Warning! Spoilers ahead for Transformers: Beast Wars # 7!
The Transformers Beast Wars comic finally debuted the terrifying villain Blackarachnia and didn't waste any time to make some noteworthy alterations to her sinister character, all of which empower the Maximal-gone-Predacon more so than the TV show. Aside from her unsettling demeanor that aligns too well with her black widow beast mode form, Blackarachnia is infamous for having been born from one of the Maximals' fallen stasis pods but emerging as a Predacon.
In the '90s cartoon, the Predacons arrive at Blackarachnia's stasis pod first and ambush the Maximals as they try to retrieve their comrade. Waspinator flies the pod off during the fray that inevitably ensues so she will be reprogrammed to follow Megatron. There, Tarantulas is so moved by how a black widow relentlessly battles against another spider that he chooses the former to serve as their new recruit's beast form, dubbing her Blackarachnia. For the rest of her introductory episode, the new Predacon is either oddly absent or marginalized to such an extent that she's depicted more so as a background character even though the focus should be on her.
The Beast Wars TV show later attempts to rectify the grave injustices perpetrated against such a pivotal character like Blackarachnia by having her defeat Cheetor in true glorious fashion. The way in which she is able to meander almost nonchalantly towards Cheetor while showing no signs of fear or pain when he blows off pieces of her body before she knocks him to the ground effortlessly adds to her appeal as a badass and even, to some degree, a psychopath, but it still doesn't excuse the lackluster effort put into her premiere.
In Transformers Beast Wars #7 by Eric Burnham and Winston Chan, Blackarachnia is in full control of her destiny and seizes every opportunity she finds to better serve her needs and ambitions. Tarantulas doesn't choose the lifeform for her beast mode, either. She does, which is a major change to Beast Wars that writers also shrouded in mystery, as it's not presented to the reader. After Blackarachnia emerges from the stasis pod alone, she battles against the planet's wildlife including a monstrous crocodile while on her way to the Maximal base in Transformers: Beast Wars # 7 by writer Erik Burnham artist Winston Chan. The ever advantageous Transformer even exploits her Maximal coding to sneak onto the ship of the Maximals whom she refers to freely as her enemies without provocation or reprogramming. There, she confronts Cheetor like in the show, but rather than walk menacingly towards him, she ambushes him from above, then kicks him in the face before blasting him in his cheetah form.
In comparison to most Beast Wars characters, Blackarachnia is an incredibly layered character much like Dinobot and deserves more recognition and independence than the show gave her credit for. Luckily, the comic appears to have noticed and swiftly handled this flaw to give Blackarachnia her just due. Blackarachnia never needed Tarantulas to reprogram her into a Predacon or to choose her beast mode form for her. She's more than capable of leading an assault on the enemy all on her own as the new Transformers comic rightly demonstrates.