Marvel Team-Up # 140- Spider-Man and the Black Widow

 By Mark Rodriguez

Before the Avengers movies, I have only heard of the Black Widow in passing. When I first encountered her she was wearing a grey skintight outfit with a big collar and spider logo on her chest and she had shorter hair. While I thought this was her initial look, it seems she bounced back and forth between this and her more iconic all-black outfit back in the day. It seems to be tough to find older comics with this look because even older ones still have her in the all-black outfit. Looks like I finally found one in this classic Marvel Team-Up book. Let's take a look as we go back in time to when comics cost 60 cents.

"Where were you when the lights went out?" opens with a city-wide blackout. Hospitals turn on emergency power. Officers are deployed in riot gear as things got crazy the last time there was a blackout. A man's pawn shop is being robbed on the streets, the thieves taking advantage of the darkness. The man yells out that he took their junk and paid them for it, helping them feed their families. Now they took his property, leaving him to wonder how he will survive.

Just then the Spider-Signal flashes upon the robbers, and sure enough Spider-Man is on a nearby rooftop. The men says that Spider-Man is 'one of those superheroes that work the police and make the rich richer and keeping them poor'. Spidey says he usually goes after bad guys that the regular police can't handle and stays away from social commentary. He understands that nobody likes to be poor but nobody likes to go to jail either, so he suggests they can just go home. The men opt to attack him. Spider-Man leaps out of the way, saying if they know about his Spider-Signal, they should also know about his super powers. 

 

Spider-Man takes on the guys, telling them to just return the pawn broker's property. Just then, the pawn broker shows up with a gun. Spider-Man tells him the gun isn't necessary since he's already trying to get the guys to return his stuff. The pawn broker asks what will happen after Spider-Man leaves, and says the guys need to learn what a man willing to do to protect his property. 

Just then someone pulls out a hand gun and says if the man wants murder, that's what he'll get. Spider-Man tries to dive in the way, but the store owner is shot and falls to the ground. Spider-Man stays with him as the police arrive.

The power is back on by the following morning, but this has already disrupted the Black Widow's plans. The blackout brought on a wave of looting and now all the courts and public defenders are dealing with all the defendants. This includes her lawyer friend Matt Murdock, who she was supposed to have lunch with. She says she can still visit him and offer moral support.

At the Manhattan Criminal Court, during arraignments, there is a huge line of blackout looters which are sent before exhausted judges as if it was an assembly line. Even though the Black Widow is covered up and wearing regular clothes, she seems to be recognized by the crowd. She sees Matt for a moment, but he is so busy he can't even get a lunch break. He heads out and Natasha laments how Matt is always pursuing justice, whether as a lawyer or as Daredevil... but that's what made her fall for him back when they were dating.

Daily Bugle reporter Peter Urich and Bugle freelance reporter Peter Parker are also on the scene. Peter asks what angle they will use to cover the aftermath of the blackout. Ben says they should cover the senseless tragedy, which will offer a personal perspective for their readers. Peter asks if he has any leads. Ben says he got a tip from his lawyer friend, who happens to be Matt Murdock. Matt is currently questioning his client from the murder of the pawnbroker from the previous night.

Peter realized that it must be the same murder he was unable to prevent as Spider-Man. He wonders how the police could have made an arrest so fast given they arrived at the scene later, while Peter was unable to see the shooter in the crowd when he was actually there. Matt's client, Juan Santiago, is already angry about being sent to jail for a crime he didn't commit. Matt tells his mother he might see jail time given he already has a record. Juan says he's done his time, but the gang that rules the neighborhood might have set him up since he refused to re-join.

Matt tells Juan that they can subpoena witnesses. Juan says no one will talk since then they'd have to answer to the gangs. Matt notes that Juan's heartbeat hasn't fluctuated, so he's telling the truth regarding his lack of involvement. Matt believes in the system and tells Juan to let him try and help him. Juan says he doesn't think he has a prayer, but agrees to work with him.

At the courtroom, the judge asks Matt if he's challenging the DA's assertion. Matt says the testimony the police got from the witnesses came from coercion by the gang that runs the neighborhood. He requests more time to gather evidence to support this. The judge says he's seen many cases and it's not even noon, so he gives him a week. Juan asks what Matt can do in a week. Matt says he will do everything in his power to help.

Natasha asks Matt if he used his hypersensitive as a lie detector, which is evidence he can't use in court. Matt says he could get proof as Daredevil but he is still committed to dozens of other clients. Natasha offers to let him find the proof he needs as Black Widow. Matt asks why she wants to help and she says it'll be fun and that's what friends are for.

Just then Ben Urich approaches Matt, as the narration explains that Ben knows he is Daredevil. As they talk, Daredevil senses another person there, Peter Parker. He senses an incredible power from him and determines he's Spider-Man. Ben thinks that if Matt thinks Juan is innocent, he must be, but he is too busy to gather proof as Daredevil. Ben asks Matt what he will do and the blind lawyer says he can only hope that someone can find evidence that Juan is innocent. Peter leaves as he's determined to find that evidence. Matt smiles to himself, as he knows Black Widow is on the case, and now the Spectacular Spider-Man will also help out.

Later on, the Black Widow is checking out the neighborhood that was hit the worst by the blackout. The Spider-Signal shines on her, and Spider-Man makes his entrance. They both exchange pleasantries and Spidey explains he couldn't stop a murder the night before and he thinks an innocent kid is going to take the rap for it. Widow says she's there for the same reason and the two decide to team up.

As Spider-Man webslings across the rooftops, Widow has no problem keeping up. He ponders that he imagines the Black Cat could have been similar to her if she can survive the kinds of dangers superheroes face. 

The heroes arrive at the headquarters of the gang that set Juan up, which Widow already knew about. Spider-Man wonders how she knew and what she was even doing there at all. He realizes the woman talking to Matt at the courthouse was her, and the Black Widow used to be Daredevil's partner. Spider-Man wonders if the blind lawyer is Daredevil... but then thinks that's crazy. The heroes hear voices coming from one of the rooms inside and decide to check it out.

Spider-Man and Black Widow peak in and see several gang members trying to watch TV on all the stolen sets at once. Spidey says it's evidence, though Widow says it's evidence of the looting, not the murder. They will need to get a confession out of them.

The heroes leap into action. One of the guys tells the other that he still has the gun from the previous night and to use it on him. The guy makes a run for it instead. Spider-Man gives chase, leaving Widow alone with the rest of the gang. The gang members underestimate the Black Widow but they soon regret when they try to fight her.

Spider-Man continues to chase the gunman, and he webs up one of the hallways, preventing his escape. The guy decides to leap through the window, smashing through the glass. The man hits the street and pulls a gun on a car with a family inside. He tells them to drive faster as the heroes are right behind him, but the driver just got his license the week before. The thug decides to kick the husband and wife out and drive off. However, their daughter is still inside, and the guy decides to take her a hostage.

The car drives into Central Park, and Spider-Man determines he's trying to drive away from all the tall buildings for him to swing from. Spider-Man shines his Spider-Signal on him, and the thug freaks out. He tries to tell himself that Spider-Man is just a guy, but he's distraction causes him to go over the bridge and into the ocean. Spider-Man blames himself for making the guy panic and lose control of the vehicle. He dives into the water after them.

Spider-Man rips the car door off and grabs both the girl and the gang member. He takes them to shore and webs the thug up to a tree. He dives back into the water and finds the murder weapon beneath the driver's seat. 

Later on the police arrive and say the girl will be alright, though they are curious why two heavyweight heroes were chasing a common street punk. Black Widow explains that the man's gun was used in a murder the night before and ballistics should prove it. Widow says that Juan Santiago owes Spider-Man his freedom. Spider-Man still feels bad that the pawn broker died because of his screw up. Widow says he can't hold himself responsible for his death, and Spidey says he can as he swings off.

A day later, Peter meets up with his buddy Harry Osborn. After they part way, Peter is hit with a strong Spider-Sense, causing him pain. After it subsides, he says it's the third time he had such a strong Spider-Sense effect (which happened in Amazing Spider-Man # 249 and 250) but this time he pinpointed to location nearby Central Park. He determines whatever is causing this must be very weird and dangerous. As he swings beyond a group of tree, whatever he sees is something incredibly shocking.

Spider-Man sees a huge structure which he describes as a 'futuristic version of Stonehenge' and he wonders what its doing in the middle of Sheep Meadow. He wonders where it came from and what its purpose is and says he would feel better if it was a movie set or something. Despite feeling as if he should get away, curiosity draws him in. As he swings onto the structure... he vanishes in a bright light, being warped to a galaxy far beyond.

Meanwhile at the Manhattan Criminal Court, Matt tells Juan that Spider-Man and the police have captured the real murderer. He should be released as soon as they can confirm the ballistics of the murder weapon. Juan is happy and renewed his faith in the system. 

Ben Urich comes in with some bad news. While the gun was involved in several unsolved crimes, it didn't kill the pawn broker. Juan is taking away and he says he should have known that Matt would let him down. Natasha asks Matt where they go from here. Matt isn't sure, but he knows he promised Juan that he'd find the real killer... and Daredevil always keeps his promises.

My thoughts-

Man, it's been forever since I seen Spider-Man use the old Spider-Signal in the comics. I mean, damn, the cover itself is pretty much Black Widow with the Spider-Signal shining over her. Likewise I don't even know what Harry Osborn is doing nowadays, or if he is even alive.

 

The story was cool, it's always good to see Spider-Man do more street level stuff. Spider-Man always carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, and like most people that work in saving lives, you might forget the countless faces you save, but you never forget the ones you couldn't. I like how Matt figured out that Peter was Spider-Man and purposely said 'I hope someone can find proof' to get him to leap into action. While yes, Natasha was at the courthouse, for some reason, and Black Widow used to work with Daredevil, it is probably a leap to assume Matt Murdock is the hero of Hell's Kitchen. I mean, at the time it wasn't common knowledge that Daredevil was blind as well.

On the topic of Black Widow, she really did play second fiddle in the story. Sure she offered to help Matt, but so did Spider-Man. Other than reminding Spider-Man of Black Cat, the only thing she did was hold off the rest of the gang member while he gave chase to the guy withe gun. Then she wasn't seen again until after Spider-Man saved the day. It was still cool to see here in the story, but it was very clear it was more Spider-Man guest starring Black Widow than Spider-Man and Black Widow. 

The story has two odd twists at the end. First of all, Spider-Man would disappear and be forced to take part in the (at the time) upcoming Secret Wars 12-part epic. I find it kind of weird that Spider-Man's lead in would be a random issue of Marvel Team-Up rather than taking place in his own book. I wonder if other heroes at the time like the Fantastic Four, the Hulk and members of the X-Men would also have random 'they just disappeared' moments in their own books around this time.

The other shocker was that despite Spider-Man's efforts, the gun wasn't the one that killed the pawn broker. I'm a bit confused since the gang members themselves said it was 'the same piece used last night', unless maybe the police are lying? Now that I think about it, they also got Juan without finding the murder weapon, which of course he wouldn't have. The story will continue as Daredevil and Black Widow will continue to investigate, now without Spider-Man since he's just missing. I guess the more street level heroes were not drafted into Secret Wars. 

I might eventually seek out the following issue so I can find out what happens next and how Matt and Nat can prove Juan's innocence. One can never have enough Black Widow. I just find it very odd to use a story about Spider-Man and Black Widow chasing down local thugs to be the lead-in to Secret Wars.

Other than an ad for Secret Wars, I do like the super retro videogame ads since this still during the Atari era. We got a commercial for the Masters of the Universe videogame for both the Atari 2600 and the Intellivision,  as well as an ad for Joust for both the Atari 2600 and Atari 5200.

 

The ad on the back cover is for Q*Bert for the following consoles, some I never even heard of. Back in 1983, Q*Bert was for out for the Atari 5200, T1AA/4A, Atari 400/800/600XL (what the hell is that??), Intellivision, Commodore VIC 20, Atari 2600, Commodore 64 and the Colecovision. I mean, technically speaking it's also available at the arcade but talking your parents into a buying you a whole arcade cabinet would be a pretty tall order.

 

While I was still around during the early 80's, the only video games I cared about early on were the arcades. I don't remember hearing much about the Atari and so forth until after the NES was already out and making waves. I do remember ads on TV regarding the huge Atari clearance sale as the consoles were nearing their final sunset, but I digress. Either way, this was a fun comic and I'm glad I was able to find it thanks to Hipcomic,