Spider Widow + The Raven
Created by Frank M. Borth
+ History
"She weaves a web of justice to trap the insects of corruption!"
"Mysterious, powerful and terrifying, the Raven is the symbol of fear to all the underworld."
From Feature Comics #67 (April 1943)
The beautiful, wealthy and athletic Dianne Grayton could not abide the pervasive apathy she found in her well-to-do friends. In times when the newspaper headlines consistently read of murder, sabotage and injustice, Grayton resolved to find some what to do her part. Opportunity literally came knocking at her door when a pair of mobsters came to her home in need of gasoline for their getaway car. Dianne donned an old rubber mask, gathered some of her gardener's pet spiders, and hid inside the crooks' trunk. Back at boss Jake Lardo's lair they revealed their allegiance to Hitler; they had blown up a train shipment of oil. At first, Dianne chose stealth, scaring the men with her black widow spiders. Then she pounced, revealing herself as the Spider Widow. In struggle with Lardo, more spiders swarmed over the boss. Thus incapacitated, the cops were called to round them up. They also found a note from the Spider Widow that made the next morning's headlines. Her friend Bob Ableson (of the idle rich set) ribbed Dianne, suggesting that if she'd like to hunt criminals, she could take a few lessons from the Spider Widow. (Feature #57)
Not long into her career, the Spider Widow answered a call for help in the newspaper—one placed by Axis criminals. But the ad also drew the attention of a new mystery man who was also interested in meeting the Widow. Dianne fell into their trap, but she was pursued by her mystery admirer, who adopted the guise of the Raven. He freed her and together they delivered the meance into the hands of the US Navy. In the dark of the night, Spider Widow thanked him with a kiss, but later they were both left to wonder who was behind the maskss. (#60)
The Raven and Phantom Lady. From Feature Comics #70 (1942)
The pair unwittingly found each other aboard the same train bound for the mountains, when it was hit by Nazis. Each came out in costume but they retreated together when the army arrived to clean up the mess. (#61) and in their mountain vacation spot together stopped some Japanese saboteurs. (#63)
Dianne also took up acting as a hobby. While doing summer theater outside New York, she uncovered one of her fellow actors as a spy. As luck would have it, the Raven stepped in again. The two of them began wondering if they were meant to be together, yet they always stopped short of revealing themselves to each other. (#64) After this, they established a means of contacting one another. (#65)
Her greatest nemesis might have been the Spider Man, a villain who commanded a gigantic mechanical spider named Herman. As it happened, he's terrorized a factory owned by Dianne's uncle's John. (#66) Bizarre circumstances conspired to ultimately prompt the Raven to reveal his true identity. Dianne's uncle, John Keller, had become the executor of his friend's considerable fortune. The will required that four "random" people would have to compete for the fortune. One of these, Miss Withington, killed one of the other four and moved to attack Dianne when she discovered that she was the Spider Widow. Another one of the four was Tony Grey, who put a stop to Withington—as the Raven! (#67) ... (#68) ... (#69)
Phantom
Lady vs. the Prairie Witch
From Starman v.2 #44. Art by Mike Mayhew
They also teamed several times with the Phantom Lady. This began when the Raven was mysteriously captured by the Phantom Lady's quarry. (Police #20) She gave him the slip then, but they were soon drawn back together, along with Spider Widow by a group of crooks who fooled the heroines into dueling one another. As a bonus, the gangsters hoped to incite jealousy between them over the Raven's attentions. During the duel, Dianne's identity was exposed and the crooks shot the Raven in the back. (#21) The couple said farewell to Phantom Lady, (#22) but not long afterwards, the villains tracked Dianne to her home. What she didn't know was that the Raven had gone undercover and become the "boss" of that gang. Dianne phoned Phantom Lady for help and the three of them mopped up. (Feature #70) The Raven began to delight in pitting the girls against one another. One prank turned sour when mobsters intervened and captured he and Phantom Lady. The Spider Widow saved the day and they were pals after that. (#71)
The Spider Widow also fought a Japanese collaborator Madame Largossi (#58), and a murderous circus owner J.P. Darbun. (#59)
Notes
These heroes shared a creator with Phantom Lady, Frank Borth, which explains their crossovers. The Spider Widow strip—which ended the same time as Phantom Lady's—probably coincides with Borth's enlistment in the army. Also at this time, Phantom Lady's creator Jerry Iger ceased working for Quality.
Dianne did not appear in costume in Feature #70 or Police #21. Dianne Grayton's hairdresser must have been very busy. In her early adventures, she regularly sported different hair colors. Spider Widow bears striking resemblance to a Starman villain, the Prairie Witch, created by James Robinson in Starman Annual #1 (1996). She also inspired a character called the Widow in the Elseworlds series JLA: Destiny (2002).
Not long after his debut, the Raven became co-headliner of the Spider Widow's feature. His alter ego, Tony Grey, shares a last name with another avian Quality hero, the Black Condor (Jack Grey). Curiously, the Raven did not appear in the Spider Widow's last tale, in Feature Comics #72.
+ Powers
Neither the Spider Widow nor the Raven possessed metahuman powers. However, Dianne was very adept at controlling her black widow spiders, and she also once mesmerized a tiger into submission. (Feature #59)
As the Raven, Grey could fly, but it appeared to be due to his large artificial wings. In his civilian life, Grey knew how to pilot his own monoplane. (#63)
Appearances + References
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Spider Widow:
The Raven:
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