Book Review: Black Widow: No More Secrets by M. Waid et al.

Black Widow: No More Secrets written by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee, art by Chris Samnee, and color by Matthew Wilson

This is a sequel to Black Widow: S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Most Wanted, which I reviewed here. By this point, Black Widow has turned the tables on her enemy, The Weeping Lion. She's using him to go after The Dark Room, a rebirth of the Red Room project that created the Widow back in the day. Her old teacher, the Headmistress, is training a new set of young girls who are being robbed of a normal life, something Black Widow wants to stop. Even though the Widow tends to be a loner, she has the Winter Soldier and an old Russian friend living out in the middle of nowhere helping her. 

The plot is fun but goes a bit too far over the top when the Widow and the Soldier take a spaceship to visit a zombie-like Nick Fury on the moon for some intel. The rest of the plot was fine with a very satisfying ending. Like the previous volume, this book takes the Black Widow seriously (except for the moon bit) and not sexily. It's refreshing to read the story of a female hero who gets by with her wits, determination, and skill, not her scantily-clad body. The art is reminiscent of Mike Mignola's Hellboy style, which is a bonus in my eyes.

Recommended.

Book Review: Black Widow: S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Most Wanted by M. Waid et al.

Black Widow: S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Most Wanted written by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee, art by Chris Samnee, color art by Matthew Wilson

As you might guess from the title, Natasha Romanoff (a.k.a. the Black Widow) is on the outs with S.H.I.E.L.D. She's being blackmailed by a mysterious figure who calls himself "The Weeping Lion." He uses very compromising information from her past to make her play along. In addition to stealing information from S.H.I.E.L.D., she needs to collect other intel from her former Soviet handlers back in the motherland. The direction of the conspiracy is not clear to readers or Black Widow, but that doesn't stop her from trying her best to get out from under the Weeping Lion's heel.

The twisty plot is fun and covers a great deal of Natasha's history, giving her a nice depth of character. She has just as many brains as brawn. Her conflicted history (villain turned into hero, or at least mostly a hero) makes her interesting. The action sequences are exciting if not always plausible. The art is serviceable--neither noticeably great or bad. Happily, Black Widow is drawn like a normal woman and isn't even remotely sexualized. She's a person with a difficult past and the wits to turn the tables if circumstances will let her.

Recommended.