By Robin Jones
Written by Nathan Edmondson
Art/Colours by Phil Noto
Marvel’s All New NOW titles are continuing their march towards comic book domination, and where better to start a new series than with that red haired, bad-ass ex KGB agent Black Widow. With the success of Scarlett Johanson as Ms Natasha Romanov in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it stands to reason that Marvel would want to capitalise. therefore, it comes as no surprise that they have released Black Widow #1.
Following in the footsteps of the highly successful Hawkeye, we follow the exploits of Natasha Romanov during her “Downtime”, when she’s not being a covert operative for S.H.I.E.L.D or fully fledged member of the Avengers. Unlike Agent Barton though, Romanov’s motivation is atonement for her past and tackling the demons within. Edmondson deals nicely with the Widow’s past, weaving several fake histories into the narrative and giving precedence to the fact that this is about the here and now. Romanov states “no one will ever know my full story” and Edmondson’s writing reflects this, keeping the focus on that fact that whilst influenced by her past, this story will not be controlled by it.
The book isn’t light on action and espionage, with Romanov dealing with several high intensity situations and double bluffing her way through them, utilising her reputation and turning expected outcomes on their heads. Her motivation and the puzzle of just who Romanov is make up the bulk of the story, but there are several attempts at humour throughout, however, sometimes this falls flat on its face. At one point, a henchman repeatedly says the words “gets” instead of “get”, whilst I understand that this is a play on the old stereotype of gangsters, it gets irritating due to how rapidly it’s repeated. Natasha’s handler and financial adviser is a character known as Isaiah, who is meant to provide us with how the “average” character sees Natasha. This just seems to bring him across as callous and money driven, suggesting that Romanov do more and more “hits” to help increase the size of her trust funds. I know he’s meant to be the Q to her 007, but again it falls short.
Phil Noto’s art is solid and elegant. From his all out action sequences to the nicely handled back-story sequences, which drip with film-noir nuances and a cinematic style, Noto’s art stands out from most other comics that are out there. He pays a fine attention to detail, beatifully crafting each panel and his washed out, dulled down colours lend weight to the comics overall tone.
Whilst packing a strong punch and having many things going for it, Black Widow #1 unlike it’s protagonist, was slightly off target. I’m sure with later issues the precision of the writing and the humour will become slicker as it forges an identity for itself in the new Marvel world order, but for now, the comic comes off as a Hawkeye wannabe, a pretender to Fraction and Aja’s crown. Keeping the noir undertone, the quest for attonement and focus on Romanov’s present will all help in expediting this. For now though, stick to Hawkguy.
I give this 5 out of 10
Click HERE to view the Black Widow Vol. 5 series!
For more comic views and reviews follow Robin on Twitter at @Hulksmash1985
Posted on January 18th, 2014
Category: PULP FRICTION, REVIEWS
Tags: avengers, Black Widow, Hawkeye, marvel comics, Natasha Romanov, Nathan Edmondson, Phil Noto, Robin Jones, Scarlett Johanson
By Kulbir Mann
The women in his life do cause him a lot of stress, but lets face facts; his partners suffer significantly more.
The answer to this question is, of course, an unequivocal no. However the women in his life do cause him a lot of stress, but lets face facts; his partners suffer significantly more. He is one of the few characters that I can think of that has had a succession of women in his life, and they do play an important part in his development. This leads onto the commonly held aphorism, women in refrigerators, which essentially means that female characters are only used to progress the plot and character of the male protagonist. It is based upon Alexandra DeWitt who was found dead in the above kitchen appliance for Kyle Rayner to find on the day he received his powers. Is this plot device used in Daredevil? Is Matt Murdock a horrendous secret misogynist? Why do his women all seem to die?
Before Matt became Daredevil there was Elektra Natchios, who he met at Columbia university as a student. She was amazing, intelligent, strong, confident and daughter to a wealthy Greek ambassador. They had a sweet romance that appeared to blossom through their time together. As with most superhero romances it led to disaster. She was kidnapped together with her father, as part of a terrorist ploy. This was part of the evolution of Daredevil, as he donned the mask and attempted the rescue. Unfortunately this led to the death of her father and the end to their relationship. She left the United States in order to learn martial arts, empowered by her lust for revenge. Matt tried his best to stop her but they would not meet again until she returned an assassin. Their reconciliation was not as Matt would have hoped, as she was part of the ninja organisation known as the Hand; enemies of Daredevil. They had a difficult relationship and often fought together but never as one. Until the day Bullseye ended her life on a rooftop, using one of her own sai. It is one of the most horrific deaths in comic lore, and the image is recollected with ease to every avid reader. Matt would wreak vengeance for her death but it would not be the first lover Bullseye would kill. Elektra was the ideal woman and in her death, we saw Daredevil’s first great tragedy. In her resurrection we can see that she was not just a character device for Matt but continued to many a story as a loved deadly assassin.
Until the day Bullseye ended her life on a rooftop, using one of her own sai. It is one of the most horrific deaths in comic lore, and the image is recollected with ease to every avid reader.
Karen Page was as tragic as they come. Her relationship began as an infatuation for Daredevil, whilst being Matt’s secretary. After her father becomes a super villain and tries to kill Daredevil, he reveals himself to her and they begin a difficult romance. She struggles with his alter ego and the risk he puts on himself night in night out. She eventually leaves him unable to take the stress, and is lured by the bright lights of Hollywood.
Those lights turned out to be red and shady as she ends up working as a pornographic actress. Her jones for heroin leads her to sell the most precious of commodities: Daredevils secret identity. This leads to a very clever play by Kingpin to ruin Murdock’s existence. Slowly but surely he targets all aspects of his life and pulls the thread, leaving Matt a whimpering wreck. He falls into the hands of the church and his mother, a nun. Religion and redemption run thick through the born again storyline, as a resurrected Matt forgives Karen, and stitches his life back together.
They begin anew but Karen is forever in his debt. As strong as their love is, she struggles with her sordid past, even as Matt holds her tight. She leaves him again but only to return with…wait for it…AIDS!
Karen is a character used in a religious Daredevil book to represent the power of forgiveness. Unfortunately for her, the sins are too big to forgive as she becomes involved with Daredevil’s hallucinations, and caught in a massive church crossfire. A billyclub to the heart courtesy of Bullseye takes her from this world, and hopefully to a better place for her. I genuinely feel for Karen and her story is one of plight. Daredevil is distraught after she dies, as she was his most long-term and loved of companions.
Religion seems to leave Daredevil for the foreseeable future as he enters a world of low mood, depression and extreme social unrest. Bendis and Brubaker take him through a dark period, where he is sombre and only takes solace in Foggy. He meets Milla Donovan, who helps him through to the light; she is blind too. Milla was a lovely lady who liked Matt for whom he was and accepted his blindness in a way no one else could. In Milla, he found someone who was normal. She had a regular life, no traumas or strains but had to deal with her blindness, which she did very well. Her story takes her through many difficult Daredevil situations, revolving around his long drawn out struggle with his identity, and old enemies/girlfriends attacking at any time. She remained strong enough to actually marry Murdock but this was soon annulled, as she succumbs to the mental torture inflicted by hallucinogenics and Mr Fear. She was left hospitalised in a mental institution with no hope of recovery, leaving Matt alone once more. Milla was a true innocent who made no bad decisions, and had no major turmoil in her life except the day she met Matt Murdock. With all the damage inflicted to these three women, it is easy to envisage why Matt was a continuous grey cloud over a graveyard of ex-girlfriends.
Milla remained strong enough to actually marry Murdock but this was soon annulled, as she succumbs to the mental torture inflicted by hallucinogenics and Mr Fear.
Not all his relationships were troublesome, some women survived unscathed. He dated Black widow for a time and they parted without disaster or death, leaving a healthy friendship behind. He also had a brief romance with a girl called Echo who was deaf. She had the ability to copy any action and replicate it to perfection. Their jousting was beautiful and the relationship ended too soon. His latest romance was with Dakota North who was hired as an investigator with the law firm. That ended through circumstance more than genuine personal strife. His new optimistic attitude, that Mark Waid has provided, even saw a brief fling with Black Cat. However that was more a strategic position on behalf of Black Cat but Matt seemed relatively cheerful. So it is not all doom and gloom but the damage done from having two deaths and one mental breakdown is immeasurable.
With his new optimistic attitude that Mark Waid has provided, Matt even had a brief fling with the Black Cat.
If we look at the women in refrigerators argument, some of his relationships do apply. I feel Karen Page was a feasible character to begin with, as she spent a long period of time with Matt before embarking on a film career. It was then she became the turning point for Matt’s despair and then their resolution from religion. This was unfair on her, especially with the revelation of AIDS. Milla’s story was tragic and played a similar role, but without a religious theme. How did he move on from his guilt? He did technically date Dakota whilst still being married. His relationship with Elektra was different and she was not a plot developer, and this is not just because she returned from the dead. Her death was part of her own story and not just Matt’s. So there are clearly cases from Daredevil’s history of the use of women to develop his character.
Daredevil is not a character with many friends. He has Foggy Nelson who is his bungling dedicated law partner and companion. He had Stick who was his trainer and mentor for many a year, long gone. There is the odd character that does enter and leave his life but Matt is a solitary character. Recently he has joined the Avengers but this is in keeping with his new persona. With all the love interests in his life, are they key to his character? This may have been true of the past Murdock, and they certainly have been key to his happiness but at present this does not run true. After the Daredevil reborn series we saw a change in him, what this was, outside of a change in mindset, is unknown. It was much needed and welcomed but does this mean he is not interested in women? Can Waid Murdock have a relationship in Marvel Now, which is different to his previous ones? Is his character now independent of a romantic angle, and if this is true then what are we insinuating about the role of his female love interests? He may be less dependent and be able date someone on a more equal level, but there are few relationships that last in comics. Even Lois and Clark are not together in current continuity, and the biggest relationship disaster occurred in Identity Crisis many years ago. I think we are done with these storylines, and I think it is unfair on women that they are often bear the brunt in the aftermath. I would like to think the same fate would await the male love interests of female heroes but this has rarely been touched upon.
Daredevil and his “best friend” Foggy Nelson
I wonder whether a modern day big superhero can manage a decent relationship storyline with anyone. I can only think of Luke Cage and his family in recent times, which was an interesting reflection of a family man in the Avengers. Ultimately he left the helm and I wonder if this is the ultimate end to all superhero relationships. Someone dies, becomes maimed, kidnapped, mentally tortured or they both leave the hero world altogether, to keep themselves alive and in love. I feel that Daredevil is reflective of the issues involved in romantic love interests and their consequences in the comic world as a whole. I do not believe it is his character, or Daredevil persona, that is the reason for the ill fate begetting his girlfriends, outside the fact that they will always be targeted by enemies of Daredevil. It is a systemic problem in comics and I would welcome someone writing a new angle on these often depressing and sad stories.
For more comic views and reviews follow Kulbir on Twitter at @Kooliebear and check out his website over at houseofflyingscalpels.com
Click here to view Daredevil Vol. 2 comics
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Posted on December 31st, 2012
Category: DEVIL IN THE DETAIL, NEWS & VIEWS
Tags: Black Cat, Black Widow, Comic Review, Daredevil, DEVIL IN THE DETAIL #003 – “IS DAREDEVIL HAPPY BECAUSE HE DOESN'T HAVE A GIRLFRIEND?", Elektra, Karen Page, Kulbir Mann, marvel comics, Matt Murdock
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