I originally wrote this review as part of my comics Pick List from week #29. It was one of about six premier issues that came out that week, and stood out among the twenty-four comics pulls so bright that I wrote an extended review on it for that week's picks. I've gone back to that review a few times already, and as Black Widow continues to get positive buzz, I feel like I should give this issue its due spotlight. Among other reasons, this series premier is helmed by three women, all of whom more than pull their weight in making the issue a supreme success! Continue Reading for my full review of Black Widow #1 by Kelly Thompson, drawn by Elena Casagrande, with colors by Jordie Bellaire! At long last, we've finally experienced Kelly Thompson's Black Widow! This series was supposed to start a long time ago, but was a victim of Diamond Distribution's 2-month shutdown and subsequent massive comics delay. The spring Black Widow premier has turned to late summer, and it was well worth the wait, as you can tell with this review!
The very first thing to strike me about this series was the art. From the opening panel, it's clear how absolutely fantastic the artist's style fits a Black Widow story. Similar to Joelle Jones and Otto Schmidt in style, the art of Elena Casagrande is crisp, clean, and incredibly satisfying to behold. Combined with the always-stupendous coloring of Jordie Bellaire, and the interiors of Black Widow are some of the best comic art available, in my opinion. The vivid hue of Nat's hair is somehow matched by the rest of each panel, with attention to color given to each detail of the background. And that goes without mentioning how well the art fits Natasha's character, too. Like Schmidt and Jones, Casagrande's art is particularly perfect for the super-women she draws, cutting a graceful figure that doesn't feel breakable in the slightest. The story itself is going to be fun to unfold, as it includes a variety of fashionable-feeling mysteries. The issue begins in the thick of a spy adventure, with Natasha fighting her way through a hallway of goons. Notable here is that Nat doesn't wear shoes during her fight, on purpose. Whether this was for silence, comfort, or ease of fighting, I can't say for sure, but the idea to have Widow fighting barefoot seems to be THE most Black Widow thing she could have done. The freedom and athleticism her lack of shoes offered was a creative way to prove the three-woman team has a good handle on the character, and have only more good things to come. At the end of the hallway, Natasha calls for help with the door, and Hawkeye sniper shoots it with an explosive arrow. Nat's train of thought gives the reader insight to the Widow's personal life, if only a few key bits and pieces. She thinks about how Clint Barton might be jealous of her team-up with fellow hero Bucky Barnes--I believe as seen in recent Black Widow and Winter Soldier comics in the last few years. Nat has had relationships with both these men, and still keeps them around as friends, but it's fun to think about the mild dramas and jealousies she triggers in both grown men. It just goes to show how tightly she has them wrapped around her baby finger, and I loved it. Hawkeye dips out on their mission early, calling in a favor from Captain America to take his place. Ignoring the "what a life!" moment that was Cap casually stepping in to help, Thompson is bringing these fellow Avengers in to show that they will be important parts of the story going forward, and to confirm the status quo of Nat's place in the hero community. After her mission, the story jumps forward, to six months later. Natasha is in San Francisco, working with a construction company on a new high rise apartment building. She dresses like a fashionable modern woman of the City, with her long red locks messily chopped off on one side. In total, the look very much says "head of a classy architecture firm." The reader isn't given any explanation to why Nat is on the West Coast or if she's under cover, but it's made abundantly clear she's lost none of her poise or athleticism. She dances across the tower's open edges carelessly, and somehow moves like water across the panels. When she passes a local news crew and is caught on national news, though, we learn these six months are just as much a mystery to us as to her friends and fellow heroes. Clint and Bucky immediately link up upon seeing the news clip pf her in the background, confirming with one another they haven't seen or heard from Black Widow in months. Its a fairly quick interaction, but it says a lot about the relationship of Hawkeye and the Winter Solder, as well as confirming the odd and unexplained nature of Nat's situation. The issue ends with their missing compatriot motorcycling her way across the Golden Gate Bridge to a fancy mansion, where a strange man awaits her arrival. They embrace, exchange pleasantries, and the embrace becomes much more passionate. While this is a mish-mash of familiar and foreign things for Nat, it's very clear that something isn't adding up with her supposed newfound life. The motorcycle ride across the Bay evoked extremely familiar Black Widow themes, but the man on the other side called her Natalie, and their interactions now-- and on the phone earlier in the issue-- all paint her to be submissive to him in the relationship, even if just somewhat, and even if in traditionally patriarchal ways. This in itself is something meant to cause major red flags and alarms to go off in the mind of anyone who knows Nat, including the reader. As you turn the page, you learn that this is all a set up by Arcade, classic Marvel villain. As far as my pull list goes, Arcade last appeared in 2019's Ghost-Spider Annual #1, where he mistakenly trapped Gwen in a false copy of New York instead of Spider-Man. His plan was to fight Spidey with robotic villains while emotionally tearing at him with reminders of all his failures, especially regarding the villains at hand. With Gwen fighting them instead, his quips lost their jab, but the friends-turned-enemies she fought still had relevance to her in their own way. This time around, it's hard to say at this point if he's going for such an emotional kill, but murder is most definitely on his agenda nonetheless. Speaking to two unknown benefactors, Arcade asks when he can do as his reputation suggests and kill the Black Widow. While I don't think there's a reason to fear for Nat's life, I can't wait to see how this all plays out. For starters, we don't know how much she knows, if anything. If Natasha is under some kind of "spell," will figures from her past life be able to clear away the fog? Bucky and Clint are on their way to save her, but what will happen once they get here? We don't know who her new beau is, or if he's in on the master plan with Arcade. There are so many factors yet to be revealed, and so many directions this could go. But with the Widow in a wedding gown for issue #3, it's a fair assumption to make that things are going to get much more intense before it's over! If you haven't read Black Widow #1 yet, you have until the second issue comes out on October 7th to track it down! As a fan of the character and a woman, I'm thrilled to be able to confirm that this premier issue was phenomenal, and every member of the creative team pulled their weight in getting it there. I look forward to seeing what they have in store for the future of Black Widow!
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