"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Black Widow: Deadly Origin (2010)

This Black Widow story was a comic I read a while ago, but I haven’t reviewed it until now.  To be honest, while it delivers a lot of what I love about Black Widow in the MCU, aspects of the plot don’t really work for me.  It’s partly why I’ve yet to buy any more comics of hers.  I’m sure I’ll give it another try eventually, but I hope whatever else I read is better than this one (spoilers.)

As the title suggests, this volume examines the past of one Natasha Romanova, former Russian spy, present-day force for the good guys.  The story kicks off when Natasha’s longtime mentor/father figure from the old days is killed, and the only lead points to a mysterious “icepick protocol.”  Natasha’s mission to get to the bottom of it is interspersed with flashbacks, from her early days in the Red Room to the various alliances she’s been a part of since joining up with SHIELD.  They both provide a picture of where her head space is and prime us for what we need to know about the icepick protocol, since here, past and present are both connected.

We’ll start with what I like.  I love Natasha running around all BAMF and spy-like, kicking ass and gathering intel.  In general, her characterization seems to make sense with the version I know from the films – she’s tough but still has her vulnerabilities, largely related to the extremely checkered nature of her past, and when she sets her mind to something, she gets it done.  I’m still getting used to the way everyone knows everyone and has worked together (and quite possibly slept together) at various points in the comics, but it’s fun to see Natasha interacting with, say, Daredevil or Bobbi Morse.  Some of the backstory, especially the Russia segments, is pretty interesting.  Plus, one reason I picked up this comic was because of different stuff I’d heard about Natasha and Bucky as a romantic pairing.  As soon as I heard it, it just sounded perfect to me (sorry, Bruce and Cap, hehe!), and I’m bummed that the movies haven’t used it.  Bucky isn’t a big feature in this story, but we see a little of their relationship both then and now.  While it would’ve been great to see them working the mission together, I like that he offers to help in whatever way Natasha needs, and when she says it’s something she has to do on her own, he a) totally gets that and b) trusts that she can do it without his help.

That all stacks up pretty well, but what I don’t like involves the main icepick protocol plot (here’s where the main spoilers come in.)  The way it shakes out, back when Natasha was with the Russians, her body was dosed with these nanobot that she then passed to anyone she had significant contact with (for the most part, they’re talking in the biblical sense, but it’s some friends, too.)  When activated, the nanobots cause the people she’s “infected” to completely lose it and go into a murderous rage.  I get what the writer (Paul Cornell, whose work I loved on Doctor Who, not so much here) is going for – she’s a “literal Black Widow” – but I hate seeing Natasha’s body weaponized against those she cares about.  While the book explores the intent behind the protocol a bit, that they want her allies to feels she’s “dirty” and too risky to get close to, I still don’t like it.  It’s the kind of plot I can’t imagine being given to a male superhero, so that annoys me, and just… I don’t know.  It doesn’t work for me.  It feels gross.  When I’m ready to check out more Black Widow comics, I hope I don’t find more of that sort of thing.

Warnings

Comic-book violence, sexual references, drinking, and dark themes.

No comments:

Post a Comment