“Introducing the strangest, most terrifying character in action picture magazines – the Black Widow. You’ve heard of the black widow spider – that evil creature whose bite spells doom. Now start the adventures of another black widow – a human tool of Satan whose very touch means death.”
— The introduction to Black Widow in Mystic Comics 4
Origin
Claire Voyant was a spirit medium, skilled at communicating with the deceased. While conducting a seance for the Wagler family she was possessed by Satan and put a curse upon the family. The family left, but as a result of the curse were involved in a fatal car accident. The only surviving member of the Wagler family, James, returned to Claire’s apartment where he confronted her and accused her of causing the deaths of his mother and sister. He then gunned down Claire. As Claire Voyant was dying she vowed to have her revenge.
Claire’s soul was sent to Hell, where Satan dressed her in her Black Widow costume and bestowed upon her the power to kill with a single touch to the head of her victim, as well as other mystical powers. Satan sends her back to Earth to avenge her death. After killing James Wagler, Black Widow returns to Satan, who tasks her with expediting the process of sending the souls of evil men to Hell.
During the 1940s, the Black Widow was active in hunting out men with evil souls for Satan, killing corrupt arms manufacturers, criminals, and an evil faith healer. At some point, she even assisted the Invaders against the Nazis
Creation
Black Widow was created by George Kapitan and Harry Sahle and made her debut in Mystic Comics issue 4 (1940), published by Timely. She earns the distinction of being the first costumed, super powered, female character to be published.
Mayor Story Arcs
New Origin
In the comic book The Twelve, Claire’s back story is retconned. She now visited her sister Debbie in Los Angeles to make sure she was alright, and met her boyfriend Lester, who according to her sister is well connected. Debbie assured her that she will be alright, that Lester likes taking care of her. Some time later Debbie was killed, there is no doubt that Lester was the killer. But he indeed was well connected, half the town was on his payroll and he got away with murder. Claire swore on her sister’s grave that she would give anything to avenge her death. Satan made her an offer: she would get her revenge, that she would be ageless and powerful, but she would be in his service for an eternity, she consented. Her first victim was the man who killed her sister, and from that day on she killed for Satan, but only those who were evil and belonged to Satan already.
The Twelve
During World War II, Claire helped the superhero group known as the Invaders fight the Nazis in Europe, as did most other heroes. While fighting the war, a group of twelve superheroes, including Black Widow, formed when they entered a headquarters of the SS in Berlin. It was a random group with the heroes who were nearest to the building and wanted to check out if they could find anything inside the building to help the war effort. During their inspection of the building, the heroes were trapped by Nazis in a basement and put into cold sleep, for studying after the war. However, things turned out different than the Nazis had hoped. The Axis didn’t win the war, and the secret basement was forgotten in time. Nothing was heard from the twelve heroes from that point on. On August the Second, 2008 the basement of the SS bunker was discovered during construction-works on the sight and the heroes were discovered to still be alive, frozen inside their tubes. The Pentagon brought them over to America and defrosted them, asking them to work for the government once again, openly this time as the Super-Human Registration Act was in effect.
For every hero, it was a major adjustment to wake up ‘in the future’, more than 60 year after they where frozen. Most of the heroes stayed inside a mansion that had been payed for by the US government. Black Widow hoped that she was forgotten by Satan while she slept, but she was not. Soon she went for her nightly killing missions, bringing Satan the souls of evil men. During her free time, she found a goth bar, where she felt like she belonged somehow. She also revealed her history to Phantom Reporter, who likes her, but needed to know whether she was good or evil. The two built up a strange but affectionate relationship.
Not long after that, a disturbing phone-call came in; Black Widow’s teammate Blue Blaze had been killed, and it seemed that the lifeless robot Electro was to blame for it. Electro however could only be controlled through a control panel, and nobody was at the panel at the moment that the robot killed Blue Blaze. Eventually, Phantom Reporter brought the remaining Twelve members together to expose the murderer. He revealed that Electro’s control helmet revealed to him that Electro had been searching for contact while the twelve slept. It had made contact with the synthetic brain of Dynamic man. This enabled Dynamic Man to control Electro. Richard revealed that Dynamic man used Electro to murder several people including Blue Blade. Dynamic man snapped and destroyed the mansion the Twelve were staying in.
After their confrontation with Dynamic Man, whom was killed by the remaining members of the Twelve, Black Widow took off for a while to do work for her master. She later returned in a new costume and took her relationship with Phantom Reporter to a new level. She also joined Mastermind Excello’s company EXC Enterprises with Phantom Reporter to fight crime.
Powers and Abilities
Psychic
Prior to her transformation into the Black Widow, Claire Voyant possessed undefined psychic powers that allowed her to communicate with the spirits of the deceased.
Mystically
After Satan transformed Claire into the Black Widow, she became highly resistant to injury, and bullets appeared to have no effect on her. Satan gave her the gift of immortality, essentially rendering her ageless. Her strength and endurance were increased and she gained the ability to fly, become invisible, alter her appearance and mentally plant suggestions into the minds of others. She was able to regenerate, as well as mystically heal others. She can independently transport herself to and from Hell.
The Touch of Death
Her signature was her most fearsome ability – the power to slay the living by touching their bare flesh. After she touched them, her victims died instantaneously and their souls were sent directly to Hell. The corpse of her victim are left with a black widow branded into the flesh.
Physical Characteristics
Height : 5’9″
Weight : 127 lbs
Eyes : Black
Hair : Blonde
Relatives : Debbie (sister, deceased)
Citizenship: American
Place of Birth: Unknown
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Operative of Satan, former spirit medium
Education: Unknown
Other Versions
In Other Media
Contest of Champions
Black Widow appears in Marvel’s Contest of Champions as a playable character. She was first released on 5th September 2019.