Fast forward a decade and Black Widow is a reformed heroine, fighting alongside the good guys and being a more familiar version of what you might expect about her. And while this Champions run has its flaws and it’s far from perfect, it’s a great comic in terms of character development for Natasha.
Created by Tony Isabella and Don Heck, the Champions were a superhero team that consisted in Iceman, Angel, Hercules, Ghost Rider and Black Widow as the leader. The team never fully settles in for the reader and they usually fight multiple villains from the Marvel Universe, but it’s interesting to see so many characters that are so different from one another working together and, as I have said before, it’s a time in Black Widow’s history where she starts taking a more prominent role in terms of leadership, which is interesting, to say the least.
You can also enjoy solid art from one of the most important artists in the history of comics, Gil Kane. At this time of his career he perhaps wasn’t on the same heights that when he was working on Green Lantern, but it’s still solid as heck and shows classic comic book art at its best.
You can find this whole run, plus some adittional material from Iron Man Annual 4, Hulk Annual 7 and more, in the Champions Classic: The complete collection trade paperback, a veeeery good value for the money. You can find it on Amazon by clicking here.