Because one “Black Widow” issue a month just isn’t enough, Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto are back with another adventure with Natasha Romanoff.
Written by Nathan Edmondson
Illustrated by Phil Noto
• In fact, it’s so good, that you won’t want to wait another month for the next issue.
• And you won’t have to!
I think it’s pretty safe to say that “Black Widow” #1 constituted a strong opening for the new creative team of Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto as well as the new direction for the character herself. It scratched all the itches a Black Widow comic should (especially given the absence of one in the year since Marvel’s The Avengers was released) by really digging into Natasha’s character and giving her a new focus and drive: atonement for her past deeds. This is a pretty inspired direction for the character on Edmondson’s part and gives a lot of wiggle room for interesting stories to play out. That, and getting Phil Noto as an artist proved that this would be an enjoyable comic and it did not disappoint for the most part. While the first issue also played it very straight in terms of the story it told, this issue starts to shake things up a bit even if it is still getting its footing.
It has been noted more than once that Nathan Edmondonson’s previous experience in writing espionage comics made him the perfect candidate for a Black Widow comic. Well, they were not wrong. The story Edmondson builds in this issueis around one single job, from the conception to the execution (though not necessarily in that order), as opposed to the stopping and starting of two jobs. This is actually an improvement over how the first issue was structured, giving Edmondson more space to tell the story and making the job Natasha is on more complex. From opening the issue in the middle of the action with things having gone wrong to flashing back to the set-up of the job as well as allowing for a side-story following Natasha’s lawyer, this issue is much more streamlined in that it focuses on one single job and it is much better off for it. The cohesiveness of it all also allows for the unexpected element Natasha goes up against in the issue’s eventual protagonist (someone you’ve never heard of, but it would still be a spoiler to reveal the identity) that actually gives Natasha a challenge to surmount. Allowing the focus one bust job that the Black Widow must survive and get home in one piece from gives the whole issue a more cohesive feel and feels like a definite step in the right direction for making this a must-read series.
It’s not just Edmondson who feels like a perfect fit for the series, though, as Phil Noto provides some career-best artwork for this issue. The style Noto utilises for this series feels both like something entirely new yet intrinsic to his art. Think of it as Noto assuming his final form to provide the artwork for this series. Everything about the artwork – from the sketchiness of the lines to colouring with such harsh, warm overtones and the use of white lines to highlight object in the panel – feels so wholly Noto-esque that it’s actually very hard to imagine this book without him. Not only that, but, for as good as Edmondson’s writing is, Noto’s art actually elevates the issue.
The action scenes are taut and fluid and the wash of warm oranges gives it the feel of mid-70s hard action film. Then the scenes of Natasha infiltrating a boat or sniping a target switch instantly to a dark, shadow-filled spy film feel without missing a beat or feeling like the style has shifted at all. Then the issue is capped by a flashback that not only shows the surprisingly dark depths Marvel has allowed Edmondson’s writing to go, but shows us truly beautiful pages awash in monochromatic red with white pencils to highlight the violence. Giving Noto full visual artistic control over this book, from pencils through to colour, was the smartest choice for the book. It is one of the most visually stylistic books coming out of a Marvel that already celebrates diverse artistic styles amongst its books.
Overall, this was a grand step up from an already strong opening. Edmondson managed to side-step the quibbles of the first issue’s story (not enough focus on one job, not enough danger to Natasha as a character) by focusing solely on one job, from beginning to end, and presenting enough complications in the job that allowed for rather excellent action scenes. Those action scenes, and the issue as whole, were drawn beautifully by Phil Noto, whose complete artistic control over the issue gives it one of the most visually cohesive styles seen in comic recently. While the one-and-done nature of the story means we’ve only managed to get a short glimpse into the life of Natasha, Edmondson and Noto have proved what they can do with the series and now will be able to delve deeper into the life of the Black Widow further down the line. This series might have been a long time coming, but it thankfully has not disappointed now that it’s here.
Final Verdict: 8.9 – Buy. It took everything good about #1 and made it great.
