Black Widow: Deadly Origin #1-4

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Black Widow: Deadly Origin #1-4

Post by Col_Fury »

BLACK WIDOW: DEADLY ORIGIN #1 (January 2010)
By Paul Cornell, Tom Raney & John Paul Leon

APPEARANCES:
Black Widow (also in fb), Captain America (James Barnes, also in fb as Winter Soldier), Ivan Petrovich Bezukhov (also in fb), Taras Romanoff (in fb), Josef Stalin (in fb), Wolverine (in fb)

FLASHBACKS:
1928: Ivan finds the orphaned Natasha (page 13). 1938: Ivan gives custody of Natasha to Taras Romanoff, but Josef Stalin happens by and suggests she be admitted to Taras’ training program (page 14). 1940: Natasha is trained to be an assassin. Logan meets with Taras and helps with Natasha’s training, but eventually kills Taras. Natasha lives in the wilderness for three months before Ivan finds her (page 15-17). A montage of UX 268-FB, Hitler, the atomic bomb and Natasha and Ivan (page 18). 1956: An injured Ivan is dying in Berlin. The Winter Soldier offers Natasha and Ivan a serum that will save Ivan and extend both their lives; in return they have to return to serving Russia (page 19).
SYNOPSIS:
Black Widow completes a mission. Meanwhile in Russia, the Icepick Protocols are activated. Ivan Petrovitch calls Black Widow to warn her about the Icepick Protocols, but he explodes before he can finish. Black Widow identifies the body, even though his head has been stolen (she recognizes a scar on his hand). James Barnes checks with Black Widow to see if she’s OK; she tells him she’ll find who’s responsible and make them pay.

BLACK WIDOW: DEADLY ORIGIN #2 (February 2010)
By Paul Cornell, Tom Raney & John Paul Leon

APPEARANCES:
Black Widow (also in fb & fb-fb), Ronin (also in fb as Hawkeye), Red Guardian (in fb), Winter Soldier (in fb), Gen. Pushkin (in fb), Nikita Khrushchev (in fb), Ivan Petrovich Bezukhov (in fb), Pepper Potts (in fb), Tony Stark (in fb), Federal Dynamo, Mockingbird

FLASHBACKS:
Natasha performs as a ballerina. Natasha operates as a spy and assassin (page 5-6). 1957: Gen. Pushkin introduces Natasha to Alexi Shoshtakov, but she’s having trouble keeping her memories and cover stories straight (page 4, page 7). Six weeks later, Black Widow tells Winter Soldier that she’s going to marry Alexi and tells Ivan that she can’t tell what’s real anymore (page 8). 1963: Nikita Khrushchev tells Natasha that Alexi is dead and that he’s retiring her from serving as Black Widow. Nikita tells Ivan that he thinks Natasha is now insane and that Ivan should look after her, then explains to Alexi that they had to fake his death so he could become the new Red Guardian (page 12-14). Several years ago: Pepper Potts tells Tony Stark to stay away from Natasha “the Black Widow” Romanoff because she’s been in European social circles for decades but hasn’t aged and tends to kill her lovers. Later, Tony tells Natasha he knows that she’s a spy (page 16-17). A year later, Black Widow manipulates Hawkeye into attacking Stark (Stark doesn’t appear in this portion, but Ivan does) (page 18).
SYNOPSIS:
Black Widow breaks into a Russian military installation and learns what the Icepick Protocols are: nanbots that she’s been infected with that then infect those she spends the most time with; those nanobots will then affect those people’s loved ones who then attack those close to Black Widow. The next day, Mockingbird suddenly attacks Ronin (Clint Barton).

NOTE:
In the military installation, Black Widow encounters a Federal Dynamo. The Federal Dynamo hopes to one day be promoted to a Crimson Dynamo.

It’s nice to see the ballerina stuff mentioned, because there are characters that appear in Natasha’s ballerina flashbacks from other comics that also appear in present day stories, so they can’t really be chalked up to false memories. This story chalks the ballerina stuff up to a “cover story” for her spy stuff, and even mentions the age discrepancies (“I’m 19 years old, no wait, I’m 29 years old”), all part of her having trouble telling the difference as to what’s real.

BLACK WIDOW: DEADLY ORIGIN #3 (March 2010)
By Paul Cornell, Tom Raney & John Paul Leon

APPEARANCES:
Black Widow (also in fb), Daredevil (also in fb), Hercules (also in fb), Imperial Dynamo (Ivan Petrovich Bezukhov, also in fb as Ivan), Angel (in fb), Iceman (in fb), Ghost Rider (Blaze, in fb), Zarathos (bts in fb), Red Guardian (bts in fb, cf #4), Mr. Hyde (bts in fb), Owl (bts in fb), Ronin, Mockingbird, Captain America (James Barnes), Nick Fury (also bts in fb)

FLASHBACKS:
Yesterday, Black Widow tries to stop the Icepick Protocols from killing her friends (page 5). A few years ago: Black Widow tells Daredevil that she still feels as though she’s being manipulated. Ivan tells them Mr. Hyde and Owl are robbing a bank and hints that he’s romantically interested in Black Widow (page 7-8). A few years back: The Champions discuss breaking up and Ivan is jealous of Hercules’ relationship with Black Widow (page 12). A few years ago: Black Widow tells Ivan that she’s been elected to lead the Avengers; Ivan doesn’t seem very happy about the news (page 16). A few years ago: Black Widow and Ivan part ways, now that Ivan understands that she’s not interested in him romantically (page 21).
SYNOPSIS:
Black Widow stops Mockingbird from killing Ronin, explains the situation and gives them both anti-nanobots. Later, Black Widow gives Daredevil the nanobots and reminisces about their romance. Daredevil reminds her that she broke up with him. Black Widow visits James Barnes and gets a call from Hercules (who’s being attacked by five women). After she gives him and the women the anti-nanobots, Hercules tells her he senses the source of her problem is in orbit. Black Widow gets a spaceship from Nick Fury and goes into space where she discovers Ivan, now in a robot body calling himself the Imperial Dynamo and based on the Dreadnought space station, is behind her problems.

NOTE:
Black Widow mentions that she tried to find Tony Stark to help him with the Icepick Protocols, but he was missing. This isn’t a -BTS appearance for him because he was on the run at the time in his own book; so it’s a reference to another story, not a -BTS appearance.

In the page 12-FB, the Champions discuss breaking up. They actually break up in Peter Parker #17-FB, which is continued directly from Champions #17. There’s no place for this to happen between the two, so I’ll suggest placing this flashback directly before Champions #17. Meaning, they discuss breaking up (BW:DO 3-FB), Blob and Unus break into the building so Black Widow and Hercules summon everyone back (CHAMP 17), then they actually break up (PPTSS 17-FB).

BLACK WIDOW: DEADLY ORIGIN #4 (April 2010)
By Paul Cornell, Tom Raney & John Paul Leon

APPEARANCES:
Black Widow (also in fb), Imperial Dynamo (also in fb as Ivan Petrovich Bezukhov), Captain America (in fb), Black Widow (Yelena, in fb), Daredevil (in fb), Cloak (in fb), Dagger (in fb), Luke Cage (in fb), Shang-Chi (in fb), Winter Soldier (in fb), Red Guardian (in fb)

FLASHBACKS:
A few years ago: With the Avengers dead, Ivan invites Black Widow to join him in Europe and kisses her. She declines his offer and advances (page 4-5). Two years ago: During the superhero Civil War, Black Widow tries to explain to Captain America why she’s on Iron Man’s side, but her reasons end up just boiling down to it’s the easier choice (page 7-8). Four years ago: Natasha tries to talk Yelena into doing the right thing. Three years ago: Black Widow agrees that hunting down Punisher is the right thing to do. Last year: Black Widow agrees to work with James Barnes to honor Captain America’s memory because it’s the right thing to do (page 12). Earlier this year: Black Widow meets with her former husband, the retired Red Guardian for dinner (page 14).
SYNOPSIS:
Black Widow battles the Imperial Dynamo. She says the serum that’s extended their lives drove him insane; he says her continued rejection of his romantic advances to her is what drove him insane. She tells him she didn’t find herself until he left her life (meaning, he was holding her back because he wanted her for himself), destroys his robot body, seemingly killing him, and destroys the Dreadnought space station.

NOTE:
When Ivan kisses Natasha in the page 4-5 flashback is when he infected her with the Icepick Protocols nanobots.

The page 12, panel 1 flashback, where Black widow is giving a speech to the new Black Widow, is from BW3 3. However, in BW3 3, the Black Widows had switched bodies and in this flashback they’re in their own bodies. The scene is from this issue, though (Natasha is giving Yelena a speech in BW3 3 that's similar to the speech she's giving her in this issue), so I’ll just chalk this up to artistic license/clarity of storytelling.

In the page 12, panel 2 flashback where Black Widow agrees that hunting down Punisher is the right thing to do, Luke Cage appears. Cage didn’t join the group (the book was Marvel Knights, I don’t think the group ever took a name) until M/K 11 (the group was formed to hunt Punisher long before Cage showed up); by then Cloak had already been “cured” and a plot started that separated Black Widow and Dagger from the rest of the group until the last issue of the series, where the group breaks up. So, this scene can’t be the group forming, but rather an extra bit where the group is breaking up. Black Widow agrees that hunting Punisher is the right thing to do, but Daredevil’s going to try it on his own for a while since the group didn’t work out.

Chronology placements:

ANGEL III/WARREN KENNETH WORTHINGTON III

GSH2 1
*BW:DO 3-FB
CHAMP 17


BLACK WIDOW II/NATALIA ALIANOVNA ROMANOVA/"NATASHA ROMANOFF"
DD 88 (8:4 - 9:3)-FB
*BW:DO 1 (13:1 - 13:2)-FB (remove brackets)
DD 88 (9:4)-FB
*BW:DO 1 (13:3)-FB (remove brackets)
DD 88 (9:5)-FB
*BW:DO 1 (13:4)-FB (remove brackets)
DD 88 (10:1)-FB
*BW:DO 1 (14)-FB (remove brackets)
DD 88 (10:2a)-FB
M/FAN 10 (7:2)-FB
DD 88 (10:2b)-FB
W:O 9 (3 - 8)-FB
BW4 4 (9:1 - 9:3)-FB
DD 88 (10:2c)-FB
*BW:DO 1 (15 - 16)-FB (remove brackets)
W:O 9 (9 - 18)-FB
*BW:DO 1 (17)-FB (remove brackets)
UX 268 (14)-FB
W:O 16 (10 - 12)-FB
UX 268 (15 - 17)-FB
W:O 16 (16:1 - 16:3)-FB
UX 268 (20:1 - 20:4)-FB
W:O 16 (16:4)-FB
UX 268 (20:5 - 21)-FB
W:O 16 (17 - 19)-FB
UX 268 (22)-FB
CATOW:AF
*BW:DO 1 (19)-FB (remove brackets)
*BW:DO 2-FB-FB
*BW:DO 2 (4 - 7)-FB (remove brackets)
CA5 27-FB
*BW:DO 2 (8)-FB (remove brackets)
M/FAN 10 (7:3)-FB
DD 88 (10:2d)-FB
A 44-FB
*BW:DO 2 (12 - 14)-FB (remove brackets)
W2 -1
BFF:BGL 1
BFF:BGL 2
BFF:BGL 3
{TOS 52 (1 - 4)}
*BW:DO 2 (17)-FB (remove brackets)
TOS 52 (5 - 12)
TOS 53-FB

UTSM 17
*TOS 60 (1-7)
*BW:DO 2 (18)-FB
*TOS 60 (8-13)
TOS 64-FB

DD 101
*BW:DO 3 (7-8)-FB
DD 102

GSH2 1
*BW:DO 3 (12)-FB
CHAMP 17

CA 401
*BW:DO 3 (16)-FB
CA 402

A 388
*BW:DO 3 (21)-FB
FFU 11

A '99-FB
*BW:DO 4 (4-5)-FB
H:HU

BW2 2
*BW2 3 (1-19:1)
*BW:DO 4 (12:1)-FB
*BW 23 (19:2-22)
A3 32

M/K 14
*M/K 15 (1-20)
*BW:DO 4 (12:2)-FB
*M/K 15 (21-22)
A3 41-BTS

WT 6
*BW:DO 4 (7-8)-FB
CW 3

CDPOOL 50
*BW:DO 4 (12:3)-FB (remove brackets)
CA5 34

CA5 48
*BW:DO 4 (14)-FB (remove brackets)
CA5 50
[TB 128]
[TB 136]
*BW:DO 1
*BW:DO 2
*BW:DO 3 (5)-FB
*BW:DO 3
*BW:DO 4 (remove brackets)
CA 600/2


BLACK WIDOW III/YELENA BELOVA

BW2 2
*BW2 3 (1-19:1)
*BW:DO 4-FB
*BW2 3 (19:2-22)
BW3 1


CAGE, LUKE/CARL LUCAS

M/K 15
*BW:DO 4-FB
ALIAS 1


CAPTAIN AMERICA/STEVEN "GRANT" ROGERS

MK6 8
*BW:DO 4-FB (remove brackets)
BP4 18


CAPTAIN AMERICA VII/JAMES BUCHANAN BARNES

NA 60
*BW:DO 1 (remove brackets)
*BW:DO 3 (remove brackets)
CA 600/2


CLOAK/TYRONE JOHNSON

M/K 14
*BW:DO 4-FB
M/K 15
M/KDS 3/2


DAGGER II/TANDY BOWEN

M/K 14
*M/K 15 (1-20)
*BW:DO 4-FB
*M/K 15 (21-22)
TB 57


DAREDEVIL/MATT MICHAEL MURDOCK

DD 101
*BW:DO 3-FB
DD 102

M/K 14
*M/K 15 (1-20)
*BW:DO 4-FB
*M/K 15 (21-22)
IM3 38-FB

NA 60
*BW:DO 3
[DRL:DD 1]


FEDERAL DYNAMO
BW:DO 2

FURY, COL. NICHOLAS "NICK" JOSEPH

[TB 136]
*BW:DO 3-FB-BTS
*BW:DO 3
CA 600/2-BTS


GHOST RIDER XXXIV/JOHNNY BLAZE

GSH2 1
*BW:DO 3-FB
CHAMP 17


HAWKEYE/CLINT BARTON

UTSM 17
*TOS 60 (1-7)
*BW:DO 2-FB
*TOS 60 (8-13)
TOS 64


HERCULES/HERACLES/ALCEAUS [OLYMPIAN]

GSH2 1
*BW:DO 3-FB
CHAMP 17

HERC5 118

*BW:DO 3

HOGAN, VIRGINIA "PEPPER" POTTS

TOS 51 (4:5 - 13:9)
*BW:DO 2-FB
TOS 52


ICEMAN/ROBERT "BOBBY" DRAKE

GSH2 1
*BW:DO 3-FB
CHAMP 17


IMPERIAL DYNAMO/IVAN PETROVITCH BEZUKHOV
From Ivan Petrovitch Bezukhov
BW:DO 3
BW:DO 4

IRON MAN/ANTHONY EDWARD "TONY" STARK

A 5 (1 - 3:3)
*BW:DO 2 (16)-FB (remove brackets)
TOS 52 (1 - 4)
*BW:DO 2 (17)-FB (remove brackets)
TOS 52 (5 - 7)


KHRUSHCHEV, NIKITA
CA@ 13-FB
*BW:DO 2-FB
{TOS 41}


MOCKINGBIRD/DR. BARBARA "BOBBI" MORSE

NA 60
*BW:DO 2 (remove brackets)
*BW:DO 3 (remove brackets)
CA 600/2


MR. HYDE/CALVIN ZABO

CA 252-FB
*BW:DO 3-FB-BTS
DD 142


OWL/LELAND OWLSLEY

CAT 2
*BW:DO 3-FB-BTS
DD 116


PETROVITCH BEZUKHOV, IVAN
*DD 88 (8:4 - 9:3)-FB
*BW:DO 1 (13:1 - 13:2)-FB
*DD 88 (9:4)-FB
*BW:DO 1 (13:3)-FB
*DD 88 (9:5)-FB
*BW:DO 1 (13:4)-FB
*DD 88 (10:1)-FB
*BW:DO 1 (14)-FB
*BW:DO 1 (17)-FB
UX 268 (1 - 11:5)-FB

UX 268 (22)-FB
*BW:DO 1 (19)-FB
*BW:DO 2 (8)-FB
*BW:DO 2 (12-14)-FB
CHAMP 10-FB
*BW:DO 2 (18)-FB
{AA2 1/2}

DD 101
*BW:DO 3 (7-8)-FB
DD 103

GSH2 1-BTS
*BW:DO 3 (12)-FB
M/FAN 10-FB

BW:CW
*BW:DO 3 (16)-FB
A 384-BTS
A 385
A 386
*BW:DO 3 (21)-FB
*BW:DO 4-FB
*BW:DO 1
*See Imperial Dynamo

PUSHKIN, GEN.
BW:DO 2-FB

RED GUARDIAN II/ALEXI ALANOVICH SHOSTAKOV
BW:CW-FB
*BW:DO 2 (4-7)-FB
A 44-FB
*BW:DO 2 (12-14)-FB
{A 43}

DD2 64
*BW:DO 4-FB
*BW:DO 3-FB-BTS

ROMANOFF, TARAS
BW:DO 1 (14)-FB
W:O 9 (3-8)-FB
BW:DO 1 (15-16)-FB
W:O 9 (9-15)-FB
BW:DO 1 (17)-FB

RONIN II/CLINT BARTON

NA 60
*BW:DO 2 (remove brackets)
*BW:DO 3 (remove brackets)
CA 600/2


SHANG-CHI

M/K 15
*BW:DO 4-FB
TB 57


STALIN, JOSEF/JOSEF DJUGASHVILI
*BW:DO 1-FB
{HT 5B}


WINTER SOLDIER/JAMES BUCHANAN BARNES

W3 38-FB
*BW:DO 1-FB
CA5 11 (12)-FB

CA5 27 (20:5 - 21:2)-FB
*BW:DO 2-FB (remove brackets)
CA5 44 (2:1)-FB-FB

CA5 33
*BW:DO 4-FB (remove brackets)
See Captain America VII

WOLVERINE/"LOGAN"/JAMES HOWLETT

W2 169-FB
W:O 17 (9)-FB
*W:O 9 (3-8)-FB
*BW:DO 1 (15-16)-FB
*W:O 9 (9-15)-FB
*BW:DO 1 (17)-FB
*W:O 9 (16-18)-FB
W:O 17 (1 - 2)-FB
W2 106-FB
UX 268 (1 - 5)-FB


ZARATHOS [SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE]

GSH2 1-BTS
*BW:DO 3-FB-BTS
CHAMP 17-BTS
-Daron Jensen
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Re: Black Widow: Deadly Origin #1-4

Post by dimadick »

Col_Fury wrote:1957: Josef Stalin introduces Natasha to Alexi Shoshtakov, but she’s having trouble keeping her memories and cover stories straight (page 4, page 7).
Is this a typo? Stalin died in 1953. From 1953 to 1964, the First Secretary was Nikita Khrushchev.
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Re: Black Widow: Deadly Origin #1-4

Post by zilch »

The serum that Ivan gives to Natasha is probably a variant of the Super-Soldier serum used by the Grand Director/Captain America that he found in Germany, so a copy may have also gone to East Germany and worked its way back to the USSR.
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Re: Black Widow: Deadly Origin #1-4

Post by Col_Fury »

dimadick wrote:Is this a typo?
Yup, Gen. Pushkin introduced the two. Thanks for catching that!
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