Black Widow (2020-) #1 by Kelly Thompson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So, Kelly Thompson’s Deadpool run seems to have been cancelled, and I wanted a fix of her superb writing, so I thought I’d give Black Widow #1 a go. She’s not a character who’s ever really interested me and despite my love of Thompson’s writing I fully expected to leave it at #1 and that would be that. I was wrong. So very wrong. This has sucked me and I suspect I’m here to stay.

Firstly, I want to commend the art. Elana Casagrande’s line work is superb, but Jordie Bellaire’s choice to use flat colours with minimal or no shading is a bold choice which works really well. Also, kudos to Marvel for the all-female creative team, although it would have been good if they’d used a female letterer too. They do exist!

As for the writing, it is, of course, superb. There’s enough of Thompson’s trademark wit to make this interesting, while she reigns it in enough to keep the tone appropriately “serious” for a spy book. And, also, there’s enough mystery and enough hints at what’s going on to draw you in.

All in all, this is a pretty perfect first issue.

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