Black Widow Vol 3: Last Days by Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto

Black Widow Vol 3: Last Days written by Nathan Edmondson and illustrated by Phil Noto is the final volume of the Black Widow sequence that ended just before Secret Wars. It contains issues #13–20 of the 2014 Black Widow run with no need for random extra issues to bad out the volume (yay). I have previously read and reviewed volumes 1 and 2.

The world has turned against Black Widow. Her web is broken. How will she deal with this? The final path to Chaos is at her feet, but will her own demons keep her from finally taking it? What happened to Isaiah? Can Black Widow still turn to the Avengers, or even to S.H.I.E.L.D.? Natasha wants answers about Chaos and now she has a list of people who have them.

This volume of Black Widow had a lot of flashbacks. On the one hand, they were interesting because we got to learn more about her past, but on the other hand, they didn't necessarily move the main story forward. The main story being the one that the first two volumes were leading up to: Black Widow versus Chaos. Given how much trouble Chaos caused earlier on, especially in the first two volumes, I did feel that the final confrontation with a representative of Chaos was over too quickly and too easily. Not to mention that I wouldn't've minded a bit more explanation of the weird stuff going on with Chaos anyway (but there was a hint that we might be seeing more of that later, I suppose...).

I didn't dislike this volume, but it didn't grab me as much as the earlier ones. I ended up reading over a much longer period of time than I usually do, almost an issue at a time, until I got to the last few. There was also much less of an actual "Last Days" storyline, especially when compared with Ms Marvel's and Silk's corresponding volume and issue. Which isn't a bad thing, and probably makes sense given that Black Widow ended the earliest before Secret Wars, but was a bit of a surprise.

I recommend this volume to fans of Black Widow. I didn't love it — the art is still nice though — but I do intend to keep reading Black Widow in the future (is there a post-Secret Wars version? I'm not actually sure). Last Days does conclude the stories started in the earlier volumes and gives us more back story on the character. And we get to see the cat again. (Superheroes with cats are the best, as we all know.)

4 / 5 stars

First published: 2015
Series: Black Widow (2014) Vol 3 of 3, containing issues #13–20.
Format read: Trade paperback
Source: Purchased from some meatspace comic book shop or other

Black Widow Vol 2: The Tightly Tangled Web by Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto

Black Widow Vol 2: The Tightly Tangled Web written by Nathan Edmondson and illustrated by Phil Noto is the second volume of collected Black Widow comics in the 2014 run. I have previously read and reviewed the first volume here.

On a snowy night in Prague, Black Widow must fight her way out of disaster alongside the Winter Soldier! And as Isaiah’s London business turns complicated, Natasha finds herself fighting against — or alongside? — the Punisher for access to a deadly criminal network. But trapped on an exploding oil rig with Crossbones and his Skull Squad, will Frank and Natasha complete their missions — or take each other out? Then, Hawkeye is back! But could his fight with the Widow cost Isaiah his life? And in the wake of Wolverine’s death, Black Widow bonds with the despondent X-23 over punching and espionage, and teams up with the Howling Commandos for a dangerous mission in Afghanistan. But what will the Avengers do when they learn how Natasha has been spending her days off? 

I continue to enjoy this run of Black Widow, however I found this middle volume of the run to be a little bit of a "who is going to make a guest appearance next?" kind of thing. We had several guest appearances including from Daredevil (in which I learned that he and Natasha used to date), Hawkeye, X-23, and Punisher. I didn't mind the guest stars except for Punisher, but that was mainly because that issue was followed by the Punisher issue of the same event, adding absolutely nothing except for a different (inferior) art style.

In this volume, we see Natasha travelling the world and completing missions that has been given to her. In the meantime, there is a background build up of some sort of conspiracy that she has yet to get to the bottom of. The issue culminates in a bit of a cliffhanger, and I am keen to get to the next volume to find out what happens. The next volume is also a Last Days story, leading into Secret Wars, so hopefully the main conspiracy will get enough page-time.

I didn't enjoy this volume quite as much as the first, but I think that is in part because of the large gap I left between volumes one and two, in terms of reading. I suspect they would've been slightly more au fait with what was going on, if I'd been able to jump straight into it. That said, I still really like the art style used by Phil Noto and I hope he'll be illustrating more of the comics I'm into after this run.

I will definitely be picking up the last volume soon. I recommend Black Widow to fans of Black Widow, female superheroes, female spies, and cat owners. (Well, the cat owner thing is a little bit more complicated than that, but still.)

4 / 5 stars

First published: 2015, Marvel
Series: Black Widow (2014) vol 2 of 3, containing issues #7–12 (and issue #9 of Punisher)
Format read: Trade paperback
Source: Present-ish

Black Widow Vol 1: The Finely Woven Thread by Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto

Black Widow Vol 1: The Finely Woven Thread written by Nathan Edmondson and illustrated by Phil Noto is the first volume of the pre-Secret Wars run of Black Widow. I put off getting around to this series for a while because I don't have particularly strong feelings about Black Widow from either the movies or appearances in other comics. And because Russian characters are usually quite poorly done. Happily, this was not the case with this Black Widow run.

HOME IS WHERE THE HURT IS!

And the Black Widow has plenty of that. She may be an Avenger and an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., but the Widow has her own mission: to atone for her past as a KGB assassin. Her methods are dirty. Her heart is cold. But her work is flawless. On an undercover assignment in Russia, she finds that the Hand of God is reaching for her--and it's as merciless as its name. Outmatched by the brute force of this powerful new villain, Natasha discovers a deadly globe-spanning plot. It's a race against time, and the Widow has nowhere to turn for answers. The trail of blood and destruction will test her strength and cunning--but it may also test her faith.

Of one the first things that struck me was the art style of this issue. A lot of it is done in a more painted style compared with the bold colours and clean lines of many superhero comics. It suits the somewhat darker mood of this comic — Natasha trying to redress the wrongs of her past — and, best of all, doesn't feature icky objectification. Whoo!

The story, as I said, focuses on Natasha's desire to redress the wrongs she committed as a Soviet spy. However, nothing is ever simple and her side missions quickly devolve into conspiracy and supervillains. The this issue contains a complete story arc, but one that ends with several unresolved threads. I look forward to picking up the story in the next volume. Also, Natasha has a cat, as every good superhero should. This was one of the things that hooked me when I read the first issue (originally by itself when it was a freebie).

In many ways, this Black Widow run reminds me of the Matt Fraction Hawkeye run, in that it's mainly about what the protagonist does when she's not being an Avenger (but still sometimes being a SHIELD agent). I would hence recommend it to fans of that Hawkeye series as well as, obviously, fans of the Black Widow character, either in comics or in the movies. As far as I can tell, the storyline so far is not (very) incompatible with the MCU, in case that makes a difference. I will definitely be reading the next (two) volumes.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: 2014, Marvel Comics
Series: Black Widow 2014-2015, collecting issues #1-6 plus the Black Widow story from All-New Marvel Now! Point One
Format read: Trade paperback
Source: Comic book shop