Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her 
asked by jan1975 on November 7, 2006 2:58 AM
Hot on the tail of Richard K. Morgan's searing comics debut comes the further dark exploits of Natasha Romanova, the original Black Widow. Some say she's a traitor, some say she's a murderer... and what most say about her isn't even printable. But nobody denies that the former Cold War spy is a force to be reckoned with. The last man foolish enough to send killers after her paid the highest price, but his friends on Capitol Hill will ensure that Natasha doesn't get off easy... and not even Col. Nick Fury can protect her this time. Meanwhile, the survivors of Natasha's last tirade start coming back to haunt her... and they're beginning to join forces. Also featuring a guest appearance by Daredevil! Collects Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her #1-6.
Reviews
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I'm surprised no one else has reviewed this one yet. Well, let's get started.
Me: Marvel reader from way back, huge fan of Richard K. Morgan's SF. Loved his first six issues on BW.
The next six, collected here, don't bring any major new revelations about Natasha or anything/one else, but the story (of which I won't reveal any details here) remains solid throughout. And Daredevil's appearances are handled well, which is nice -- always liked ol' DD, and Morgan's writing is in the same ballpark as Frank Miller's. I'd give Morgan four and a half stars for his own part of the project.
Not quite as thrilled with the art, though. Bill Sienkiewicz is still around, but he's not handling the layouts any more -- and while Sean Phillips does a nice job on the whole, his work here strikes me as pretty uneven, running the gamut from inspired to amateurish. There really are some magnificent layouts here (the very first page of Part 6, for example, is just stunning), but there are also too many panels saved by the colorist (Dan Brown, still flawless). This one just doesn't have the consistency and detail of _Homecoming_. (And that _cover_. Natasha's pert, shiny rear end as she aims a pistol at Daredevil's crotch . . . Gaaaaah.)
Excellent on the whole, and strongly recommended to fans of _Homecoming_. But too much of the artwork is sketchy and murky for me to give the whole project five stars -- especially since it's intended to be read after _Homecoming_, which didn't suffer from those flaws.
Me: Marvel reader from way back, huge fan of Richard K. Morgan's SF. Loved his first six issues on BW.
The next six, collected here, don't bring any major new revelations about Natasha or anything/one else, but the story (of which I won't reveal any details here) remains solid throughout. And Daredevil's appearances are handled well, which is nice -- always liked ol' DD, and Morgan's writing is in the same ballpark as Frank Miller's. I'd give Morgan four and a half stars for his own part of the project.
Not quite as thrilled with the art, though. Bill Sienkiewicz is still around, but he's not handling the layouts any more -- and while Sean Phillips does a nice job on the whole, his work here strikes me as pretty uneven, running the gamut from inspired to amateurish. There really are some magnificent layouts here (the very first page of Part 6, for example, is just stunning), but there are also too many panels saved by the colorist (Dan Brown, still flawless). This one just doesn't have the consistency and detail of _Homecoming_. (And that _cover_. Natasha's pert, shiny rear end as she aims a pistol at Daredevil's crotch . . . Gaaaaah.)
Excellent on the whole, and strongly recommended to fans of _Homecoming_. But too much of the artwork is sketchy and murky for me to give the whole project five stars -- especially since it's intended to be read after _Homecoming_, which didn't suffer from those flaws.
reviewed by orla on November 20, 2006 7:43 PM