Black Widow is one of Marvel’s most well known and yet somehow most mysterious characters. We know she has a dark past that has haunted her across both comic book pages and several movies. Now, with Marvel’s new “Web of Black Widow” series, she’s working to erase that past.
“Web of Black Widow #1” introduces us to a recently resurrected Natasha Romanoff who is fighting off her haunting implanted memories, making her even more mysterious than the Black Widow we’ve come to know over the years.
In her past, the Black Widow was used as a weapon, doing the bidding of the highest bidder regardless of what horrible things they might request. Now, after her long history with the Avengers and trying to wipe all of the red out of her ledger, Romanoff is taking a final stand against her past and trying to make everything right and she doesn’t care who she has to hurt to do so.
In the first issue of this new series, Tony Stark gets a a front row seat for this Romanoff redemption tour as he encounters the Widow at a charity event. Of course, he’s not going to get much information out of the lifelong spy and instead is simply told to stay out of her way.
While this first issue may not be a great introduction to the character (some knowledge of her history with the Avengers will probably make this a much easier read) it is a great start to a new series. Something is off about Natasha and no one can quite figure out exactly what it is. Flashbacks to her dark past are far from a new thing for Black Widow comics, but somehow they feel like they hold more weight now.
One thing that stood out to me about this issue was the word count. Being a spy, Romanoff isn’t a character that speaks a whole lot and this comic reflects that. There are eight pages with three or fewer word clouds on them, allowing Natasha to tell the story with her actions instead of outright telling us what’s happening. As someone who has read a lot of comic books, I really appreciated that.
That also allows for the stunning art of this comic to really shine. While every page is shrouded in shadow and loaded with incredibly dark content, the art still somehow manages to make this issue feel fun while also creating a sense of dread for the future. Not to mention, the typical Widow action comes across in an awesome way.
This new comic sets up a very intriguing storyline for a beloved character, in which we might just see the Avengers have to take on their former member before she hurts someone in her attempts to make things right. There are many potential paths laid out for the Black Widow and I am curious to see which one she takes.
“Web of Black Widow #1” is available now.