WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Avengers #29 by Jason Aaron, Ed McGuinness, Paco Medina, Mark Morales, Jason Keith and VC's Cory Petit, on sale Wednesday, Jan. 15.
The latest mission for the Avengers takes Earth's Mightiest Heroes away from their home planet in search of the newest Starbrand. When you're heading into the unknown, it is always best to bring your heavy hitters along for the ride, which is why Captain America recruits Black Widow for the outer space adventure.
Now, you may be wondering how Black Widow's spy training classifies her as a heavy hitter when the Avengers already have an Asgardian god, super-soldier, half-Kree powerhouse, Spirit of Vengeance and a seemingly-unstoppable Hulk already on the team. Black Widow is aware of this dilemma as well, which is why she packs a special gift from Tony Stark in case things get messy. And if you hadn't guess, the entire mission goes sideways, causing Black Widow to unleash her new War Widow armor.
Fans got their first look at the armor on the final page of Avengers #28. It followed Black Widow, Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes) and Blade after they were separated from their teammates. Ghost Rider's Hellcharger crash-landed on a piece of barren space rock, gaining the attention of some escaped Shi'ar inmates. With the rays of the sun poisoning Blade and Ghost Rider's energy depleted following a confrontation with an altered Silver Surfer, Black Widow and her War Widow are the last lines of defense.
A preview of Avengers #29 reveals the War Widow in action as Black Widow easily defeats her alien combatants.
While Black Widow lays the smackdown on these inmates, we can't help but notice one character has a striking resemblance to the He-Man villain Trap Jaw. Both have green skin on their faces and wear helmets that also contain a metal jaw, though Black Widow almost punts this one into deep space. We learn that the inmates are the most-wanted outlaws in 23 systems, and have 5,000 life sentences between the three of them.
Black Widow takes this as good news since it gives her an idea of how many bones she should break in their bodies. The fight comes to an end when she blasts the Trap Jaw lookalike in the kneecap, demanding to know the location of the new Starbrand host. However, before he can answer he's burnt to a crisp by the arrival of Silver Surfer.
The Three Heralds -- Silver Surfer, Firelord and Terrax -- are on the hunt for the Starbrand as well. They each sensed its awakening and want to put an end to the cosmic entity before it can cause any more damage across the galaxy. "Tell me you put something spicy in this suit, Tony," Black Widow quietly whispers to herself as she looks up at the Silver Surfer.
The War Widow appears to be modeled after James Rhodes' War Machine suit. Since the armor is created by Iron Man himself, Tony Stark, there is a good possibility that he has hidden some reliable weapons in it for Black Widow. It's only a matter of if his upgrades will be enough to stop three heralds of Galactus.