Natasha Romanov: Black Widow Appreciation 2021

[Chris0013]

I'm late to the discussion but I concur....Legacy #50...that isn't remotely right.
Just another reason Legacy numbering is stupid. The industry shot itself in the foot 15yrs ago by embracing the start/stop/renumber gimmick to trick Retailers into ordering more just because it is a #1.
Readers have caught on. Too many times a #1 isn't even a legit starting point, regardless if the same creative team is there or not.

Not to mention causing series to stop and restart because of an event like happened with the incursions and battleworld

[phonogram12]

I feel Kelly’s going to come back to this, and use it further down the road. I have a feeling not everything is as it seems with James.

I agree. Kelly has rarely steered me wrong before.

[OOTCS]

My read of it is that Natasha's intellectual and emotional feelings are complicated because emotionally she grew attached to them during the fake life and having the Black Widow part of her life sealed away (so it was kind of a forced happiness, but still emotionally she felt happy) while intellectually she knows it wasn't real and doesn't know what to do about them other than Superhero work.

That and she might be projecting the child she miscarried onto a baby that is basically hers.

This is how I prefer to read it as well. Regarding the question of whether or not KT will address the complexities later on in the run—as good as she is about writing complex female characters, it seems like she's gotten into the issue of babies a lot—more than the average writer—with most the adult female superheroes she's had significant runs writing. We can discount Jessica Jones because she's grandfathered in with a baby, but Carol's latest arc has leaned into this with Carol breaking up with Rhodey over a possible future kid in an apocalyptic timeline, and there's this with Natasha. The thing is that both Carol and Nat are characters who have either hinted or outright said that they're not interested in having kids. So either Thompson is working up to deconstructing the whole "all women want babies trope" or she's reinforcing it, and I can't tell which at this point.

[Shadowcat]

I agree. Kelly has rarely steered me wrong before.

Kelly’s hit or miss with me, but when she’s got it, she’s got it. This cast is looking to be stellar.

[Chris0013]

Natasha related...but is Alexi supposed to have a SSS variant? Natasha's 'youth serum' and Bobbi saying he was 'their first super soldier' seem to imply that.

Red Guardian.jpg

That and the OHOTMU says that the WW2 Red Guardian was killed during Stalin's purges due to his opposition to 'the brutal experiments that evenutally created his successor'.

[Frontier]

This is how I prefer to read it as well. Regarding the question of whether or not KT will address the complexities later on in the run—as good as she is about writing complex female characters, it seems like she's gotten into the issue of babies a lot—more than the average writer—with most the adult female superheroes she's had significant runs writing. We can discount Jessica Jones because she's grandfathered in with a baby, but Carol's latest arc has leaned into this with Carol breaking up with Rhodey over a possible future kid in an apocalyptic timeline, and there's this with Natasha. The thing is that both Carol and Nat are characters who have either hinted or outright said that they're not interested in having kids. So either Thompson is working up to deconstructing the whole "all women want babies trope" or she's reinforcing it, and I can't tell which at this point.

I think with Natasha it's kind of complicated because she had a baby and it kind of ended horribly, so obviously there are emotional scars there but she was technically a mother so I think getting to have the experience of raising a child and getting to live as a mother for a brief time, even if it was orchestrated and artificial to some extent, would have an impact on her. Even if she had written it off because of the kind of lifestyle she leads and the pain she carries with her.

That Carol thing was kind of dumb though .

[Matternativ]

Natasha appeared today in Heroes Reborn: Siege Society

It's just a oneshot and hardly a can't-miss kind of deal but I figured I should bring it up anyway.

[chicago_bastard]

Natasha related...but is Alexi supposed to have a SSS variant? Natasha's 'youth serum' and Bobbi saying he was 'their first super soldier' seem to imply that.

I wouldn't say it only implies it, it pretty much confirms it directly.

Makes sense as I remember him showing some strength feats that put him on the level of Cap. In that recent one-shot with Yelena he punched through a concrete wall.

[Chris0013]

I wouldn't say it only implies it, it pretty much confirms it directly.

Makes sense as I remember him showing some strength feats that put him on the level of Cap. In that recent one-shot with Yelena he punched through a concrete wall.

That is my thought on it...but they have never explicitly said..."He has a Russian SSS variant" or something like that.

[chicago_bastard]

I like the argument between Nat and Yelena in the new issue, felt so in character for both.

Oh and Casagrande's double page splash of the two of them fighting together is excellent, but that has already become such a constant for this book that it almost doesn't need to get mentioned.

[Godlike13]

Ok issue. Maybe a little slow though.

[Chris0013]

Ok issue. Maybe a little slow though.

I don't mind when they slow down a little and can actually do some character development and build relationships.

[chicago_bastard]

Also a nice panel:

bw7.jpg

[Chris0013]

Not sure how I feel about the name White Widow for Yelana...maybe if the Tarantula name is up for grabs???

[chicago_bastard]

Not sure how I feel about the name White Widow for Yelana...maybe if the Tarantula name is up for grabs???

Black Widow & Tarantula sounds like the name of a Mexican rock band though.

Is there a white spider species?