoing series, with all Epic Collection releases compiled of miniseries, or appearances in various Spider-Man comics. Large parts of Carnage Volume 1: Born In Blood are also reprinted in Amazing Spider-Man Volume 25: Maximum Carnage . From 2022, Marvel lost

4648-457: A sixty-year continuity, a bar that not all fans could reach and which scared away some new readers. The usual style of superhero comics with pages of garish colors, fantastical villains and convoluted plots was of little interest to young adult audiences, who preferred the style set by the Matrix franchise. Most superheroes were adults, even those that started as teenagers, such as Spider-Man and

4814-486: A spy, the character struggles to define her own identity. When preparing to write for Black Widow in 1999, Grayson decided that the character would need "tremendous strength and resolve" to have an identity of her own. This identity crisis grew when Black Widow discovered that many of her memories, including the loss of her husband and her time as a professional ballerina, were faked by the Soviet Union. Black Widow

4980-472: A spy. After her redemption, Black Widow became associated with the fictional intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. Black Widow went one year without being in any new comic books, until she appeared in Avengers #76 (1970) to end her relationship with Hawkeye, effectively making her an independent character. She then underwent a full redesign in The Amazing Spider-Man #86 (1970), where she

5146-552: A subservient role to male characters. Writer Gerry Conway cited his work on Black Widow as his inspiration when he created Cinder and Ashe for DC Comics . Several Black Widow stories have received critical praise. "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" (1999) and "Homecoming" (2004–2005) were celebrated for their exploration of the spy thriller genre. Her "Web of Intrigue" (1983) appearances in Marvel Fanfare and her "Deadly Origin" (2010) series received praise for their artwork, with

Marvel Epic Collection - Misplaced Pages Continue

5312-539: A successful run on The Avengers , starting with Avengers Disassembled . He created Jessica Jones in the Alias comic book, part of the R-rated MAX imprint. He wrote major crossover events such as House of M , Age of Ultron and Civil War II . He wrote Cataclysm , the last crossover event within the Ultimate imprint, and Ultimate End , that closed it. He moved to DC Comics in 2017. Mark Millar

5478-459: A supporting cast largely based on their Ultimate counterparts. Despite the name and the involvement of Bendis, Ultimate Spider-Man is a different work (although Peter Parker is modeled after his appearance in the comics though with a slightly bulkier build), aimed primarily at a younger audience. Being criticized by this, Bendis said that the show was made for Disney XD and "not for Showtime ". The series adapted some specific storylines such as

5644-588: A supporting character in issues #155–165 (1978–1980). Black Widow was less prominent in the 1980s. She made an appearance in the anthology book Bizarre Adventures #25 (1981), as one of heroines leading a story written by Ralph Macchio and drawn by Paul Gulacy under the issue's "Lethal Ladies" theme. The story followed Black Widow as she infiltrated a Soviet arms depot in South Africa led by her former instructor. Macchio moved away from elements he felt were reminiscent of James Bond , instead looking to

5810-413: A symbiote host, Black Widow became a major character in the " Venom War " storyline. Her role in the story was introduced in the one shot Black Widow: Venomous , written by Erica Schultz and drawn by Luciano Vecchio. She is scheduled to appear in a three issue limited series, Venom War: Venomous , in late 2024. This series will also be created by Schltz and Vecchio. Natalia "Natasha" Alinovna Romanova

5976-422: A woman who rejects domesticity and poses a danger to men is representative of the female black widow spider, which kills and eats its male partner. In her first appearance, Black Widow is likened to the exotic dancer and alleged spy Mata Hari . Other aspects of Black Widow remain in alignment with traditional gender roles, including her practice as a ballerina and her portrayal as a victim of trauma. As part of

6142-550: Is a Scottish comic book writer, and started his career with British comics such as Judge Dredd . He was hired by DC Comics, and worked in several titles. His most successful work was Superman: Red Son , which reimagined Superman as a newborn alien whose ship fell in the Soviet Union instead of Kansas. This work was published in 2003, two years after his departure from DC. Millar started the Ultimate X-Men comics,

6308-533: Is a freedom fighter who appeared in 22 issues of Amazing Adventures , before the series was cancelled in 1976. Issue #31, collected in Killraven's only Epic Collection , "is notable as the first mainstream comic to feature an interracial kiss". In 1972, Luke Cage became the first Black American superhero to star in his own comic-book series. The book was retitled Luke Cage, Power Man , then simply Power Man from issue #17. Cage's two Epic Collections contain

6474-463: Is a master of hand-to-hand combat, with training in aikido , boxing , judo , karate , and savate . She also has training in most weapons and can operate most vehicles. Outside of combat, Black Widow is a gymnast, and she was taught ballet while in the Red Room. She is fluent in Chinese, English, French, German, and Russian, among other languages. As of the "Venom War" storyline, Black Widow has

6640-601: Is also contained in New Mutants Epic Collection Volume 8: The End Of The Beginning . Volume 1 of his own Epic Collection contains various cameos and miniseries, before the character's first ongoing series is collected from Volume 2: Mission Improbable . Doctor Strange led the initial version of Defenders , with a team also composed of Hulk and Namor . As opposed to other Marvel teams, such as Fantastic Four or Avengers , Defenders tended to focus on mystical enemies. The origin of

6806-626: Is also restored to life and moved to Marvel-616, where he is a recurring villain in the Infamous Iron Man & New Avengers comic books. The hammer of Ultimate Thor (lost in the Cataclysm crossover) is found by Thor Odinson , who is not capable at the time to wield his classic hammer, owned by Jane Foster . He refuses to take the new hammer, which is then lifted by Volstagg in the Unworthy Thor miniseries. Jimmy Hudson ,

Marvel Epic Collection - Misplaced Pages Continue

6972-646: Is based on his origin story from the Ultimate Universe, as both versions become the Hulk while attempting to recreate the Super Soldier Serum that turned Steve Rogers into Captain America. Hawkeye and Captain America's costumes were based on their Ultimate uniforms as well and elements of Captain America's origin story are adapted from the Ultimate comics such as Bucky Barnes being his childhood friend who protected him from bullies and being around

7138-448: Is currently missing volumes 8 to 11. These books contain material largely created by Frank Miller that are often acknowledged as some of the best Daredevil storylines ever written. A pair of omnibuses currently reprints Miller's work instead. Notable storylines already reproduced include the fall of Kingpin in Vol. 15: Last Rites ; and the introduction of Typhoid Mary in Vol. 13: A Touch Of Typhoid . The first appearance of Deadpool

7304-447: Is further explored when the Red Room creates clones of her. Black Widow was the first solo female superhero created by Marvel Comics. Unlike most heroines to that point, she was not a love interest or a female derivative of a male character, and she was not created to fulfill a motherly or domestic role. She contrasted herself from other female Marvel characters in the 1960s by fighting her enemies in hand-to-hand combat. The character

7470-438: Is self-assured in her physical appearance and her ability to leverage it. She chooses not to wear a mask, which she sees as a statement of confidence in herself, though in her early crime-fighting stories she was uncertain about whether she would regret letting others see her face. Black Widow was less confident overall in the early days of her superhero career. As Black Widow regularly takes up alter egos and false personas as

7636-454: Is the 74th entry in the series and features Black Widow working with the Punisher to defeat Malum. Abattoir is the 75th and final entry in the series, featuring Black Widow and Daredevil as they investigate the murders of telepaths. She then starred in another graphic novel, Fury/Black Widow: Death Duty (1995). Although she shares the title with Nick Fury , he only briefly appears and

7802-479: Is the last story of the Ultimate imprint. It was produced by Bendis and Bagley, the team that started the imprint. Miles Morales, a character that originated in the Ultimate Universe to take over the mantle of Spider-Man when the Ultimate Universe's Peter Parker died, was migrated to the Marvel-616 universe, along with his supporting cast, a development that saw his mother restored to life, following her death in

7968-592: The Fantastic Four comic book, as a result of the disputes between Marvel and 20th Century Fox over the film rights over the characters. The 2015 Secret Wars storyline concluded the Ultimate Marvel imprint. In the plot, it was destroyed alongside all the other alternate realities in the multiverse , and then recreated as a region of the Battleworld . Ultimate End , set in such region,

8134-476: The Secret Wars event. Black Widow: Forever Red , a young adult novel featuring the cinematic universe version of Black Widow, was written by Margaret Stohl and released in 2015. The next volume of Black Widow was introduced in 2016, written by Mark Waid and drawn by Chris Samnee . These stories followed the lead of the cinematic version, exploring her work with S.H.I.E.L.D. and her experiences in

8300-520: The Avengers . She is brainwashed by the Soviet government after she stops cooperating, but her love for Hawkeye breaks through and causes her to reform. Although she considers joining the Avengers, she is not immediately trusted by the team. Natasha instead begins working with the intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and appears to betray the Avengers when she works as a double agent for the agency, causing her relationship with Hawkeye to end. Natasha becomes an independent crime-fighter until she begins

8466-469: The Cold War . As a communist spy, she was a foil for Iron Man and his symbolic representation of American values, where the danger posed by Black Widow demonstrated a danger posed by the Soviet Union and communism. Her role as a spy suggested a sense of dishonesty and deceit from Soviets that contrasted with Iron Man's role as a noble and selfless American. Black Widow was surprised to see Iron Man risk his life to save Soviets, suggesting that such morality

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8632-743: The Icon Comics imprint, which allowed Millar to retain the rights. Millar then created Millarworld , with his own comic books, such as Wanted and Kick-Ass . Wanted , Kingsman , and Kick-ass had cinematic adaptations. Millarworld was acquired by the American streaming media company Netflix in August 2017. The only adaptations of the Ultimate Marvel works to other media are two direct-to-video films by Marvel Animated Features , Ultimate Avengers and Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of

8798-558: The MCU multiverse animated series What If...? (2021–2024). Black Widow first appeared in Tales of Suspense #52 (1964) as an opponent of Iron Man . She was designed by artist Don Heck , for a story plotted by Stan Lee and written by Don Rico under the pseudonym N. Korok. The character was portrayed as a seductress who was spying on Tony Stark for the Soviet government, making her one of several Soviet villains who faced Iron Man in

8964-639: The Onslaught event that caused the apparent deaths of her allies in the Avengers. She reappeared in the new volume of the Avengers , but only infrequently as a guest character. Black Widow's Marvel Fanfare story was reprinted as a single volume in 1999, titled Black Widow: Web of Intrigue . Black Widow was featured in two more entries of the Marvel Graphic Novel series: Punisher/Black Widow: Spinning Doomsday's Web (1992) and Daredevil/Black Widow: Abattoir (1993). Spinning Doomsday's Web

9130-581: The Red Room to increase her strength and reduce her aging. She has training in combat and espionage, and she wields a bracelet on each arm that fires electric shocks and projects wires to traverse skyscrapers. Black Widow stories often explore her struggle to define her own identity as a spy and the trauma she endured from her life of training in the Red Room. Early stories emphasized her Soviet origin, portraying her superiors as evil and contrasting her with more noble American superheroes. Black Widow's status as

9296-411: The Red Room . Waid's series ran for twelve issues. Horror writers Jen and Sylvia Soska wrote a Black Widow miniseries in 2019 with the artist Flaviano, and Jody Houser wrote the five issue series Web of Black Widow the same year, with Stephen Mooney as its artist. Macchio joined artist Simon Buonfantino in a return to Black Widow with Black Widow: Widow's Sting in 2020. The one-shot comic

9462-635: The Ultimate Fantastic Four , and The Ultimates . Stan Lee , creator of many characters of Marvel comics, praised his work, but also advised him: "That's great, but you should do your own characters instead of doing mine. I didn't do Superman and Batman and Tarzan and Sherlock Holmes. I went off and did the X-Men". Dave Gibbons , artist of Watchmen , was impressed by his work and started working with him in Kingsman , published by Marvel at

9628-585: The Ultimate Universe in the 2000s, where she is a member of the Ultimates . Black Widow: Deadly Origin ran in 2009–2010, written by Paul Cornell and drawn by Tom Raney and John Paul Leon . The series followed Black Widow's history through flashbacks from different points in her life. The reimaginings of her earlier adventures had her wearing more modest costumes relative to her original appearances. Black Widow became more widely known to

9794-582: The X-Men . Previous attempts to cut the long continuity did not work as expected: DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths and Zero Hour: Crisis in Time caused several plot contradictions, and Marvel's Heroes Reborn was panned by critics and fans. The Dark Age of Comic Books tried to counter the campiness of the Silver Age with violence and shocking content, but the trend was declining as well. The idea for

9960-576: The limited series Black Widow the same year, which was written by Devin Grayson and drawn by J. G. Jones , running for three issues. The series was part of the Marvel Knights imprint and encompassed a single story, "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider". It was the first comic book series to solely feature Black Widow as the main character, having previously shared each book with other heroes excepting only her standalone 1990 graphic novel. Grayson wrote

10126-524: The "Name of the Rose" (2010) story arc, was written by Marjorie Liu and drawn by Daniel Acuña , the latter creating art influenced by film noir . The series was then transferred to writer Duane Swierczynski and artist Manuel Garcia for the "Kiss and Kill" story arc. Jim McCann wrote the Widowmaker limited series in 2010 with artist David López . The series was a crossover between Black Widow and

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10292-479: The 1960s. This version of Black Widow was infatuated with Tony Stark's looks and wealth, and she was easily distracted by jewelry. Black Widow first took the role of a supervillain in Tales of Suspense #64 (1965) after the Soviet government gave her a costume and equipment when they forced her to continue working for them. Her first costume took the form of a blue bodysuit made primarily of fishnet -style webbing,

10458-582: The 2006 prequel Spider-Man: Battle for New York features a retelling of the story of Spider-Man and Green Goblin , in addition featuring The Ultimates and Kingpin . The 2004 video game X-Men: Legends and its 2005 sequel X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse have the titular characters wear their Ultimate costumes as do the Brotherhood of Mutants . Other Marvel video games have also featured Ultimate influences such as Marvel Ultimate Alliance and its sequel Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 featuring

10624-509: The American heroes opposed to her villainous period with the Soviet Union. The trauma and painful history Black Widow endures is tied to her Soviet origin. Her superiors in the Soviet government were portrayed as evil, and she was shown to fear them more than her she feared her adversaries. Black Widow was drawn as beautiful in contrast to the typically brutish and ugly portrayal of Soviets in Marvel Comics, suggesting innocence among

10790-412: The Avengers, with very little in common with the mainstream title. Captain America got a rash soldierly personality, Hulk was written as a murderous and cannibalistic monster that kills hundreds of civilians, and Thor was ambiguously introduced as either an actual Norse god (as in the main comics) or a man with stolen weapons and a psychiatric disorder. Nick Fury , originally a caucasian character in

10956-495: The Black Widow program, Natasha's body was modified to make her infertile and to give her a permanent hourglass figure . Through her 20th century appearances, Black Widow was primarily defined by the men around her. When she was a villain, Black Widow's motivation was to honor her husband who had been presumed dead. This, along with her relationships with Iron Man and Hawkeye, meant that all of her actions were defined by

11122-498: The Black Widow", focused on Black Widow's backstory and introduced the villain Yuri Bezukhov, the son of Ivan Petrovich. Isabella wanted to continue this story by revealing Ivan to be Black Widow's biological father, but he left Marvel Comics after completing the issue. The Champions ended after 16 issues, and Black Widow was returned to Avengers in issue #173 (1978) during the " Korvac Saga ". She returned to Daredevil as

11288-501: The Chaste, brings her back to life. The KGB forces Natasha to work for them again by creating a life model decoy of deceased husband, acting as if he had survived and was being held hostage. She again worked for the KGB unwillingly when she discovered that she was a sleeper agent who had been programmed to obey upon activation. After many instances of joining and leaving, Natasha becomes

11454-528: The Maker's attempts to bring back the Ultimate Universe, with the Illuminati reforming to try and stop him. Despite claiming that Earth-1610 would be revisited, the storyline went a different path and showed a new Earth called Earth-6160 and reshaped it into his own image before being thwarted by Howard Stark who operates as Iron Man. Afterwards, Earth-6160's Tony Stark (who takes up the name Iron Lad) and

11620-423: The Marvel-616 Universe, was modeled after the actor Samuel L. Jackson , and the new design eventually overshadowed the original one, being incorporated into the mainstream Marvel-616 universe and all new media adaptions of the characters. The main premise was to write a comic that looked the way a superhero film about the Avengers should look. At that point, the Marvel Cinematic Universe had not been created, and

11786-480: The Panther , based on the Ultimates. The plot was simplified and the political aspects of the original work were removed, turning it into a standard superhero animated film. Other animated series incorporated aspects of the Ultimate comics, despite not being direct adaptations. The 2008 animated series The Spectacular Spider-Man shared many similarities with the Ultimate version of the titular character, including his age, his personal relationship with Eddie Brock, and

11952-651: The Soviets and making her more appealing to the reader. Femme fatale characters frequently have origins in Russia, and Black Widow's rejection of American gender roles in the 1960s reflected the otherness that she represented as an agent of the Soviet Union. The character's surname Romanova invites comparison to the Romanov family that was killed during the Russian Revolution , drawing parallels of suffering at

12118-504: The Spider-Verse , which starred Miles Morales. The plot is an adaptation of the 2014 storyline Spider-Verse and was released in 2018. The 2005 video game Ultimate Spider-Man is a direct adaptation of the storylines and characters from the eponymous comics. The game is centered around the Ultimate Marvel versions of Spider-Man and Venom , but also features appearances from The Human Torch , Wolverine , and Nick Fury , and

12284-622: The Ultimate Marvel Universe, later known as the Ultimate Universe . Those characters include Spider-Man , the X-Men , the Ultimates (the Ultimate Marvel Universe counterpart of the Avengers ), the Fantastic Four , and others. The imprint was launched in 2000 with the publication of the series Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men in 2001, followed by The Ultimates and Ultimate Fantastic Four in 2002 and 2004 respectively providing new origin stories for

12450-491: The Ultimate comics, such as Captain Marvel and the suit of Captain America during the second season. Nick Fury was based on Ultimate Nick Fury since season 2, which was kept for the following series, Avengers Assemble which also drew influence from Ultimate Marvel comics. As for the X-Men, the 2000 animated series X-Men: Evolution also had important members reimagined as teenagers, and eventually incorporated costumes from

12616-402: The Ultimate imprint was developed by Bill Jemas . A lawyer who had worked mainly at the collectible-trading-card industry before that point, he had little interaction with the production of comic books. In his perspective, the main problem of Marvel Comics was that it was "publishing stories that were all but impossible for teens to read — and unaffordable, to boot". He worked on an idea given by

12782-441: The Ultimate version. This also extends to Spider-Man: Far From Home where Nick Fury is seen mentoring Spider-Man. Thor has similar traits to his Ultimate counterpart, such as his personality, powers, costume elements, and hammer. Thor ends up getting a new hammer during Avengers: Infinity War which is based on the Ultimate version of Mjolnir. Other films based on Marvel comics were also influenced by Ultimate Marvel, albeit in

12948-532: The Ultimate versions of the characters for the first game. The 2010 video game Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions features the Ultimate version of Spider-Man possessed with a symbiote . Black Widow (Natasha Romanova) Black Widow is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Created by editor and plotter Stan Lee , scripter Don Rico , and artist Don Heck ,

13114-539: The Ultimates from the Ultimate universe. Bendis left Marvel Comics in 2017 and moved to DC Comics . One of his last comic books was a second volume of Spider-Men II , featuring Peter Parker and Miles Morales. The miniseries ends with the Marvel-616 Miles Morales emigrating to the Ultimate Universe to be reuniting with his lost love, following the death of her Marvel-616 counterpart, confirming that

13280-627: The Ultimates. This team would then be featured in Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates , written by Jonathan Hickman . The Death of Spider-Man features the death of Peter Parker and his nemesis Green Goblin . An Afro-Hispanic teenager, Miles Morales , becomes the new Spider-Man. He was featured in Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man , still written by Bendis. The X-Men were relaunched in the miniseries Ultimate Comics: X , which introduced Jimmy Hudson ,

13446-535: The Venom project and both were intended as a cure for diseases) and it is implied that Norman Osborn betrayed Richard much like Eddie Brock Sr. had in the comics when they both selfishly wanted the research for their own ends and being responsible, even if indirectly in Norman's case for the deaths of Peter's parents. The villains featured in the films are modeled after their Ultimate counterparts, Electro in particular being

13612-487: The Venom symbiote in the comics); his signature wise-cracking and motor-mouthed sense of humor; his uncle's speech on responsibility and subsequent argument with Peter, moments before his death; a genetically-modified spider being responsible for Peter's spider-powers; his relationship with Gwen Stacy, mirroring his relationship with Mary Jane-Watson from the comics; Gwen being somewhat rebellious like her Ultimate incarnation and sticking up for Peter, albeit non-violently when he

13778-420: The advent of the ongoing Generation X series. Compared to the rest of the 1990s X-books, Generation X was pitched differently. "This was a book stripped of all the gimmicks that were so common in the '90s. (Writer Scott Lobbell) understood that the X-Men are essentially the comic book equivalent of a soap opera, and that the real focus should always lie upon the interaction between the team members." After

13944-436: The audiences, and hired Jeph Loeb for a third Ultimates miniseries that would lead to such event. This miniseries relied on shock value and gratuitous amounts of death and violence, instead of the political overtones of the first two. The art by Joe Madureira was standard superhero art, instead of the cinematic action provided by Hitch. The miniseries had decent sales, but was near-universally panned by critics. The series

14110-528: The book, and she instead teams with Night Raven in his first appearance in Marvel's mainline continuity. Black Widow then starred in a three-issue arc, "The Fire Next Time", by writer Scott Lobdell and penciller Randy Green, in Journey into Mystery #517–519 (1998). A new character, Yelena Belova , took the moniker Black Widow beginning in Inhumans #5 (1999). The two Black Widows came into conflict in

14276-569: The change. The 1960s Guardians Of The Galaxy are largely separate from the rest of Marvel continuity. Volume 2 includes the first six issues of the characters' first ongoing series, debuting in 1989. The original Hawkeye Epic Collection has Clint Barton as the superhero archer. Volume 1: The Avenging Archer includes the Mark Gruenwald miniseries, which is "particularly noteworthy for launching Hawkeye's longstanding relationship with Mockingbird, and for being an early exploration of

14442-561: The character debuted as an enemy of Iron Man in Tales of Suspense #52 (1964). She reformed as a hero in The Avengers #30 (1966) and her primary design was introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man #86 (1970). Black Widow has been the main character in several comic issues since 1970, and she received her own Black Widow series in 1999. She is frequently a supporting character in The Avengers and Daredevil . Black Widow,

14608-625: The character include Triumph & Torment (Volume 8) and A Separate Reality (Volume 3). The basic pitch of Excalibur is X-Men set in the United Kingdom. Writer Chris Claremont, who worked on Uncanny X-Men for 16 years, was born in London and launched the series in 1987. The initial line-up contained former X-Men Shadowcat , Phoenix and Nightcrawler - as well as fellow Claremont creation, Captain Britain . Fantastic Four

14774-592: The character leaving by saying that she felt overshadowed by Daredevil and robbed her of independence. When Isabella began writing The Champions , he included Black Widow as a member. Originally intended to be a duo of Iceman and Angel , editor Len Wein mandated several changes to The Champions , including the requirement of a female character. Besides his experience writing for Black Widow, Isabella used her in hope that continuing to work with her would prevent another writer from reuniting her with Daredevil. The seventh issue of The Champions , "The Man Who Created

14940-483: The character's hearing loss and how he comes to deal with that." The Hulk debuted in his own book in 1962. Notable storylines include: Future Imperfect in Volume 20; Wolverine Versus Gray Hulk in Volume 15; and Hulk Versus Juggernaut in Volume 19. The first Epic Collection for Iron Fist contains the character's first full 1970s run, before the series was cancelled. Following that, Iron Fist joined Luke Cage in

15106-491: The characters together. I'm a sucker for redheads! Gerry Conway Black Widow was introduced as an enemy of Iron Man. Hawkeye was Black Widow's ally and love interest in her 1960s appearances, working with him to against Iron Man and then reforming so she can be with him in the United States. They inverted the traditional gender roles, with Black Widow having the power in their relationship while Hawkeye played

15272-426: The characters, Millar based his general draft of the series on the 2000 X-Men film. Jemas and Quesada paired Millar with artist Bryan Hitch , who had also worked with The Authority , but in a run that did not overlap with Millar's. They would reimagine the Avengers , who were renamed as "the Ultimates ". Unlike the simple updates of the Spider-Man and X-Men titles, the Ultimates were a complete reimagination of

15438-565: The characters. The reality of Ultimate Marvel is designated as Earth-1610 as part of the Marvel Comics Multiverse . The Ultimate Universe, as a part of a large-scale reboot of the All-New, All-Different Marvel Multiverse , ended at the conclusion of the 2015 " Secret Wars " storyline, when select characters from the Ultimate Universe moved to the mainstream universe . However, writer Brian Michael Bendis established at

15604-405: The comic book by distributing it at chain stores like Payless Shoes and Walmart . The sales rose, and the comic book was acclaimed by critics. The art was created by Mark Bagley , known for his work on Spider-Man and Venom stories in the 1990s. The Bendis/Bagley partnership of 111 consecutive issues made their partnership one of the longest in American comic book history, and the longest run by

15770-547: The comics as well. Similarly, Wolverine and the X-Men in 2009 had Magneto disassemble and reprogram the Sentinels like in the Ultimate X-Men storyline "Tomorrow People". Ultimate Marvel has also been a strong influence in the early stages of the Marvel Cinematic Universe . Joss Whedon said that The Ultimates brought Marvel into the modern age in a way no other book did. Tony Stark's personality

15936-420: The company, and their rival, DC Comics , topped them in sales. Brian Michael Bendis , who was hired to start the imprint, said that "when I got hired, I literally thought I was going to be writing one of the last — if not the last — Marvel comics". Comic book continuity , which had been a key to the success of Marvel Comics in its early years, turned into a problem for some readers. All stories had to fit into

16102-662: The creative decay in the Marvel/DC intercompany crossovers as a justification. The Age of Ultron crossover, between the mainstream comics, ended with Galactus displaced into the Ultimate universe. This premise started the " Cataclysm " crossover in the Ultimate imprint, which was followed by yet another new relaunch. The Ultimates disbanded after the crossover, and were replaced by a completely different team, led by Miles Morales. This team starred in All-New Ultimates , by Michel Fiffe and Amilcar Pinna. Spider-Man

16268-437: The crossover, Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Fantastic Four were cancelled, with a last issue for each title named Ultimate Requiem to give closure to their plots. The Ultimate Marvel imprint was re-launched, as "Ultimate Comics". Ultimate Spider-Man was renamed as Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man , and the line was joined later by Ultimate Comics: Avengers and Ultimate Comics: New Ultimates . New Ultimates featured

16434-413: The emphasis and focus on his parents and their subsequent disappearance; his father Richard Parker being a scientist specializing in biology, who worked on a secret project/experiment regarding the procurement of a special serum that was intended to cure terminal illnesses (which is depicted as being derived from the blood of genetically-modified spiders, encoded to the bloodline of Peter's family, instead of

16600-476: The end of the 2017 miniseries Spider-Men II that the universe and its superheroes still exist. Between June and September 2023, Marvel published the Ultimate Invasion miniseries written by Jonathan Hickman with art by The Ultimates co-creator Bryan Hitch . The events of the miniseries culminated in the establishment of a rebooted Ultimate Universe designated as Earth-6160 , which serves as

16766-453: The end of the story, she became a reformed villain and allied with the Avengers, as her love for Hawkeye motivated her to switch sides after recovering from brainwashing by the Soviet government. This made her one of several Iron Man villains who become good by defecting from the Soviet Union to the United States, symbolizing a moral preference for American individualism over Soviet communism. Her redemption coincided with Marvel's departure from

16932-561: The episode "Freaky" where Spider-Man and Wolverine switch bodies as in Ultimate Spider-Man #66-67. Miles Morales appeared in that TV series as well first in a cameo before becoming a major character later on for the series adaptation of Spider-Verse . Also in this series, the host for Venom is Harry Osborn instead of Eddie Brock, and takes the form of Spider-Man's black suit. As for the Avengers, some character designs from The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes were based on

17098-488: The escalated rate, two sub-imprints launched in 2023 and 2025 respectively. The Modern Era Epic Collection covers more recent comic runs, and the Ultimate Epic Collection is for the 2000's Ultimate Universe . DC Comics launched a similar line - DC Finest - in 2024, which it described as "affordably priced, large-size paperback collections" providing "a new line of comprehensive collections of

17264-433: The first Epic Collection , his debut as both Ant Man ( Tales to Astonish #35) and Giant Man ( Tales to Astonish #49) is covered, plus the introduction of Janet van Dyne/ Wasp ( Tales to Astonish #44) . The first Avengers line-up consisted of Iron Man, Ant Man, Wasp, Hulk, and Thor. They were soon joined by Silver Age Captain America in issue #4, which is collected in Volume 1: Earth's Mightiest Heroes . With

17430-556: The first miniseries of the Ultimates and the ending of the second. The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier 's design throughout the films is also modeled after the Ultimate Marvel version. The depiction of Falcon in the films is derived from the Ultimate incarnation, and Rogers' relationship with Nick Fury in Captain America: The Winter Soldier is reminiscent of the one in the comics with the Triskellion,

17596-422: The full 1970s run for the character as, in an effort to avoid full cancellation for the series in 1977, Cage was paired with Danny Rand in the joint book Power Man & Iron Fist . Ultimate Marvel Ultimate Marvel , later known as Ultimate Comics , was an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics , featuring reimagined and modernized versions of the company's superhero characters from

17762-537: The hands of the Soviets. Ballet is commonly associated with Russia, and it has a specific association with discipline in the Russian Empire through the military and the royal court. The blending of ballet and military training draws upon the cultural competition of the Cold War. Images of Natasha alongside many identical ballerinas invokes the lack of individualism she faced in the Soviet Union. This theme

17928-467: The imprint, such as Ultimate Marvel Team-Up (2001–2002), Ultimate X-Men (2003–2004), Ultimate Fantastic Four (2003–2004) and Ultimate Origins (2008). He is recognized as the main author of the whole Ultimate imprint. Most characters were reimaginations of classic Marvel characters; Miles Morales was an original character of his own creation. Given the success of the Ultimate imprint, Marvel asked him to write mainstream Marvel comics as well. He started

18094-710: The latter standing out for its contrasting art styles by Tom Raney and John Paul Leon in the flash back and present day segments. The positive reception toward the Marvel Fanfare appearances have led to multiple republications in standalone volumes. IGN ranked Black Widow 42nd in their "Top 50 Avengers" list, and 74th in their "Top 100 Comic Book Heroes" list. Jesse Schedeen of IGN included Black Widow in their "Marvel's Femme Fatales" list, writing, "Whatever happens, at least it can be said that Natasha's life still hasn't become boring after all these years," Rob Bricken of Gizmodo ranked Black Widow 13th in their "Every Member Of The Avengers" list, saying, "She's been one of

18260-501: The leader of the Avengers alongside Black Knight . She is forced to dissolve the Avengers after most members are seemingly killed by Onslaught , but considering herself the last Avenger, she teams up with Daredevil to hunt the Avengers' enemies. Still guilty for their failure, she chooses not to rejoin as a long-term member when the Avengers returned. While tracking a biotoxin, Natasha comes into conflict with another Black Widow, Yelena Belova , and both try to prove themselves as worthy of

18426-496: The license to publish new Conan comics . "The trademark for the name Conan and the names of Robert E. Howard's other principal characters, is maintained by Conan Properties International and licensed to Cabinet Entertainment. This company, or new owners, now wish to publish Conan comic books themselves. And so won't be renewing the Marvel Comics license." This led to the cancellation of the second King Conan Epic Collection . The license ended up with Titan Publishing . Daredevil

18592-582: The main character's primary love interest. The series was rebooted with The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012, and Sony asked Bendis for suggestions. He proposed that Spider-Man should use artificial web-shooters, as in the comics, instead of portraying the ability as a part of the character's mutation, through the form of organic web-shooters in his wrists, as was depicted in the Raimi trilogy. The film series also featured elements and aesthetics borrowed from his Ultimate counterpart's personality and background, such as

18758-467: The main costumes of Captain America , Thor , Colossus , Invisible Woman , Mr. Fantastic , and the Human Torch based on their Ultimate counterparts as well as alternate costumes for Iron Man , Elektra , Storm , Wolverine , Moon Knight , Doctor Strange , Nick Fury , Deadpool , Magneto , Doctor Doom , Venom , Sabretooth , The Thing , Nightcrawler , Cyclops , and Hawkeye also based on

18924-474: The men in her life. The trend continued when she reformed as a superhero because of her love for Hawkeye and then Daredevil. This was part of a common theme in various media during the 1960s where femme fatale characters were given redemption through a romantic interest. From the 1970s through the 1990s, Black Widow suffered what was described as the "widow's curse", in which she was unable to maintain relationships with men because they kept dying. Black Widow

19090-470: The moniker of Natalia Alianovna "Natasha Romanoff" Romanova ( Russian : Наталья Альяновна "Наташа" Романова), is introduced as a spy for the Soviet Union until she defects to the United States. She subsequently joins the intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. , partners with Daredevil , and encounters a rival Black Widow in Yelena Belova . Though she has no distinct superpowers, she was augmented in

19256-422: The most in-demand periods, genres, and characters from across DC history". The core books of the Epic Collection largely span Marvel's silver and bronze age of comic books. With a few exceptions, this roughly covers a period from the release of Fantastic Four #1 in 1961 until around 1998 and the launch of Marvel Knights . In July 2020, Marvel Comics gained the rights to publish Alien and Predator in

19422-439: The new Captain America. When Hydra is in control of the American government, Black Widow is killed by an alternate version of Captain America working for Hydra. She is then reborn as a clone in a new Red Room, retaining all of her previous memories up to her death. Natasha spends a period of time brainwashed into believing that she lived a domestic life with a fiancé and a son. After recovering, she discovers and bonds with

19588-405: The new project. Thus, Ultimate Spider-Man would contain the stories of a new teenager Spider-Man starting his career, and the usual Spider-Man titles would still contain the stories of the adult Spider-Man with nearly forty years worth of continuity. Quesada then hired Brian Michael Bendis , an artist from indie publishers, for the first comic book of the imprint, Ultimate Spider-Man . One of

19754-413: The old superhero tropes, and Millar sought to critique them. While Bendis tried to write atemporal stories, Millar preferred to set his stories amid the political tensions of the time, with edgy, quick action-driven stories and making the relationship between humans and mutants more realistic and distrustful. The first issue of Ultimate X-Men sold 117,085 copies in a month. Lacking previous knowledge about

19920-561: The ongoing Hawkeye & Mockingbird series. Black Widow also appeared as a main character in Secret Avengers . A new Black Widow series was created for the Marvel Now! branding in 2014, created by Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto . This series returned to Grayson's characterization of Black Widow as more introspective than action-oriented. It was the longest running Black Widow series with 20 issues, ending in 2015 with

20086-557: The origin story for the Julia Carpenter version of Spider-Woman . Meanwhile, Scarlet Witch showed her initial slip into madness in #56, reproduced in Vol. 5: Darker Than Scarlet . This eventually led to the events of House Of M and the 'No More Mutants' Marvel age. Volume 1 of the Black Panther Epic Collection has the character's first appearance in Fantastic Four #52-53. Between that and

20252-601: The other. When the Multiverse was eventually rebuilt, these mutants became stranded in the Prime Earth, suffering from amnesia as a by-product of their transition from one reality to another. After Secret Wars , Marvel published a new comic book named Ultimates , though it bore no relation with the imprint beyond the name. The Ultimates 2 #10, renumbered as #100 under the Marvel Legacy relaunch, features

20418-407: The powers of a symbiote host. In combat, Black Widow uses a pair of bracelets that conceal her equipment, operated by galvanic sensors connected to the muscles in her wrists. When her primary design was established in 1970, they were equipped with tear gas pellets, a "widow's line" wire to swing between buildings like Spider-Man and a "widow's bite" electroshock weapon . The widow's bite has

20584-529: The previous auditioners had made a word-by-word rewrite of the Amazing Fantasy #15 comic (the debut of Spider-Man), in a modern setting. Bendis preferred to avoid that writing style completely. Instead, he changed the narration style, so that it resembled a TV series more than a classic superhero comic book. There were no thought bubbles or long expositions , and the first issue did not feature any superhero costume. Jemas tried to bring more notice into

20750-451: The process brings her body to its physical peak and slows cellular degeneration, enabling her to remain young and in her prime for decades. The program also gives her false memories of her life, leading her to believe that she had previously been a ballerina. She was selected from the participants in the program to become a spy and receives the codename "Black Widow". Natasha goes to the United States to seduce Iron Man and later to fight

20916-600: The prospect of a film about the Avengers was remote. The series was a huge success, and became the single best-selling comic of the year. The Ultimate Marvel imprint was benefited by the contemporary topics that took place. Terrorism resurfaced into the public perception as a clear, dangerous and complex menace, which reduced the credibility of the usual supervillains of superhero fiction. Fictional conflicts involving explosions and property damage became more ominous. The Ultimate Marvel comics incorporated those topics into their plots, which would eventually become commonplace in

21082-559: The public after the character was adapted to film in Iron Man 2 (2010). The film's emphasis on her as a spy instead of a superhero influenced how she was portrayed in comics over the following years. With the character's popularity came additional publications. Black Widow and the Marvel Girls (2010) was created by Salvador Espin, Veronica Gandini, Takeshi Miyazawa , and Paul Tobin . The next volume of Black Widow featured

21248-410: The reconstruction of the team, and was made by Loeb and Frank Cho . Avengers features a black-operations superhero team, and was made by Millar and several artists. There was a new relaunch shortly afterwards, named "Ultimate Comics Universe Reborn". Both teams met in Avengers vs. New Ultimates , where Nick Fury is reinstalled as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the teams merge again into a single team,

21414-569: The relationship between Black Widow and her father figure Ivan Petrovich. The series ran for eight issues, after which she was removed from the comic book so the Inhumans could be given a standalone series. As the writer for Daredevil , Conway introduced Black Widow as a supporting character and established a romance between the two as "a way to re-energize the title". She joined the series in Daredevil #81 (1971). John Romita Sr. designed

21580-469: The rest of Panther's Rage . The debut of Natasha Romanova as the Black Widow is as an Iron Man villain in Tales Of Suspense #52. She is a reformed supporting character with The Avengers through the rest of Volume 1, and did not get her own individual series until 1999 - which is collected as a Modern Era Epic Collection Volume 1: The Itsy-Bitsy Spider . Blade first appeared as

21746-511: The rest of the volume, he joins The Avengers with issue #52, which is collected in The Avengers Epic Collection Volume 3: The Masters Of Evil . His origin story is in The Avengers #87 ( The Avengers Epic Collection Volume 5: This Beachhead Earth ), before departing the team after issue #126 ( The Avengers Epic Collection Volume 7: The Avengers/ Defenders War ). After that, his story continues in

21912-561: The role of a dependent love interest. As they aligned with the Avengers, Black Widow was initially rebuffed due to her history as a Soviet spy. She worked with Angel , Ghost Rider , Hercules , and Iceman as part of the Champions. She began a romance with Hercules, but as an immortal he did not have interest in a long-term relationship with a mortal. Black Widow has also worked with Spider-Man, at one point expressing romantic interest in Marvel Team-Up #82–85 (1979). Black Widow

22078-459: The same age, him found and being thawed out of ice by S.H.I.E.L.D. rather than the founding members of the Avengers . Hawkeye also has a family, a context exclusive to the Ultimate comics. The film The Avengers featured the Ultimate take on the team, as a military operation organized by S.H.I.E.L.D. rather than an autonomous superhero group. Kevin Feige based the script of the film broadly on

22244-511: The series Power Man And Iron Fist . Iron Man first appeared in Tales of Suspense in 1962. The character was a founding member of The Avengers in 1963, before getting his own series five years later. His most famous storyline, Demon In A Bottle is yet to be reprinted in an Epic Collection . Other notable tales include: The Invincible Iron Man across Volume 10: The Enemy Within and Volume 11: Duel Of Iron ; plus Armor Wars in Volume 13: Stark Wars . Jonathan Raven - Killraven -

22410-471: The series saw her framed for killing a supervillain, with Daredevil's friend Foggy Nelson leading the prosecution. Conway then moved the setting to San Francisco , and their relationship became the main focus of the series. The pairing was one Marvel had to handle carefully given potential backlash to an unmarried couple living together, having them live on separate floors and having Ivan live with them. Responding to criticism that his treatment of Black Widow

22576-576: The setting for a relaunched series of books under the Ultimate Marvel banner, which began with the eponymous Ultimate Universe #1 in November 2023. The new Ultimate imprint also encompasses new versions of Ultimate Spider-Man , Ultimate X-Men , and The Ultimates , as well as a standalone Ultimate Black Panther story. In the late 1990s, the US comic book industry had declining sales. Annual combined sales from all publishers, which had been close to

22742-413: The son of Ultimate Wolverine, is also revealed to be alive in the new continuity, though this was not explained at first, but was eventually established that during the final incursion that caused the clash between Earth-616 and Earth-1610, with both universes' planets Earth acting as the collision point of this phenomenon, Jimmy Hudson, Quicksilver, Mach-II, Armor, and Guardian fell from their reality into

22908-521: The son of Wolverine. This miniseries was followed by Ultimate Comics: X-Men , written by Nick Spencer , who explored the X-Men mythos in a setting where both Charles Xavier and Magneto are dead. Initially, Marvel resisted the idea of crossovers between the Ultimate and the mainstream universes (although the idea had been teased for what turned out to be the beginning of the Marvel Zombies series), but eventually relented. The first crossover

23074-463: The story in 1978, but its intended publication in Marvel Premiere and then Marvel Spotlight were both canceled. Macchio made it explicit in this run that Black Widow was killing her adversaries when necessary and that she was getting information from another character by having sex with him, portraying things that were usually left ambiguous in comic books at the time. Black Widow was

23240-425: The subject of the 61st Marvel Graphic Novel , "The Coldest War" (1990). In this story, she is tricked into believing that her husband is alive and is forced to work for the Soviet Union to save him. She returned to her black jumpsuit in the 1990s, and she began working alongside Iron Man during the run of writer John Byrne and artist Paul Ryan , beginning in Iron Man #269 (1991). Black Widow again became

23406-470: The target male demographic and the feminist movement. Her sexuality was emphasized more explicitly when she appeared in Daredevil and other series over the following decades, as characters routinely commented on her sexual attractiveness. It was my idea to team up Daredevil and the Black Widow, mainly because I was a fan of Natasha, and thought she and Daredevil would have interesting chemistry. I'm not sure what I based this on, other than my desire to bring

23572-535: The team is also covered in Doctor Strange Epic Collection Volume 3: A Separate Reality ; Incredible Hulk Epic Collection Volume 4: In The Hands Of HYDRA and Namor The Sub-Mariner Epic Collection Volume 3: Who Strikes For Atlantis? Created by Steve Ditko , Doctor Strange first appeared in Strange Tales #110. The character was popular enough that the book became Doctor Strange with issue #169. Major stories for

23738-508: The title of Captain America after the death of Steve Rogers . The two grew closer and began a new romance. Black Widow became closely associated with Daredevil in the 1970s, first as a recurring character in his series in 1971 and then as a main character alongside him when they began a romantic relationship. She altered the dynamic of Daredevil's character, who had previously had one specific love interest in Karen Page . Daredevil took

23904-654: The title. Afterward, Natasha learns that there were many Black Widows and that the KGB had implanted false memories in her about her life before she was a spy. As Norman Osborn takes power over S.H.I.E.L.D.'s successor organization H.A.M.M.E.R. , Natasha disguises herself as Yelena on the orders of Nick Fury to infiltrate Osborn's Thunderbolts team. This Nick Fury is discovered to be a Life Model Decoy created by Osborn, and Natasha escapes to help Maria Hill revive Tony Stark, who had previously wiped his mind. When Tony Stark becomes director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Black Widow joins and operates alongside Bucky Barnes as he becomes

24070-598: The universe still exists. A brief glimpse of the still-extant Ultimate universe is provided by artist Mark Bagley, showing that Ultimate Peter Parker, who had been revealed alive in one of the last issues, has returned to the role of Spider-Man, and that he is a member of the Ultimates, as is Riri Williams and Hulk. The return of the Ultimate universe was used again in 2019, in story arcs at the Venom and Miles Morales: Spider-Man comic books. In February 2023, Marvel Comics announced Ultimate Invasion written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Bryan Hitch. This story involves

24236-665: The wake of Fox's sale to Disney . Since 2023, the company has been republishing comics originally produced by Dark Horse comics as part of the Epic Collection. The Peter Parker version of Spider-Man first appeared in 1962's Amazing Fantasy #15, before the character's ongoing series Amazing Spider-Man launched in 1964. Notable storylines include: The Death Of Gwen Stacy in Vol. 7: The Goblin's Last Stand ; Kraven's Last Hunt in Vol. 17; Spider-Man No More in Vol. 3; and Venom in Vol. 18. The character Hank Pym first appeared in Tales to Astonish #27, from 1962. In

24402-413: The whole comic book industry. Jemas was fired from Marvel in 2004, and Millar and Hitch left the Ultimates after writing a second miniseries. Sci-fi writer Orson Scott Card wrote a miniseries, Ultimate Iron Man , which was poorly received and later retconned as an in-universe television show. In 2008, Quesada considered that the Ultimate imprint needed a big crossover event to keep the interest of

24568-739: The works of John le Carré for inspiration so readers "really didn't know who were the good guys and the bad guys". Black Widow made another return to Daredevil beginning in issue #187 (1982), created by Frank Miller . Miller redesigned her, giving her a more casual and masculine appearance with a gray leotard and shorter hair. She also appeared in the shared books Marvel Two-in-One and Marvel Team-Up . The anthology book Marvel Fanfare #10–13 (1983–1984) featured Black Widow in her next solo story. Written by Macchio and drawn by George Pérez with other artists, this story had her pursue Ivan on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D. before discovering that he had been brainwashed. Macchio and Pérez had begun working on

24734-446: Was at one point killed by them before being revived. Black Widow finds a counterpart and rival in Yelena Belova , another Black Widow. Yelena's relative youth causes Natasha to question her role as a Black Widow as she ages. Black Widow was not well known in popular culture until she was adapted to film in Iron Man 2 (2010). Portrayals of Black Widow have been criticized as sexist, as she has often worn revealing outfits and played

24900-583: Was based on that of his Ultimate counterpart, and Millar and Bendis were included in the staff as consultants. Samuel L. Jackson , whose likeness was used to create the new version of Nick Fury, was cast as the character in a multi-picture deal, starting in a post-credits scene in Iron Man . The script of the scene was written by Bendis. As a comic book fan, Jackson had noticed the use of his likeness and asked to be included in some eventual film. Bruce Banner's origin story in The Incredible Hulk

25066-405: Was being bullied by Flash (though in the comics it was Kenny Kong), in addition Flash having a crush on her like he did in the Ultimate comics; his friendship with Harry Osborn being modeled after that of Eddie Brock Jr. in the comics, being childhood friends who have not seen each other in a long time and whose fathers had worked together on a project (with the name Spider-venom being a slight nod to

25232-538: Was born in Russia, where she was thrown from a burning building in Stalingrad . She is found and raised by the soldier Ivan Petrovich. The Hand attempts to kidnap and brainwash her in 1941, but she is rescued by Captain America and Wolverine . Natasha marries Alexei Shostakov , but the KGB fakes his death to motivate Natasha to become a spy. She trains in the Red Room , where she is augmented through biotechnology;

25398-444: Was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, with Kirby drawing the first 102 issues. A storyline highlight includes the debut of Galactus, plus This Man, This Monster! in Volume 3: The Coming Of Galactus . Generation X is a team of young mutants, mentored by Banshee and Emma Frost , created after the events of 1994's X-Men event, Phalanx Covenant . That event is reprinted at the beginning of Volume 1: Back To School , before

25564-426: Was created in a time of uncertainty around gender roles in the United States, as a growing feminist movement competed with traditional femininity. By the 1980s, differing cultural expectations of women meant that her portrayals varied significantly between these focuses. Black Widow sometimes subverts gender roles as the more ruthless character in contrast with more empathetic male characters. Her characterization as

25730-427: Was dropped from the title after issue #107 (1973). She appeared in Avengers #111–112 (1973), but left the team almost immediately as she wished to return to Daredevil. Tony Isabella became the writer for Daredevil with issue #118, and feeling that the relationship dynamic between Daredevil and Black Widow harmed both characters, he set out to split them apart. She departed from the series in issue #124 (1975), with

25896-421: Was followed by 2009's Ultimatum , a crossover between the Ultimate titles. In five issues, the story kills off thirty-four characters with an increased amount of graphic violence. The series was both a critical and commercial failure, and it has since been regarded as one of the worst comic books of all-time. The sales of the whole imprint were decreased, and never returned to their pre- Ultimatum figures. After

26062-424: Was fostered as a child by Ivan Petrovich, who supported her in her superhero career as her chauffeur. He was initially portrayed as a father figure throughout her childhood, but newer accounts of Black Widow's history place her in training under the Soviet government for much of this time. Other portrayals removed the father figure aspect and gave them a flirtatious relationship. Ivan accompanied her until he became

26228-679: Was given the black costume and long red hair that became identified with her character. Marvel followed this the same year with a series of Black Widow stories published in Amazing Adventures , which also published stories about the Inhumans . Marvel's first series to feature stories led by a female superhero, it portrayed Black Widow as a wealthy jet setter who doubled as a crime-fighter. The first issues, written by Gary Friedrich and drawn by Gene Colan , were about political issues. Writers Roy Thomas and then Gerry Conway moved it away from politics in favor of melodrama, developing

26394-493: Was heavily sexualized during her 1970 run in Amazing Adventures , with frequent depictions of her changing outfits or wearing lingerie. A recurring gag developed in which she changed in the backseat of her car while warning her driver "eyes front, Ivan". She was one of many female action heroes to follow a trend in the 1970s where strong women were portrayed as traditionally attractive, as writers tried to appease both

26560-561: Was relaunched in Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man , which included the revivals of Peter Parker and Green Goblin. Ultimate FF ("FF" standing for " Future Foundation ", not "Fantastic Four") featured the "incursions", a multiversal threat that was being used in Hickman's run on the main universe's Avengers, and which would lead to the Secret Wars crossover. Ultimate FF was cancelled, alongside

26726-576: Was released in September 2013, with Thor's 16th volume, War Of The Pantheons out in October. From those initial six releases, the Epic Collection now has more than 50 lines, including licensed books, such Alien , Star Wars , Micronauts and ROM - Spaceknight . The rate of publication has increased since launch, with 29 Epic Collections released in 2014, the first full year of print. There were 45 in 2019, and 87 in 2024, including reprints. With

26892-420: Was sexist, Conway reworked her role beginning in Daredevil #91 (1972), having her stand up for herself when she felt neglected by Daredevil. The series was retitled Daredevil and the Black Widow in the following issue. Steve Gerber became the writer for Daredevil with issue #97 (1972), and he moved the focus away from Black Widow back to Daredevil's superhero activity in response to weak sales. Her name

27058-456: Was the Spider-Men miniseries, between Miles Morales and the adult Peter Parker. It was made for the 50th anniversary of Spider-Man. All-New X-Men , also written by Bendis, had a story where the main characters got stranded in the Ultimate universe and teamed-up with Morales. However, Bendis and Fialkov agreed that crossovers should be done sparingly, to keep them interesting, and cited

27224-437: Was trained as a spy in the Red Room, and she possess expert knowledge about the practice of espionage. She uses her physical attractiveness to her advantage as a spy, manipulating others through seduction. Unlike many superheroes, Black Widow is not associated with superhuman powers. Instead, she underwent biochemical modification while training in the Red Room, increasing her physical prowess and slowing her aging. Black Widow

27390-400: Was unfamiliar to the Soviet Union. When Black Widow chose to stop working with her Soviet handlers, they forced her to continue, first by threatening her parents and then by brainwashing her, reminiscent of the Soviet Union's image as a country without liberty. With her defection to the United States, Marvel reinforced its interpretation of Black Widow as an agent of good through her work with

27556-429: Was written as a more traditional spy drama, using many of the genre's common tropes. Kelly Thompson began writing a Black Widow series the same year, with Elena Casagrande as the volume's artist. The series was split into three story arcs: "The Ties that Bind" introduced a brainwashed Black Widow who believed she lived a domestic life as a mother, "I Am the Black Widow" continued the story with her memory returned and

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