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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
Really gorgeous, watercolor-like art with wonderful pacing. The story isn't anything too special (person tortured by her mysterious past tries to make amends, refuses to form relationships, is actually a softie at heart) but it's well done for what it is.
I've had a vague fondness for Black Widow, aka Natasha Romanov, since the Avengers movie, but I've never really known too much about her. I've heard, though, that they'll be diving more into her backstory in Avengers 2, so I thought I'd read up a little more on her.
This book is just fantastic. It's full of adventure and emotion without detailing everything in Natasha's past. I know enough about her to sense her regret and understand why she lives the way she does now. No matter what she's done in the past, who she is now is someone to admire and look up to, whether she believes she is worthy or not. Also, she has a adorable black cat just like me.
Phil Noto's artwork is perfection. I love the way he draws Natasha, strong and beautiful but not over-the-top bombshell. She's a fierce super spy, not someone there just as eye candy. There is something about Noto's art that is almost watercolor-like. It's very fluid and loose, graphic without being hard lines and block shapes. I am clearly not an art critic, as I try to explain why I love this art so much. I just do.
Though different in style, this book feels much like Fraction's Hawkeye book, an expose on what Avengers do when they're not saving the world as part of a super-team. Like Clint Barton, Natasha is one of the few Avengers without anyone super powers or magical suit, so it feels a little more down to earth. They are just humans like us, after all. In a way. And I loved the little scene with Clint falling out of a building behind Natasha, and her lawyer saying "That looks bad." HA! Hawkeye reference FTW! I'll definitely continue to follow this book, and look forward to the next trade publication, whenever that may be.
This book is just fantastic. It's full of adventure and emotion without detailing everything in Natasha's past. I know enough about her to sense her regret and understand why she lives the way she does now. No matter what she's done in the past, who she is now is someone to admire and look up to, whether she believes she is worthy or not. Also, she has a adorable black cat just like me.
Phil Noto's artwork is perfection. I love the way he draws Natasha, strong and beautiful but not over-the-top bombshell. She's a fierce super spy, not someone there just as eye candy. There is something about Noto's art that is almost watercolor-like. It's very fluid and loose, graphic without being hard lines and block shapes. I am clearly not an art critic, as I try to explain why I love this art so much. I just do.
Though different in style, this book feels much like Fraction's Hawkeye book, an expose on what Avengers do when they're not saving the world as part of a super-team. Like Clint Barton, Natasha is one of the few Avengers without anyone super powers or magical suit, so it feels a little more down to earth. They are just humans like us, after all. In a way. And I loved the little scene with Clint falling out of a building behind Natasha, and her lawyer saying "That looks bad." HA! Hawkeye reference FTW! I'll definitely continue to follow this book, and look forward to the next trade publication, whenever that may be.
Black Widow is my favorite character in the Avengers and in the MCU right now, so I wanted to venture into the comics and learn more about her. She has a long and rich history, so I figured I'd jump into a more recent run. Sadly, I was disappointed with this volume.
Black Widow in this run is struggling with a lot. She feels depressed, and unlike the character I was used to from the MCU. One of the things I love about Black Widow is that she embraces the darker sides of her past, and is a survivor above all else. I really didn't get that from the Natasha in this book. So while I wanted to love it, I had a very hard time connecting to it.
The art was pretty, but it wasn't enough to motivate me to continue with this series. I found the story pretty slow, and not compelling.
I do want to continue on my quest to get to know Black Widow in the comic universe, so if anyone has recommendations for an easy place to jump in with her, let me know! This review was originally posted on Thoughts on Tomes
Black Widow in this run is struggling with a lot. She feels depressed, and unlike the character I was used to from the MCU. One of the things I love about Black Widow is that she embraces the darker sides of her past, and is a survivor above all else. I really didn't get that from the Natasha in this book. So while I wanted to love it, I had a very hard time connecting to it.
The art was pretty, but it wasn't enough to motivate me to continue with this series. I found the story pretty slow, and not compelling.
I do want to continue on my quest to get to know Black Widow in the comic universe, so if anyone has recommendations for an easy place to jump in with her, let me know! This review was originally posted on Thoughts on Tomes
I have never been a particular fan of Black Widow as an avenger or superhero, but stories that deal with her as an antihero or spy are my jam. Appropriately, The Finely Woven Thread does precisely that.
In this vol, we follow Natasha on a series of loosely connected cases throughout the globe, as she tries to atone for her past work. The cases range from breaking war criminals out of Argentinian prisons, to assassinating Russian mobsters in Berlin. The last 3 issues starts an ongoing story-line, in which Natasha and SHIELD go against a mysterious organization called Chaos, which is targeting Eastern European ambassadors.
Nathan Edmondson writes very atmospheric stories that are light on dialogue, but heavy on mood and tone. Natasha's life is presented as dangerous yet strangely routine and isolating. He makes a point about how working for an intelligence agency is mundane, all about gathering intel and observing patterns. While Natasha does face off against some pretty intimidating people in this volume, they are a far cry from alien invasions or superviallins, but they place her where she's best at; the spy game, facing off against other spies, criminals, and terrorists. Edmondson has a decent grasp on Natasha's character; she is dower and melancholy, but not humorless. She cares about people and doing the right thing even if she's unwilling to open up and get close to anyone, not even the stray cat she occasionally feeds, or Isaiah who is her accountant. There are moments of levity and humor but they are few and far in between what is mostly spy action, almost to the point where I forgot this takes place in the same universe that regularly gets attacked by Skrulls.
I have two main issues with the storytelling. First, because most of these are standalone stories by issue, the plots aren't very interesting by themselves. The closest we get is the Butcher of Argentina one, but even that one feels like a side mission from Metal Gear 3, except with Natasha as Big Boss. Spy thrillers live and die on their plots, and none of the plots here are interesting. Additionally, Edmondson doesn't really present Natasha as a capable spy or operative. In almost all of the stories, especially when we get into the Chaos plot, she either fails her objective, gets people killed, or the person she's after runs away. This is especially prominent in the Chaos part, because Edmondson is under the impression that purposefully withholding answers = mystery, so we get no answers and Natasha repeatedly fails to accomplish or find anything out. We are also introduced to Molot Boga and Damon Dran (who I had to google to see he was an old enemy of Natasha and Matt). There needs to be some sort of emotional impact, but I felt none for either of these villains, and because of that, no real terror of Chaos. Essentially, been there, done that, especially withe recent Hydra plots in the comics and films.
As for the characters, they are all fine. I like that Natasha works with Hill and Tori Raven, but the way they are written might as well be the same person. Isiah is ok, but all of his conversations have been about money. Yes, he's an accountant, but ffs, he can be a little less one note.
The art by Phil Noto is gorgeous as always, and he does a lot to make this comic stand out. I doubt t would have been nearly as successful and well received if someone else did the art. He plays around with style and colors in different sections and makes Natasha feel like a real person. The one issue I did have is that in the scene on the boat, where Natasha gets beaten to a pulp, she still looks pristine in the following panels. I don't know it this was simple oversight or purposeful, but Atomic Blonde showed how powerful and amazing women can still look despite being battered by hard fights like the one Natasha goes through (and David Aja does that superbly in Hawkeye).
All in all, I like this volume less on this reread. I think when I read it it was such a breath f fresh air, but now that I've read much better written characters and stories, I recommend this slightly less.
In this vol, we follow Natasha on a series of loosely connected cases throughout the globe, as she tries to atone for her past work. The cases range from breaking war criminals out of Argentinian prisons, to assassinating Russian mobsters in Berlin. The last 3 issues starts an ongoing story-line, in which Natasha and SHIELD go against a mysterious organization called Chaos, which is targeting Eastern European ambassadors.
Nathan Edmondson writes very atmospheric stories that are light on dialogue, but heavy on mood and tone. Natasha's life is presented as dangerous yet strangely routine and isolating. He makes a point about how working for an intelligence agency is mundane, all about gathering intel and observing patterns. While Natasha does face off against some pretty intimidating people in this volume, they are a far cry from alien invasions or superviallins, but they place her where she's best at; the spy game, facing off against other spies, criminals, and terrorists. Edmondson has a decent grasp on Natasha's character; she is dower and melancholy, but not humorless. She cares about people and doing the right thing even if she's unwilling to open up and get close to anyone, not even the stray cat she occasionally feeds, or Isaiah who is her accountant. There are moments of levity and humor but they are few and far in between what is mostly spy action, almost to the point where I forgot this takes place in the same universe that regularly gets attacked by Skrulls.
I have two main issues with the storytelling. First, because most of these are standalone stories by issue, the plots aren't very interesting by themselves. The closest we get is the Butcher of Argentina one, but even that one feels like a side mission from Metal Gear 3, except with Natasha as Big Boss. Spy thrillers live and die on their plots, and none of the plots here are interesting. Additionally, Edmondson doesn't really present Natasha as a capable spy or operative. In almost all of the stories, especially when we get into the Chaos plot, she either fails her objective, gets people killed, or the person she's after runs away. This is especially prominent in the Chaos part, because Edmondson is under the impression that purposefully withholding answers = mystery, so we get no answers and Natasha repeatedly fails to accomplish or find anything out. We are also introduced to Molot Boga and Damon Dran (who I had to google to see he was an old enemy of Natasha and Matt). There needs to be some sort of emotional impact, but I felt none for either of these villains, and because of that, no real terror of Chaos. Essentially, been there, done that, especially withe recent Hydra plots in the comics and films.
As for the characters, they are all fine. I like that Natasha works with Hill and Tori Raven, but the way they are written might as well be the same person. Isiah is ok, but all of his conversations have been about money. Yes, he's an accountant, but ffs, he can be a little less one note.
The art by Phil Noto is gorgeous as always, and he does a lot to make this comic stand out. I doubt t would have been nearly as successful and well received if someone else did the art. He plays around with style and colors in different sections and makes Natasha feel like a real person. The one issue I did have is that in the scene on the boat, where Natasha gets beaten to a pulp, she still looks pristine in the following panels. I don't know it this was simple oversight or purposeful, but Atomic Blonde showed how powerful and amazing women can still look despite being battered by hard fights like the one Natasha goes through (and David Aja does that superbly in Hawkeye).
All in all, I like this volume less on this reread. I think when I read it it was such a breath f fresh air, but now that I've read much better written characters and stories, I recommend this slightly less.
Usually jumping into a new run for Marvel means having the knowledge of multiple previous runs, but that, thankfully, was not the case with this one. I'm sure certain details meant more if you do have that knowledge, but there was none of the usual confusion reading a Marvel comic can lead to. I enjoyed this one quite a bit.
Much like Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye, this is the story of what Black Widow gets up to when she’d not being an Avenger. Generally, she’s doing less than legal things in order to help make money to (somewhat) atone for her sins towards her previous targets families. This is a beautiful book and Natasha is awesome and I really like her relationship with her lawyer, who is also quietly badass. I love how Natasha does sometimes make mistakes (because she’s only human) and does get hurt but that doesn’t mean she stops fighting and being an awesome spy.
There was a compelling arc with a cat.
Other than that it was nice, but didn't grip me. There's a lot to be said for a nicely, non gaze-y drawn Natasha and lot of Amoral Spy Activities but I was hoping for it to pull together in a more interesting way.
Other than that it was nice, but didn't grip me. There's a lot to be said for a nicely, non gaze-y drawn Natasha and lot of Amoral Spy Activities but I was hoping for it to pull together in a more interesting way.
The Finely Woven Thread is a great beginning to a new Black Widow series and I enjoyed it very much. Not only are we getting a new series centered around Natasha Romanoff but we're getting a solid story with insight on how Natasha feels about what she's done and what she's doing for her job.
Along with that we get incredibly beautiful art by Noto and, for me, the art alone makes it worth buying the book. Even if you're not into the story or the character all that much you'll definitely enjoy the art.
One thing I would have liked is to get more about Natasha's past in this but there are other comic books that can be read to fill in the missing pieces.
If you're a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, loved Natasha and need an intro to comic books I'd definitely suggest reading the new Black Widow series starting with The Finely Woven Thread.
Along with that we get incredibly beautiful art by Noto and, for me, the art alone makes it worth buying the book. Even if you're not into the story or the character all that much you'll definitely enjoy the art.
One thing I would have liked is to get more about Natasha's past in this but there are other comic books that can be read to fill in the missing pieces.
If you're a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, loved Natasha and need an intro to comic books I'd definitely suggest reading the new Black Widow series starting with The Finely Woven Thread.
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated