Black Widow's History
The Black Widow was a villainess and enemy of Batman in the Batman 1960s TV Series. Though there is no direct evidence of it, Black Widow must be some kind of electronic genius to have come up with the devices she utilizes to commit crime. At times she also uses hypnosis, drugs, or other brain stimuli. She is the widow of her beloved Max Black.
Not much is known about the Black Widow's past, except she was married to a certain Max Black who had passed away. He seems to have spent much time telling his wife, "Money can't buy happiness."
The Black Widow made her debut at one of the Gotham City Banks, where she short-circuited the brain of one of the bank presidents, Irving Cash, with her Cerebrium Short-Circuiter. Thus, he was unable to stop himself from giving her $30,000 from the vault.
Mr. Cash reported the incident to Commissioner Gordon and Chief O'Hara at Police Headquarters, who, in turn, contacted Batman and his partner, Robin. The Dynamic Duo soon arrived at Police Headquarters, where the Commissioner gave them a full description of Black Widow. Batman then showed them his Brain Wave Bat-Analyzer that looked like an ordinary hairdryer, but registered the brain wave's patterns in the various control areas of the human brain. They suspect that Black Widow used her device to short-circuit a portion of Irving Cash's brain to render him incapable of making judgements. After analyzing Cash's brain, they find out that the Black Widow removed his cerebrum, and that she has done the same to other bank presidents in the past. The Caped Crusaders thus set off to locate and apprehend her.
At the Black Widow's hideout called "The Web" in an underground grotto in Gotham City, Black Widow and her henchmen are counting their money. She tells them that there are more banks to rob before they split it. The villainess subsequently proceeds to another bank, where she used her device on another bank president, Irving Bracken, to give her $40,000 from the vault.
Commissioner Gordon then called Batman, informing him that the Black Widow had robbed four more banks. Batman asks for the names of all the banks that she robbed, and finds out that they were all plundered in alphabetical order. After deducing the possible scene of the next robbery, the Dynamic Duo decide to arrange a trap for her.
At Gotham's Bank and Trust Company, Batman and Robin hid in the shadows while Black Widow arrived and attempted to short-circuit the brain of bank manager Irving Leghorn. The Caped Crusaders then attempted to arrest her. She tried to use her device on them but Batman revealed that they were wearing Anti-Short-Circuiting Bat-electrodes. The crafty villainess escaped, however, using Instant Nerve Paralyzer of Spider Venom on Batman, rendering him unable to move.
The Black Widow returned to her hideout but Batman and Robin followed her. She spotted them with a periscope and activated two robots resembling an elderly couple to approach the heroes and throw them off the criminal's track. Batman and Robin then returned to the Batcave to analyze audio recordings of the robots' voices, only to find out that they were amplified. Batman determined to return to the place where they had tracked the Black Widow before.
After finding the Black Widow's hideout, Batman and Robin invaded the lair and attempted to apprehend her. However, the villainess saw them arriving again, and told her gang of henchmen that they were going to set a trap for the Dynamic Duo. When Batman and Robin located her, she called on her henchmen to save her. The goons were easily beaten, and the Black Widow appeared to beg for mercy. They refuse, so she dropped a tangle of cables on them, which resemble a spider's web. Caught in the web, Batman and Robin were helpless when she revealed her latest plan: Her henchmen would release highly venomous Black Widow spiders on the heroes to kill them. The thugs did so, and the spiders began to swarm the Dynamic Duo. The Black Widow gloated over her seeming victory, and goes on to say that her and her lieutenants will tunnel under her vault and count their loot before leaving the crimefighters to die.
However, the Caped Crusaders escaped her deathtrap and pondered over the last words that Black Widow had told them. Batman deduced the location of her new hiding place, and the two burst in while she is dividing the money from their latest robbery with her henchmen. As the villainess reaches for her short-circuit device, Batman confidently reminded her that it won't work on them. She tells them that she had reversed the polarity and turns Batman's electrodes against him, resulting in his brain being short-circuited.
The machine had no effect on Robin, who lost one of his electrodes, so he was overpowered and bound while the Black Widow decided on how to use Batman for her own evil purposes. She asked Batman to find her another bank for her to rob by using his Remote-Control Batcomputer Oscillator to ask the computer in the Batcave which target would be the easiest to rob next. While the Caped Crusader used it, he found out that there is the Heritage First National Bank that had just opened, but also that his life is in danger.
The devious criminal decided to dress one of her robots in Batman's spare Batsuit and disguise herself as Robin so that she could go in the Batmobile and rob the Heritage First National Bank. She told Batman to phone the manager of the bank, Irving Irving, who then informed Commissioner Gordon that Batman had demanded $40,000 in a brown paper bag left at the front of the bank at 11: 43 AM and that he'd arranged for the Batmobile to be there. Irving was confused, as Batman had also mentioned that the Black Widow will meet him there and they would split the money. Commissioner Gordon, meanwhile, became convinced that this was a trap for Black Widow and so he urged Mr. Irving to cooperate. The now-disguised Black Widow and the robot set off for the bank, convinced that everything was under control. The plan worked and the villainess escaped with the money.
Commissoner Gordon was shocked when he received word that the Dynamic Duo had just really robbed the bank. Although reluctant, he issued a warrant for their arrest. The police spot the Batmobile and attempt to make the arrest, only to have one of the police officers observe that Robin's voice is different. The Black Widow made her getaway, but bullets flying from police guns strike the Batman robot, leading the police to become convinced that Batman is dead.
Back at The Web, Batman plays Solitaire with Black Widow's henchmen, before he urged them to go outside and wait for her. Robin, meanwhile, breaks free from his bonds and seizes Black Widow's short-circuiting device. He reverses the polarity, turning Batman back into his heroic self.
Together, they decided to set one last trap for the crafty Black Widow. Batman thus secured Robin again and pretended that his brain was still short-circuited. Meanwhile, Commissioner Gordon hears the news of Batman's supposed death, and he calls the Batcave to locate Robin. Alfred answers the phone and explains that he was there when Batman activated the Batcomputer by remote control and gave him the address of where it came from: The Black Widow's hideout.
When the Black Widow returned to her lair, the Dynamic Duo fought her henchmen and used her device on her, rendering her helpless. She was told to return all the money she stole back to the banks, then she was arrested and taken to prison where Batman used his Brain-Wave Batanalyser to switch her personality to a more law-abiding one. The crooks had no idea of the process, and believe that they were doing their hair.
In Batman '66, the comic continuation that started in 2013, Black Widow teamed up with Penguin. They managed to capture Batman and Robin. Eventually, Batman made a deal with Penguin. Batman, Robin, and Penguin all united to take down Black Widow.
