DC comics book review: Fear Itself: Black Widow #1 Review

"> June 29, 2011 Marvel 0 comments Tweet

In the wake of the tragedy in DC, Black Widow is sent to France to stop a gang of terrorists from capitalizing on all the crazy brought on by Fear Itself!

Fear Itself: Black Widow #1

Believing Black Widow would be a bit too close to the situation revolving around Bucky’s death, Steve Rogers sends her to France where they’ve picked up transmissions revealing a terrorist cell’s plans to steal France’s nuclear weapons. With the assistance of winged hero of France Peregrine, Natasha is dropped into Marseille. She finds a church full of those looking for salvation from the terror that has been brought to Paris by Grey Gargoyle. Unfortunately for them, the terrorist group has invaded the church for the “war room” that was built below the structure. They successfully take the codes for all of France’s nukes and head to a boat where they plan to launch them. Natasha, captured while boarding the ship is interrogated briefly before appearing to be shot. Believing her to be dead, it turns out it is just a life model decoy with built in comm system (so she can say goodbye to them) and enough explosives to wipe them off the face of the planet.

I like Cullen Bunn’s work. I like Black Widow as a character. Together, this definitely held a lot of interest for me. I wish this could have been a longer mini because I do believe Natasha has a significant tie to what’s going on based on the events of Fear Itself #3. It’s touched upon at the beginning and end that she is going to be professional and work through Bucky’s death, but also feels like the good she did accomplish felt hollow. That’s what I wanted to see more of. I wanted to see her struggle with these feelings a little more.

However, I will say that I am not at all disappointed with what we did get. Simply put, we see Natasha be an honest to goodness spy. She sneaks. She kills. She saves the world from a bunch of nuclear weapons. While the first and third things mentioned are things we might see her do in Secret Avengers or a title of her own, we don’t always see her exercise her license to kill. There’s a darkness there that is going to be new to some readers who pick this up out of curiosity. Especially those who are checking her out for the first time in years. It was nice to see her playing at being a super spy instead of an Avenger.

The art team of Peter Nguyen, Craig Yeung, and Cory Hamscher, coupled with colorist Veronica Gandini, fits Natasha well. It has a sheen that showcases the character, but there’s a bit of grit too to showcase what she does best. I’d like to see this team tackle a full on Black Widow story beyond a one shot tie-in to an event.

My one, lone complaint is simple… Black Widow has the opportunity to serve as an emotional center to the crazy happening in Fear Itself. She could potentially carry a mini on her own, but instead of getting that kind of situation, she’s instead featured in this one shot and in the upcoming Secret Avengers #15. Both single issues are written by two different writers who will be approaching their issues in two different ways. Bunn is approaching it from the angle of having a character who’s got a bit of an edge to her dealing with bad guys in her way. Nick Spencer will probably approach it as he has with his other issues of Secret Avengers – which will be a lot more emotional. We’re also seeing the character in this issue going to France whereas I’m thinking if Spencer’s story takes place after Bucky’s fall, we’ll see her right in the thick of it in DC. I can bet you he won’t be telling this story again because why should he? So my ultimate issue is that Natasha might be pulled too thin for someone who has deep ties to the recently killed. It worries me a little that the potential impact of what her character can bring will be lessened. So I just have to ask myself “Why didn’t they just give her a mini series instead of two, disconnected, one and done issues?”

Overall, if you like the Black Widow, you’ll like this book. Although, if you do like Black Widow, you’ll likely wonder why she isn’t getting more than she is in terms of tie-in material.

A COMIC BOOK BLOG RATINGProsConsActually a sharp book written by one of my new favorites, Cullen Bunn, with art that supports the story and the character nicely.Unfortunate editorial decision may have you wondering why give Black Widow two, individual spotlight issues. Rating70%

All Fear Itself reviews:

Fear Itself: #1 | #2 | #3 |

Fear Itself: The Home Front: #1 | #2 | #3

Fear Itself: Spider-Man: #1 | #2 |

Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt: #1 | #2 |

Journey Into Mystery: #622 | #623 | #624 |

Invincible Iron Man: #503 | #504 | #505 |

Avengers: #13 | #14 |

Secret Avengers: #13 | #14 |

Avengers Academy: #15 |

Fear Itself: Black Widow: #1 |

For more visit our Fear Itself tag @ acomicbookblog.com/tag/fear-itself

Tags: Black Widow Fear Itself

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Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Fear Itself: Black Widow #1 Review

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