Like all the rest of the regular Marvel titles, Black Widow is ending as the Secret Wars/Battleworld stuff happens. One of the themes in this book, which to me is reminiscent of the Widow/Loki scene in the Avengers movie, is Widow trying to “balance her ledgers.” This story goes back and forth between one of Widow’s early missions for the Russians in Cuba, and her desperately trying to save people as the world ends in the present.
If you’re a comic book fan, which I am, one of the questions you may have had with the cinematic success of the various Avengers films is, “Where’s Hank Pym?” In the comics, he was a founding member of the team. Not only has he been ignored up to now, some of his story has been given to other characters. For example, in the comics, Pym created the robotic menace Ultron. Now, as I said in my review of Avengers: Age of Ultron, that change actually made a lot of sense, but still, no love for a founding Avenger? Two, actually, as the Wasp was not only another founder, but she named the team.
So how does a blind kid from New York City learn to fight like a ninja? It’s one of the questions that’s fair enough to wonder about Daredevil, and the episode “Stick,” goes into that in detail. Stick, as comic fans know, is the name of Daredevil’s enigmatic mentor who taught him the skills he’d need to become a masked hero.
The Squadron Supreme has had a long and weird history in Marvel Comics. They are fairly obviously analogues to DC’s famed Justice League, and have had several different incarnations now. In fact, in this issue, the new version fights the one from the “Max” line a few years ago. This evil version, the Squadron Sinister, which has also shown up in various versions in the past, reminds me a lot of DC’s Crime Syndicate, the evil reflections of the Justice League.
This issue continues the string of one-shot stories, a welcome change from most books padded out, few issue too long arcs. “Angels” is one of the times I can see the argument about similarities between Moon Knight and Batman. Moon Knight has a lot of high-tech gadgets in this one, as he pursues what at first seems like a band of bad guys in flight suits who are randomly kidnaping people off the streets.
The future Avengers continue their story. I’m most interested in the new Captain America. David has created a very interesting character with a compelling backstory. She has secrets even from herself, and others being kept from her completely. I could see this getting complicated as time passes. There are also secrets involving Miguel and the Black Widow.
Off on her own, Leia is running around trying to gather up the survivors of Alderaan. She’s being hampered by distrust and paranoia, understandable among a people whose planet was recently destroyed. Survivor’s guilt and blame are a bad combination. Leia and Evaan have added a lot of people to their group, but it’s not all going smoothly. Someone is leaking information to the Empire.
The heroes are scattered on their various missions, and none of them are doing wonderfully well. Luke is on Tatooine seeking clues to further his Jedi training. What he does manage to find is Boba Fett, hired to track down the pilot that blew up the Death Star. Those two have a very impressive fight, and both are surprised.
The problem with being the servant of a god is that the mortal perspective and the god’s don’t necessarily match up. Khonshu has been a big part of this title, a lot more than the faint presence that could be argued away in past books. Last issue, Spector even referred to himself as a priest. Now, he sees that his understanding of Khonshu is nowhere near as complete as he hoped.
After the raid on Cymoon, the heroes have split up. Leia is continuing to push ahead with missions for the Rebels, and has found a good way to persuade (or coerce, depending on your point of view) Han to help her. He’s about as happy as you’d expect in that situation. His annoyance might be part of why he’s off his game, and things don’t go spectacularly well for his and Leia’s mission.
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