Black Widow 11, Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier 1

Black Widow 11

Black Widow knows her attorney's gone missing and she is not thrilled about it. With the suspicious intel of Tori Raven and the help of X-23 (who, I suspect, has teamed up with Natasha thanks to events that we maybe were already supposed to know about from the aftermath of DEATH OF WOLVERINE, though I don't know that that's true and I certainly don't want to do research on such a thing), she storms the casino where Isaiah is being held and makes it up to the top floor, where she finds that Isaiah has been taken away by his captors and a bomb has been left in their place. Natasha and Laura manage to evade the bomb and catch up with the helicopter leaving the casino. Natasha keeps X-23 from killing one of the men, hoping for answers, and keeps Isaiah from keeping Rashid, the man Natasha once saved long ago. However, Rashid forces her to let him go from the helicopter, plunging into a pool below and surviving, but not before muttering that "they hadn't told him about this part," leading Natasha to suspect something about CHAOS, assuming it is them behind this, has to do with some sort of precognitive ability. This seems confirmed when we see, after Natasha, Laura, and Isaiah have successfully left the casino area, Tori take a call from the people at CHAOS and imply once more that they have access to future information.

On top of the gorgeous art of this book which, hopefully, you have checked out by now, one of the great things about this book is the tone and atmosphere of the story. I've already talked at length (perhaps ironically) about the terse dialogue and narration of the book, which makes the book move really quickly and keeps Natasha's character pretty well-defined while still ensuring to keep things decidedly close to the vest, even with the ever-present and unseen audience. However, in the broader sense, Edmondson is doing a fantastic job keeping CHAOS out there and somewhere on the outskirts. It's the same sort of thing you see in a lot of spy or crime series. One notable example is the tandem of Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, the first two Daniel Craig James Bond movies. The end of Casino Royale introduces this new apparently anti-MI6 terrorist group called Quantum and then Quantum of Solace, which picks up just minutes after the end of Casino Royale, goes on to illustrate them as this ubiquitous group that hides in plain sight, showing Bond that he can't trust anyone and forcing him to rely only on himself and anyone he can tangibly prove isn't working with the organization. In just 11 short issues (and far fewer concerning CHAOS), Edmondson has nicely planted the seeds to view this group in that sort of light, some sort of ubiquitous but unseen enemy that is constantly closing in on Natasha. It's a perfect adversary for her and it's presented brilliantly by both Edmondson and Noto. It's classic spy stuff and it's so far striking the perfect balance that makes them a massive threat but not something that requires Avengers attention on it (always a worry in a shared universe: why didn't so-and-so just call the Avengers? They can't ALWAYS be off-world!). Really great book just doing what it does, continuing to be really great.

Total Score: 5/5


Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier 1

Bucky Barnes has taken on Nick Fury's role as "man on the Wall," the guy who protects the planet from interstellar threats before they can even make it to Earth. This first issue finds him all over the galaxy with his chosen sidekick-who-isn't-a-sidekick Daisy Johnson. They start on a planet, kill a dude, take a weird little pet off the planet, investigate a drug trade through Atlantis, and team up with Namor only to find that the drug dealer's middle man was Loki and then the drug dealer is killed by someone else who seems impossible to identify in the murkiness of the final page.

I hate to say "I told you so" but I especially hate to say "I told you so" to myself, who was really starting to eagerly anticipate this book. I have had my problems with Kot in the past (I think SECRET AVENGERS is all over the place and certainly has become a book that isn't for me, a thing I hate dealing with because I still force myself to read every book like some dummy. I also think Kot really wants you to know that he's smart and thoughtful and progressive, something I would honestly have believed if he just wrote books I like because I think writers who can make good books ARE smart and thoughtful and progressive and don't always need to have an agenda LOOK, we're on a tangent again) and they're all coming right to a head here as he loads each page with dialogue and exposition and throws it all at us over Marco Rudy's really specific art style. One of the problems with that is that Rudy's art style involves using space on the page in a way that's very rarely, if ever, done. There are a lot of circular panels in the middle of a page that kind of branch out to create the rest of the page's layout and, when used effectively, create a really neat and unique sort of page. Here, though, it's really hard to follow the art because the words are so very present and it's a struggle just to find your way around the story, meaning you can't really make room for the art. Hopefully this is something that will settle out as the book continues (which is certainly a possibility as the two become more comfortable working with one another) because I still want to believe this book has potential. I just need to stop rolling my eyes at it.

Total Score: 2/5

Captain America 22, Black Widow 8

Captain America 22
Remender (w) and Pacheco (p) and Taibo (i) and White w/Loughridge (c) and Caramagna (l)

Everyone needs a rest once in a while and I can't think of anyone in the Marvel Universe after the past few months who needs one as badly as Captain America. The serum-less and frail Steve Rogers spends a day in his big bed at Avengers Mansion watching his reputation be tarnished and his ethics questioned by a number of SHIELD critics in the wake of Nrosvekistan and watching Louie while Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and (kind of) Thor try to find some trace of the serum in his blood and to restore him to Cap status. Steve is roused from his bed at last, though, when a portal to Dimension Z opens and Zola's minions come pouring out with Zola himself discussing his plans with the Red Skull.

I've said it before and I'll no doubt say it again: every book needs a sort of rest issue now and again to slow things down and to keep the intensity of the action-based issues high by giving something to compare against. That's what this is for CAPTAIN AMERICA, a solid rest issue that establishes where we stand right now and what we should be thinking about as the series continues (mostly Zola, Red Skull, the serum-less Cap, and the fact that Jet and Falcon have, against Falcon's better impulses, started up some sort of a relationship following a wine-fueled night). It's a very good book and one that manages to reset the pace and tone, exactly what Remender set out to do, while still not resting on its laurels, preferring to still push the plot forward.

Total Score: 5/5


Black Widow 8
Edmondson (w) and Noto (a and c) and Cowles (l)

While Isaiah tries to secure some funds for their operation, Black Widow has a new job: stealing back some key data for a client from a courier on a train in Prague, or a reverse train heist, as she calls it. She easily makes it on to the train and recovers the package but she's surprised when Winter Soldier turns up, hired to stop an international gang from robbing the train. They work together well to get off the train and evade the attacking gang but Natasha is shot in the leg in the process and the two make their way to an empty house for Bucky to patch her up and for them to plan the next move. Bucky insists that she leaves before the gang catches up to them, arguing that her job was to secure the briefcase and that his was to handle the gang. She accepts reluctantly and begins to leave before Bucky calls out to her again. Unable to say anything to her about their one-time relationship (thanks to Natasha's complete amnesia of it), he wishes her luck and she leaves. She returns home to find a new lead waiting for her from Maria Hill while Isaiah has been taken by some anonymous party.

It's no surprise for me to say that I absolutely adore this book and that this issue, one that teased a Winter Soldier appearance that would team the two for the first time since Natasha's memory wipe at the hands of Leo Novokov, had a particular draw for me. Edmondson and Noto deliver as the book is appropriately exciting and fast while also being layered and heart-breaking. Edmondson handles the team-up extraordinarily well, not letting on (save for a few quick lines that could go either way) until the very end that something is on Bucky's mind while making their interaction feel like two spies who are really good at their jobs and who have an obvious chemistry together. Noto continues to amaze as both Natasha and Winter Soldier look incredible (my girlfriend pointed out how consistent Noto is in Natasha's appearance, something that you can't always expect from this medium) and setting their fight against some gorgeous backgrounds and colors. Another month, another great BLACK WIDOW issue.

Total Score: 5/5

Black Widow 6, Punisher 5, Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 2

Black Widow 6
Edmondson (w) and Noto (a) and Cowles (l)

Black Widow has been captured and has spent her interrogation trying to learn what she can about her captors but it's only led her to realize that they're more scared than anything, desperately striking out while they can at anything that could give them information. She breaks out of her bonds when the time is right and begins to make her way down to Damon Dran, who has apparently reconstructed Molot Boga in the hopes that the new steel Hammer of God will be able to protect him from whatever's after him. Widow throws him overboard and captures Dran but whoever it is that's after him has infiltrated SHIELD to some extent as well, turning one of their officers who delivers a poisonous gas to Dran in his cell. Not knowing who she can trust, Natasha returns to her regular life and gets her new assignment from Isaiah.

Story
Edmondson is doing something really interesting with this series so far. He's telling quick stories, getting in and out with a good read on the character and a good sense of what these sorts of missions are. Of course, between this new ongoing plot line and the Iron Scorpion plot line from issue two, there are plenty of directions still to go out there but neither requires immediate action. Instead, they create an atmosphere around Natasha, one that shows the world seemingly closing in around her and closing her off (there's a nice theme through this one that she can't trust anyone and that it's possible she'll need friends going forward with Hawkeye tossed out as a possibility). 5/5

Character
The biggest character movements here are seeing Widow using her interrogation to learn more about her enemies, something not uncommon to Widow's character (even enough that it was referenced in The Avengers), and when she realizes just how alone she is. Seeing how she copes with that, if she decides to pursue allies or pushes forward alone, will show a lot about her character while also allowing us a glimpse behind her process. Really looking forward to it. 5/5

Writing
Edmondson, on top of getting in and out of stories relatively quickly, even the ones that he leaves open-ended to return to later, knows that fewer words can often tell more. There's limited dialogue and limited narration, never distracting from the story or the art but still doing more than enough to convey the plot and the character and everything else he may need to do. Natasha has always seemed a terse character and Edmondson isn't afraid to let her action do the talking. Of course, that's made easier when you have Phil Noto doing astonishing work on the book. 5/5

Art
Gorgeous book with phenomenal characters, solid emotion, great action, and perfect colors. I've already said it all about this series but Noto continues to impress. This issue kicks off with a full page panel of a close-up on Natasha's punched face and it still looks phenomenal. I put this issue down, as I do with seemingly every new release from this book, going "geez, this book is great to look at." 5/5

Miscellaneous
Man, it's going to get a five. It'd be nice if she had her memories of Bucky because NATASHA, I KNOW SOMEONE YOU COULD TRUST.

Total score: 5/5


Punisher 5
Edmondson (w) and Gerads (a) and Petit (l)

The Commandos after Frank tagged the coyote Loot with a tracker and waited while he traveled from Tuggs' place to Frank's hideout. Frank returns to Tuggs, freeing him from his binds, but doesn't have time to think on who attacked him as Electro has just shut down all power to the city. With the power out and the green light given, the Dos Sols attack every cop they can find, killing off police officers with abandon and creating havoc while their boss prepares to trigger the chemical weapon. Punisher finds him and manages to slow him down, nearly able to kill him, before Electro arrives and strikes at Punisher.

Story
The attack on LA is ramping up quickly as the Dos Sols begin to shoot cops and wrap their hand around the city. Guillermo, their leader, is ready to kill the city to show his strength and to advertise his gang to any who would join up. Meanwhile, the Commandos are still after Punisher and the other characters that have joined Frank's new life are all getting enough screen time to show that they'll warrant some attention here as well. Another strong outing from Edmondson as he shows a city in real chaos (which is, coincidentally, a buzzword in this week's BLACK WIDOW as well). 5/5

Character
It continues to be hard to judge Castle's character as he continues to be someone who plays things pretty close to the vest and doesn't have the benefit that, say, BLACK WIDOW has because there's not a lot of narration to show the reader what's really going through Frank's mind. Still, the speed with which he reacts to Loot's presence and his single-mindedness to stop the Dos Sols and Electro say a lot about him. Like with BLACK WIDOW (it's hard not to compare the books as they star protagonists who are similar in their demeanor and sort of in their skills and as they're both written by the same guy right now), Edmondson keeps it pretty short with Frank's dialogue and allows the art to do the talking for the character. It's strong work and it can be rare to see in a Marvel book but Edmondson is doing well in both his books. 5/5

Writing
Covered a lot of this section both in the story and character sections and in my BLACK WIDOW review, honestly. This story, obviously, is more of a traditional long arc than what B-Widz is going through right now but that makes sense with who Punisher is. You don't send Black Widow into a Punisher story any more than you'd send Punisher into a Black Widow story. Though they're presented in a similar fashion in some of the technical stuff, the stories are pretty diverse and I think Edmondson is showing a lot of poise in crafting them the way they need to be crafted. 5/5

Art
Mitch Gerads is doing really cool stuff with this book both in the action sequences and in the colors. It's a very dark book but he continues to mix in moments that are a bit lighter in their presentation if not in their tone, necessarily. Of course, this issue is largely darker because the power's gone out all around the city and cops are being killed in droves. Still, everyone has a very distinct look and Frank and Electro fighting has the sort of kinetic energy (and electric energy) that it should. 5/5

Miscellaneous
It's a testament to this book that I'm not sure I'm coming around a lot on Frank Castle as a character but I'm still finding this series remarkably engaging and well executed.

Total score: 5/5


Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 2
K. Andrews (w and a) and Caramagna (l)

Danny has to rush to K'un Lun, which isn't supposed to intersect with this plane for years still to come. Fortunately, he has a secret path back secreted away under Rand Tower, a way to teleport into the magic city. While the girl Brenda calls an ambulance for the messenger in Danny's apartment, Danny recalls more of his childhood, now remembering the crazed look in his mother's eye as she swears Danny to avenge his family on Harold and as she sacrifices herself to the wolves so Danny can make it to K'un Lun. Now he's apparently made it to K'un Lun, overrun by the cybernetic ninjas that attacked his apartment, where just days ago Davos, son of the original Thunderer, attacks his sister, who has since taken on the mantle of Thunderer while their father has taken on the role of Yu-Ti, leader of K'un Lun. When Danny finally arrives in K'un Lun, he finds it aflame with what seems to be a decapitated Shou-Lao front and center.

Story
Andrews really throws it all at us right at once, which is a gutsy move for someone delving so deep into K'un Lun history in just the second issue. We see Davos, we see the Thunderer, we see Shou-Lao, we see more Iron Fist origin, etc. It's kind of stunning all presented in there and it shows a lot of guts to hope that readers who may not know all of this will understand it as we push forward and that they'll stick with the book long enough to see how it fits together or where it's going. Still, the story itself is something of a mystery but what we need to know now is that there's discontent in K'un Lun and that someone somehow related to its past is transformed and attacking. It's an interesting story but we'll have to see where it goes now. 4/5

Character
There's a bit more to Danny revealed here particularly as Andrews ekes out the last bit of his childhood origin in this issue and as we get a slightly better sense of his voice through the narration and the way he views himself. We also get a quick tutorial in the way Davos thinks, which will undoubtedly be important, and we get a quick look at the new Yu-Ti (new-ish, anyway. I think this is one of the first times we've seen him acting as Yu-Ti). There are moving parts all around here and the story is at the forefront so there's maybe a little less character than the first issue's initial information dump but there's still a bit here to learn about. You can't expect every issue to come with major revelations. 4/5

Writing
The tone, helped along by the art and the color, is decidedly dark and hectic, all of which comes through pretty strongly here. Andrews deciding not to go into tons of detail about who these characters are and how their lives fit together may be a somewhat risky move in terms of keeping readers onboard but it makes sense as far as establishing a frantic tone and keeping an air of mystery to the book. It's a clever move, we'll just have to see if it pays off as we continue. 4/5

Art
Andrews' art continues to be pretty outstanding and the colors really help to set the tone effectively. The switches between looking at the present and looking at Danny's past are made more interesting and made easier to see as Andrews switches art forms a little bit and switches color palettes while also giving the past sections a more classic comic book faded feel. It's effective and it's useful to establish what's going on in a book that can come off so chaotic at times, intentional or not. 5/5

Miscellaneous
Another strong issue though there are real concerns about how vague and cryptic Andrews is going to be as we push forward. Obviously way too early to tell if this is a real concern just yet.

Total score: 4/5

Captain America 19, Black Widow 5

Captain America 19
Remender (w) and Klein (a) and White (c)

Steve is aboard the Gungnir as it fires on the two helicarriers in pursuit of it, two helicarriers the combined power of which couldn't so much as scratch it. The Gungnir's response is far more powerful, destroying the helicarriers immediately and showcasing the power of SHIELD's new devastating weapon. Steve allows himself no time to mourn just as he's been left no time to deal with the losses of Ian and Sharon. He pushes his way through the SHIELD agents guarding Mindbubble and Ran Shen and lashes out at them, quickly taking the upper hand in the fight. However, Shen sees he won't convince Steve and begins to transform into the Iron Nail as Mindbubble reappears and bubbles up Cap's head.

We knew this showdown was coming and we knew, as much as we maybe didn't want it to happen, that Cap would be mindbubbled sooner or later. For as much of a buildup as we've had waiting for these villains and our hero to meet, the key here is in the way all of the characters are presented. For Shen and Mindbubble, it's two old friends who believe in what they're doing even if they're aware it goes against the people they used to be. Though their methods and maybe even their philosophies are debatable, this issue humanizes them more than they've gotten throughout their runs in the series and it's a nice touch. On top of that, we see Cap pushing past everything he's been feeling lately and kind of taking control of his life again, even if it's maybe not that encouraging at this point and if it's not fully realized because, you know, now he's bubbled. Of course, Cap is always one of those characters who seems less susceptible to psychic attacks because his will is so strong, though we've seen him cave in the last year or so to Red Skull's psychic attacks and the likes. ANYWAY, what I was getting to is that there's a solid Cap scene here where he recognizes for the first time since Dimension Z that he's Captain America and, though this would break other men, he can't afford to act like other men. There's even a nice characterization bit for Jet here, who only has one line this issue, when we see her feet propped up on the coffee table as she watches the news. Welcome to Earth, Jet; we're pretty chill here.

Black Widow 5
Edmondson (w) and Noto (a and c)

Natasha, in a bind for information about the Hammer of God and who he's working for, turns to and old acquaintance (though new to this universe, as near as I can tell) named Tori Raven. Raven tells her that the monk is Molot Boga and that he's a former Russian Orthodox monk who was kicked out for his violent mood swings and now he works for some one putting his faith to murderous action. Raven wasn't able to figure out for whom he works but knows that he's going to blow up a plane within two hours. Natasha rushes off to the airport indicated and finds that she's just too late as she tries to shoot Boga while he fires a rocket launcher. She doesn't stop him in time and he hits the plane. The two battle while the plane goes down and Natasha finally gets the upper hand as she pushes him back just far enough to get sucked into the 747's turbine. She hurries on to the plane to try to help the passengers but discovers, as things get weirder and weirder, that there's only one passenger aboard. SHIELD questions him but he won't say who his attacker is or who bought out the entire plane for him. Raven calls Natasha and tells her that she can find answers to some of her questions on a boat just off the coast of Montenegro. Natasha heads that way but discovers that she's been sold out as she's surrounded by boats and brought on to the main boat she was after only to learn that her captor is Damon Dran, the indestructible man, who is off-site and seemingly in hiding from whatever it is she's after.

There's so much happening here as this book continues to build its first full storyline. Edmondson has done something incredible with this book already and he's going, it seems, in all the right directions with it. After spending the first few issues establishing Natasha's character and showing her in action, he's now building up the world around her, a world that heavily includes informants, Maria Hill, Isaiah, and presumably others as we push forward. The other thing that Edmondson is doing well, particularly so early into this run, is really illustrating Natasha as a character who takes what she does very seriously and who is very good at what she does but who certainly isn't perfect. This issue's narration focuses heavily on the importance of intel and Edmondson makes sure we know that Natasha feels naked without the intelligence she needs, which is why she dives so readily into the water to chase down the boat at the end; it has all the makings of a trap but she's so desperate for sound intelligence that she's willing to chase down any lead. It's a good issue, maybe not the best so far of the run (taking into account how amazing the run has been), but it's certainly setting some things up for the future and, of course, Phil Noto's art remains incredible. I can't articulate any better, I feel like, how good this run is.

Hawkeye 17, Black Widow 4

Hawkeye 17
Fraction (w) and Eliopolous and Aja (a) and Bellaire (c)

Back in issue six of HAWKEYE, Clint was invited into Simone's apartment to watch some holiday specials with her kids. This issue brings us back to those heady days with a frame of Clint sitting on the couch with the kids before all the pages between the first and last show us that cartoon, entitled "Winter Friends." The Winter Friends are a superhero group consisting of animals representing various holidays (including Santalope, the Kwanzaagator, the llama Rama-in-Pajamas, and Menorable, a cat with a menorah on its head) and they're up against one of their biggest foes yet: Mister Sun, who is turning the winter into summer, meaning no one needs the feeling of warmth and kinship provided by the winter holidays. With all of the Winter Friends defeated, Steve, the dog with no powers that they hang out with for some reason, is called into action. Joined by his smaller sidekick dog Lil and his brudder dog Herman, they set off to find the Winter Friends. They're attacked by the Dingoes, a bunch of tough dogs who slow up the three dogs. Eventually, three friend dogs Birdie, Lady, and Spooky jump in the fight and help Steve and his friends, despite his continued insistence that he can do it all by himself. He sets off alone for the sun palace and attacks Mister Sun, though he can't really do much against him without any powers. Steve continues the fight, though, because he's not going to let people get away with things just because no one will fight them. Eventually his other dog friends show up and save the Winter Friends, who summon Mother Winter to help them defeat Mister Sun. Before she goes, she calls Steve a good dog. Later, at the multidenominational pantheistic all-inclusive seasonal festivities, Steve thanks Lil for her help and admits he couldn't have done it without her. This lesson, though, may be lost on Clint, who has fallen asleep on the couch.

OKAY, first things first, I was totally wrong in my pre-game this week when I said this was promised to be "the dog issue of sign language issues." BUT, IN MY DEFENSE, the site I use to see what comics are out in a given week lied to me first. Now, about this issue, it's absolutely great. HAWKEYE has found this incredible little niche where it's able to do just absolutely insane things seemingly at will and, guess what, they always pull it off. This is a series that wasn't expected to go past about six issues; according to Fraction himself on the recent LiveWire podcast, he was on his way out of comics in that people were starting to stop calling when HAWKEYE was set to kick off. On top of that, Hawkeye never lasts more than about six issues whenever someone starts up a new series about him. Instead, it took off and did really well, well enough to justify issues like the dog issue and the time-bending and the interesting storytelling and so on. So it does unheard of things (which I think has also inspired Marvel to allow others to try new things, sometimes working and sometimes not) and, most importantly, it always pulls them off and are always worth reading. This issue has series regular artist David Aja illustrating the first and last page, the frame with Clint, and series regular letterer and children's book artist and cartoonist Chris Eliopolous drawing all the pages in between to give it a real sense of a cartoon holiday special. It's incredibly well done and the beats are all funny and sweet as Steve attacks everyone who tries to help him. Perhaps the funniest part is when Birdie, Spooky, and Lady appear as the comic drops all pretenses of passing for a regular special (Birdie, Spooky, and Lady, who represent Mockingbird, Black Widow, and Spider-Woman respectively, all very obviously have explicit ties to their counterparts). Things start to get more and more obvious throughout the issue, presumably as Clint loses any grip on the show as he falls asleep. Really great stuff in here and very, very sweet. If you came here for the ongoing story of the HAWKEYE series, this one may disappoint you, as, you know, it's a children's holiday special set in a HAWKEYE issue that was over ten issues ago. However, if you're here because you've liked what the book has done so far, you'll love it.

Black Widow 4
Edmondson (w) and Noto (a and c)

Black Widow gets caught up in an assassination plot when she's sent to go plant bugs in a foreign embassy only to have the embassy blown up while she's outside. She spots the bomber and gives chase over the rooftops but, when she catches up to him, he mutters a Russian word and cracks a hole in the ceiling of the church they're standing on, sending them both to the ground. Natasha blacks out with a broken arm while her assailant escapes. Her next step, under the authority of Maria Hill, is to spy on a meeting in the Cabinet of Ministries in the Ukraine to find what they know. She finds that they haven't authorized this man, Molot Boga, but that his next target is the Croatian ambassador, who will soon be stopping off in South Africa. Sure enough, when the ambassador arrives, Molot Boga is standing in the middle of the street, giant machine guns blazing. Natasha tries to intercept but has some trouble with accuracy with her broken arm. Still, she gets a couple of shots on him, though it seems to do him no harm. He calls himself the Hammer of God and continues to rail bullets against her. When he runs out on his giant machine gun, he fires a grenade at her, knocking her back into a storefront and giving him the opportunity to assassinate his target. He's in the wind before she can recover. She vows to follow him and meets with Hill to procure what she needs. Meanwhile, Molot meets with his benefactor, the man Molot may believe is God, and tells him that his next target is hard to kill and recommends that he destroy the plane the man is coming in on, regardless of the casualties.

This series has done something really interesting in its layout, something that comic books don't tend to do these days. BLACK WIDOW spent its first three issues creating this Natasha and showing her doing her work around the world. Some of it, of course, has seeds that will be harvested later, but the first three issues were more episodic than serial, in that you could follow the action and the character choices but, by the end of the issue, the story was over. Of course, the Iron Scorpion is someone likely to return but the story he first appeared in here ended with the issue, not a "to be continued" sort of thing. I think it served the series well. Natasha is a character, as I mentioned in my review for SECRET AVENGERS this week, who tends to flummox writers some, unsure if they should make her somewhat maniacal or somewhat unhinged or completely cold and efficient or, you know, more human. This series has a very clear view of Natasha, a very human view, and so sets about establishing that before it tries anything else. HAWKEYE, actually, was not too too different. Of course, there were even more seeds at the start of that series, with appearances by the tracksuit draculas and a slew of supervillains and so on, but every issue ended without an explicit "to be continued." Most books now immediately plunge into arcs within the first or second issue. Here, though, Edmondson and Noto have chosen to give the audience some time to get into the character and the style of storytelling before getting us into a full story. I think it's going to really pay off. Another wonderful issue with absolutely gorgeous art. Phil Noto's Natasha may be my favorite Natasha. Amazing stuff.

Black Widow 3, Iron Man 21

Black Widow 3
N. Edmondson (w) and Noto (a and c)

Natasha's been hired to break a man out of a prison sentence in Argentina for crimes he did not commit. The job pays well and it's one that's not particularly hard for someone as good as she is. On her way out the door to head to Argentina from her Little Russia home, she comes across her neighbor Ana, who has a black eye from the husband Natasha has told her to leave. She has no time to dwell on this and goes to Argentina, successfully breaking her charge, a man named Angelo, out of the prison. She takes down every guard in their path non-lethally, refusing even to carry a gun in the situation, telling Angelo that these are good men just doing their jobs and that his wrongful imprisonment is no reason to take it out on them. She has to leave him at a riverbed for a moment while she attends to guards on foot and, while she's gone, Angelo murders one of the guards and tosses him into the river, telling Natasha when she returns that he slipped. When Natasha and Angelo meet up with Angelo's contact and their extraction, Natasha hears the man call Angelo "lobo blanco," the white wolf. As they begin to take off, she realizes who the man is, someone known as the butcher of Argentina. The crimes he was imprisoned for truly weren't his own but there were plenty he wasn't arrested for that were his own. She makes a snap call and drags Angelo out of the rising helicopter, landing them both back in the river. She stabs Angelo and lets the crocodiles eat him as she swims to shore. She's extracted from Argentina by Maria Hill as she's needed for a SHIELD op and requests to stop over at her apartment for some gear. While there, she pushes into Ana's apartment and pins down her husband, swearing to break his spine if she ever touches Ana again.

It's very, very rare to come across a book that I'm so enamored with so quickly, particularly one where I don't have a ton of familiarity with the creative team. I didn't really know Edmondson going in and I knew Noto but hadn't seen him be THIS good before. I think probably the last book that kind of had this feel for me was maybe NEW AVENGERS, which started so dramatically and felt so epic. Even books like X-MEN LEGACY (which I obviously adore but had a bit more of a slow burn for me) and YOUNG AVENGERS (which I loved out of the gate but also rather knew I would given the team behind it) didn't land in quite the same way this one has so quickly. Noto's art is absolutely gorgeous, Edmondson is telling a really compelling story and building a really amazing character out of Natasha, and, well, everything is just going really, really well. Natasha's narration again leads us through the story as she talks about how she doesn't really call any place a home, how she can't because homes are a distraction and she can't afford distractions in her life. Not having a home means that she feels she can belong everywhere but, as she points out, also feels that she belongs nowhere. It's such a wonderful and powerful idea for always traveling, always in exotic locales character and it's made even more tragic when she reveals that her real home is where she finds pain, that that's what's most familiar to her. It's a wonderful story and a wonderful book. GUYS, I haven't even talked about the fact that this is an amazingly strong female character who has spent three books doing nothing but being entirely amazing at her job, passing the Bechdel test, not being a sex symbol, and having real conversations with real people. GUYS. HOW AMAZING IS THIS BOOK?

Iron Man 21
Gillen (w) and Bennett and Hanna (a) and Guru eFX (c)

Arno and Tony have been trying and trying to track the Mandarin Rings but seem unable to find them when they're not immediately in use. The longer it takes, the more damage Troy suffers, particularly from the Remaker Ring, which keeps turning up to bomb parts of the city. Troy's PR head Marc Kumar meets with ex-girlfriend (and current Mandarin Seven) Abigail "Red Peril" Burns and tells her that she needs to stop acting the terrorist, a role that doesn't fit her. She swears the bombings haven't been her and decides to go see what's so special about the city. Iron Man tracks her and uses his stealth suit to follow her through the city. She finds that Troy is a self-sustaining, self-repairing city, capable even of taking care of its derelict population by creating energy efficient homes for them and everyone else. She realizes that the city she's been fighting against is actually nothing worth fighting against, that for as much as she dislikes Stark and what he stands for, this is a worthwhile place. Her ring leads her to two more rings active in the city, the Remaker, in the possession of the previous would-be warlord of Mandarin City after the fall of the Mandarin, and the Night-Bringer, in the possession of Victor Kohl, the jerk kid who felt so slighted by Iron Man after Kohl was responsible for killing his father in a drunken rage. The three talk and realize how their views perhaps don't really match up, including how the Remaker is preparing to launch a missile at Stark's current HQ, and prepare to fight one another. The rings then identify that Tony's in the room with them and he gets pulled into a fight he wasn't expecting while he's trying to get out to stop the missile and save Arno. The Night-Bringer won't allow him to leave in time and he ends up with a view of the building as the missile hits it, presumably with Arno still inside.

The fight against the Mandarin Rings escalates even further as Tony and Arno become directly involved. Well, even more directly involved than they were. We also get a better sense of the people behind a few of the rings and a better sense, perhaps, of why the rings chose these people. There seems to be some discord out there between the rings' new owners but, perhaps, also between the rings. Burns, for all of her hatred for the establishment and distrust of Tony, isn't a terrorist and has a real belief in her progressive views. The Remaker, meanwhile, wants only to have ruled the city or for no one to rule the city. The Night-Bringer is a punk kid who refuses to be held responsible for his own actions. And these are just three of the ten. Will Arno be okay? Will Troy survive its first arc? The next arc is called "Rings of the Mandarin" and will focus on one new ring-bearer in particular trying to gain control of the other nine. Gillen's already talked about the next arc and who that one new ring-bearer is (click that link to read his pretty good interview with CBR and find out who) and it's got me pretty excited about what's in the near future but there are still some pretty good questions for the immediate future.

Captain America 15, All-New Invaders 1, Black Widow 2

Captain America 15
Remender (w) and Pacheco and Taibo (a) and Rosenberg w/ Beredo and Staples (c)

Cap, Falcon, and Fury make the trip home with Nuke in tow. On the way, Nuke talks about how he never liked his nickname, that "Nuke" implies he was dropped into wars and brought back, but he was always on the ground with other soldiers. Fury and Cap commend him on it and talk about how wrong his recent orders had been, promising to clear his name as someone who would rather risk his life saving American soldiers than killing enemy ones until whoever was behind this reprogrammed him to be unable to do anything but follow orders. Nuke promises to try to help remember what these people did to him and who they were. When they return to the States, Falcon drops Cap off at home and they have a nice talk before Falcon sets off again to help interrogate Nuke at a SHIELD hub in the Grand Canyon. While there, the Iron Nail listens to everything said with his own surveillance. As Nuke talks to SHIELD agent Lamia, whose father Nuke risked his life to save in the war, while Falcon and Fury talk outside, Iron Nail detonates Nuke, who apparently has a real nuke or some other powerful bomb inside. Fury and Falcon escape but only just. Meanwhile, the doors to the Weapon Minus program have been cracked and new supervillain, Horace Littleton AKA Dr. Mindbubble, waltzes out as Iron Nail explains to the audience that Littleton had perfected a super soldier serum laced with LSD and, after his funding was cut, had used it on himself and been locked away for his troubles.

There's a lot of really good and interesting stuff happening here and it's balanced by, as you can probably guess by the last sentence up there, a lot of stuff we're going to have to wait and see on. The most interesting stuff is the humanity from Nuke and Cap's sort-of pep talk to him. Cap is still pulling himself back from the edge of what he almost did to Nuke and Pacheco's art and Remender's writing make it clear just how hard it is on him. Still he does a good job talking to Nuke and trying to get him to understand what's happening and encouraging him about finding his place in the world. There's a lot of really good stuff between Cap, Fury, and Nuke and later there's more good stuff between Cap and Falcon and Falcon and Fury. Each and every one of them comes off as real and well established. The Iron Nail is definitely still someone we're going to have to get used to. Remender kicks the issue off with a scene where we see some of the world's wealthiest men forced into mines by Iron Nail and made to work there until they're 65 so they can see what they put the rest of the world through. Then there's the Dr. Mindbubble business. So I think there are some good ideas here and there's a real political message in here particularly apropos for today's audiences as the class gap widens and more people start to notice it. I'm just not sure it's realized enough and I'm not instantly sold on Dr. Mindbubble (he literally has a tube shooting bubbles out of his brain) so we'll have to see where it all goes before any judgements are made. Otherwise more really good stuff.

All-New Invaders 1
J. Robinson (w) and Pugh (a) Guru eFX (c)

Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch, was last seen betraying the AI uprising of Rick Remender's SECRET AVENGERS (which was one, soon-to-be two SECRET AVENGERSes ago) in order to save humanity. Since then, he's disappeared into Blaketon, Illinois, where he's free to live a normal life. Trouble comes calling, though, in the form of a Kree warrior named Tanalth the Pursuer who is trying to find three hidden pieces of an artifact called the Gods' Whisper, something that apparently can summon Hela to you (in the very least) and use her power. Tanalth uses a Kree weapon to dig a memory out of Torch, one he's not familiar with, which shows Baron Strucker in WWII using the device to have Hela kill attacking troops. From the memory and the recesses of Jim's mind, Tanalth gets what she wants and relays the information to her men. Before she can finish the job and kill Torch, though, Cap and Bucky show up to defend him. Meanwhile, the Kree Supreme Intelligence holds Namor captive, alluding to the idea that he's unintentionally betrayed his former allies.

Interesting first issue. There's a lot of information here and a lot of ground to cover but Robinson covers it pretty well, giving enough focus to Jim's current state of mind and how upset he is when his new home is attacked to successfully push us into Jim's shoes. That's particularly important since, as the splash-page character descriptions tell us, Jim's the least known of the Invaders these days so it's kind of an interesting decision to start with him as our focal point. There's also something interesting building with the Kree and the Gods' Whisper as it brings up something I wonder about occasionally, which is the relation to the Nine Realms and Marvel Cosmic. Obviously Thor has interacted with plenty of bits and pieces of Marvel Cosmic for some time but the Kree's desire to have Hela's powers on their side is an interesting choice. As I said, there's a lot to cover here for Robinson's first issue but he handles it pretty well. There's a bit of oddly choppy writing at times and I'd like to see how the other characters' voices come along as the series presses forward but it's certainly a worthwhile first issue. I'd love for this book to really find its place and give us a brand-new Invaders series to really dig into.

Black Widow 2
Edmondson (w) and Noto (a and c)

Natasha has been re-hired by an old client to find a missing colleague and rescue him. Despite her lawyer Isaiah Ross' wishes, she goes and immediately finds herself embroiled in something a little bigger than a typical kidnapping job. It's a job that impacts her directly, someone kidnapping the son of one of her old clients knowing that he would call her and that she would come to help. By her own admission, she was sloppy in not seeing anything weird about the situation and it leads her to finding the man's son too late and barely escaping with her own life. When she returns to her client, she also finds him dead and the man responsible waiting for her. It kicks off a fight that ends in a marketplace in Shanghai (which is where the issue begins before sending us back in time to the roots of the problem and then eventually makes its way back) when Widow surprises her would-be killer, going by the Iron Scorpion (apparently Asian villains are going by the old Russian naming system of focusing on a specific words these days, but replacing "Red" with "Iron"), and manages to injure him enough that he is forced to scamper away. Meanwhile, Ross has had trouble at home with someone attempting to blackmail Natasha and plotting to kill Ross to get to her. Ross, though, apparently isn't just the office worker we thought he was; he tracks and kills the blackmailers before Natasha returns.

Another very cool issue as Edmondson plays with the timeline of the story, which is a very common practice these days but is often done less well than it is here. HAWKEYE is the ultimate pro at it right now and this book certainly feels more like that one than some of the lesser examples. I'd like to have a few more issues under the belt before deeming the writing on this one particularly good but so far I'm really enjoying the voice of Natasha. It's hard to establish a voice this early into a series, especially for a character who writers seem to have a hard time giving a concrete voice to and so usually go for one of the tropes she's somewhat associated with (stone cold killer, slightly mad murderer, etc.). So far, though, Edmondson has done a good job giving her a voice in the narrative that's very human and much more real than much we've seen from her in the last few years. I'm also happy it's coming out so much in the narrative which leaves her somewhat more tight-lipped in dialogue. Not to say she's not talking or not sustaining a voice in her dialogue because she still is but she's not one of the really chatty characters in the Marvel Universe and so far Edmondson isn't changing that. Again the art is absolutely gorgeous and, frankly, you should be reading this book with each new release just for that. I worry that I'll get too complacent with it over time and forget to mention it but take it for granted that Noto isn't going to slip up. Check this new book out everyone. Give it to everyone you know.

Black Widow 1, Iron Man 20

Black Widow 1
Edmondson (w) and Noto (a and c)

Black Widow kicks off her new solo book with a couple of quick missions and a sense of how the book is going to play out. We join her in the middle of a mission as she convinces a possible suicide bomber with a gun who is hiding out in a hotel room, ready to detonate if it comes to that, that she is working on his side and that she was hired by his employers to get him out of the tight spot. She relaxes him with a bit of a backstory and a shared heritage (the bomber is also Russian). When he inevitably opens the door to her, she cuts the detonation wire and takes the gun from him before strapping him up to a rope to rappel him down the building with and pushes him out the window to the cops waiting below. Twenty hours later, she's meeting in Central Park with her lawyer/manager Isaiah to get her next assignment. They talk about her reasons for taking jobs and why she's not in it for money beyond the money she needs to repay debts and live life and so on. There's a nice moment where Natasha seems to zone out and watches a woman play with her red-headed daughter and her son. Another 36 hours later and she's in Dubai trying to stop an assassination by taking out the target's bodyguards, as well as the bodyguards of the man with whom he's meeting. Once everyone is down and Natasha has breached the room, she explains the situation to him and puts a bulletproof vest on him before shoving him in front of a window. The sniper planed across the way fires at him, hitting the vest, and Natasha shoots a rocket back. Fifteen hours later back in New York, she tells a not-quite-adopted cat the story and wonders if she's too far gone to pay back her debts.

Obviously this comic is taking a lot of its cues from The Avengers and the "I've got red in my ledger" mentality of that Natasha. Not to say that she doesn't have those feelings in the comics throughout her history but it's being brought into focus here and it's hard not to feel like it's trying to match the movie. That, of course, doesn't mean it's not a compelling story to tell. The more important thing to it, though, is the way that Natasha carries and conducts herself in the midst of all of this and that's what Edmondson, already, is proving he can do. This Natasha is already proving to have everything I like about Natasha's character and, as yet, none of the weird psychotic sort of tendencies that are sometimes ascribed to her. Occasionally people will write her with a sort of psychopathic cold-blooded thing that I don't think is fair but I think comes from the idea that she has been an assassin and a mercenary and everything else. Certainly she's not entirely normalized but some writers can make that lean a little too far and make her almost bloodthirsty. That very clearly isn't Edmondson's intent and he gives her a couple of really human moments throughout the book, between watching the mother and her children and her conversation (which is simultaneously sweet and no-nonsense) with a cat and a couple of wistful stares (between this book and one of the Marvel previews books lurking around out there). Also, I'm ashamed that I've gone this far in analysis and not mentioned Phil Noto's frankly incredible art. The only thing I'd really heard about the book before I read it was that everyone was saying how great the art was. I assumed it would be very good; people's word and Phil Noto's reputation and history wouldn't lie to me. But I'm not lying when I say every person was absolutely right, the art is amazing in this book. Natasha looks stupendous and very real, the supporting characters all have real personality built in, and the set pieces are gorgeous. Great, great art. Very fun book and a great way to kick off the new series.

Iron Man 20
Gillen (w) and Bennett and Hanna (a) and Guru eFX (c)

The christening of Troy has been interrupted by one of the Mandarin's rings, specifically, as Tony realizes, the Remaker. Unwilling to sit by and let it happen without her, Abby Burns (just got that, "burns") jumps in with her newfound Mandarin ring, the Incinerator (see, burns). The ring and Abby talk back and forth about ways to further destroy Stark and about how she's using the ring and so on before a ring-caused solar flare shorts out all electronics in the area (of course, not including Stark's suit, he's beyond that) and Tony has to flee to check on Arno. Arno is safe, having taken his own precautions against this sort of thing in the past, but Burns escapes and tweets a video of herself next to a space satellite. Tony vows to find her and to find the Remaker but starts to understand just what all of this means; the Mandarin's rings are loose. He and Rhodey pay a visit to SHIELD's high-security weapons vault to check on the rings and see that they're all there, but Tony quickly realizes that one of the rings, the Liar ring, is actually creating a false image of all of them; it subsequently disappears, leaving Tony and Rhodey to wonder where the rings are, who has them, how long they've been gone, and how long they've been apparently sentient. The rings, meanwhile, have decided to escalate things now that Incinerator and Remaker have shown their hand.

There's a lot going on and a lot to like in this series. The idea of the rings as sentient and dead-set on destroying Stark is certainly something that changes the playing field a bit and makes Mandarin an exciting and almost entirely new foe. There's also an undercurrent of mild suspicion around Tony that is both warranted and unwarranted. Rhodey points out that everyone's a little worried about what Tony's up to with this city and these new ideas and locking himself in his lab for weeks at a time, but Tony counters it with his usual "whenever I'm up to something new, the military worries, even though I'm pretty definitively one of the good guys." There are valid points to each argument and it's clear that this debate is one that Gillen will shine light on as we keep pressing. The art looks good and fits the issue well, particularly the action of the issue. There are some bits of the issue that I had to re-read because I started to gloss over them, particularly with Abby. She's a tricky character to read because she's suddenly so at home with this ring and so quickly adapting to possible supervillainy. She's also somewhat irritating, which doesn't help matters. Still, the good easily outweighs the bad here and it's nice to see a re-imagination of one of Iron Man's classic foes. But, you know, not like the re-imagination in Iron Man 3. Which was garbage.