Nothing slows down a spy like customs.
Creative Staff:
Story: Nathan Edmondson
Art: Phil Noto
What They Say:
Paris, London, Montenegro. Natasha is in a race against time, under the shadow of the hammer. A dark plot threatens Europe, and even SHIELD doesn’t know who’s behind it. With nowhere to turn for answers, Natasha has no choice but to ask THE RAVEN for help.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
A character like Black Widow should have a pretty extensive past, much of which can be drawn up on the way, since she’s been involved in all sorts of jobs, missions and undercover assignments over the years. That allows for some interesting characters to populate the work, but like Natasha herself so far in this series, it can be hard to get a read on them since they’ve got their masks up. With Natasha on this new job for SHIELD, having survived the fight with Molot, the Iron Monk on his own weird quest, she’s doing her best to figure out what’s going on and how best to approach it so that there’s minimal lives lost. And sometimes that means dealing with some less than pleasant people.
Such is Tori Raven, a French information dealer herself that’s very deep within the espionage game. She makes a few appearances in this issue, providing the things that Natasha needs to move forward, while always feeling like she knows more than she’s letting on. Which is to be expected, considering her business, and that Natasha knows enough herself. But with time short and Molot a significant threat, we see her having to work angles such as Raven to get what she needs. Raven has a fairly laid back approach to things as well, which can be infuriating, especially when she reveals that Molot will be blowing up an airliner at Gatwick airport in a few hours and Natasha is going to have a hell of a time making it there in time to stop him. Why she doesn’t call in for additional assets is beyond me, considering what’s at stake, but that’s how it plays out and she ends up just a hair too late, able to only wing Molot as he wings the plane itself as it lands.
Having seen Natasha at work previously in the series, watching as she takes out Molot at last is pretty grisly, though she’s able to just focus on what needs doing. The problem is that the plane he was targeting wasn’t full of people, but rather just one person, who is in fear for his life and can’t believe that anyone will give him the protection he needs. Even Natasha can’t get much out of him and what she does get has her feeling like she knows even less – which means the reader certainly feels uncertain about everything. And honestly, I had to feel that way even more so as Natasha gets a little more intel from Raven and heads off to the coast of Montenegro where the real target may be and discovers that Damon Dran, aka the (former) Indestructible Man, is involved in all of this somehow. That sets up more things to come, but it feels like a number of spy properties do in that until it all comes together, we get hit with a series of feints regularly.
In Summary:
The further I get into this series, the more it becomes clear that while I enjoy espionage material, the individual issue format and placement within the Marvel Universe really makes it hard to connect with. The main appeal for me right now is still Phil Noto’s artwork as it really brings a great sense of atmosphere to it all, properly claustrophobic in places and oppressive in general, but also with some great stylized moments that definitely makes it a pleasure to read through. The story itself is simply proving harder because it’s got a lot to do, but has to work in the tricks and sleight of hand aspects that it feels ill defined and too uncertain. Natasha has a lot of potential but I’m just finding the book too cold in general, though I’m holding out hope for it in the long run.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: April 2nd, 2014
MSRP: $3.99
