Black Widow: Deadly Origin Premiere HC l knew nothing of the character , the book helped – david glincman – toronto, ontario Canada
l knew nothing of the black widow , the booked helped with all of the lnformation
Collects Marvels four-issue Black Widow series from 2009-2010 – K. W. Schreiter – Conshohocken, PA
This collects the four issue Winter 2009-2010 Marvel mini-series centered on Russian superspy/superhero Natasha Romanova, aka the Black Widow. The narrative alternates between a mediocre present-day story and Natasha’s “deadly origin” backstory from the U.S.S.R. to the U.S.A. The latter is the highlight of this volume for both its story and artwork, and it features a large cast of Marvel favorites (several of whom are Natasha’s ex-boyfriends). The blockbuster film “Iron Man 2″ has heightened interest in this character, and Marvel has published a new monthly Black Widow series starting in 2010. Fans of the character will probably enjoy this mini-series. Longtime Marvel Universe fans will enjoy the references throughout the origin half of this book, but new fans from the Iron Man film should be able to follow it as well. As a side note, all but the most diehard fans should skip Marvel’s simultaneous but inferior mini-series “Black Widow and the Marvel Girls”.
Less than the sum of its parts. – S. Curley – Charlottetown, PE, Canada
Black Widow (Natalia Romanova, aka Natasha Romanoff) has been a consistent supporting character in the Marvel Universe from the early 1960s to the present day. Starting out as a villain, she became a hero (though keeping the codename that in a lot of ways doesn’t fit her personality or modus operandi anymore; “Black Widow” makes sense for a honey trap, but not really for the accomplished superspy), and, while rarely having enough support to sustain her own stories, has been a regular feature in many titles, including “The Avengers”. But now that she has a major role in the upcoming “Iron Man 2″ film, it’s time to get some material starring her on the shelves (this is one of two contemporaneous miniseries released early this year, with an ongoing series soon to follow). Some spoilers follow.
For a creative team we have writer Paul Cornell (most known in comics for his sadly short-lived “Captain Britain and MI13″ series) and artists Tom Raney and John Paul Leon. Each artist works on a different part of the story, with Raney doing segments set in the present day and Leon handling the past. The story aims to both present a modern-day story and cover various significant episodes in Natasha’s lengthy backstory. The focal points tend to be her relationships, of which she’s had several (consequence of being a frequent supporting character): love interests include Bucky Barnes (Winter Soldier/Captain America; also her current boyfriend), the first Red Guardian, Tony Stark (Iron Man), Clint Barton (Hawkeye), Matt Murdock (Daredevil), and Hercules. Also cameoing are Wolverine and her old handler, Ivan. Somewhat oddly for a project presumably aimed at selling trades to movie fans, it presumes a certain pre-existing knowledge of her history.
The resulting story is a bit scattershot. In terms of format, this is in a lot of ways trying to be a Jeph Loeb Batman story, an epic tour of a character’s whole mythos (“Hush”, for example), including both characters and storytelling types. “Hush” was twelve issues long; “Deadly Origin” is a third of that, and frankly doesn’t have enough room to cover all this history in a satisfactory manner. The result is a lot of one- or two-page sequences of varying quality, though all beautifully illustrated by Leon. The present story is fairly straightforward, but Raney’s art isn’t as successful, and the transition near the end from spy drama to quasi-space opera is a bit of a stretch. Cornell does write a number of good scenes, but it never really comes together as a whole, remaining less than the sum of its parts.
If you’re a big fan of the character, check it out; if you aren’t, I’m not sure this is the project to sell you on her.
: Before she steals the world’s heart in Iron Man II, get caught in the wicked web of Marvel’s sexiest and deadliest super-spy! She’s been everything from a Russian espionage agent to a Champion to an Avenger… now a skeleton from Natalia Romanova’s past is reaching out for those she’s loved and lost, and the Black Widow has many victims to choose from! From the frozen streets of Moscow to the upper stratosphere, writer Paul Cornell (Captain Britain and MI13) and artists Tom Raney (Dark Reign: Hawkeye) and John Paul Leon (The Winter Men) deliver a globe-hopping, bone-breaking, high-tech thriller that reveals how Natalia’s shadowy past threatens all she now holds dear. Guest-starring the Winter Soldier and Wolverine! Collects Black Widow: Deadly Origin #1-4.
Black Widow: Deadly Origin Premiere HC
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