An undercover SHIELD agent has gone missing on a recon op at a mafia don’s place. For no reason, it’s taken months for SHIELD to react and now Black Widow’s been sent in to find out what this Silvermane is up to. But will she be doomed to the same fate as her predecessor?
Written by Ralph MacchioCover by Emmanuela Luppacchino
Illustrated by Simon Buonfantino
Colored by Rachelle Rosenberg
Lettered by VC’s Travis LanhamSomething’s stirring in the criminal underworld. Maggia boss SILVERMANE is making his move. S.H.I.E.L.D. has sent an agent in to investigate, but they’ve disappeared. It’s time to call in the heavy hitters. It’s time to call in the BLACK WIDOW. And the plan NATASHA ROMANOFF will uncover is far deadlier than any of them realized. Don’t miss this all–new tale from the dangerous, deep–cover days of the Black Widow!
So, just in case anyone might’ve thought this (definitely not me, cough cough), this comic wasn’t written by Daniel-san himself but by a longtime (and now retired) Marvel editor of the same name as the Karate Kid. But, speaking of the ‘80s, this one-shot really feels like old-timey Marvel rather than the contemporary kind most of us are used to.
Macchio’s story for Natasha is unremarkable: attend fancy party “incognito,” banter with the villain, get into some shenanigans, etc. – your usual espionage/James Bond stuff. However, the execution is simplistic, childish and corny (not to mention derivative – to reference the ‘80s one last time, the deathtrap sequence was straight out of Raiders of the Lost Ark) – as if Macchio’s telling the story to an audience of ten year olds.
The story revolves around a magical Macguffin (another overused narrative trope): the Wand of Watoomb, which is gonna make Silvermane king of the mob bosses. Except if the wand can do anything he wants, and what he wants is money and power, why not have the wand provide that rather than the more convoluted route of making himself boss of the bosses, then skim the bosses’ profits?
Also, in showing off his newfound power, he nearly eliminates all of the heads of the crime families – isn’t that counterproductive and only makes it harder and longer to collect the money he’s trying to make? And why does Silvermane think he’s basically invincible now – he knows he got the wand from Doctor Strange; wouldn’t Strange likely have other toys to disarm Silvermane and render him useless again? This is what I mean by childish storytelling: none of this is at all well thought-out.
Fans of Black Widow might find her characterization here a bit stiff. Rather than the usual playful back-and-forth with SHIELD, here she’s saying things like “Do you copy?” and “Romanoff out” – perhaps because this is an episode from Natasha’s early days at SHIELD? – as well as talking about herself in the third person.
I can see why this comic is subtitled “Widow’s Sting,” given how heavily Natasha leans on those nifty little bracelets around her wrist – which can also conveniently do anything the plot needs them to. Whatever’s troubling her, she just has to point and fire them and it’s solved – even when she’s up-close and doesn’t need a range weapon, they’re still useful. Fancy that – all these different machines have the same structural weakness to them! It’s a contrived feature of the story.
Juxtaposed to the dated writing, Simon Buonfantino’s art is much more of the modern style contemporary Marvel readers are used to. Buonfantino’s style looks like a blend of Matteo Scalera and Jae Lee, which sounds great on paper but lacks the vision of both, coming off instead amorphous and unimpressive. Marko, Silvermane’s henchman, has absurdly thin forearms for a supposedly buff dude, not to mention spindly legs. Natasha’s arms are almost comically simian in length at times (see the silhouette when she enters the deathtrap dungeon) while Silvermane’s cybernetic suit is preposterously designed – how does the man slip into that thing?! It looks welded-on in parts!
There wasn’t anything especially eye-catching about the art, thanks in part to Macchio choosing derivative story elements. Astra has a mask like a bunch of other Marvel characters (ie. Madame Masque), the deathtraps are the usual sort (aerosol to show lasers – still, really?), generic silver robot suit, generic luxury mansion, generic magic item (glowy gold) – all of which make the comic that much more unmemorable.
Rachelle Rosenberg’s colors are similarly serviceable to the comic, neither making nor breaking it. I did wonder about the bright green dress – is that really the best choice to blend in at a party where most people are wearing blacks and whites? Seems contrary to the point of someone trying to keep a low profile. And I’m pretty sure sound doesn’t have a color but I guess she had to do something to show the sonic cannons’ power?
Final Verdict: 3.0. Maybe fans of Macchio/older-style Marvel comics, or very undiscerning fans of the character, will get something out of this but I found “Black Widow: Widow’s Sting” to be forgettable, choc-full of lazy cliches and not particularly entertaining.
