Black Widow, Vol. 1: The Finely Woven Thread by Nathan EdmondsonMy rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Black Widow is definitely going up my list of kickbutt heroines to die for. Her backstory is tragic and conflicted, and it informs the choices she makes. Black Widow is trying to make up for the red in her ledger when she worked as a KGB agent. She takes missions so she can send money to the families of people she hurt back in the day. And she navigates the spider's web of the world she inhabits, where black and white doesn't exist.
Phil Noto has such a distinctive art style. It is very retro, and his color palette is muted. But it works. The action is rendered so excellently, and with this storyline, that's an absolute must. The writing is excellent as well. Storylines are twisted without being convoluted or incomprehensible, very much an asset with the graphic novel format, where there isn't a lot of room for long descriptions or narratives. Together Noto and Edmonson make an excellent team. The Spider motif is conveyed excellently without being too blatant. If I had one quibble, I wasn't sure about the Cyrillic. It doesn't seem to translate very well. I admit I am a novice to Russian, but from what I know I'm not sure about it being accurate.
I can't say there's anything I didn't like about this volume. I am hooked and find this to be one of the stronger Marvel NOW titles I've read.
If I had to recruit a team of kickbutt artists, Black Widow would definitely be on my list!
Overall rating: 4.5/5.0 stars.
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