Catch-up Reading: Black Widow #4, 5 and 6

written by Chris Samnee and Mark Waid
drawn by Chris Samnee
colored by Matt Wilson

The problem with working all the time is having the comics I collect basically just pile up, as a result of which the next few reviews I will write will be completely out-of-date; anyone who would want to read these issues will have to raid the back-issue stacks.

Anyway, Chris Samnee and Mark Waid have finally wrapped up their first story arc on their new Black Widow series, and man, was it a good read. It had its flaws, but it was, overall, extremely entertaining, especially for a relatively fledgling writer.

In issue #4, Black Widow recovers from injuries suffered in the previous issue, then confronts the headmistress of the Red Room and a former rival of hers who has now become the top assassin. She obtains the intelligence she was sent to get by the mysterious Weeping Lion, but with the knowledge that the new Red Room and its deadly new recruits, headed by her old rival, are very much a threat.

In issue #5, Black Widow meets with Agent Elder of S.H.I.E.L.D., under the watchful eye of the Weeping Lion's minions, who attack when they realize that Widow, still in possession of the intelligence the Weeping Lion sent her to retrieve, is about to betray them. The consequences for the Widow are significant.

In issue #6, with one of her darkest secrets revealed, the Black Widow must now strike back at the Weeping Lion with every ounce of skill and cunning she can muster, and this is no mean task, as the revelation of the last issue now has set Iron Man on her trail.

In my last review, I wondered out loud just how shocking Black Widow's secrets were that the Weeping Lion was threatening to reveal, and speculated that a retcon would be involved. As it turned out, I was partially right, though to be fair to Samnee and Waid, it is a bit of a "behind the scenes" retcon or something that could plausibly be slotted into the original story, much like Ed Brubaker's "untold" stories of Bucky's World War II adventures. I wasn't particularly thrilled with the retcon, but I thought Samnee and Waid handled it well enough to forgive the little cliche.

Samnee's art remains the star here; he's really reaching new heights as a visual storyteller, and the fact that he's only a few steps away from writing and drawing on his own makes him a truly formidable creator in the mold of John Byrne, Walter Simonson and Dave Sim to name but a few. I know that writers who are also artists aren't exactly rare, but few of them can tell stories with this much visual pop. Still, Samnee has yet to take the final step and do the scripting on his own. I suspect we'll be seeing that soon enough.

I really enjoyed the pacing of this six-issue arc, which wrapped up quite neatly with plenty of material for future stories, especially those involving the revitalized Red Room.

8/10 for issue #4
8/10 for issue #5
8.5/10 for issue #6