*Marvel: The final entry’s relevance may not be immediately obvious, as the Black Widow herself doesn’t appear at all in Avengers #196 (June 1980). However, the villain of that issue, the Taskmaster, is slated to be the Big Bad of the Black Widow movie. The polymath skill-pilferer has proved one of the more popular characters from the later 20th Century Marvel Universe, achieving the status of reluctant anti-hero through nuanced and well-written stints in the series Avengers: The Initiative and Avengers Academy. Having made a menacing last page cameo in the preceding issue, #196 is the Taskmaster’s first full appearance, and this copy is a VF pence edition, very light wear at cover edge, but beautiful cover colour and gloss, on sale at £100.