*Marvel: What’s Old is our feature where we highlight comics from our catalogue that you may have missed. This week, two copies of Tales of Suspense #52, the debut of the Black Widow. In 1964, the adventures of Iron Man were enlivened by the appearance of the lovely but lethal Natasha Romanoff, code-named the Black Widow, one of the Kremlin’s deadliest operatives. Originally an appealing but unoriginal femme fatale in civvies, inspired by Caniff’s Dragon Lady and other Mata Hari wannabes, Natasha proved surprisingly adaptable, allying herself first with the second Crimson Dynamo (also premiering in this issue) and later Hawkeye, and trading her cocktail dress and veil for the first of many costumed ‘looks’ as she switchbacked from villainess to heroine, culminating, of course, in her live-action embodiment by Scarlett Johansson in the Avengers and other Marvel movies – and soon to star in a big-screen feature of her very own! This issue is where ‘Tasha’s career kicked off, and we have two mid to high grade copies available for your consideration. The first copy is FN/VF cents; no pence stamp or overprint. There is no defacement of the cover scene. Interior pages are off-white and sharp, no fraying, creases, tears or other defects. There is minimal edge and spine wear, with a trace of raggedness at the top cover edge owing to the cover being a smidge taller than the body of the book – an original printing aspect, not a defect as such. The cover colour is deep and unfaded, excellent gloss, still a fresh looking copy despite its vintage. The second copy is pence priced and is graded FN; light to moderate edge wear commensurate with age, but unfaded deep purple cover colour and a remarkable degree of gloss, with tight staples and sharp corners. Additional images for both are shown in our catalogue and high resolution versions are available on request.
PICTURED: TALES OF SUSPENSE
#52 FN/VF £1,500
#52 FN p £750