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A review by kate_in_a_book
Black Widow: The Name of the Rose by Nate Piekos, Marjorie Liu, Daniel Acuña
3.0
I’m always looking for good female characters and writers in the comics world, and I’m also intrigued by Black Widow. This collection includes a fairly detailed history of the character who has been around since 1964 but mostly appeared in other characters’ stories (I think in fact this is the first time she has had her own title since a brief run in the 1970s, spurred no doubt by the popularity of the current Marvel films).
In this story, Natasha (Black Widow) is viciously attacked and almost killed, but rather than rallying to her cause, her fellow Avengers are distrustful of her because the US government is accusing her of collecting highly secret information on the Avengers and the US. Which she was, as a form of insurance, and now that information has been stolen by her attacker. Can she persuade the Avengers to help her track down her assailant and prevent those secrets from getting out?
It’s a good storyline for exploring Natasha’s precarious position as ex-Soviet spy and as former lover of multiple Avengers (this is what happens when the male:female character ratio is so skewed) and it’s told perfectly well, but there is nothing outstanding here. The dialogue isn’t witty or moving and the art is a little sexualised in a manner I had hoped was considered old-fashioned now.
In this story, Natasha (Black Widow) is viciously attacked and almost killed, but rather than rallying to her cause, her fellow Avengers are distrustful of her because the US government is accusing her of collecting highly secret information on the Avengers and the US. Which she was, as a form of insurance, and now that information has been stolen by her attacker. Can she persuade the Avengers to help her track down her assailant and prevent those secrets from getting out?
It’s a good storyline for exploring Natasha’s precarious position as ex-Soviet spy and as former lover of multiple Avengers (this is what happens when the male:female character ratio is so skewed) and it’s told perfectly well, but there is nothing outstanding here. The dialogue isn’t witty or moving and the art is a little sexualised in a manner I had hoped was considered old-fashioned now.