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A review by abinthebooks
Black Widow Vol. 1: The Ties That Bind by Kelly Thompson
1.0
Hello and welcome to: THE MCU AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. Also big rant & minor spoilers, you’ve been warned.
This was actually one of the worst comics I’ve ever read; and I’ve read plenty of Marvel Knights and Ultimate Comics. I’ve been warned by plenty of people that this comic has very OOC comic Nat, and they are so right. This comic has anti-winterwidow (please be so frl rn Kelly), an unnecessary amnesia storyline that makes no sense, completely weak Natasha and OOC Yelena, and an odd Yelena and Natasha friendship (again, the MCU and it’s consequences).
I think the thing about this that made me the most pissed off was giving Natasha a child and a husband, acting like she hasn’t lost a child and husband before in Name of the Rose. Not only that, but she also “lost” Alexei Shostakov, her second husband, who has abused, mind-raped, brainwashed, and married her when she was underage, and she lost Bucky Barnes who is quite literally her best (and only valid) love interest. And following that, this Natasha was obviously based off MCU Natasha who has no agency, no concrete storyline, and is only on screen for sex appeal.
I’m so sick of comic writers writing this character as some mindless sex symbol, making her completely OOC, and giving her more trauma just for the hell of it. THERE WAS NO REASON FOR THIS, especially because she’s pretty much gone through this exact fucking storyline twice before. Also the fact Hydra was involved in this was laughable. Once again I say, the MCU and it’s consequences. Both Natasha and Bucky are Russian; they are Russian spies and assassins, they were trained in Russia with The Red Room and they are not involved in Hydra in any way as is changed in the MCU. This again leads me to believe this story is semi-based off the MCU and that this comic writer does not understand comic Natasha or Bucky whatsoever. And it does show.
I reiterate again, this was one of the worst comics I’ve read, and honestly fucking offensive to Natasha as a character. If I wanted to watch Natasha be disgraced, I’d watch Age of Ultron again. For this storyline actually done right read Name of the Rose by Marjorie Lu. One of the best comics ever written imo, and completely sweeps this piece of garbage off the board. Anyways, this had fantastic art, but a absolute shit storyline and depiction of this character (who if y’all can’t tell is my fave comic book character). I know this is angry, I know I sound mad, but it gets exhausting reading about someone fucking up your favorite character time and time again. Natasha is more than just her trauma and her sex appeal and I want to see more of her just being actually in character and in a healthy relationship (with Bucky ofc). So thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
This was actually one of the worst comics I’ve ever read; and I’ve read plenty of Marvel Knights and Ultimate Comics. I’ve been warned by plenty of people that this comic has very OOC comic Nat, and they are so right. This comic has anti-winterwidow (please be so frl rn Kelly), an unnecessary amnesia storyline that makes no sense, completely weak Natasha and OOC Yelena, and an odd Yelena and Natasha friendship (again, the MCU and it’s consequences).
I think the thing about this that made me the most pissed off was giving Natasha a child and a husband, acting like she hasn’t lost a child and husband before in Name of the Rose. Not only that, but she also “lost” Alexei Shostakov, her second husband, who has abused, mind-raped, brainwashed, and married her when she was underage, and she lost Bucky Barnes who is quite literally her best (and only valid) love interest. And following that, this Natasha was obviously based off MCU Natasha who has no agency, no concrete storyline, and is only on screen for sex appeal.
I’m so sick of comic writers writing this character as some mindless sex symbol, making her completely OOC, and giving her more trauma just for the hell of it. THERE WAS NO REASON FOR THIS, especially because she’s pretty much gone through this exact fucking storyline twice before. Also the fact Hydra was involved in this was laughable. Once again I say, the MCU and it’s consequences. Both Natasha and Bucky are Russian; they are Russian spies and assassins, they were trained in Russia with The Red Room and they are not involved in Hydra in any way as is changed in the MCU. This again leads me to believe this story is semi-based off the MCU and that this comic writer does not understand comic Natasha or Bucky whatsoever. And it does show.
I reiterate again, this was one of the worst comics I’ve read, and honestly fucking offensive to Natasha as a character. If I wanted to watch Natasha be disgraced, I’d watch Age of Ultron again. For this storyline actually done right read Name of the Rose by Marjorie Lu. One of the best comics ever written imo, and completely sweeps this piece of garbage off the board. Anyways, this had fantastic art, but a absolute shit storyline and depiction of this character (who if y’all can’t tell is my fave comic book character). I know this is angry, I know I sound mad, but it gets exhausting reading about someone fucking up your favorite character time and time again. Natasha is more than just her trauma and her sex appeal and I want to see more of her just being actually in character and in a healthy relationship (with Bucky ofc). So thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.