The “Daredevil” creative team returns as Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, Matt Wilson and Joe Caramagna all bring the band back together to take on the Marvel Universe’s best superspy!
Read on below for our full spoiler free review of the new “Black Widow” #1 to find out why you definitely shouldn’t skip this one.
Written & Illustrated by Mark Waid & Chris Samnee
S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Most Wanted! The Eisner Award-winning team of Mark Waid and Chris Samnee are taking Black Widow on the lam! Natasha has spent years gathering secrets, and when some of the darkest ones begin mysteriously going public, no one is safe. With her betrayed former confederates at S.H.I.E.L.D. on her heels and a lifetime of training and ingenuity at her disposal, Natasha’s out for answers in a knock-down-drag-out tale of action and espionage! Hidden enemies, old friends and unusual allies collide, and all eyes are on Black Widow. The chase is on!
Have you ever been out of breath after reading comic? And I mean really out of breath. I’m talking flicking the pages so hard, scanning the pages so fast, drink in every detail of every panel as the tempo and rhythm of the storytelling bounces your gaze from panel panel until you’re left with just the last page open and you’re sitting there panting like you just ran a marathon. That’s pretty much the state “Black Widow” #1 left me in. I’m not exaggerating when I call this comic a roller coast or a thrill ride. From panel one, this comic takes off running and doesn’t stop for the rest of the twenty-something pages until a glorious final page that perfectly punctuates the issue and leaves you breathless and needing the next fix of adrenaline immediately.
Before we really get into “Black Widow” #1, I want to take a moment to talk about story and plot because I think that’s a crucial to looking at this issue. The plot, generally, is the collection of moments that happen in a work to make up its whole. The story, then, is what those moments mean to the characters and theming of the work. “Black Widow” #1 stands in stark contrast to its predecessor, the series by Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto, in that it’s relatively light on plot (it can be summed us as an issue-long chase sequence), but incredibly heavy on story. A lot of this seems to have come from the way Mark Waid and Chris Samnee work together. As Waid explains in the issue’s backmatter, both Waid and Samnee plot out before Samnee works out the storytelling of the issue – hence the writer credit for Samnee – with Waid working on the dialogue. This has lead to a very art-heavy and storytelling-focused issue that is a masterclass in how artwork drives comic book storytelling.
“Black Widow” #1 is, in a lot of ways, a showcase that Chris Samnee is one of the greatest living artists. Seriously, generations to come will look back on this guy’s work the way we revere Will Eisner, Scott McCloud and Alex Toth. He is a legend in the making and this issue takes every trick he and Waid learned on “Daredevil” and cranks it up to eleven. The storytelling is crisp, clear and dynamic befitting a comic where the artist was actually able to tailor the story to his artwork. The first six pages alone create a sense of setting, character and escalation in action as Black Widow tries to escape a SHIELD facility, taking on an overwhelming number of agents, before finding an escape that completely turns the setting on its head in a jaw-dropping splash page. And then things only get more intense from there.
When I say that “Black Widow” #1 is heavy on story what I mean is in terms of character work. Even though Black Widow herself only has one line of dialogue herself, the issue serves as a perfect introduction to the character through the small actions she takes throughout the issue. Waid and Samnee are able to show her as capable, intuitive, charming and incredibly, incredibly dangerous all without a single line of dialogue from her. Sure, the other SHIELD agents get their say and a lot of their dialogue exists to fill in some of the gaps, but it’s astonishing to see how much a comic can accomplish with a character when it decides to show the audience something instead of just telling them it. Mark Waid never inserts a caption telling you the toll the chase takes on Natasha, instead the issue relies on Chris Samnee’s storytelling and character work to show the uphill battle she has to fight against fatigue just to make it to the last page. This issue could have been a one-shot and it would already by a shoe-in for issue of the year; it is a goddamn gift that we get to keep getting issues from these two every month.
Continued belowActually, that’s disingenuous because it overlooks the contributions of the rest of the creative team, Matt Wilson and Joe Caramagna. Wilson’s colours are a key factor in this issue’s storytelling, breaking up the issue’s three acts with a separate colour palette that each contrast with the warm theming colours of the issue. Each act break is marked by an explosion so Wilson keeps the three acts separate by contrasting the orange theming colours with the light blue and greys of the interiors of the SHIELD facility then moving to a warm cream of the New York sky and contrasting that with the metal of the skyscrapers before finally contrasting harsh black silhouettes against a background of flames. It’s honestly gorgeous. Joe Caramagna, meanwhile, brings it all together with minimalist and punchy dialogue and sound effects that fit comfortably with the visual storytelling and Wilson’s colours.
This is a creative team perfectly in sync. The creative bonds that were forged by their time on “Daredevil” have solidified so that they can come out of the gate guns blazing with “Black Widow” #1. This is a comic that holds no prisoners. From the word go, it takes off running and expects the reader to keep up with ever escalating chase sequence. It’s a perfect showcase of the versatility of the superspy character of Black Widow, acting as the James Bond cold open to the series with the promise of a dark mystery to be unfolded. Until that time, though, you should already have this issue and you should already be spending all your time pouring over each gorgeous panel until your eyes melt so, honestly, I don’t even know who’s reading this right now. I’m going to stop writing now and go back to re-reading “Black Widow” #1.
Final Verdict: 9.8 – Holy shit, this comic is good.
