The Final Countdown
As the cover implies, we get a Black Widow and Punisher team-up, as Natasha searches for answers that will lead her to a secret terrorist organization. As you can expect with a Black Widow/Punisher team-up, a lot of bad guys get shot and there is a general lack of empathy for human life. One thing that this book does so well is the action beats. Panel by panel Phil Noto creates action with fluid motion and his murky style. Just looking at the cover, even though Natasha is simply sitting still, the way the ink smears, creates a depth to the art that makes you think Widow will pull that gun down and light your ass up. This issue may feel cliché, as there is a bomb, and the heroes have to get out at the last minute as the clock hits 0:01, but really it plays to the books strengths and it's just fun to go along for the ride.
Black Widow is a great spy, and it's good to see her sneak around and get the jump on people, but it's even funnier when villains get the drop on her. Since most of the scenes are action beats, writer Nathan Edmondson has to perfect the inner monologue. We get to see how Widow thinks and feels in different situations and the monologue is not over done, which is a trap that most writers fall into. ...I'm looking at you Batman. The only down side to this high action series, is we don't get to see Widow interact with other characters for very long. The past few issues has seen Natasha meet up with Daredevil, Hawkeye, Winter Solider, and now Punisher, but they barely say more than a few lines to one another. Sometimes that is all that is needed. However, if this book wants to have staying power and be the definitive Black Widow run that I know it can be, it will need some supporting characters for Natasha to bounce off of. She reluctantly has a cat, and that's a start, let's build on that.
If you are a fan of the character from the movies, this will be a welcome introduction to the comic world. The book is only on issue #9, and the first collection of issues 1-6 hit stands last week. Marvel has been making a real effort to provide female lead books with quality creative teams and it is important to support this trend. The creative team is capitalizing on Black Widow's ass-kicking portrayal in the movies. I just hope they don't forget that we as readers want a complex character, and Black Widow is just that.
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