Natasha Is Out For Blood In Black Widow #1
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
Black Widow and Captain America have caught wind of a Chernayan terrorist attack planned for the Time Square New Year’s party. Of course, these two heroes aren’t going to let that happen. To complicate things, one of the Chernayans has arrived dressed as Cap to sew further dissent. Plus, the world still thinks Black Widow is dead, so Natasha must remain unseen. There are also rumors of a giant robot on the scene.
Natasha Romanoff returns for her own miniseries with Black Widow #1. She was killed by Hydra Cap during Secret Empire, but the Red Room resurrected her. Now she’s trying to get back to doing good in the world, even if the world can’t know she’s doing it.
One thing that’s different–or, rather, returned–is Natasha having a bit of bloodlust. She wants to punish those who do wrong, and she wants it to be a bit more severe than a punch in the face and cuffs on the wrist.
This leads to the second half of the comic, where, after a dispute with Cap about their methods, Natasha heads off to Madripoor to unleash her bloodlust on those more deserving.
In case you were wondering, yes she dons an eyepatch to fit the location.
What’s heavily implied but pleasingly left unstated is how broken Natasha feels. She doesn’t feel whole or anywhere close to at peace, and running off to Madripoor is way of hoping to find something that might make her feel together again.
Flaviano’s artwork serves to give the comic a bit of an off-beat and, at times, almost comedic tone. It’s not quite the dark and gritty styling one might expect, but it does give the comic a unique feeling in the genre of spy thrillers. It looks good, and I have little to complain about in regards to the art. Veronica Gandini’s color work gives a pale shading to many of the scenes that does serve to build a cold atmosphere deserving of a Black Widow title.
Black Widow #1 is a dive into the psyche of the returned Natasha Romanoff that serves to give the reader an idea of where her headspace is at now. It’s mostly successful in this mission, and it does so while delivering and interesting story and a good bit of action. This one is worth a recommendation; check it out.
Black Widow #1 comes to us from writers Jen and Sylvia Soska, artist Flaviano, color artist Veronica Gandini, letterer VC’s Joe Caramagna, cover artist Clayton Crain, and variant cover artists Mirka Andolfo, Kevin Nowlan, and Sal Buscema with Chris Sotomayor.
