Dianne Grayton (Quality Universe)

Dianne Grayton, aka, the Spider Widow, amused herself by dressing up as a green-skinned hag and using her telepathic control over spiders to terrify criminals, and later, Nazis.

History

In the early 1940s, Dianne Grayton was a wealthy but bored socialite who discovered by accident that she had the ability to mentally control black widow spiders. Since she had little better to do, Dianne decided to use her newfound power and her natural athletic prowess to fight both crime and the Nazis, dressing up as the green skinned hag called the Spider Widow to scare criminals. However, it was a secret identity she kept hidden from those close to her, like her courter Bob Ableson.

She would go up against villains like gangster Jake Lardo,^[2] the Clown,^[3] her own friend Matthew,^[4] the Spider Man^[5] the greedy Miss Withington,^[1] and Mr. Leo, the Tiglon Man.^[6]

As her crimefighting activities continued to thwart the Axis Powers, she became a direct target for them. After walking into a trap, the Spider Widow was kidnapped and taken aboard a ship bound for Europe. However, this was witnessed by fellow crimefighter, Tony Grey, aka, the Raven. After a successful rescue, they shared a kiss the two would developed a romantic dynamic.^[7]

Their partnership would earn them nationwide attention after law enforcement witnessed them in action.^[8] Together, they would take down several spy groups in America, though they kept their identities secret from each other. However, the Raven would finally reveal his identity to Dianne and her Uncle John after a dispute over the wealthy Jacob Pendergast's will.^[1] Sometime after this, Spider Widow, too, would reveal her secret identity to the Raven.

Phantom Lady vs the Spider Widow

A fellow hero, Sandra Knight, the Phantom Lady, fought her own corner of the corrupt underworld. However, both her civilian identity and her father, Senator Henry Knight, had been increasingly targeted by an organization and their boss. The first came from a plan to plant a bomb beneath the senator's home,^[9] the second from a costumed criminal known as Bunny.^[10] The third and final attempt on their lives came during a trip north near Canada on Lake Erie. Determined to put an end to the assassination attempts, Phantom Lady resolved to discover who this organization and their boss was.^[11]

The Raven would investigate this case as well, sending a distress message to Phantom Lady after discovering her father had been kidnapped, leading to their first meeting.^[12] Raven continued looking into the case, ultimately leading to him extending an invitation for her to meet with Dianne. They tracked down a suspect believed to have masterminded the assassination attempts on the Knights, "Big" Boss Larkins. However the two girls' feuding allowed Big Boss to escape.^[13]

After going their separate ways, Dianne soon received a letter from Sandra, challenging her to a fight in the woods outside of Washington, D.C.. However, a similar letter found its way into Sandra's hands. These letters were sent by Big Boss to prey on the animosity between the two heroes. Unaware they were walking into a trap, the two fought while a row of gunmen opened fire, shooting Raven in the back. The three managed to escape, with the Raven becoming hospitalized. Furthermore, their secret identities had been exposed, allowing the criminals to pursue the heroes more aggressively.^[14]

While on the phone with Sandra, Dianne was held at gunpoint and told that the Raven was at Lookout Hotel. Overhearing this, Sandra donned her Phantom Lady identity and headed to the hotel as well.

Upon arriving, Raven revealed that he joined the gang and was working against Spider Widow and Phantom Lady. This turned out to be an act, and Spider Widow and Raven played along until the Big Boss arrived, disguised as senator Henry Knight. Unaware of their plot, Phantom Lady attempted to rescue Raven and Spider Widow, only to become captured herself. Spider Widow and Raven broke their act to rescue her and escape, with the Big Boss being killed in friendly fire.^[15]

Big Boss' underlings still held desires to revive the organization. As the Raven attempted one last trick to settle the feud between Spider Widow and Phantom Lady, he was double crossed and thrown into a flooding cellar along with Phantom Lady. With no hope of escape, they nearly drowned until Spider Widow arrived to free them. Grateful that she saved her life, the Phantom Lady swore she would never forget the act.^[16] The Raven and Spider Widow flew off, the two heroines parting ways on friendlier terms.^[17]

While Spider Widow would go on to battle the cursed husband of her friend Alice after their trip to South America,^[18] her whereabouts since World War II are unknown.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Animal Control: While unexplained, Dianne possesses the ability to telepathically control spiders. This may extend to other animals, as an attacking circus tiger appeared to obey her commands and retreat on one occasion.^[3]

Abilities

Acting: Dianne enjoys acting in stage plays.^[4]
Athletics
Swordsmanship^[14]
Throwing: Spider Widow once knocked a gunman unconscious with a thrown fencing foil, hitting his forehead handle-first.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Leather Pouches: Simple leather pouches containing her black widow spiders.^[5]

Notes

The Spider Widow was originally published by Quality Comics and is presumed to be one of the properties DC acquired along with other characters published by the company. However, DC has yet to revive her.

Trivia

From Feature Comics #69 to Feature Comics #71 and Police Comics #21 to Police Comics #22, Spider Widow and Phantom Lady made two of the very few crossover appearances ever published by Quality Comics. Even the Blackhawks got a shoutout in the issues.