Black Widow is probably the most deserving hero of a movie right now, but for some reason Disney doesn’t think so. Well dammit, are they reading this series? It’s action packed, intense, and cinematic as hell. It’s a buy on sight title for sure, but let’s delve into issue #11. Is it good?
Black Widow #11 (Marvel Comics)
So what’s it about? Check out the preview.
Why does this book matter?
Chris Samnee and Mark Waid are most definitely delivering a series that’s visual first. But that’s okay! Not every comic needs a dialogue-heavy, exposition-crazy set of sequences, and for a character like Black Widow we need the badass action she deserves.
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
The one on the right has crazy eyes!
If you looked at this issue with a bird’s eye view so to speak it’d be one 15 minute action sequence in a movie, but it’d be a real good one. Waid and Samnee set up the action with high stakes as Black Widow is given intel on how dangerous a certain base is in the wrong hands. And then the black-clothed valkyries enter! Widow must fight off a slew of acrobatic Mini-Mes as these Russians with the same upbringing take her on. The fact that Widow can hold her own against so many speaks volumes about how great she can fight.
There are too many jaw-droppingly good panels and pages to point out in one review. From a full-page spread that shows Black Widow run, jump down, and then choke out an enemy from two stories up, to the subtle small panels that convey the hand signals that prepare a strike on Black Window…it’s all good! There’s also an inspired panel of shattered glass that conveys Black Widow’s past and strikes a cord as it shows the weight that she lives with.
Matthew Wilson continues to do great color work too (I feel like I say his name multiple times a week these days) with a great use of blacks to heighten the mystery and tension. Hot oranges help bring the temperature up when the action gets more intense and you have to love the subtle use of color in the masks of the enemies.
It can’t be perfect can it?
When there’s a lot of action a comic can be read very quickly. This book isn’t as quick as some, but it’s still pretty quick. Considering how good it is though I wager most would take quality over quantity.
This seems very dangerous!
Is It Good?
Black Widow is a visual feast that’s so damn cinematic we may not need a film. This is it. It’s just as good and action aficionados need this in their life.
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