Tales of Suspense #52 - First Appearance of Natasha Romanoff, Printings and Contents

Identification plate

Series: Tales of Suspense (Marvel, 1959 series)
Issue: #52
Publication date: April 1964
Key date: April 1964
On-sale date: January 10, 1964
Indicia publisher: Vista Publications Inc.
Price: $0.12
Pages: 36
Rating: Approved by the Comics Code Authority

Match the book in your hand against this plate before paying an edition-specific price.

Why this issue matters

From the editorial file First appearance of the Black Widow, April 1964, introduced as a Soviet spy sent against Tony Stark, years before the costume and the defection.

First appearance (cover) of Natasha Romanoff - the earliest appearance on record is a cover, not an interior story.

First appearance (cover) of Black Widow - the earliest appearance on record is a cover, not an interior story.

First appearance (cover) of Boris Turgenev - the earliest appearance on record is a cover, not an interior story.

First appearance (cover) of Crimson Dynamo - the earliest appearance on record is a cover, not an interior story.

First appearance of Anton Vanko - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Crimson Dynamo - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

The evidence

Claims here come from the story records for this issue, listed under Sources at the bottom of the file. Character hubs with full evidence tables are coming to this site.

Seq	Story	Type	Pages	Credits	Characters
0	The Crimson Dynamo Strikes Again!	cover	1	script: Stan Lee; pencils: Jack Kirby; inks: Paul Reinman; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Artie Simek	Black Widow First, Crimson Dynamo First, Iron Man, Natasha Romanoff First, Tony Stark, Boris Turgenev First
1	The Crimson Dynamo Strikes Again!	comic story	13	script: Stan Lee, N. Korok; pencils: Don Heck; inks: Don Heck; letters: S. Rosen	Black Widow First, Crimson Dynamo First, Crimson Dynamo First, Happy Hogan, Iron Man, Nikita Khrushchev, Pepper Potts, Natasha Romanoff First, Tony Stark, Boris Turgenev First, Anton Vanko First
2	The Magician	text story	1	editing: Stan Lee	Howard; Uncle Bart
3	The Seance!	comic story	5	script: Stan Lee, L. D. Lieber; pencils: L. D. Lieber; inks: Chic Stone; letters: R. Holloway	Great Kamir; Diane; Hugo; Mrs. Wentworth
4	Two More Triumphs for Marvel..!	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.8	pencils: Jack Kirby; inks: George Roussos; colors: Stan Goldberg; letters: Artie Simek
5	Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation	statement of ownership	0.2	script: Martin Goodman
6	The Failure!	comic story	5	script: Stan Lee, L. D. Lieber; pencils: L. D. Lieber; inks: P. Reinman; letters: S. Rosen	Uatu, The Watcher

Printings and variants

Edition	How to tell
British	price 9d [0-0-9 GBP]

Where to read it

Collection	Year
Marvel Collectors' Item Classics #12	1967	On eBay ›
Marvel Collectors' Item Classics #13	1968	On eBay ›
Essential Iron Man #1 ISBN 0-7851-0759-2	2000	On eBay ›
The Marvel Saga the Official History of the Marvel Universe #13	1986	On eBay ›
Marvel Masterworks: The Invincible Iron Man #2 ISBN 0-7851-1771-7	2005	On eBay ›

Reading the story costs a fraction of owning the issue. Both routes are on every file.

Before you buy

Check spine ticks and cover gloss in the photos; silver-age Marvels chip at the edges easily.
Look for tanning at the page edges and transfer stains on the inside covers.
Confirm the cover price against the plate; higher prices can mean a later or foreign printing.

Series context

‹ #5152 of 99#53 ›

Sources

Grand Comics Database, issue record (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Wikidata, Q23895063 (Natasha Romanoff), first-appearance property (CC0)

Found an error in this file? corrections@comicrecord.com