Black Widow #1 - Marvel Comics

BLACK WIDOW No. 1, June 2020

Whilst there are undoubtedly some intriguing notions behind Kelly Thompson’s script for Issue One of “Black Widow”, the premise that Natasha Romanoff doesn’t actually know who she is must have struck many of this title’s followers as an odd choice of narrative for the first instalment of the Avenger’s new ongoing series. Indeed, this publication’s distinct lack of action, at least once its introductory sequence has concluded, debatably doesn’t provide much in the way of entertainment at all, unless the odd perusing bibliophile has a penchant for super-heroes rescuing cardboard coffee trays from being blown off skyscraper-tall building sites.

Admittedly, the idea of Arcade brainwashing the titular character into believing she is an architect living “in the heart of San Francisco” provides the “best-selling” writer’s somewhat sedentary plot with a modicum of interest, especially when it is revealed that the Black Widow has been brainwashed for at least the past forty-seven days. Yet the super-villain’s evident annoyance at not being allowed to kill the Russian clone isn’t probably half as frustrating as reading about Romanoff tediously buying a Chinese takeaway, purchasing a motorcycle and trying to save the day from litter.

As a result, this comic’s highlight most likely lies in its excellent, pulse-pounding opening, which wonderfully demonstrates all of Natasha’s skills as a former Red Room operative as she bashes her way through a corridor packed full of thugs so as to steal a hidden hard-drive. To make matters even more enjoyable though, the spy is stealthily shadowed by the likes of both Hawkeye and Captain America, who really help imbue her “last minute cloak and dagger” mission with an added sense of urgent importance and nostalgia.

Unfortunately, as with this comic’s pedestrian pacing, Elena Casagrande’s layouts also suffer once the secret agent’s lifestyle becomes much more sedentary. The Italian artist pencils a truly awe-inspiring double-splash depicting a bare-footed Black Widow besting a gang of pistol-carrying goons, but once Thompson moves things forward “three months”, there is little room for dynamism apart from when Romanoff races home across the Golden Gate bridge on her new motorbike; “Afraid I’ve wrecked our dinner… All that cool weather and high speed… Dim Sum will be dead cold.”

The regular cover art of "BLACK WIDOW" #1 by Adam Hughes