comics read: Black Widow
Jan. 11th, 2014 09:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snick_backupYesterday I started on a Black Widow binge, partly because I've been meaning to read Name of the Rose for months and partly because yesterday basically the only fandoms I could offer for the Beyond Panels comics exchange were the ones I nominated myself, so I thought I would try to expand to a couple more possibilities. Hence: Black Widow. I referred to this invaluable list of essential and non-essential but interesting Black Widow comics.
Black Widow #1-3 (Itsy Bitsy Spider) – Grayson, Jones (1999)
In which we meet Yelena Belova, and there is plot. The art here is really 90s-terrible; there are so many broken spines and over-shiny butts that you become numb. The story is meh. I assume Yelena is the point here, since we see her put to much more interesting use in the next run on the list. I would not read this again by choice, though.
Black Widow: Breakdown #1-3 – Grayson/Rucka, Hamptson (2001)
In which Natasha has noncon faceswap surgery performed on Yelena and gaslights her in truly mind-bendy ways in order to "save" her. To be honest, I am not at all convinced that Natasha's methods here were at all the most efficient way to go about showing Yelena that spying is soul-killing work. Seriously, faceswap? And I don't really see how the emotional and mental breakdown that Natasha forces on Yelena would lead to the results Natasha wants. (I do appreciate that the other characters keep calling Natasha's plan 'sadistic,' even if the narrative at the end seemed to support her methods.
However, the fact that Natasha is this invested in the first place in turning a Russian spy away from her life of spying is very intriguing. Yelena is the product of the same spy program that trained Natasha in her misty past, so obviously this is personal for her; in trying to save Yelena, she is maybe trying to save herself. Perhaps this also explains why she feels free to batter Yelena so hard emotionally.
And besides all that, it's a three-arc story entirely about female spies, whose femaleness is basically irrelevent to the plot. I'm never not going to be pleased about that.
Meanwhile, ART. The covers are really blah and off-putting, IMO, which is weird because it's the same guy doing the interiors, and they're beautiful. They remind me some of that one Alex Maleev issue of New Avengers that I talked about a while back: the impression of traditional medium (which, given this was in 2001, it might actually be?), heavy and dense. See:
Overall, a very interesting mini full of things that appeal to me, although I would want to read again to decide how I feel about Natasha's methods.
Black Widow #1-5 (Name of the Rose) – Liu, Acuna (2010)
Name of the Rose is the Black Widow arc everyone is always reccing around. I did not like it as well as I liked Breakdown, but I think that may be partly because I didn't quite follow the plot the first time through; I'd be inclined to order the trade from the library to reread.
This had neither the business-as-usual Natasha of Itsy Bitsy Spider nor the ambiguous, goal-driven Natasha of Breakdown; this was Natasha being targeted. It turns out the reasons for the targeting were just some villain wanting revenge and power but in the meantime we visit a lot of Natasha's past – before the Red Room (I guess? Although I'm confused about the line from "pregnant on the Russian lines" to "trained as super spy"). It's all very Serious, although honestly, I think it'd all hit much harder if I reread; the beginning parts will make so much more sense once I know the revelations.
I liked Natasha's friend Black Rose a lot.
Acuña's art is a mixed bag. I like the general look of it, which makes his love of unzipping Natasha's front zipper all the more disappointing. On a similar note, although this is presumably Liu's fault, I really could have done without Natasha's captors stripping her naked.
---
Conclusions
While Natasha in the MCU is shown to be extremely competent, she still doesn't have 616!Natasha's confidence or presence. Probably this is down to 616!Natasha coming across as older and more experienced (much older, my comics sources suggest).
I'm tickled that Natasha in the comics wears all sorts of things besides that silly black catsuit. Long coats and fedoras, civilian clothes of all kinds.
I'm a bit bemused by the fact that Natasha apparently has a close, sometimes romantic relationship with Daredevil. I'm surprised that an international super spy would find much time to associate with someone as geographically limited in his activities as Matt Murdock. Speaking of, I was told to look out for the Natasha/Elektra issue of Name of the Rose, but alas it turned out to be more like 1/3 of an issue, which isn't enough to get a good idea of Elektra. Alas.
I also find it interesting how apparently it is a common thing for Natasha's art to trend towards the more traditional-looking. Phil Noto is obviously a digital artist, but he is a digital painter, not a cartoonist.
Another commonality among these books is that since they're about Natasha, they focus entirely on the non-powered aspect of the Marvel universe. I don't think we ever see anyone use powers, not even Wolverine, who tags along at one point. Which makes sense; no amount of spying prowess is going to come across as very impressive next to, say, Storm's weather powers.
Anyway. I have now read some essential Black Widow. I'd like to read Winter Soldier, since everyone's been going on about that one for a while and it seems like it'd be nice prep for the movie, and that list I linked above also has some other interesting items on it, like a series with Captain America and art by Francesco Francavilla.
Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Comment here or there. (
DW replies)
Black Widow #1-3 (Itsy Bitsy Spider) – Grayson, Jones (1999)
In which we meet Yelena Belova, and there is plot. The art here is really 90s-terrible; there are so many broken spines and over-shiny butts that you become numb. The story is meh. I assume Yelena is the point here, since we see her put to much more interesting use in the next run on the list. I would not read this again by choice, though.
Black Widow: Breakdown #1-3 – Grayson/Rucka, Hamptson (2001)
In which Natasha has noncon faceswap surgery performed on Yelena and gaslights her in truly mind-bendy ways in order to "save" her. To be honest, I am not at all convinced that Natasha's methods here were at all the most efficient way to go about showing Yelena that spying is soul-killing work. Seriously, faceswap? And I don't really see how the emotional and mental breakdown that Natasha forces on Yelena would lead to the results Natasha wants. (I do appreciate that the other characters keep calling Natasha's plan 'sadistic,' even if the narrative at the end seemed to support her methods.
However, the fact that Natasha is this invested in the first place in turning a Russian spy away from her life of spying is very intriguing. Yelena is the product of the same spy program that trained Natasha in her misty past, so obviously this is personal for her; in trying to save Yelena, she is maybe trying to save herself. Perhaps this also explains why she feels free to batter Yelena so hard emotionally.
And besides all that, it's a three-arc story entirely about female spies, whose femaleness is basically irrelevent to the plot. I'm never not going to be pleased about that.
Meanwhile, ART. The covers are really blah and off-putting, IMO, which is weird because it's the same guy doing the interiors, and they're beautiful. They remind me some of that one Alex Maleev issue of New Avengers that I talked about a while back: the impression of traditional medium (which, given this was in 2001, it might actually be?), heavy and dense. See:
Overall, a very interesting mini full of things that appeal to me, although I would want to read again to decide how I feel about Natasha's methods.
Black Widow #1-5 (Name of the Rose) – Liu, Acuna (2010)
Name of the Rose is the Black Widow arc everyone is always reccing around. I did not like it as well as I liked Breakdown, but I think that may be partly because I didn't quite follow the plot the first time through; I'd be inclined to order the trade from the library to reread.
This had neither the business-as-usual Natasha of Itsy Bitsy Spider nor the ambiguous, goal-driven Natasha of Breakdown; this was Natasha being targeted. It turns out the reasons for the targeting were just some villain wanting revenge and power but in the meantime we visit a lot of Natasha's past – before the Red Room (I guess? Although I'm confused about the line from "pregnant on the Russian lines" to "trained as super spy"). It's all very Serious, although honestly, I think it'd all hit much harder if I reread; the beginning parts will make so much more sense once I know the revelations.
I liked Natasha's friend Black Rose a lot.
Acuña's art is a mixed bag. I like the general look of it, which makes his love of unzipping Natasha's front zipper all the more disappointing. On a similar note, although this is presumably Liu's fault, I really could have done without Natasha's captors stripping her naked.
---
Conclusions
While Natasha in the MCU is shown to be extremely competent, she still doesn't have 616!Natasha's confidence or presence. Probably this is down to 616!Natasha coming across as older and more experienced (much older, my comics sources suggest).
I'm tickled that Natasha in the comics wears all sorts of things besides that silly black catsuit. Long coats and fedoras, civilian clothes of all kinds.
I'm a bit bemused by the fact that Natasha apparently has a close, sometimes romantic relationship with Daredevil. I'm surprised that an international super spy would find much time to associate with someone as geographically limited in his activities as Matt Murdock. Speaking of, I was told to look out for the Natasha/Elektra issue of Name of the Rose, but alas it turned out to be more like 1/3 of an issue, which isn't enough to get a good idea of Elektra. Alas.
I also find it interesting how apparently it is a common thing for Natasha's art to trend towards the more traditional-looking. Phil Noto is obviously a digital artist, but he is a digital painter, not a cartoonist.
Another commonality among these books is that since they're about Natasha, they focus entirely on the non-powered aspect of the Marvel universe. I don't think we ever see anyone use powers, not even Wolverine, who tags along at one point. Which makes sense; no amount of spying prowess is going to come across as very impressive next to, say, Storm's weather powers.
Anyway. I have now read some essential Black Widow. I'd like to read Winter Soldier, since everyone's been going on about that one for a while and it seems like it'd be nice prep for the movie, and that list I linked above also has some other interesting items on it, like a series with Captain America and art by Francesco Francavilla.
Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Comment here or there. (
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 05:16 am (UTC)I had a really hard time following The Name of the Rose, too. I don't know very much about Natasha and so a lot of the allusions to her past went over my head.
I'm also very confused because everyone says Natasha doesn't have powers, but I was under the impression that she got some serum that made her stronger/kept her from aging etc.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 05:25 am (UTC)Things I nominated!
* Saga
* Uncanny X-Force
* FF
* Journey into Mystery
* Archie
So basically these are my Yuletide nominations/requests, plus Archie, which is a childhood fandom of my heart, and which I want all the crazy AUs for. What about you?
no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 05:29 am (UTC)I don't know, I haven't nominated anything yet. I'm thinking maybe Spider-Man, so I can ask for Felicia Hardy and Peter Parker, but I haven't gotten a list together or anything.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 06:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 07:23 am (UTC)Edit: hey hey, Richard K. Morgan. He writes a lot of SF novels, although I've never read any of them. I had no idea he did comics.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 08:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 05:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 06:32 am (UTC)Breakdown disturbed me. I also have conflicted feelings on the gaslighting which I haven't examined all that closely.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 07:25 am (UTC)I keep forgetting that you read comics! Are you reading anything currently?
no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 06:55 am (UTC)Fair warning about Winter Soldier, if you're reading it solely for Natasha it's... not great. It starts off with her as a supportive romantic partner, which is good, but then something really awful and icky happens to her that made me want to throw the comic across the room (and I would have done so if I hadn't been reading it on my computer).
no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 07:26 am (UTC)Hmm, I feel like I've heard a lot of positive things about Winter Soldier. Was it for the other characters instead? I think I know the icky thing you're talking about - I've seen other people mention it.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 10:03 am (UTC)The comic did improve after Brubaker left and Latour took over, but the comic was cancelled before Latour had a chance to clean up Brubaker's mess.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 05:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-13 09:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-13 11:46 pm (UTC)
Date: 2014-01-21 04:07 pm (UTC)Re:
Date: 2014-01-21 05:58 pm (UTC)