Agree, not really sure why I can’t warm up to any of these iterations. I will say looking back I probably enjoy those stories with S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers, Cap and Bucky best. I feel like a broken record harkening back to volume five of Cap, but it seems to me she balanced those spy and superhero qualities the best during that time whether it was an espionage moment with Agent 13, or outright battle alongside Falcon, Hawkeye, and Hank during Reborn.
Her one offs have been less inspiring, except perhaps Marjorie Lui’s Name if the Rose which I quite liked. I think for me the failure of the Winter Soldier series as an on going was a big disappointment too. Despite her eventual loss of memories that seemed to go on forever afterwards, that series held the most potential for long term Natasha development. One where her links with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the superhero community strengthened her espionage capers. The commitment to a long term series with her and the Winter Soldier might’ve given more weight to these more recent individual stories. Right now it just feels unmoored and lost, with too little continuity.
No one seems to be able to catch Fraction’s Hawkeye. Since Spencer bombed us with Secret Empire, reigniting Clint’s relationship with Nat, his character hasn’t been all that appealing to me. I was hoping the Tales of Suspense series might hold out some hope but it fell flat with me for some reason.
Loss of her memories has certainly kept me waiting for resolution, and kept me coming back to theses miniseries hoping we’d get pre zephyr project Nat back. If I’m not mistaken that may be true for many of us who follow her. And of course we’ve tumbled down the proverbial rat hole with this clone thread. It’s almost as disorientating as Cap and Stevil at the end of Secret Empire. Waid had me hopeful, and then the abrupt right turn into Stevil’s shield followed by the clone solution has me in the tank again. Perhaps someone more interested in her and not just a “great story” about her .... who knows.
Houser is very nice as a person at cons, but...honestly, what's her A-game even look like? I've NEVER been impressed with any of her stuff. It's never bad, but it's also always extremely safe and predictable.
Valentine is hard to track down. My guess is she's not writing comics right now, but she wrote comics for indies - Xena and some others - for a few years after her DC work.
I know why I can't warm up to them: because they keep writing a Nat who is a loner, making self destructive choices, and building nothing for the future. Name of the Rose had Nat being dark, morally complicated - but also warm, connected to other heroes, and with relationships outside of the Red Room (though still with villains). The real damage of The Winter Soldier series was her memory wipe, which I think was horrible for her ability to connect to other characters.
I liked Occupy Avengers okay for Clint's character, but there's definitely been more bad Clint than good (oh, I liked West Coast Avengers Clint, too).
I want Nat to just have good stories, and we're not getting them.
"We're the same thing, you and I. We're both lies that eventually became the truth." Lara Notsil, Star Wars: X-Wing: Solo Command, Aaron Allston
"All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
"There's room in our line of work for hope, too." Stephanie Brown
Stephanie Brown Wiki, My Batman Universe Reviews, Stephanie Brown Discord
Haven't read Faith. I bought every issue of Renew Your Vows and most of Spider-Girls (Spidergeddon tie-in), and while I think Houser did some of her best work there, it was still not more than "very skilled" or "top of competent". The stuff with Peter and MJ in the vacation issue, and the stuff revolving around MJ and Peter's miscarriage were the closest Houser got to actually evoking emotion - and it was well done - but the main plots were really, really weak.
What she's doing with Black Widow (and Harley and Ivy) right now isn't even at that level. It's just bog standard, tired stuff.
"We're the same thing, you and I. We're both lies that eventually became the truth." Lara Notsil, Star Wars: X-Wing: Solo Command, Aaron Allston
"All that is not eternal is eternally out of date." C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves
"There's room in our line of work for hope, too." Stephanie Brown
Stephanie Brown Wiki, My Batman Universe Reviews, Stephanie Brown Discord
I'm guessing that nobody read her appearance in Savage Avengers Annual #1. It came out in October... :P
Line it is Drawn Black Widow in Tomb Raider This drawing is by Jean Sinclair.
I think this would be a much more fitting partnership with oldschool, backflipping while shooting two guns Lara rather than her reboot self.
Here I see Nat dragging her along which is a whole nother dynamic than the picture seems to bhe going for.
Pretty cool idea either way!
"̶l̶̶e̶̶t̶'̶s̶̶ ̶̶h̶̶a̶̶v̶̶e̶̶ ̶̶s̶̶o̶̶m̶̶e̶̶ ̶̶f̶̶u̶̶n̶̶,̶̶ ̶̶t̶̶h̶̶i̶̶s̶̶ ̶̶b̶̶e̶̶a̶̶t̶̶ ̶̶i̶̶s̶̶ ̶̶s̶̶i̶̶c̶̶k̶̶.̶̶ ̶̶i̶̶ ̶̶w̶̶a̶̶n̶̶n̶̶a̶̶ ̶̶t̶̶a̶̶k̶̶e̶̶ ̶̶a̶̶ ̶̶r̶̶i̶̶d̶̶e̶̶ ̶̶o̶̶n̶̶ ̶̶y̶̶o̶̶u̶̶r̶̶ ̶̶d̶̶i̶̶s̶̶c̶̶o̶̶s̶̶t̶̶i̶̶c̶̶k̶̶"
"Let's have some fun, this riff is sick. I wanna mosh around in the Circle Pit!"
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Viúva Negra.
"Who wouldn't go out with the Black Widow? I'd strangle a litter of kittens for one dinner with her!"
Adrian Toomes aka the Vulture
"Natasha Romanoff, A.K.A. Black Widow - ex-KGB, formerly with S.H.I.E.L.D...Probably the brains of this operation.I have followed her career, and she has been consistently UNDERRATED."
Black Widow and James Bond in Brazilian theaters in april.
I. Am. So. Happy.
Last edited by Winterboy; 12-07-2019 at 06:59 PM.
"Who wouldn't go out with the Black Widow? I'd strangle a litter of kittens for one dinner with her!"
Adrian Toomes aka the Vulture
"Natasha Romanoff, A.K.A. Black Widow - ex-KGB, formerly with S.H.I.E.L.D...Probably the brains of this operation.I have followed her career, and she has been consistently UNDERRATED."
My friend and I discuss the new trailer for Black Widow on our podcast. Have a listen https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...s/id1482220681
“Marvel Fan Rave Podcast” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 - Black Widow
by IshikaHiruma
Future Fight - Black Widow [Endgame]
by IshikaHiruma