Black Widow - A Man Called Daredevil!

For my money the classic Daredevil drawn by Gene Colan in the late 60's and early 70's is the definitive version of the character, especially when inked by the likes of Tom Palmer. I know that Frank Miller's rendition has allowed the character to thrive but the comics from this earlier era are my favorites by far. And much of the reason for that is the presence of Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow. Marvel had made efforts to break her out as a solo star in the pages of Amazing Adventures with limited success as she dropped off that title as it dedicated itself to the Inhumans fully. Her next stop proved to be a successful one in my eyes, in pages of Daredevil, a title which had suffered a bit from weak sales and was perhaps looking for a fresh face to jolt readers. 

Daredevil was being written at the time by a young Gerry Conway (full of mind-blowing concepts) and DD was embroiled in a long-standing battle with a robot from the future named "Mr. Kline". One of Kline's agents was DD's old nemesis the Owl. In a battle with the Owl DD ended up at the bottom of the river and suddenly from nowhere he is saved by the Black Widow. She appeared like an angel come to save the day and in many ways she did. Colan is inked by Jack Abel in this issue, and while I'm not an Abel booster generally I do enjoy the way he and Gene "The Dean" blend together. 

The battle with Kline continued as the Scorpion was enlisted to battle DD. The Widow joined in to assist and ended up hitting the Scorpion with her sting in such as way as to send him hurtling to his seeming doom. (It later is revealed that this was not the real Scorpion to begin with but a robot.)

In an issue with guest-art by Alan Lee Davis with terrific Bill Everett inks the Widow is brought to trial for the Scorpion's seeming demise. It turns out the Foggy Nelson, then the D.A. was also under Kline's thumb. The Widow is understandably bitter about the turn of events and she and DD mix it up a bit, while still finding some time to mix it up with a Mr. Hyde android. 

This issue also showcased this iconic Black Widow pin-up by Bill Everett. Awesome!

The finale of the Mr. Kline war (dubbed "Assassin" about halfway through the saga weirdly) finds DC and the Widow battling together against these agents of the future when agents from even further in the future show up to save the day. It's all very apocalyptic. 

The chemistry between Matt and Natasha seems to quicken a bit as they return home aboard a jumbo jet. In one of Marvel's many coincidences that jet is hijacked by DD's old foe the Gladiator and he and Widow must fight together to save the day. Syd Shores inked this issue and the one before it to grand effect. 

In the final issue in this Epic collection titled "A Woman Called Widow" DD finds himself battling his old foe The Ox. The complications in this one are many and strange, but it seems the original Ox was stranded in a body of a weak scientist when the latter stole Ox's body for his own use. Now the Ox's personality and ambient radiation work mysteriously to all the Ox to assert his original form one final time. It's a tough battle and an emotional one but DD and the Widow survive. But it's not without casualties. One thing is that the Black Widow decides that NYC is no longer conducive to her well- being so she plans to travel to the West Coast, specifically San Francisco. Turns out that Matt Murdock will join her in a brand new locale beginning with the very next issue. The Conway-Colan team is joined by Tom Palmer in this issue. 

More on the Widow's and DD's west coast adventures tomorrow. 

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