WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Tales of Suspense #103

Captain America killed her as part of his Secret Empire, but the Black Widow is alive again in Marvel Comics. Natasha Romanoff is just one of a handful of major Marvel characters who were killed during the massive HYDRA takeover of the United States. She was also one of the most assuredly dead, which raises plenty of questions for fans. After evil Captain America killed Black Widow with a blow to the spine, nobody took it harder than Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier. So when the first evidence showed up suggesting that Black Widow was alive post-Secret Empire, the two heroes were off to investigate her possible return in the pages of Tales of Suspense. And now, they’ve learned the truth.

Hawkeye and Bucky have taken some unexpected turns in the ‘spy game’ investigation, finally joining forces before Nat appeared to THEM to confirm their suspicions. Of course, Black Widow having somehow healed from her fatal wounds was the bombshell. In our exclusive preview of Tales of Suspense #103, the real mystery is how a shadowy government organization managed to reverse her death - and what new mission she’s been assigned.

The final page of Tales of Suspense #102 revealed the return of Natasha, greeting Clint and James on a deserted rooftop. But rather than a reunion or celebration, the men were shocked, since Nat had just murdered two covert operative. One, the Black Widow who replaced her, and the other just the latest in a long line of Red Room authorities (the Russian assassin training program that turned Nat into a killer). The assumption was that Nat was taking out targets who had wronged her, or America during the Secret Empire. In Issue #103, the real reason she has returned is revealed… sort of.

Take a look at the preview pages below:

 

As the preview pages show, Natasha’s resurrection - or the return of a Natasha, at least - is the work of the same Red Room that first made her a killer. As far as they know, they have managed to return one of their best agents to their control, wiped of at least some, if not most of her memory as a hero. What they don’t know is that Natash remembers her death, and has enough reason to suspect her superiors are up to no good - thanks to some help from Ursa Major (for those unfamiliar, that “bear” is actually Mikhail Uriokovitch, a Soviet mutant and super soldier with the ability to transform into a bear).

New questions will be raised for fans eager to know what happened between Nat being killed and her being awoken back at the Red Room. The artwork on the final preview page confirms Widow killed the targets seen earlier in the series, so it’s anyone’s guess exactly how much of the original Natasha is back, buried, or breaking through.

Check out a full synopsis for the issue below:

MORE: Black Widow Goes From Casualty of War To Marvel Cover Girl

TALES OF SUSPENSE (2018) #103

Published: March 21, 2018

Writer: Matt Rosenberg

Art: Travel Foreman, Rachelle Rosenberg

Cover Artist: Andrea Sorrentino

“The whole world was watching when Black Widow died. Hawkeye was there when her body was buried. There’s no chance in the world that Natasha Romanoff survived. Unless…”

Tales of Suspense #103 will be available from Marvel Comics on March 21, 2018.