*Marvel: Two of the most popular villains-turned heroes debut within a few issues of each other in early 1960’s Tales of Suspense. Issue #52 saw the debut of the deadly-but-delicious Black Widow, virtually unrecognisable to contemporary audiences, in her original guise as a slinky Dragon-Lady style femme fatale who was the puppet mistress of her cybernetic ‘muscle’, the Crimson Dynamo, who premiered beside her. Madame Natasha soon abandoned the power-behind-the throne routine and started taking a more proactive role when, having lost the Crimson Dynamo, she acquired a slab of malleable beefcake in the shape of Hawkeye, latching on to toxophilic carnie Clint Barton in his first appearance in Tales of Suspense #57! Originally doing bad things for good reasons, it was comparatively easy for both Natasha and Clint to slide over to the right side of the law, and they quickly became the Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin of the super-hero set, their original romantic attraction simmering into a deep friendship during their long association with the Avengers. Both the Black Widow and Hawkeye are key components of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, of course, which has driven their first appearances up in price markedly over the last five years. We have Tales of Suspense #52 VG p at £200; a beautiful copy with unfaded deep purple background and only the faintest of horizontal lines/creases towards the cover, just bisecting the ‘S’ of the logo. The Tales of Suspense #57 is even nicer – FN- cents copy, lovely white background, no pence price or overstamp, on sale at £250. But buy them both – it’d be cruel to separate them… SORRY, THESE HAVE NOW SOLD