The Web of Black Widow #4 // Review
Natasha is on the run, things haven’t been going well for her. The Widow is on an investigation into her own amnesiac past. She has run into a great deal of danger, which involves several imposters. She seeks the aid of an old friend in the latest issue of The Web of Black Widow. Writer Jody Houser continues Natasha’s most recent journey with the assistance of artist Stephen Mooney. Color comes to the page courtesy of Triona Farrell. Houser’s story is engaging and entertaining without completely living up to the potential of the elements involved in the story. Natasha’s journey this series has been a bit uneven, but this issue shows some promise as the series begins to reach its end.
Black Widow is losing a lot of blood, with an arrow in her abdomen. That was shot at her straight out of the past. No sense in trying to pull it out, so she snaps it off. The danger didn’t start there, though. Earlier on, she was in danger, and so she went to a friend. It was a bit of a rough moment for her. Her sense of insecurity found her seeking the aid of a blind lawyer of Hell’s Kitchen. He’s a bit more intuitive than your average attorney. He knows something’s wrong with her, but he also knows that she’s been trained as a super-spy, so he knows better than to ask her what’s wrong. What’s wrong will catch-up to her from another man out of her past. The series reaches the end of its penultimate issue with a gradual build-up to the final chapter next month.
Houser is working with a really, really interesting premise here. A super-spy suffering from patches of amnesia. Who has recently been accosted by a bunch of people dressed exactly like her? There’s a real potential for studying the nature of truth, lies, and memory, but Houser doesn’t precisely dive into any of it all that deeply. That being said, Natasha makes for a fascinating central character ensconced in mystery even if there’s no deeper sophistication to the story than the shadows of uncertainty shifting across the surface of the narrative. An all-too-brief interaction with a guy named Matt is paired with an all-too confrontational interaction with a guy named Clint. It’s too bad Houser doesn’t get much of a chance to really explore things from Natasha’s past. All she has room to do is present them.
There’s a moodiness to the sketchiness of Mooney’s art. The action fades into the background in an issue that is more focussed on the drama of Natasha’s life in recovery. There’s action in the installment, but Mooney’s art is at its most intense in the more emotional intricate moments. The subtle interplay between Natasha and Matt Murdock that Mooney manages to capture perfectly. The more action-based interaction with Clint doesn’t feel as dynamic as it should. Farrell’s color adds depth to the drama. There’s an impressive stillness about the art which serves to slowly build the tension to the climactic cliffhanger at issue’s end.
The series has been an interesting tour through the Marvel Universe thus far. Without any more in-depth search through the themes echoing around Natasha’s life, the series hasn’t felt terribly satisfying thus far. Still, the stark tension between a man without fear and the woman without a past stands as one of the more captivatingly framed moments in the entire series thus far. The lead-up to the final issue next month. The Black Widow might deserve better, but this isn’t a bad lead-in to the final chapter.
