Detail from the cover to Black Widow #1. Art by Phil Noto.
In the wake of the Avengers movie, it’s nice to see Hawkeye and Black Widow getting more attention. While Hawkeye launched over a year ago, Marvel’s finally gotten around to giving everyone’s favorite Russian spy her own solo title. Black Widow #1 does a nice job of setting a tone for the new series.
There’s not a lot that one needs to know about Black Widow going into this book. Like Hawkeye, this is going to be the adventures of Natasha Romanov when she’s not doing all of the other things that she does – being an Avenger, working for S.H.I.E.L.D., and generally saving the world. The book incorporates elements of Natasha’s backstory from the Avengers film, namely the ‘red on my ledger’ need for atonement. It’s solid motivaton, and the way she’s going about financing that goal means there’ll never be any shortage of action in this book.
Writer Nathan Edmondson establishes pretty early that, despite the atonement angle, this isn’t going to be a book about Natasha’s past. If she has her way no one will ever know exactly who she was or what she’s done before she adopted the name Black Widow. The story moves briskly, kicking off in the middle of one of her adventures and then sequeing smoothly into another one. Edmondson introduces Natasha’s accountant, which is not something one normally thinks of a superhero having, but then this isn’t your average superhero. He also gives Natasha a cat, because what comic isn’t better with kitties in it?
Snap. Crackle. Pop. Art by Phil Noto.
Phil Noto’s artwork is superb as always. He’s the whole package on this book, penciling, inking, and coloring the whole thing himself. His coloring in particular gives this book a wholly unique look. The mood shifts that he’s able to convey just from a change in color pallette are exceptional. There are not a lot of sound effects in the issue, but I particularly appreciate that the majority of them during the action sequences appear to have been hand-lettered by Noto himself. It makes the action feel more raw, for lack of a better word, and it’s a wonderful effect.
If you’re looking for a fun adventure/spy book, Black Widow looks like it’s going to be just that. This first issue is self-contained and easily accessible. It’ll be interesting to see what wrenches Edmondson and Noto throw into Natasha’s carefully-coordinated life. If this first issue is any indication, it should be a great ride.
