Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her (2005) #3

Reading the scene where Nick Fury gets tortured by a Bush flunky, it’s clear why comics should never get too involved with politics, especially not superhero comics. It’s Nick Fury… shouldn’t Captain America bust in and save him? And if Captain America isn’t busting in and saving him, isn’t the reason why more important than anything else going on?

Otherwise, the issue is all right. About half of it is spent on Black Widow’s teenage sidekick, who’s recuperating in a third world South American hospital. It takes the focus away from Natasha, which is okay because Morgan doesn’t really have a story for her this series. It’s still all clean-up, competent and all; there’s just no real point to it otherwise.

The art’s finally starting to mesh though. The Phillips is a lot stronger than the Sienkiewicz here—like Sienkiewicz decided only to do faces or something. It works.

Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her (2005) #2

The art problems continue. It appears even when he’s just doing finishes, Sienkiewicz didn’t really want to take the time on the series.

This issue improves the series overall, even if Morgan is sort of racing around. There doesn’t seem to be a story so much as clean-up from the last series. Natasha is trying to find her friend (who I really hope doesn’t turn out to be brainwashed to be an assassin against her) while her enemies are trying to track her down.

Then there’s Daredevil and Nick Fury, who are just standing around so they can guest star. The first series felt like Morgan wasn’t on a leash. This one… it feels like Marvel is giving very specific instructions as to how many pages Daredevil shows up on….

It’s hard to dislike because it’s so competent; it just doesn’t have much energy to it yet.

Soon, hopefully.

Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her (2005) #1

It’s Sienkiewicz over Phillips so you’d think the art would be good… You’d think. Instead, it’s a bad combination. Sienkiewicz is too contained in the layouts, Phillips is too broad because he knows there are going to be finishes. There’s no magic here.

Morgan starts this issue a week after the last series ends. It’s a direct sequel, lots of returning characters. Unfortunately, it’s been more than a week for the reader, so one might need a cast refresher and none is offered.

As for the series itself, it’s too soon to tell. Morgan just barely introduces the overall story, instead focusing on Natasha becoming an outlaw. Only that part of the story belongs to Nick Fury. Natasha seems like she’s guest starring in her own book. There’s even a pointless Daredevil cameo just for the solicit.

Morgan manages to be subversive, he just doesn’t get a compelling story going.

Black Widow (2004) #6

Well, there’s the finish.

Morgan leaves it unsatisfactory—some of it—on purpose, but I wonder if he also needed a little more space. The issue ends with a tag announcing the sequel series, almost as though they knew they needed to promise more story….

There’s a somewhat lengthy fight scene this issue. It’s got some good moments (the fight scene), but it doesn’t have very much dramatic weight. It’s like Morgan thought of it in an outline and didn’t realize Sienkiewicz doing a blow-by-blow on the deck of a yacht would get boring.

Maybe it was Parlov’s fault.

Otherwise, it’s a really good issue. Morgan gets a lot in with the cast he’s established; his characterization of Natasha is exceptional. Usually male writers do something awful when writing female protagonists, but Morgan knows when to stop and knows how to sell it.

This one’s a great series.

Black Widow (2004) #5

Wow, what a downer.

Morgan gives the issue, for its soft cliffhanger, an extremely depressing turn of events. Not the one I was worried about, but one I dislike maybe even worse.

It comes after the big revelation issue. I mean, there’s some bridging stuff at the beginning, but most of the issue is spent with Natasha learning all about the Black Widow program and what it’s done to her. Morgan does it in story, which really helps keep it fresh.

There’s a lot of talking heads this issue; it’s strange to see Sienkiewicz do the conversation scenes is a little strange, but he does a good job keeping it interesting. Morgan centers the issue around that conversation and it’s a fine scene, albeit expository.

It does nothing to prepare the reader for the finish.

I’m mildly concerned Morgan won’t be able to pull off a finish in one issue.

Black Widow (2004) #4

So, for the first issue of the second half, Morgan’s changing it up again. He’s got Natasha in Russia, where she uncovers her past. It’s not the past she thought—I’m not even sure if it’s in continuity anymore—and the way Morgan does it makes the entire series feel like the first Black Widow comic ever. Even though she mentions the second Black Widow from the last series… everything old is new again.

Meanwhile, Morgan gets in the comic relief with Natasha’s friends back in the States (he’s joking about it going bad) and develops the villains. He implies a whole new reveal (which I may remember from the first time I read it).

Sienkiewicz, with his emotive lines, is a perfect fit for the comic, which now feels very Russian.

It’s an excellent issue; I remember why I was so upset Marvel didn’t let Morgan keep doing these.

Black Widow (2004) #3

Morgan quickly makes up for any deficiencies in the last issue. It’s almost like he realized it, because this issue establishes Black Widow as being about gender issues. It turns out the bad guys are this freaky pharmaceutical company (probably using mutant gene in their face cream) and Natasha finding out about it.

Along the way, there’s more with her sidekick and their youthful charge (they rescued a teenage girl from some rednecks first issue). Unfortunately, there’s the implication the sidekick might be a problem later on. But for now, it’s an awesome dynamic. It brings humor to the comic, something it desperately needs.

It also needs Nick Fury to beat up the slimy NSA agent. Morgan’s pretty quiet on the political angles, but it’d be shocking to see Disney’s comic company release a series today about how corrupt the U.S. government has become.

Some especially lovely Sienkiewicz panels too.

Black Widow (2004) #2

With Parlov taking over the layouts, all of a sudden it reminds me of Ennis.

Well, not really. Morgan does a fine job with Natasha—his brief first person narration works, instead of the usual, lengthy nonsense male writers do when writing first person narration for female characters—but the only other female character in the issue is so bad Jeph Loeb could’ve written her.

Some evil spy lady is—shocker, a lesbian—and violently lusting after a waitress. It’s like Ennis done bad.

Otherwise, the issue is good. It’s not as strong as the first issue because there’s not as much going on. None of the action scenes are memorable. Morgan sort of front-loaded it, especially for a six issue series. His second issue is a bridging issue, which is odd.

I’m confident he’ll get back on track, since he doesn’t leave it here… he just slows down.

Black Widow (2004) #1

I’ve read this Black Widow series before, but it’s been so long I forgot Bill Sienkiewicz does the art. I remembered it was good, but I didn’t remember why it’s good. So it’s a nice surprise.

Richard K. Morgan doesn’t have any Marvel Universe stuff here. It’s just a retired spy story so far—Natasha keeps trying to get out (moving to Monument Valley to rock climb, what’s more American than that?), and they keep pulling her back in.

It appears the bad guys are some Blackwater stand-in. Or something. With ex-Soviets along for the ride.

The issue gets Natasha from retirement to being on the run; along the way she acquires a sidekick and plays superhero for a scene. But it’s a really tough scene. The book’s only a Marvel Knights title, but mean-spirited enough it could’ve been a MAX.

Natasha’s ruthless (appropriately) and vicious (appropriately).

The New Mutants (1983) #37

While I’m loathe to say anything nice about Chris Claremont, especially in an issue where he apes dialogue from Little Big Man to show how conscious he is to the plight of Native Americans regarding the John Wayne cavalry movies, he almost does a good issue here.

Well, maybe not. I mean, the Beyonder’s still idiotic, but he’s torturing the superheroes here and, while Claremont’s got some lame characterizations for them, the Beyonder’s really freaking evil. It makes no sense in context of the initial Secret Wars II stuff, but whatever. It’s nice to read this book and not be dreading every moment, especially given Sienkiewicz’s far more traditional artwork this time.

I don’t know what else to say about the comic. Usually, I can just rip on it, but this issue–oh, the She-Hulk cameo was dumb. So was the cop not knowing what the Avengers were called.