Black Widow -The Coldest War gathers together some of the Black Widow's best adventures including her rousing four-parter from Marvel Fanfare as well as the definitive effort in Bizarre Adventures. We have team-ups with the Punisher, Daredevil, and Nick Fury in high-profile longer-from adventures. And there's a graphic novel drawn by George Freeman which is arguably the Widow's finest hour. Outside of her adventures in the pages of the regular Daredevil comic and the Avengers most of the Black Widow's high-profile adventures from the 80's and 90's are here.
This issue of Bizarre Adventures features on of the Black Widow's finest solo efforts. Drawn by Paul Gulacy, the Widow never looked sexier than she does here in a taught tale of espionage by Ralph Macchio. Gulacy pulls out all the stops and true to form, many of the characters look familiar to film buffs. More on Paul Gulacy later.
The Black Widow really is lifted out of the mundane with this four-part adventure in Marvel Fanfare. One of the highlights of his series which featured some fantastic work, this is the swan song for Natasha's sleek black tights before she got a redesign from Frank Miller in Daredevil. This story picks up a plot thread from the end of the Champions series and has the Black Widow penetrate her old homeland looking for her friend and mentor Ivan. She must battle some distinctive assassins such as Iron Maiden and a deadly chick named Snapdragon but she overcomes as we knew she would to save her friend. It turns out an old enemy from her Daredevil days is behind this scheme. George Perez drew this awesome outing with inks by the likes of Brett Breeding, John Beatty, Joe Sinnott and Jack Abel. The latter two under a joint pseudonym "Sinnabel". Luke McDonnel draws one chapter in this Ralph Macchio tale recounting much of the Widow's history for newcomers.
I really liked Solo Avengers, the split book that gave Hawkeye a permanent residence while giving other Avengers a shot at going it alone. In the story in this issue starring the Black Widow we are treated to some of Butch Guice's great work, It's a story which is surprisingly deep given its brevity and has the widow head back to Soviet territory to make some amends.
The Black Widow - The Coldest War gives the collection its title and is a bonafide graphic novel in the classic Marvel style of the 80's. I am an enormous fan of artist George Freeman and it was a treat to enjoy his art on this Gerry Conway yarn which does a first-rate job of capturing that espionage feel of games-within-games. There is a cattle call of inkers on this giving the book an odd feel at times but I loved reading his story which did an excellent job of retelling the Widow's story while at the same time setting up a new and successfully emotional conflict for her. The Widow in his story as rendered Freeman is a hard looking woman, with edges where other artists drew curves. It's an interesting interpretation.
The Doomsday's Web is a disappointment. I wanted to like this more than I did. The fact is as much as I like the Widow and the Punishers the artwork in this one by Larry Stroman is a chore to decode. I was constantly having to recheck pages to try to clarify what was going on. D.G. Chichester seems to want to write an action movie here and there is a nice propulsion in places but the lack of clarity in the art really cut against this story about a madman trying to drop a nuke on half the world.
"Abattoir" is a gritty tale from Jim Starlin and artist Joe Chiodo. The Black Widow teams up with old partner Daredevil to discover why perhaps as many as fifty telepaths have disappeared and are likely murdered. The art in this one is lush and as beautiful as the subject matter is ugly.
In Marvel Comics Presents we get a tiny Widow tale in which she follows a lethal trail to uncover a secret murderer with a very specific motive. The art in this one is pretty unimpressive and as short as this yarn is, it's still hard to follow.
The art is only a little bit better in a Black Widow story which appeared in the back pages of Daredevil Annual #10. Matt Murdock is presumed dead, but the Widow needs to know more and digs deeply until she uncovers an old enemy who wants her dead as well. Writers keep retconning more and more information about how the Widow left the defunct Soviet Union, and the constant introduction of new personalities grows tiresome.
From 1995 we get Death Duty, a story which features art by Charlie Adlard, famous of course for his work on The Walking Dead. Alas his work here is stylish and atmospheric, but all too often fails to be clear enough to understand what is happening at all times. Characters are not drawn with sufficient distinction to be able even to know who is who, even at critical junctures. I'm a fan of Night Raven, the vintage British character by David Lloyd who serves as something of an artistic precursor to V for Vendetta, but I had a difficult time grokking all that went on in his long story. Either I'm dense (a definite possibility) or I missed something. I really wanted to like this one more.
Despite that regrettable Image-inspired 90's art style, I liked "Web of Intrigue" from three issues of the revived Journey Into Mystery much better. Randy Green is the artist, and the writer Scott Lobdell creates a fascinating year which uses limited perspective superbly. The Widow is showcased and there's lots of great action. This is a confident Black Widow and very much the one I know from the later movies.
This collection wraps up as it began with work by Paul Gulacy. Gulacy produced an exceedingly handsome portfolio featuring The Black Widow in 1982. All the plates are here, and I will have more to say on this later. This is a collection that spans seventeen years, and it offers up a lot of different styles of art and storytelling. Some of the greatest Black Widow stories are here, but some lesser ones as well. Not a surprise that, but despite its flaws this is a truly fascinating Epic collection and recommended.
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