WEB OF BLACK WIDOW #4: A Hawkeye in the Ointment…

The issue cleverly starts with a dramatic scene to hook the reader before jumping back several hours to set things up.

Again Houser impresses by balancing the toughness of the Black Widow with the vulnerability of Natasha Romanoff. The dialogues with Matt Murdock and Clint Barton are well written, Barton being more serious than usual suites the more somber nature of the story being told. Once again it’s obvious from her exchange with Hawkeye that parts of her memory are not fully there.

The homage page to her first meeting with Hawkeye is a really nice touch and it’s great to see a historical reference editors note from Sarah Brunstad, those always evoke nostalgia. The story moves along steadily as Natasha seeks to prevent her unknown enemy from causing any more damage to her reputation while trying to stave off Barton who is also trying to bring her in and ultimately proves to be a deadly distraction as his interference puts both himself and Natasha in a vulnerable position as the face of Natasha’s mysterious adversary is finally revealed…

I have to say as a long-time Black Widow fan I feel a bit foolish as I should have picked up who this enemy was as it’s actually revealed in issue three in a clever throwaway panel that I only picked up on after the reveal when I went back to check. It really is Natasha’s past coming back to haunt her.

I can’t compliment Mooney’s art more than I have over the other three issues except to say his Natasha is a perfect balance of capable and beautiful and his expressive facial expressions and strong body language have really been an absolute highlight of the series.

This issue really focuses on the foreground with Natasha in almost every panel with less major emphasis on backgrounds but it always feels like New York and I really liked how Matt’s apartment looked like it was straight out the Netflix Daredevil series. I also have to say Mooney draws a pretty great Hawkeye and Matt Murdock too! All this combined with Triona Farrell’s well-suited coloring and Petit’s lettering makes this an issue and a series that has not set a foot wrong in my opinion and I am deeply looking forward to the finale!