BIOGRAPHY - Page 8
Ivan and Natasha returned to California, where she continued her search for more… traditional employment. She was interviewing at UCLA for a position teaching Russian when the campus was attacked by Amazons, harpies and other creatures of Greek myth. Their targets were Venus (disguised as humanities professor Victoria Starr) and Hercules (giving a guest lecture on mythology). Black Widow and Ivan fought to protect the gods from their assailants and were joined by students Angel and Iceman, as well as the passing Ghost Rider. It seemed Pluto, God of 
the Underworld, had pressured his brother Zeus into forcing the marriage of Hercules and Venus to Pluto’s allies, Ares and Hippolyta. Black Widow and her new comrades fought as heroes should, journeying all the way to Olympus to put a stop to Pluto’s plot. When all was done, Venus remained on Mount Olympus, but the others chose to consider their future as a group. [Champions (1st series) #1-3]
It was Angel who officially proposed the idea of the Champions of Los Angeles, “heroes for the common man.” They would be store-front heroes, with a public location and phone line for people who really needed their services, unlike the less-accessible world-savers like the Avengers. Using his recently inherited fortune, Angel set up a corporation, headquarters and equipment for the team with his lawyer Emerson Bale and business manager Richard Fenster. In their battles with Pluto, Black Widow easily fell into the role of team leader, strategist and veteran heroine. The Champions unanimously voted Natasha to serve as leader, with Ivan working with the group as well as a mechanic and engineer. Privately, Ivan was concerned this “partnership” wouldn’t work out any better for Natalia than Daredevil or the Avengers in the past, but Black Widow was committed to giving it a shot. A leadership role was the exact opposite of what she experienced working with Daredevil, and the possibilities intrigued her. Their first mission as the Champions became incorporated was against the exoskeletal Rampage, deranged industrialist and victim of the recession. [Champions (1st series) #4-6]
The Champions’ next mission proved personal, as a KGB chief Alexi Bruskin, the Commissar, reached out to Ivan and Natasha. Bruskin had grown despondent towards his Soviet masters and wanted to defect as his former pupil did. However, he was being pursued by Soviet agents, including the Titanium Man, Darkstar and the Outcast, who became the new Crimson Dynamo. One of Bruskin’s greatest successes (and regrets) was kidnapping the son of Ivan Petrovich after faking his death by car accident. Trained for nine years by KGB agents posing as American intelligence operatives, Yuri Ivanovich engineered his own “escape” from the “Americans,” returning to Mother Russia with a hatred for the West and his traitor father, becoming the Outcast. 
Once Bruskin and Natasha were captured by their enemies, he confessed the truth in front of them and Darkstar, but the Russian agent could not convince her lover Yuri that he had been manipulated into hating his father. Bruskin died, a heartbroken Ivan encouraged the Champions to let the Dynamo escape, and Darkstar remained in America as a guest of the Champions. [Champions (1st series) #7-10]
Ivan could not remain after that, and he bid farewell to Natasha as he left to search for his missing son. Natasha arranged for Nick Fury to help Darkstar with her visa, and saw much of herself in the younger agent, even a twinge of jealousy over how easy her departure from the Soviet Union was in comparison. This was but a microcosm of the complicated personal dynamics of the Champions – Iceman was infatuated with the indifferent Darkstar, Ghost Rider distrusted her as a defector, but Hercules constantly shunned the Rider for his demonic nature and yet increasingly found himself drawn towards Natasha. Despite their friction, the Champions battled numerous foes successfully in the weeks that followed, including Warlord Kaa, Stilt-Man, the Stranger, 
Swarm and even Godzilla. [Champions (1st series) #11-15, Godzilla #3] On her own visiting back in New York, Black Widow found a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility mysteriously abandoned. She and Spider-Man encountered the Silver Samurai nearby in the midst of a theft. Furious at the sight of a man who once served her captor, Mandrill, Black Widow seemed to confirm the Samurai now served a different, unknown cause, before he escaped. [Marvel Team-Up (1st series) #57]
The Champions achieved some impressive victories in the days to come, helping Iron Man battle the forces of M.O.D.O.K. and A.I.M., as well as siding with Magneto against Doctor Doom and preventing the Latverian from forcing the world’s submission with neuro-gas. Still, they were constantly dealing with short-circuits, faulty security and other woes at their malfunctioning headquarters. After the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants broke through the building’s defenses with their pet Sentinels, the team reached a breaking point. [Champions (1st series) #16-17, Super-Villain Team-Up #14, Iron Man Annual #4] An argument broke out and, one by one, half the team declared they were done with the Champions and the entire endeavor imploded on itself. As team leader, Black Widow blamed herself for not wrangling the diverse personalities of the group better. With nothing else to keep them in Los Angeles, Black Widow and Hercules chose to leave and travel together for a time. The Champions were finished. [Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man (1st series) #17]
Natasha and Hercules began a romantic relationship and were still together when they were contacted by the Avengers. The team’s members, new and old, had begun vanishing one-by-one around the world, prompting a mass gathering to address the crisis. Hercules was happy to have the promise of glorious battle again soon, and Black Widow tried to chide him that lives were at stake. Hercules was indifferent, believing it was how one lived that mattered, not how long. With an off-hand remark, he told Natasha that mortal lifespans were merely the wink of an eye to immortals such as him. Natasha had never considered that perspective before and came to realize anything they had between them was not the beginning of “true love” but nothing more than a few decades’ dalliance to Hercules, at best. [Avengers (1st series) #173] The 
disappearance of the Avengers proved to be the work of the Collector, trying to preserve his prized foes before the arrival of Michael Korvac, The Enemy. Korvac was a seriously threat, and Black Widow proved to be among the many Avengers who died fighting him, only to be resurrected in his final moments of regret before committing cosmic suicide. [Avengers (1st series) #174-177]
The Avengers worked to reorganize their roster and government status after the Korvac affair, with Black Widow and Hercules staying at Avengers Mansion in the meantime. Daredevil arrived at the mansion looking for Natasha one night under the influence of a severe concussion, and soon collapsed. Black Widow and the Avengers got Daredevil to a hospital, where he was assaulted by his foe, Death-Stalker. The Avengers drove off the spectral assassin, and Black Widow passionately kissed Daredevil as he awoke from his injuries, leading to an angry departure by Hercules. Daredevil recovered at Avengers Mansion but then took off, lightly holding off Natasha’s suggestion that they become a team again. Natasha Romanoff was not easily deterred, however, and soon showed up at Matt Murdock’s Storefront legal offices to suggest a romantic evening, much to the 
chagrin of Matt’s on-again, off-again current girlfriend, Heather Glenn. Still, it was fortunate the Black Widow was present when Death-Stalker’s agents the Unholy Three attacked, looking for Murdock. [Daredevil (1st series) #155-158] The Avengers soon resolved their active roster, and Black Widow and Hercules weren’t part of it. Hercules left Natasha and New York behind, but the Black Widow remained in Manhattan. [Avengers (1st series) #181]
Black Widow had not forgotten the mysterious empty S.H.I.E.L.D. facility from months earlier, and eventually uncovered a nefarious plan orchestrated by Viper and the Silver Samurai. Testing of a broad dispersal hypno-beam had cleared the facility long enough for Viper to steal plans for S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Helicarrier. This allowed her to infiltrate the Helicarrier and install a more targeted, longer-lasting hypno-beam in the sick bay’s video phone. Viper then enslaved the Helicarrier’s doctor and, one-by-one, the wills of every S.H.I.E.L.D. agent on the Helicarrier. Viper intended to drop the Helicarrier on the Capitol building during a joint session of Congress, wiping out America’s government. Black Widow attempted to warn Nick Fury but was captured by subverted S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and turned over to Viper for interrogation.
Natasha resisted Viper’s vicious interrogation techniques, targeting both her body and mind. She eventually escaped, but the trauma took its toll. Natasha’s psyche retreated into a safe haven – Nancy Rushman, one of her cover identities as a demure school teacher from upstate New York. “Nancy” found herself on the streets of Manhattan, uncertain how she got there and oblivious to her real life as Natasha Romanoff. Spider-Man happened across Nancy being attacked in an alley by thugs and rescued her. Spider-Man recognized the Black Widow, but Nancy Rushman had no idea who he was talking about, why she was carrying the Black Widow’s costume or why she had a flash of intense martial arts skill against her attackers.
As Spider-Man and Nancy tried to unravel the mystery, they were attacked by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and eventually captured by Nick Fury. Nick was deeply suspicious over why Black Widow disappeared after warning him of a vague threat, and why Val Fontaine’s air cavalry tried to kill Natasha during the mission instead of obeying the “capture alive” orders. Spider-Man rescued Nancy from S.H.I.E.L.D. and tried to get through to her as Peter Parker. Nancy could not explain the gaps in her memories and was crying in Peter’s arms when Fury found them. The trio was attacked by Boomerang and the Silver Samurai, which jarred enough of Natasha’s memories to the surface for Nancy to warn Fury that the Helicarrier had been compromised.
Nick Fury went outside the agency to request the assistance of Shang-Chi. Nancy and Spider-Man airdropped onto the Helicarrier together while Fury and Shang-Chi approached separately in Fury’s flying car. Nancy was beginning to access more and more of Natasha’s skills, but she still had flashes of “normalcy” that overwhelmed Natasha’s nerves of steel. During one such episode in the infiltration, Spider-Man was comforting Nancy when she impulsively embraced and kissed him for his kindness. The infiltration had several hitches, but soon all four heroes were aboard the Helicarrier and face-to-face with the Viper. Seeing her tormentor shocked Natasha’s mind out of the “defensive” identity of Nancy, and her true nature started returning at a faster pace.
Black Widow’s skills were needed when Silver Samurai tossed Spider-Man out one of the Helicarrier's portholes, leaving him plummeting to the earth below. Nancy/Natasha leapt out after him and snared the Web-Slinger with her own Widow’s Line, holding it together despite half her personality panicking. Black Widow went after Viper personally, getting her revenge as they fought atop one of the Helicarrier’s massive propellers. Natasha’s mind fully reasserted itself, Congress 
was saved, and Viper seemingly fell to her death. In the aftermath, Black Widow and Spider-Man quietly reconnected. She remembered everything that had happened, and admitted that “Nancy Rushman” had felt something for Spider-Man. But, ultimately, she wasn’t Nancy. Spidey took it in stride, and they parted as friends. [Marvel Team-Up (1st series) #82-85]
Natasha was targeted by Bullseye in order to get revenge on Daredevil. He surprised her in her apartment and they fought fiercely before he dropped her own chandelier on top of her. The Black Widow was brought to Coney Island for a trap set up by Bullseye and the assassin-master, Eric Slaughter. Daredevil was lured out there, but he avoided Bullseye’s traps and defeated his foe as Black Widow freed herself and disposed of Slaughter’s men. [Daredevil (1st series) #160-161] Soon after, Daredevil was put into the hospital fighting the Hulk, and Natasha remained by his bedside to care for him. Still, Matt insisted they could not be more than friends anymore. When Daredevil rushed off to Glenn Industries to save Heather from Doctor Octopus, Natasha saw that he genuinely cared for Heather and quietly stepped out of Matt’s life. [Daredevil (1st series) #164-165]