I've been sitting on this comic for over a year. It's finally time to read it. BACKGROUND:
I may have said this before, but Black Widow was never a character that really interested me as a child. In a universe that had Spider-Man, Doctor Doom, and Wolverine, it was a little hard for younger me to get into "regular spy". Even when the character made it into the MCU, it took me a while to see how interesting she really was. In the same vein as other characters I didn't grow up liking (like Thor and Captain America), engaging portrayals of the character in adaptations and actually digging deep to find interesting comics about Black Widow eventually helped me see that a regular spy can be interesting in a universe full of mutants and heroes. Obviously, I'm reading this now because the Black Widow movie is finally premiering after 2020 fucking everything over. While I'm excited to see the movie now (when it's safe; I'm not risking disease over this), I wasn't really interested in the idea several years ago (back in the Phase One days when not every character had a show or movie). As the years have gone by (and I've read more Black Widow books), my ambivalence eventually shifted into a desire to actually see a proper story told for the MCU version of the character. My initial disinterest was rooted in younger me's perception of the character (again: I dismissed her as "regular spy" when I was a kid), but in the same way I found a liking to the character as I learned more, my interest in seeing a movie also grew. As for this book in particular, I don't really know much about this run. I think the latest run of Black Widow I've read was the 2014 one, and I don't even remember much about it. THE WRITING: In this one, Black Widow is a fugitive, and she's running from none other than SHIELD, the agency she's been working with since she became a good guy. The reason? A mysterious figure called the Weeping Lion has blackmailed her with secrets she desperately wants to keep hidden, and until Natasha can figure out how to get out of her predicament, she'll have to play along, and that means pissing off SHIELD. Black Widow's journey here has her revisiting her dark past as an assassin of the Red Room, and she discovers that a new incarnation of it has risen. And if that wasn't enough, her secrets get her into a heated confrontation with fellow Avenger Iron Man. Natasha's got a lot on her plate, and she'll have to fight her way out of every pickle to get answers. This comic is very action-heavy, with a ton of panels focusing more on the drag-out fights Black Widow finds herself in as she tries to figure out her situation (more on this in the next section). This is apparent in the very first issue, which tells little story (other than a bit of exposition to establish that SHIELD is after Natasha) and is mostly Black Widow kicking a ton of ass as she escapes Director Maria Hill's clutches. In the later issues, more time is taken to explain what's happening, but there's still a ton of exciting action to go along with the slower, narrative-focused segments. Black Widow's past has always been dark, and she's always kept her secrets (especially her more shady ones), but the fact that she was willing to cross SHIELD to keep certain secrets hidden was immediately engaging. It's no secret that Natasha's done some horrible shit as one of the Red Room's assassins, but the reveal that one of the things she's kept hidden will get her in a confrontation with one of her trusted allies shows that her secrecy isn't necessarily out of a sense of self-preservation. In terms of her spy skillset, Black Widow's expertise is on full display here. While her combat is the primary focus in a lot of the issues, we see her excel at stealth, and one of the later issues sees her use some incredibly clever trickery to acquire the information she needs. I always enjoy when brains is employed over brawn (especially in spy stories), so the fact that we got some of that on top of all the fisticuffs is awesome. Though not necessarily the primary antagonist in the story, SHIELD is a force to be reckoned with, as Natasha has to really fight to overcome an army of agents trying to apprehend her. Maria Hill is her usual angry self, but the introduction of SHIELD Agent Elder adds an interesting wrinkle to how the agency views Black Widow as an operative. We may see her as a hero, but some folks at SHIELD take exception to Avengers taking point on missions. Weeping Lion himself isn't much of a character. Barring a surprising twist at the end, he's a typical manipulator using blackmail to amass power. I wager his involvement in the story gets more interesting in later volumes given what happens. We don't see much of the Dark Room (the latest iteration of the Red Room), but its brief introduction ties in well with a series of flashbacks we see of Natasha's past, where we see her interactions with the Headmistress, as well as a fellow trainee named Anya. Again, this'll probably be more explored as the main conflict in later volumes. THE ART: For the most part, the comic's art is simple, with mostly flat colors, thick lines, not much detail, and simple shading. But in certain panels, the style of shading changes, the palette shifts to fit the setting/mood, and the level of detail increases. It's awesome to see these changes take place, especially during the many action sequences of the comic. On that note, the combat looks and feels super dynamic, with some visceral hand-to-hand as well as over-the-top sequences filled with explosions. I'd like to shout out the first issue again, which I mentioned is mostly action-packed panels, and is exemplary of the book's art. VERDICT: This particular volume of Black Widow is one filled with intrigue, as we see Natasha go as far to fight against SHIELD to keep certain secrets, discover the darkest part of her past rear its ugly head again, and kick a whole lot of ass along the way. I found it an exciting, engaging read, both in terms of its story and its action-packed art. The story here is pretty standalone, so if you're interested in reading some Black Widow comics, you can't go wrong by starting here. Here's the book on Comixology: Black Widow Vol. 1: S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Most Wanted - Comics by comiXology - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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