Black Widow #14 // Review
Natasha has crashed a high-end auction. She knew it was pretty shady. But she had no idea that the auction in question was one involving evidently enslaved superhumans. This is The least of her worries as she finds herself up against a powerful foe from the past in Black Widow #14. Writer Kelly Thompson continues Natasha's adventures on the west coast with the aid of artists Elena Casagrande, Elisabeth D'Amico, and colorist Jordie Bellaire. The mix of action, drama, and pacing all fall together on the page, with deft attention paid to tension. The stinger at the end of the issue hits with potent force.
It's a mess. Natasha has told Yelena to run. She has told her that The Living Blade Is involved in whatever the hell it is going on at the auction. Things have gone really, really off the rails. A lot of people are in danger. That doesn't mean that you can't recover from it. There's no doubt they have been in worse positions before. That being said, the presence of The Living Blade is going to make matters that much more dangerous. Even with the aid of The Winter Soldier, they're not going to escape the situation totally unscathed.
Thompson Is working with elements that are well known to anyone who is familiar with cloak and dagger and high-end suspense. She's managing it all in a way that feels distinctly fresh and new. The old anime may not feel Particularly well defined even after I thought if you had been dedicated to him, but that's part of the danger. That's part of the mystery. And that's part of what makes Thompson's run on the series so crisp and clever. She's allowing just enough personality to see through the edges of the action to make it feel like it's something truly new.
The art team is working with shadow and motion, and emotion. A fine line is drawn between art and story. Theatrical Perspectives and cleverly mincing panel layouts never overpower the story. Bellaire's Color palette illuminates and coats the action with a shadow of darkness punctuated by the occasional harrowing splash of light. Bellaire doesn't just modulate between light and shadow. There are a breathtaking spectrum of different levels of shadow that assert themselves throughout the story. It's a very subtle and well-executed articulation of light in a darkened story.
The action at the auction reaches the second issue. Things explode at the end. It's a bottomless quagmire that the heroes find themselves in. Typically a single operation like this running for more than a couple of issues could tend to feel a bit sluggish. Thompson and Company keep it moving in a way that avoids any potential difficulties with pacing. And that stinger at the end is very provocative. Just when it looked like things were about to wrap up in a clean fashion, things get all the more complicated simply and brutally with a quick slice of action. It's very smart storytelling.
