Black Widow Appreciation

[Hrist]

Hrist, Black Widow is one of Brubaker's favorite characters.
From his last "Axel in Charge"..

Do you still have plans to do a Black Widow solo story someday?"
Brubaker: More like a desire than specific plans. She’s in "Winter Soldier" a lot, so I’m still getting to write her.

Yeah, I get the feeling that he likes writing her in ensemble pieces, but not that he's going to pitch a series any time soon. Whereas I think Greg Rucka might? That's mostly my impression from interviews, though.

[manymade1]

You could try her graphic novels from the 1990s— The Coldest War, Fury / Black Widow : Death Duty, Daredevil / Black Widow: Abbatoir, Punisher / Black Widow: Spinning Doomsday's Web. I'd also recommend Black Widow: Breakdown, the Devil Grayson/Greg Rucka mini, or her Journey Into Mystery arc, #517-519. Those all feature SHIELD in some capacity.

Thanks man, I'll have to check some of these out.

[rogerio]

Yeah, I get the feeling that he likes writing her in ensemble pieces, but not that he's going to pitch a series any time soon. Whereas I think Greg Rucka might? That's mostly my impression from interviews, though.

Yep, I dont see Brubaker writing a BW ongoing but I will keep my fingers crossed for a mini someday...
Rogerio wanted to know, "Are you going to write a Black Widow solo story someday?"
Brubaker: I actually am just writing one right now, but it's in "Captain America." But I'd love to at some point. I have a project at some point in the future that may allow me to do that. I don't know that I’d do a "Black Widow" solo series, but definitely she's one of my favorite characters, obviously. That's why I hooked her up with Bucky immediately. [Laughs] The minute I realized there was any possibility that they worked together back in the day when I was plotting the Winter Soldier stuff, I went "He might've dated Black Widow!" So I'd love to do that.
or Rucka...
Greg Rucka: Black Widow - love the character, wouldn't mind writing her again at some point

[Abdulabulbul_Amir]

The MCU-tie-in Black Widow mini is supposed to be out, The Black Widow Strikes, I think it is called.

Has anyone read it?

[rogerio]

I am very curious to see the artwork.

[Darthfury78]

I just finished reading ASM #685. It was a very good issue. A few rare moments between Silver Sable and Spider-Man. It seems that Ms. Marvel isn't the only person with Spidey's interest in mind. As for The Black Widow, I can't help but wonder if she's starting to respect Spider-Man's judgement as she has never seen him in this setting before. It would be great to see more dialog between them in ASM #687 against The Avengers. I wonder if this story takes place before or after Avengers vs. X-Men crossover?

[Hrist]

Yep, I dont see Brubaker writing a BW ongoing but I will keep my fingers crossed for a mini someday...
Rogerio wanted to know, "Are you going to write a Black Widow solo story someday?"
Brubaker: I actually am just writing one right now, but it's in "Captain America." But I'd love to at some point. I have a project at some point in the future that may allow me to do that. I don't know that I’d do a "Black Widow" solo series, but definitely she's one of my favorite characters, obviously. That's why I hooked her up with Bucky immediately. [Laughs] The minute I realized there was any possibility that they worked together back in the day when I was plotting the Winter Soldier stuff, I went "He might've dated Black Widow!" So I'd love to do that.
or Rucka...
Greg Rucka: Black Widow - love the character, wouldn't mind writing her again at some point

I guess, with Brubaker, he's basically writing what his Black Widow stories would be, right now, except making them Bucky stories. (The whole Winter Soldier thing is all basically stuff and themes that were explored previously in Natasha stories, as is the whole "many Winter Soldiers" angle.) I wouldn't say no to a Brubaker Black Widow book, but if I were going to launch a Black Widow ongoing right now, I would try to make it feel different than Winter Soldier, in tone and scope. So, in that sense, Brubaker might not be the best choice.

I read the Black Widow comic, and it's pretty much what you'd expect from a movie tie-in. The art is super inconsistant (there are two pencillers, two inkers, two colorists) and the story is mostly disposable. You can also tell that this was supposed to be in Maxim first— Natasha is in her underwear in every scene she fights in, it opens in a fetish club, &c. Not really what I'm wanting from a Black Widow book, especially as most of her recent runs have subverted that cliche pretty smartly. It's definitely an action story, but there are character moments that balance it. The plot and thematics (apart from underwear fights) center around an obsessive agent who admires Natasha, but also wants to defeat her and take her place. This is something we've seen done before, but much better, in the Yelena Belova plotline. Similar to the 1999 mini, Natasha is confused that anyone could want the mantle of Black Widow. Natasha explains to us here that she likes being other people more than she likes being herself, that she likes getting lost pretending to be innocent partygirls, so can't understand someone pretending to be her. I think Grayson's take was much more intriguing; Natasha is presented there as a very strong, very confident personality, who hates that her job forces her to be lost, but ironically survived as a spy because she had other priorities, an inner life. (As opposed to Yelena, who is passionate only for her work, totally ambitious, and thus misses a lot of the big picture.) But I can accept that MCU Natasha is more wracked with guilt, especially at this point in her career… It seems to jar a bit with Iron Man 2 and the tie-in comics there, where she really didn't like being Natalie Rushman, but I can ignore that. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who read those.

Anyway, I'm making it sound all bad, when it's really not. It's a serviceable story on par with the rest of the movie tie-in comics, except with more underwear, I guess…

ETA: I read the ASM issue too, and while Natasha gets a fair bit of panel time, I don't think she's gotten much personality in this arc. She's just sort of along for the ride; there's a lot more focus on Sable.

[yanapryde]

I'd like to formally say my congratulations to Widow fans.
After having read the Yost interview on Marvel's site regarding the AvX face off betwixt our Russian Ladies, Yost sided with Magik for the winner.

Which is likely a farce and Natasha will win.
Cuz why would they reveal the outcome, right?

Congratulations ladies and gents.

[Hrist]

I'd like to formally say my congratulations to Widow fans.
After having read the Yost interview on Marvel's site regarding the AvX face off betwixt our Russian Ladies, Yost sided with Magik for the winner.

Which is likely a farce and Natasha will win.
Cuz why would they reveal the outcome, right?

Congratulations ladies and gents.

It does seem like such a ridiculously mismatched fight that they would side with the underdog for story interest, anyway. I wonder how they're even going to set up the story, since Ilyana just handled Strange. I have a feeling the preview panels of them fighting are set in some kind of illusory mindscape, because fighting Magik head-on is faintly unbelievable, and not really Natasha's style anyway.

[Darthfury78]

Hi Hrist,
Do you feel that we might see more Black Widow and Spider-Man team up stories in the future? Could you ever see those two in a mutual relationship in the same manner as Ms. Marvel or Silver Sable?

[yanapryde]

It does seem like such a ridiculously mismatched fight that they would side with the underdog for story interest, anyway. I wonder how they're even going to set up the story, since Ilyana just handled Strange. I have a feeling the preview panels of them fighting are set in some kind of illusory mindscape, because fighting Magik head-on is faintly unbelievable, and not really Natasha's style anyway.

According to folks in the Avengers Academy threads spoilers:

there has been a holding facility constructed on the moon??

end of spoilers

Perhaps this reveals why Magik and Widow are in THIS location....seemingly, also on the moon? Perhaps Magik was part of an extraction plan that Widow interferes with...?

[Darthfury78]

According to folks in the Avengers Academy threads spoilers:

there has been a holding facility constructed on the moon??

end of spoilers

Perhaps this reveals why Magik and Widow are in THIS location....seemingly, also on the moon? Perhaps Magik was part of an extraction plan that Widow interferes with...?

Did Magik ever got her soul back?

[yanapryde]

Did Magik ever got her soul back?

As much of it as was available. Yes.

[Darthfury78]

As much of it as was available. Yes.

Thanks. The one thing that I would love to see is Spider-Man vs. Psylocke. This is another potential battle that I would love to see between them.

[rogerio]

Great artwork...