The premise of the Beast Wars cartoon had a new generation of Transformers, the Maximals and Predacons, warring on an alien world over protoforms. The Cybertronians were ejected in stasis pods in the show's first episodes, and their scanning of alternate modes helped to bolster the show's somewhat small cast. Chief among these new characters was Blackarachnia, one of the first female Transformers to get a toy.
Blackarachnia was a Maximal protoform, but her being found by the similarly arachnid Predacon Tarantulas (whose action figure she was a repaint of) saw her join his side. Ever since, she's had a similar role in the series as recently as the Netflix War for Cybertron animated series. The IDW Beast Wars comic book finally introduces its take on the twisted Blackarachnia, who seems a lot less morally dubious than before.
In the middle of the issue, a stasis pod that had been in the series' prehistoric planet's orbit finally descends, having apparently scanned an alternate mode soon afterward as Blackarachnia jumps out. Her personality is already fully formed, and she's aware that her purpose is to explore her new surroundings. This leads her to a nearby source of water, where she's quickly attacked by a prehistoric crocodilian reptile. Using her robotic claws, she makes quick work of the hungry beast without any real damage to herself.
Her onboard computers detect that a Cybertronian ship is nearby and that it would be best to enter it to avoid potentially harmful exposure to the planet's vast amounts of energon. This ship happens to be none other than the Maximals' Axalon, which the she-spider, as a Maximal protoform, is able to enter without detection.
The Maximals are completely oblivious to the presence of Blackarachnia, having been sent into a comfortable lull from bolstering their ship's defense systems. This also allows the recuperating Dinobot, who was once a Predacon, to be protected by their internal and external shields, as well. While most of the team is more than happy to waste the day away playing a Cybertronian card game, Dinobot is apprehensive at letting his guard down, worried especially about the actions of his former Predacon allies.
Dinobot's worries are more than substantiated, though it's Cheetor who's the one to suspect the imminent danger to the team. He hears someone speaking that's not at the table, which happens to be Blackarachnia conversing with her own onboard computer. Scampering around in black widow form, she remains undetected even by the cat's curiosity. Said interest gets the better of him when he excuses himself from the card game, not trusting the ship's assurances of a lack of uninvited guests.
As Cheetor goes to investigate, he's kicked by Blackarachnia in robot mode as she continues attacking him for no reason. Cheetor tries to level with her, believing that she's simply mentally unhinged from crashlanding in an alien environment. Nevertheless, her shots to the prowling feline disable him, with even his requests for help from Primal being made in vain.
This outright deviousness and unwillingness to talk suggest that Blackarachnia's personality will match how she acted in the show once Tarantulas got a hold of her programming. This makes her a deadly femme fatale already, even without the help of the Predacons. Her attitude was what made Cheetor briefly attracted to her in the Beast Wars show, though this schoolboy crush came to an end when she made her affection for Silverbolt official. Their first encounter in the new comic book suggests that the two could be paired together here, but that all depends on Cheetor surviving his battle with the arachnid battle axe.