Black Widow: Widow's Sting #1 Review

by Ryan.L on October 28, 2020

Writer: Ralph Macchio
Artist: Simone Buonfantino
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Publisher: Marvel Comics
 
 
The Black Widow is on a mission and she will stop at nothing until she finds out what is going on.
 
In the early days up until even the 2000s there was a way comics were written that was very descriptive saying what the characters were doing, rather than just showing us. In modern day comics it’s very much the reverse. This book follows the former way of crafting a story. Every character explains everything they are thinking, doing, or going to do. This made for a really unpleasant read. Mostly because the art gave us a visual of exactly what the character was doing or about to. It even gets a bit cliché with how obvious it gets with the characters describing or explaining.  
 
It’s not just the way the story was written that made it unpleasant to read, it was also how poorly the story was set out. There is really nothing of substance in this book at all. The end even tries to leave us with a life lesson that completely falls flat. There are other story moments that just don’t add up either. At one point the villain’s henchwoman is revealed to also be an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and he’s shocked at the reveal, and calls her out as a betrayer. But then right after as she is explaining things to Black Widow she tells us how he knew and destroyed her communications equipment and more. Did he forget she was a spy? It’s moments like this that really let the reader down.
 
You also need to look at the characters and how they speak. There are many moments where I found myself thinking a mob boss like him wouldn’t talk like a fifteen year old. Black Widow would never say something like that. I’m a big fan of Black Widow and have been reading her for years. I haven’t read a book that was so out of character before than when reading this one. It was even so out of character for brand new characters as well. I just don’t think the writer researched the characters or types of characters enough to really understand how they would speak and act.
 
The art in this book tries to save it, but falls short unfortunately. It has its moments where it looks really good and we have been given some really fun action scenes. But then there are moments where Black Widows face looks really off. It’s an attempt but it comes off as a rushed one.
 
Overall this book reads like a really bad teenage fanfic. Its style of writing takes the path of explaining every detail to the reader rather than just expecting the reader to be smart enough to know what’s going on. Even if this book was aimed at a younger audience it still completely misses the mark.
 

Our Score:

3/10

A Look Inside