Issue 170 - Claire Voyant (Original Black Widow)

Capes On the Couch - Where Comics Get Counseling

We descend to the depths of Hell to talk Satan's Ambassador, the ORIGINAL Black Widow, CLAIRE VOYANT!

Issue 170 - Claire Voyant

• Intro
  • Mention Quantumania recap episode

• Background (2:15)
  • Claire Voyant, the original Black Widow, created by George Kapitan & Harry Sahle in Mystic Comics #4 (August 1940)
  • Not only is she the first Black Widow, decades before Natasha Romanoff, but she is the first costumed female superheroine in comic books
  • Claire Voyant is a spirit who can communicate with the dead
  • She is possessed by Satan to curse a family she is working with, but the husband survives the spell and kills her
  • When she arrives in Hell, she is resurrected by Satan and sent back to Earth with the ability to kill evildoers with a single touch, so he can harvest their souls
  • She also has the ability to fly and generate fire, she is superhumanly strong, and she has various psychic abilities
  • Only makes five appearances between 1940-1943
  • Brought back in The Twelve by J. Michael Straczynski, alongside 11 other obscure Timely Comics characters
  • Retconned history has her become the Black Widow in 1928 after her sister was murdered by her husband – as she stands over the grave, she wishes for the power to avenge her death, and Satan answers
  • She and the other characters are knocked unconscious and put in suspended animation during WWII – awoken in 2008, she resumes serving Satan, while falling in love with the Phantom Reporter, Dick Jones

• Issues (8:24)
  • Deal with Devil
  • Distances herself from people because of her abilities
  • Seems to have less difficulty adapting to modern culture, but only because she seeks out specific subgroups (goths) (19:54)

• Break (29:38)
  • Plugs for Comic Book Keepers, Into the Knight, and Chris Claremont

• Treatment (31:26)
  • In-universe - Connect her with souls she’s impacted
  • Out of universe (34:20)

• Skit (feat. Theo Kitsinger as Claire) (39:04)
  • DOC: Hello Claire, I’m Doctor Issues.
  • CLAIRE: Hello Doctor.
  • DOC: I just want to let you know this is a judgment-free zone, and you can feel free to speak your mind. This is a safe space.
  • CLAIRE: I appreciate your intention, Doctor, but unfortunately for me there is no such thing as a safe space.
  • DOC: Oh, I am constantly updating various defenses and technology to help protect-
  • CLAIRE: What I mean is there is nowhere I can go where my dark master cannot find me. No hole I can hide in to avoid him or his call.
  • DOC: Oh, I see. And which dark master is that?
  • CLAIRE: He goes by many names, but I believe you’d recognize the name Satan?
  • DOC: Just so we’re clear, your master is… the literal Devil?
  • CLAIRE: Lucifer, Shaitan, the Fallen Angel, Beelzebub… again, many names.
  • DOC: I see. And you serve him because…
  • CLAIRE: I sold my soul in exchange for the ability to avenge my sister’s killer. As decisions go, it was not my finest moment, but I am beholden nonetheless.
  • DOC: OK. Is he in here with us now…?
  • CLAIRE: Are you an agent of evil?
  • DOC: Certainly hope not.
  • CLAIRE: Then you have nothing to fear.
  • DOC: So says YOU.
  • CLAIRE: If you like, I can enter your mind and assuage your fears in another way.
  • DOC: Thanks, but I don’t care for anyone poking around upstairs. Plus it’d violate patient-client confidentiality in ways I don’t even want to imagine. So let’s just stick to chatting, and I’ll do my best to ignore the presence of the literal devil.
  • CLAIRE: So that’s your solution? Pay no mind to the evil that surrounds us at all times?
  • DOC: I never said that. Trust me, every day I go to work I’m confronted with the evils humanity is capable of. But one of the benefits of this job is the ability to do something about it, and to help people address some of their… less beneficial tendencies.
  • CLAIRE: Interesting outlook. Do you fancy yourself a superhero?
  • DOC: Goodness no. I simply try my best to be a net positive for good in the world.
  • CLAIRE: Do you have any powers?
  • DOC: I think that’s enough questions about me for now. Let’s refocus the discussion a bit. Do you struggle with having to serve the Devil?
  • CLAIRE: *hesitates* No.
  • DOC: Forgive me for not believing you entirely.
  • CLAIRE: It’s just… I was frozen in time for sixty years. When I awoke, I thought maybe… I would be free of my burden. But it seems that I will have to do this forever.
  • DOC: And, at the risk of sounding cliché, how does that make you feel?
  • CLAIRE: It’s… complicated. I can rid the world of evil. I’ve avenged my sister’s killer, and so many others who would do harm to the innocent. I have powers most would only dream of. My looks will never fade nor tarnish. And still…
  • DOC: You question whether it was worth it.
  • CLAIRE: Every day.
  • DOC: What do you dream about?
  • CLAIRE: I don’t sleep. At least… not in the way normal people do. It’s more of a recharge after using my abilities.
  • DOC: On one hand, I’m tempted to go down the rabbit hole of how your lack of full sleep cycles can destroy you as a functioning person, but you’re probably immortal so…um…I won’t. Forget the literal. What are your wishes? What’s your next goal?
  • CLAIRE: I don’t think I have any. There’s not much room for that sort of thing. The next soul, I guess.
  • DOC: And how do you build your life around that?
  • CLAIRE: I kill them. *awkward pause* Is there supposed to be something else?
  • DOC: *exasperated* ANYTHING else. Does your boss have a quota or something?
  • CLAIRE: He keeps track, but I don’t…not really, I had a gap of decades.
  • DOC: Then there are no excuses. You’re the ultimate freelance worker. Cater your time to your whims. Relationships, hobbies, I don’t care. Experiment.
  • CLAIRE: You can sit there with a straight face and tell a psychic succubus to get a life?
  • DOC: *gulp* Well, I…um…
  • CLAIRE: As if I could randomly find meaning in unimportant human things anymore. What, you’re going to try and be a matchmaker, too? Tinder takes on a whole new meaning around me.
  • DOC: I don’t know about any of that, but is there anyone you’re the least interested in?
  • CLAIRE: No… maybe. It’s complicated.
  • DOC: You don’t want that person to get hurt in the end.
  • CLAIRE: *pause* So it’s not so complicated. Stop shutting down everything I say!
  • DOC: I’m not shutting anything down. You put barriers up the moment you sacrificed everything so long ago. That was a temporary view you decided to make permanent for whatever your reason, and I’m sure it was good at that point. You’re beyond that now, but you're still trying to make everything in the world fit inside some tiny dark space in your mind. I can flip it around so your powerful mind can master what the world can offer.
  • CLAIRE: So you’ll turn me into the greatest supervillain ever… I think my boss already has that title.
  • DOC: OF COURSE NOT! I’m saying…think Goth Influencer, or Demonic Consultant. You have so much to offer to society besides knocking off the next pedophile or mass murderer or whoever.
  • CLAIRE: But what if I don’t want that attention? I don’t necessarily want to be publicly known as an agent of Satan. The internal pressure is bad enough.
  • DOC: Then be in the background; just don’t bury your talent because it’s based in darkness instead of light. I don’t have all of the answers, but I refuse to let you wither away like a soulless husk. Plus if I’m honest, you scare me. The patients I’ve had who didn’t try something new, just…well, it wasn’t good.
  • CLAIRE: This whole time, I’ve been studying your mind. Your soul, even. I can’t find a bit of insincerity in anything you say. I find your view to be naive…but I can work with that.
  • DOC: Thanks…? So does this mean you’re not going to send me to your boss?
  • CLAIRE: You’re safe. For the time being, anyway. Thank you Doctor, I look forward to a future discussion.
  • DOC: Excellent. You can talk to my assistant and schedule your next session.
  • CLAIRE: I think I’ll just come find you if and when that moment arrives. Shall we shake on it?
  • DOC: Y’know what, let’s just wave and call it a day.

• Ending (46:48)

• Recommended reading: The Twelve
• Next episodes: Penguin, Shazam, Arcade
• Plugs for social & GonnaGeek Network

References:

• Ghost Trick - Doc (33:48)

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