Issue(s): Marvel Team-Up #98
Cover Date: Oct 80
Title: "Spider-Man and Black Widow"
Credits:
Roger McKenzie - Script
Marv Wolfman - Plot
Will Meugniot - Penciler
Bruce D. Patterson - Inker
Mark Gruenwald - Assistant Editor
Denny O'Neil - Editor

Review/plot:
This is a goofy story detective style story that has Spider-Man helping the Black Widow investigate a consolidation of criminals under a mastermind that turns out to be the Owl. The Black Widow's initial partner, Simon Stroud, gets kidnapped after the first mission, and Spidey and the Black Widow have to do the usual stuff like lean on stoolies and beat up low level hoods to track him down.

Stroud is an interesting but plausible partner for the Widow.

He mainly appeared as a special investigator chasing the Man-Wolf and later Morbius, and there's no reason he wouldn't later get reassigned to the type of missions Natasha does (it's not actually said who Stroud and the Widow are working for, if anyone). But not much is done with Stroud. If there's one thing to say for this story, it's good at doing a reversal of the old gender roles, so Stroud is the hostage for most of the issue and the Black Widow hyper-competent without beating us over the head with it (although bear in mind again that Will Meugniot, who previously at Marvel drew a few Tigra stories in Marvel Chillders, has a kind of exaggerated style that gives the art a silly feel).

The Owl is crippled in this story, and so not much of a direct threat, although he does seem to have pulled Professor Xavier's floating wheelchair out of the timestream...

...and weaponized it.

Anyone looking for any real connection between this Spider-Man/Black Widow team-up and Claremont's earlier acclaimed one from Marvel Team-Up #82-85 won't find much, other than Spider-Man calling the Widow "Red" as he did in that story and an acknowledgement that they are "friends".

In this scene, the Widow seems to have less faith in Spider-Man than you'd think she would have after that story.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The MCP places this before Amazing Spider-Man #209.

References:

• The Owl was thought to have been left a vegetable after Marvel Team-Up #73 but his mind subsequently recovered. It's actually the Maggia who built the chair for him, and in return he's helping organize a crime spree for them.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Denny O'Neil was the originally announced scripter for this issue.

Fnord, Maybe along with the "So big, so fast" alerts you should have a "Murder Chair" alert.