Featuring: Black Widow
Release: June 12, 1940
Cover: August 1940
10 cents
By: George Kapitan and Harry Sahle
7 pages
I’ll confess I have very little idea what I just read. Sometimes, that’s because the storytelling is wonky and I can’t parse what’s happening in the moment. Othertimes, I think I do follow what’s happening and that confuses me even more.
We’re about to meet the modern Black Widow. So I thought it would be worth looking at the original 1940s Black Widow. I may come to regret that decision.
On the other hand, Black Widow might be the very first female superhero. If so, it certainly makes this a notable–if very strange–story.
Toonpedia discusses the question in gory detail. Don Markstein notes Black Widow has two notable superheroesque predecessors. Fantomah used extraordinary powers to combat evil. The Woman in Red wore a flashy costume while battling evil. Black Widow was the first woman in comics to do both.
However, while undeniably super, was she a “hero”, given that her charge was to collect souls for her master Satan? I’ll leave that to you to decide.
Let’s get to the story, such as it is.
We’re at a seance. Check. Claire Voyant. I get it. I’m with it for one panel. I’m not sure what’s happening in the second panel. Maybe Satan is appearing?
Whatever happened, the customer is very upset by the third panel. She wanted a seance, not witchcraft. She apparently sees some clear distinctions, where I personally find the lines pretty fuzzy. By the fourth panel of this story, Claire is cursing the family who was just attending her seance. Perhaps because she’s possessed by Satan. Maybe? By the end of the second page, I think I’m starting to follow. But a lot happened really fast.
As best I can gather, the psychic promised to make the woman’s late husband appear. Instead, Satan appeared, upset the family, possessed the psychic, who cursed the family, which caused a car crash. That’s a dense 6 panels.
James Wagler’s mother and sister are killed in the crash. He swears revenge, being himself now under the influence of Satan.
See how it’s weird even when I’m starting to follow?
Continue reading “PRELUDE: Mystic Comics #4, Story E”