Black Widow (Claire Voyant)
A Satan-empowered anti-heroine who harvests evil souls.
Claire Voyant, the Black Widow, is an anti-heroine from Marvel Comics. She first appeared in Mystic Comics #4 in August 1940, created by George Kapitan and Harry Sahle for Timely Comics. She kills evildoers and sends their souls to her master, Satan.
Quick Facts
- Character name
- Claire Voyant; Black Widow
- Publisher
- Marvel Comics
- Debut
- Mystic Comics #4 (August 1940)
- Creators
- George Kapitan (writer); Harry Sahle (artist)
- Alliances
- The Twelve
Facts from the source article.
Publication history
The Black Widow appears in five stories during the Golden Age of comic books, all written by George Kapitan. These short comics, ranging from five to eight pages, were published across three different Timely anthology titles from 1940 to 1943. Claire Voyant is introduced in Mystic Comics #4 as "the strangest, most terrifying character in action picture magazines — the Black Widow." Mystic Comics #4 and #5 feature artwork by Harry Sahle, while Mystic Comics #7 has art by Stan Drake. USA Comics #5 is penciled by Mike Sekowsky and inked by George Klein. Her final Golden Age appearance in All Select Comics #1 has art tentatively attributed to Drake; this story was reprinted in 1974 by Flashback as Special Edition Reprints #14. According to Jess Nevins' Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes, the Black Widow can kill with a touch and has other Satan-derived powers. After a 51-year gap, she appears in a flashback cameo in Marvels #1 (January 1994) and again in Marvel Knights Spider-Man #9 (February 2005). She returns in full-length stories as part of an ensemble cast in The Twelve (2008), appearing in all 12 issues and a one-shot. She also appears in the anthology Marvel in a story set just after World War II.
Fictional character biography
In 1940, Claire Voyant is a spirit medium who communicates with the dead. While serving a family named the Waglers, she is possessed by Satan to curse them. James Wagler survives a car crash provoked by the spell and guns her down. Satan brings Voyant's soul to Hell, dresses her in her Black Widow costume, and gives her the power to kill with a touch, leaving a branded spider mark. He sends her back to Earth to avenge her death, then charges her with bringing evil souls to him. She later kills corrupt arms manufacturers, crime boss Garvey Lang, members of Murder Unlimited, and the villain Ogor, while healing Ogor's victim. In The Twelve, Claire Voyant is retconned as becoming the Black Widow in 1928 after her sister is murdered. Revived in the present day after suspended animation since World War II, she serves as an instrument of vengeance for an entity identified as the devil.
Personality
In her Golden Age appearances, the Black Widow shows no hesitation or mercy in killing her victims and no apparent remorse over sending their souls to Hell. Whether this ruthlessness is original to Claire Voyant or a result of her resurrection is unclear. In The Twelve, she is much less a willing killer and is shown crying after killing. She possesses great compassion for innocent victims and a willingness to heal them. In her final Golden Age story, after causing the death of the charlatan faith healer Ogor, she uses her powers to regenerate the amputated leg of a young boy named Pepito.
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