Most Expensive Black Widow Comics: Real Documented Values

Black Widow (Natasha Romanova) is one of the few Marvel heroines to have spanned every era of American comics. Created in 1964 by Stan Lee (plot), Don Rico (script, writing under the pseudonym N. Korok to avoid conflict with his pulp novel publishers), and Don Heck (art), she debuted in Tales of Suspense #52 as a Soviet spy and Iron Man antagonist — a villain before her slow conversion into ally and Avenger. She belongs squarely in the Silver Age: her debut issue is contemporary with the first Avengers and X-Men. Her keys then span the Bronze Age — the iconic black costume in Amazing Spider-Man #86 (1970), the Daredevil co-lead from #81 (1971) — and extend into the Modern era with her solo series.

This guide sticks to the verifiable: documented records (sellmycomicbooks.com, GoCollect, Heritage Auctions) and real eBay data from our estimator. One methodological note: our eBay estimator does not cover Tales of Suspense (it returns invalid parameters for that series) — all values for those issues come exclusively from documented web sources. For Amazing Spider-Man #86 and Daredevil issues, live eBay data is available and used here.

Black Widow key issue ranking (real documented data)

Records for Tales of Suspense issues come from sellmycomicbooks.com and GoCollect — our eBay estimator does not cover that series. Amazing Spider-Man #86 data combines our live eBay estimator (median: €13, 30 listings) with the documented record.

Sources: sellmycomicbooks.com, GoCollect, mycomicscollection.com eBay estimator (ASM #86: 30 listings, median €13, June 2026).

Tales of Suspense #52 (1964): the Silver Age birth of the Black Widow

Published in April 1964, Tales of Suspense #52 contains the first appearance of Natasha Romanoff in a story titled "The Black Widow Strikes Again!" Stan Lee plotted, Don Rico scripted (as N. Korok, writing under a pen name to avoid conflict with his pulp novel publishers), and Don Heck drew. At that point, the Black Widow was purely a spy antagonist for Iron Man — no costume, no signature gadgets, just a woman of mystery working for the Soviets. This is a strict Silver Age key: the issue is contemporary with the first Avengers and X-Men titles.

The high-grade market is thin: no CGC 9.8 is known to exist for this issue. The CGC 9.6 Pacific Coast Pedigree copy remains the all-time documented record at $15,000. A CGC 9.4 trades below this record (no major public 9.4 sale documented). A CGC 9.0 is documented at $9,000. In mid-grade, a CGC 8.5 sold at $9,000 and a CGC 8.0 at $3,480. Raw ungraded copies are more accessible: VG around $150, FN around $400. The all-time record for Tales of Suspense #52 remains well below those of comparable Silver Age first appearances for major MCU characters — which makes it relatively attainable for a founding key of this significance.

Tales of Suspense #57 (1964): a double first appearance

Tales of Suspense #57 (September 1964) is one of the rare cases where a comic book commands more than the key that introduced its headline character. This is the issue that introduces Hawkeye (Clint Barton), recruited by the Black Widow herself in a story by Stan Lee and Don Heck. That double debut — Black Widow as recruiter, Hawkeye as the new face — has significantly boosted the issue's value, driven by both characters' popularity in the MCU. Sellmycomicbooks.com documents a record of $210,000 for a CGC 9.8 (Curator Collection, sold by Metropolis Comics) — more than fourteen times the record of the #52. This record doubled the previous sale of $102,000 set in June 2022. A CGC 9.6 trades around $20,400, a CGC 9.4 around $16,800.

Amazing Spider-Man #86 (1970): the iconic black costume

Amazing Spider-Man #86 (July 1970) is the Bronze Age key for Black Widow: this is the issue where Natasha Romanoff first wears the black leather jumpsuit that has defined her image for over fifty years. Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. are the creators; Romita designed the costume, drawing inspiration from the 1940s Miss Fury newspaper strip. The issue also tells the first full origin story of the Black Widow as retold in the Bronze Age. Sellmycomicbooks.com documents a record of $5,750 for this issue. Our live eBay estimator, based on 30 real listings (June 2026), shows a median of €13 across all grades and printings, with a high-end bracket reaching €93. It is an affordable key relative to the Silver Age issues, but high-grade CGC copies command prices significantly above the blended raw median.

Daredevil and the solo series: Bronze Age and Modern keys

In November 1971, Daredevil #81 — scripted by Gerry Conway with art by Gene Colan — brought Black Widow into the title as a co-lead. The series was renamed Daredevil and the Black Widow from issue #92 through #107, one of the rare instances in Marvel history where a female character shared billing at the same level as the male lead. Our eBay estimator tracks 47 listings across the Daredevil series (median €9), reflecting solid Bronze Age market liquidity for the title.

On the solo side, Black Widow #1 (1999, Marvel Knights), written by Devin Grayson with art by J.G. Jones, marks the start of her standalone publishing history. Later runs — 2004, 2010, and the acclaimed 2016 series by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee — are reference reading, but none have a publicly documented high-grade auction record. Kelly Thompson and Elena Casagrande's 2020 series is the most recent major revival.

Black Widow in the MCU: the effect on key values

Scarlett Johansson has portrayed Natasha Romanoff since Iron Man 2 (2010), then through The Avengers (2012) and virtually every Avengers film through Avengers: Endgame (2019). The solo film Black Widow (2021) grossed $379.7 million worldwide at the box office — a figure shaped by its simultaneous theatrical and Disney+ Premier Access release during the pandemic. That sustained MCU presence supports demand for Silver and Bronze Age keys, particularly Tales of Suspense #52 and Amazing Spider-Man #86.