Iron Man Weekend: A Quick Glance at Black Widow and Whiplash

Ol' Groove learned a long, long time ago--don't compare the comics to the movies, man! Still, ya always get a little curious about the characters in a comicbook movie, don'tcha? Ya wanna know where they came from, what they're all about, why they do what they do--background, baby! Well, ya ain't gonna get that here! Plenty of blogs and comics sites are playing that game with Iron Man 2, so there's no need to repeat the same rap here. Nope, instead I thought I'd just lay some little-seen bits on ya...just give you enough to make you wanna google or bing your heart out looking for more on the beauteous Black Widow and the wily Whiplash.

First up, dig on this quickie origin of the Black Widow from the pages of Daredevil #88 (March 1972). It's written by Gerry Conway with art by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer...


Veddy interesting, huh? Natasha's a lot older than she looks, that's no jive! But don't worry 'bout that--enjoy this rip-roaring rendition by Bill Everett (from DD #81, August 1971)!


And just for kicks, here's a look at Whiplash's past as he prepares for his second run-in with Shell-Head. This quick glimpse is from Iron Man #62 (June 1973) courtesy the combined talents of Mike Friedrich, P. Craig Russell, John Romita, Mike Esposito, and Frank Giacoia.


Enjoy the show, Groove-ophiles! We'll be back to our usual madness tomorrow!