Wednesday 15 January 2014

Black Widow #1 Review

Writer: Nathan Edmondson
Artist: Phil Noto

How will the Black Widow's atonement start? Read on to find out.

The official description from Marvel:

You've seen Black Widow as an Avenger and even an Agent of Shield. But on her own time she searches for atonement for her past as a KGB assassin—in ways of which those teams just wouldn't approve. From the darkest corners of the Marvel Universe, Nathan Edmonson (Who is Jake Ellis?) and Phil Noto (Thunderbolts, X-23) bring you a new ongoing series as gorgeous and mysterious as Nastasha Romanov herself!

I personally am always a bit sceptical over series staring characters the likes of Black Widow, as despite loving the characters they can sometimes be handled very poorly. This however wasn't the case here with the style and tone of this first issue being brilliant.

Nathan Edmondson did an excellent job of taking this Avenger and putting her back into the environment that she's best suited to. I enjoy seeing Black Widow as an Avengers but as she doesn't really get used properly it's fitting that she's got her own ongoing series again. Edmondson handled the espionage part of this series perfectly, adding great tone and atmosphere. It was also nice to see Widow try to atone for her past sins, as it adding a bit more humanism to the story. On top of this I loved the amazing dialogue which was at times slightly amusing and others very gritty and serious.

Artist Phil Noto also didn't fail to impress reminding me why I love his artwork. The detail to Noto's art was simply phenomenal, being very consistent throughout and along with the smooth flowing layout it made this issue very pleasant to read. Noto also produced some very exciting sequences that were very lively, almost jumping off the page. The character expressions were also shown perfectly, adding a lot of emotion and realism to the story. It was however Noto's fantastic colours that I enjoyed the most as they suited the tone of the story brilliantly.

This was a terrific opening issue to Black Widow's new solo series and probably one of the best that she's ever had. I for one look forward to reading more from this series and hope that Edmondson does just as good a job in the upcoming Punisher series. Highly recommended.

Rating: 9/10

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