Tales Of Suspense #53, page 3

I've been looking for the right example of Don Heck's Black Widow art featuring her first incarnation as an uncostumed Soviet-era spy and Iron Man villain, and this is my favorite page from her second appearance. I'm delighted to offer it a nice home with its silver age Black Widow siblings.


See: Nikita Khrushchev, who was ousted as first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union shortly after this book saw print!


Witness: The Black Widow smoking, for the first and last time!


Behold: Natasha's birthmark on her left cheek, which was never seen again after her next appearance!


Gaze upon: Natasha's décolleté, whited out or left un-inked here, but rendered less demurely six and a half years later... to life-altering effect!


Marvel at: The fact that Stan Lee scrawled the script and captions in long hand underneath Sam Rosen's lettering, for some reason!


Contemplate: Don Heck's elegant and expressive pencils and inks, and a few elements that he left un-inked for clarity: an additional officer in panel one, backgrounds of Natasha's apartment in panel three, and the Guipure lace neckline from Natasha's dress (from her first appearance).


For early Black Widow art, this is my second favorite example. The jewel in the crown is Madame Natasha's first panel page appearance in the previous Tales of Suspense issue, but that one remains elusive. I'd give this page from the Black Widow's sophomore outing the edge artistically, if not historically, though.