Black Widow Appreciation

[Tori Pagac]

http://tori.rubberslug.com/gallery/i...p?ItemID=60790 this is mine but who drew the art for it

[kcekada]

Who is everyone's favorite artist for Natasha? Personally, it's become Don Heck, J.G. Jones and George Perez.

Hard to beat John Romita Sr.'s version of her -- he's the artist who designed the black costume and drew her first appearance in it in Amazing Spider-Man.

Gene Colan did a good version of her too in the 70s.

I like Perez's version of her, but it was a bit stiff in comparison to Romita's and Colan's.

[kcekada]

Anybody read Black Widow and the Marvel Girls? It wasn't very good. First off, the flashbacks contradict the Deadly Origin flashbacks. Secondly, the story was just ok, I am not sure what the point was.

That's unfortunate. I put it on my pull list, but now wish I hadn't.

[Talisman]

Hard to beat John Romita Sr.'s version of her -- he's the artist who designed the black costume and drew her first appearance in it in Amazing Spider-Man.

Gene Colan did a good version of her too in the 70s.

I like Perez's version of her, but it was a bit stiff in comparison to Romita's and Colan's.

I thought her first appearance in it was in the Inhumans ongoing back in the 70's?

[Talisman]

http://tori.rubberslug.com/gallery/i...p?ItemID=60790 this is mine but who drew the art for it

Don Heck.1010

[Hrist]

I thought her first appearance in it was in the Inhumans ongoing back in the 70's?

Nope, Amazing Spider-man 86. It sets up the Inhumans double-feature, and I agree the art is quite beautiful.

I rather liked the BW and the Marvel Girls story, but I hadn't gone into it expecting it to be in-continuity.

[tangentman]

Agreed on the Black Widow as drawn by Heck, Jones, Perez, Colan, Cho--and I liked Frank Miller's initial take on the Widow in the late 70's to early 80's. Steve Leiloha drew a powerful Natasha in Marvel Team-Up issues #82-85. Of course, he's proven himself an exceptional touch with "Spider-Women" in general!

If you haven't read the MTU arc, it's one of the best Black Widow stories EVER! Spider-Man patrols a snow-blanketed NYC late one night and notices a beautiful redhead being jumped by would-be muggers/rapists. Spidey comes to the rescue--and finds himself needing a rescue when the mysterious woman foils an attempted back-stabbing with accomplished martial arts maneuvers. The woman, claiming to be schoolteacher "Nancy Rushman", faints and Peter finds himself drawn into a mystery when he believes the woman is actually the Black Widow!

Soon, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents show up trying to kill "Nancy", and Spider-Man becomes involved in a conspiracy master-minded by none other than Viper & the Silver Samurai! Extra guest stars include Nick Fury & Shang-Chi. It's a strong story--action-packed, beautiful art, on-point characterization, and a smart story. Better yet, the story provides a compelling insight into what it means to be the Black Widow; the danger, the obligations, the loneliness. Chris Claremont wrote the 4-parter and really nailed Natasha's personality, quirks, and worldview. Back issues should be reasonable or you can save money by purchasing the ESSENTIAL MTU.

I also support the recommendation of the BW hardcover. Well-told stories with sweet art and good Natasha moments. Personally, I've always liked Natasha solo or as guest-star better than tied down in the Avengers. She shines best in the espionage genre or team-ups with solo street-levelers (Daredevil, Spider-Man). As a long-time Spider-Woman (Drew) fan, I'm certainly in no hurry to see her series fail--but I don't see the situation as an "either/or" case. Let's get ALL Marvel's Spider-Woman in regular ongoings!

[rogerio]

http://tori.rubberslug.com/gallery/i...p?ItemID=60790 this is mine but who drew the art for it

I love the "fishnet" times...

[Thirteen]

Didn't see this new full pic of Natalia from IRON MAN2 posted on the appreciation thread...

[rogerio]

Still not convinced that Scarlet is the best choice...

[Pixie_Solanas]

Still not convinced that Scarlet is the best choice...

nor that footwear.

[kcekada]

I thought her first appearance in it was in the Inhumans ongoing back in the 70's?

Nope. That was the second one. John Buscema did a nice job on it, but I give Romita's version a slight edge.

[kcekada]

If you haven't read the MTU arc, it's one of the best Black Widow stories EVER! ...

It's a strong story--action-packed, beautiful art, on-point characterization, and a smart story. Better yet, the story provides a compelling insight into what it means to be the Black Widow; the danger, the obligations, the loneliness...

I also support the recommendation of the BW hardcover. Well-told stories with sweet art and good Natasha moments.

Agreed. Sal Buscema's artwork never looked better than when he was inked by Leiloha for this arc.

I would like to see this story collected -- though I prefer softcovers over hard covers.

Frankly, I'm surprised we haven't see some Marvel Team-Up collections (I don't count Essentials). Claremont and Byrne did enough stories together to merit at least one collection -- Woodgod, Captain Britain 2-parter, Havok, Thor, Red Sonja, Adam Warlock -- maybe more?

And after Byrne, Claremont still produced good stuff -- the 4 part BW story, the 2-part Dr. Strange/Clea/Satana story, Guardians of the Galaxy and Nightcrawler. Unfortunately, his Invisible Girl story was lame, but there may be enough material to bypass that turkey.

[spark627]

What did everyone think of BW: Deadly Origins 2?

[Hrist]

What did everyone think of BW: Deadly Origins 2?

In general, I liked it? I would have rather seen black-haired Natasha in the flashbacks, though, and the way they were juxtaposed sort of made it seem like she was in love with Tony instead of Clint. And, well, in the original stories she had no problem playing Mr. Stark, she just constantly had incompetent lackeys. Here, Tony saw through her, instead of letting her take the pocket anti-gravity device! Alas.

Also, "Comrade Winter Soldier" just sounds silly to me for some reason.