Reprints Marvel Fanfare #10-13, Bizarre Adventures #25, Black Widow:The Coldest War graphic novel.
Written by Ralph Macchio, Gerry Conway & George Perez.
Penciled by George Perez, Paul Gulacy, George Freeman, Bob Layton & Luke McDonnell.
Inked by Joe Sinnott, Jack Abel, Brett Breeding, Al Milgrom, John Beatty, Ernie Colon, Mark Farmer, George Freeman, Mike Harris, Val Mayerik & Joe Rubenstein.
Natasha Romanoff, better known as the Black Widow, is contacted by S.H.I.E.L.D. Its director, Nick Fury has a special mission for her: find Ivan Petrovich. Ivan is one of the most important people in Natasha's life. He rescued her from certain death in war-torn Russia and served as Natasha's guardian. Ivan later defected to the U.S. with the Widow, but Fury fears that the Soviets have captured Petrovich. Or worse: he may have decided to rejoin the USSR of his own accord.
Nick Fury tells how Ivan rescued Black Widow during WWII.
The Black Widow's quest for Ivan takes her all over the world:
From New York, to Moscow, to Hong Kong, to a villain's island headquarters. It turns out that the villain behind Ivan's capture is a foe from her past. Before she can rescue Ivan, she has to fight her way through a team of assassins. The deadliest of them is Iron Maiden, who served with Natasha when they both worked for the Soviet Union.
Black Widow Vs. Iron Maiden
But there's more:
In another tale, an MI-6 agent is killed while investigating Soviet intervention in South Africa. Natasha is contacted by S.H.I.E.L.D to look into this case. It turns out the leader of the Soviet operation is Irma Klausvichnova, the woman who trained the Widow.
That training has saved Natasha's life more than once, but now S.H.I.E.L.D. has ordered her to kill Irma. But when Black Widow tracks down Irma, nothing goes according to plan!
Alternate Cover
Review:
Black Widow: Web Of Intrigue is a decent book, not a great one. I've always enjoyed Black Widow in the Avengers or the era when she co-starred with Daredevil. But I don't think Black Widow has ever been very successful as a solo character and this book shows why. Writers seem to get stuck on telling stories about Black Widow's past as a Soviet spy and we get two in this hardcover. I won't reveal the identity of the villain who mastermined Ivan's capture, but I will say that it's someone who fought the Widow while she was partnered up with Daredevil. Web Of Intrigue also features a nice retelling of Natasha's origin and back story. Story:
Ralph Macchio pens a good tale here. The first part (from Marvel Fanfare #10-13) feels a lot like a Bond movie, with all the globetrotting, larger-than-life thugs, and a villain with an island hide-out, but the ending feels a bit sudden.
The second story, from Bizarre Adventures, also written by Macchio, is short but in some ways the better of the two tales. It should be noted that this book has a "parental advisory" on the back cover. There's a line where another agent says Black Widow was "good in the sack", so it's not a book that should be given to kids. Bizarre Adventures was a magazine aimed at adults, so it's not surprising to see this.
The second story, from Bizarre Adventures, also written by Macchio, is short but in some ways the better of the two tales. It should be noted that this book has a "parental advisory" on the back cover. There's a line where another agent says Black Widow was "good in the sack", so it's not a book that should be given to kids. Bizarre Adventures was a magazine aimed at adults, so it's not surprising to see this.
I need to point out that there are several continuity and/or geographical errors in this book. For instance, at one point we're told that Ivan Petrovich rescued Natasha during the battle of Stalingrad. Later, we're told the rescue took place in Leningrad. And at one point, Nick Fury tells her they've booked her a room in one of Japan's finest hotels, but the hotel is actually located in Hong Kong. I hope someone got a No-Prize from Marvel over these bloopers!
Art:
George Perez is a favorite artist of mine. Sometimes his inkers let him down here, but the art generally looks good.
George Perez is a favorite artist of mine. Sometimes his inkers let him down here, but the art generally looks good.
Paul Gulacy's art is outstanding as always and it looks great in black & white. Prior to the publication of Web Of Intrigue, this story had only ever been published on newsprint-quality paper. It looks fantastic here on glossier paper. Gulacy often drew characters to look like famous movie stars, as we see below:
"Langley" bears a striking resemblance to Humphrey Bogart!
How does it look?:
Great. All the images in the review are scanned from the book, and here's another:
Extras:
A 1988 graphic novel called Black Widow: Coldest War can be found at the back of the book.
My rating:
Not a classic, but Black Widow: Web Of Intrigue is a good introduction to Black Widow and the art by Perez and Gulacy makes it a worthwhile purchase.
