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Marvel Cinematic Universe
Marvel's Black Widow Prelude
From spy to Avenger, the enigmatic Black Widow has lived many secret lives. But how do these disparate episodes add up to the life of the heroic Avenger, and what is the thread connects her past to her future? Get ready for the solo film Marvel's Black Widow with this glimpse into the storied history of Natasha Romanoff in this story set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe! COLLECTING: MARVEL'S BLACK WIDOW PRELUDE 1-2, Avengers (1963) 43, 196; Web of Black Widow (2019) 1; material from Tales of Suspense (1959) 52-53
136 pages, Paperback
First published April 7, 2020
12 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
About the author
Peter David
3,574 books1,368 followersaka David Peters
Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.
His Star Trek work included comic books and novels such as the New Frontier book series. His other novels included film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series. His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.
David often jokingly described his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he was noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.
David earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.
Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.
His Star Trek work included comic books and novels such as the New Frontier book series. His other novels included film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series. His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.
David often jokingly described his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he was noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.
David earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
June 17, 2021
when she hurts men ❤️
November 8, 2021
This was ostensibly to introduce Natasha to the movie going public prior to the movie's release, but I doubt if there were really any potential viewers who didn't already know all they needed... still, the new content was a fun and harmless MCU recap, and the book comes with some nice bonus content including the first issue of Web of Black Widow from a couple of years ago and her first ever appearances from way back in 1964 in the Iron Man Tales of Suspense book. Strangely, there are also a couple of Avengers stories included; #43 from 1967 which introduces Red Guardian but in which Black Widow doesn't figure at all except to appear as a cameo in a tube (Clint soon joins her, next door, of course), and #196 from 1980 in which Taskmaster is introduced but doesn't have Black Widow in it at all. (Ant Man, Yellowjacket, and the Wasp are the captives this time; Ant Man is curiously called Scott Harris in the narration balloon). It was fun to see the Perez, Heck, and Buscema versions of the characters, and to have all of the sentences end with an exclamation point and, of course, to see "Stan Lee presents..." at the top of the page. Excelsior!
May 19, 2022
i wanted to see more of the red room but she slayed
November 25, 2021
THIS WAS EVERYTHING SHAKING CRYING THROWING UP
July 3, 2021
I've read a handful of these Marvel flick tie-in comics, and they always follow pretty similar patterns: hasty drawings of scenes you can see rendered better in the movies, with scant interstitial frames that do little to illuminate much of anything. It's the kind of stuff that usually winds up on the cutting room floor, or written out of scripts in the first place.
This is, alas, more of the same. Did you think that Black Widow scooping up Cap's shield in Seoul was a crucial character moment? This book certainly does. In fact, almost every major or minor beat BW has been a part of pre-Infinity War is... not so much lovingly recounted as lazily redrawn here. There's no real consideration as to why they're included, and it feels more like a highlight reel you'd find slapped together on YouTube, dumped through a comic book filter. They've made cursory attempts at removing some of the more blatantly sexist aspects, but given that objectification was pretty much the only point of the included scenes from, say, Iron Man 2, I'm not really sure why they're here at all.
Unsurprisingly then, this is thoroughly terrible, quite worthless in fact, just like all the other Marvel Prelude comics. The vintage issues included are... fine... they haven't really aged well and Marvel remixes characters so much for their films that I doubt the introductions of Taskmaster and Red Guardian will be particularly useful. The only saving grace is the teaser for Web Of Black Widow -- but if that ends up being better, you can just grab it on its own. This, you can comfortably skip; as a Marvel movie fan I give you my blessing and assurance that you won't miss a thing.
This is, alas, more of the same. Did you think that Black Widow scooping up Cap's shield in Seoul was a crucial character moment? This book certainly does. In fact, almost every major or minor beat BW has been a part of pre-Infinity War is... not so much lovingly recounted as lazily redrawn here. There's no real consideration as to why they're included, and it feels more like a highlight reel you'd find slapped together on YouTube, dumped through a comic book filter. They've made cursory attempts at removing some of the more blatantly sexist aspects, but given that objectification was pretty much the only point of the included scenes from, say, Iron Man 2, I'm not really sure why they're here at all.
Unsurprisingly then, this is thoroughly terrible, quite worthless in fact, just like all the other Marvel Prelude comics. The vintage issues included are... fine... they haven't really aged well and Marvel remixes characters so much for their films that I doubt the introductions of Taskmaster and Red Guardian will be particularly useful. The only saving grace is the teaser for Web Of Black Widow -- but if that ends up being better, you can just grab it on its own. This, you can comfortably skip; as a Marvel movie fan I give you my blessing and assurance that you won't miss a thing.
July 23, 2021
Les Prologue des films Marvel sont souvent l'occasion d'avoir quelques réponses à des questions auxquelles les films ne répondent pas forcément, pas souvent inoubliable mais souvent ça reste des lectures sympas. La, on ajuste un résumé des films ou la Veuve Noire apparait, suivi de deux vieilles histoires des Vengeurs ou elle n'apparaît même pas. Je pensais bien que ça n'allait pas sauver le film pour moi mais quand même....
July 5, 2021
Movie Tie-in ...basically a comic comprising every Black Widow moment in the first 3 phases.
July 22, 2021
Soooooooo it was two comics having to watch Ross be a douche bag. Not really necessary-- no one is siding with Ross except-- well, we know the type that sides with the accords.
It was throw away content there was unnneeded and could've been better.
It was throw away content there was unnneeded and could've been better.
July 22, 2021
This was a fun refresher with some great artwork, but basically serves the same purpose as Marvel Studios Legends on Disney+. This was a fun run through Black Widow's connected history, but you need to check out the Disney+ series!
October 19, 2023
I mean this is very good, but I also love almost all Black widow comics
June 21, 2022
there was this one part where she was comforting wanda. i hate marvel for not putting thag in a movie. but she slayed
April 7, 2023
i loved seeing more of nat i love her sm !!!
February 10, 2023
natasha romanoff i will love you until the day i die
December 15, 2024
The Black Widow prelude, to date the final Marvel Cinematic Universe prelude comic, is a relatively good effort with passable art, a strong recap ability, and some interesting historical Black Widow comics. If you've read MCU prelude trade paperbacks before, you know the drill: A couple issues recapping a character or movie, and a few issues plucked from the character's history to get you in the mood.
In this case, the two recap issues are better than usual. The art is at least passable this time, and the frame story is a major pacing improvement compared to the abbreviated retellings of movies that other preludes have offered. And since this one is all about Black Widow -- who has been in a lot of movies but not led any of them -- the recap touches on a lot more different movies and events than we usually see. Instead of a recap of the previous movie in the series, it's a recap of the character -- all the way back from the early days of the MCU -- and this comic feels like a more useful refresh than we usually get in the preludes because of it.
As always, the historical comics are a bit of a mixed bag. In this case though, that's mostly just because the old comics feel really old (it's not like Spider-Man where the old comics hold up pretty well).
We start with Black Widow's introduction in two Tales of Suspense issues (#52 and 53) from April and May of 1964. They're full of generic communist bad guys, and Black Widow is introduced as a generic communist attractive woman spy sent to seduce Tony Stark. It's interesting historically, and I still enjoy how these old comics can cram so much more story onto one page than modern comics seem to want to, but I wouldn't say they're actually good.
Avengers #43, from 1967, is easily the worst of the lot. It has all the same issues as the Tales of Suspense comics -- it's generic and a bit silly -- but the writing style is extremely grating as well. I don't know if it's just the author, or the focus on Hercules' dialogue, or what -- but this one was a challenge to get through. It does introduce Red Guardian, so that's the tie-in here.
The second Avengers comic, #196 from 1980, has aged much better. It focuses on Taskmaster, who is written here with an interesting attitude and accent, and was just better able to hold my interest and tell a good story -- although one very much part of a larger overarching tale that isn't included here. It also introduced me to the character of Jocasta, who I wasn't familiar with.
Web of Black Widow #1 is easily the highlight here, even though it's a miniseries from 2019 that's probably included as a way to promote it and boost sales. The modern art captures the spy thriller aspect of Black Widow well, the focus on her past is a good tie-in to the movie, and it's a well-told story that made me interested to read the rest of the series.
Overall, you're getting what you expect when you pick up one of these preludes. It's nothing special -- just a character recap and some historical issues, but four out of seven of them are actually pretty good.
In this case, the two recap issues are better than usual. The art is at least passable this time, and the frame story is a major pacing improvement compared to the abbreviated retellings of movies that other preludes have offered. And since this one is all about Black Widow -- who has been in a lot of movies but not led any of them -- the recap touches on a lot more different movies and events than we usually see. Instead of a recap of the previous movie in the series, it's a recap of the character -- all the way back from the early days of the MCU -- and this comic feels like a more useful refresh than we usually get in the preludes because of it.
As always, the historical comics are a bit of a mixed bag. In this case though, that's mostly just because the old comics feel really old (it's not like Spider-Man where the old comics hold up pretty well).
We start with Black Widow's introduction in two Tales of Suspense issues (#52 and 53) from April and May of 1964. They're full of generic communist bad guys, and Black Widow is introduced as a generic communist attractive woman spy sent to seduce Tony Stark. It's interesting historically, and I still enjoy how these old comics can cram so much more story onto one page than modern comics seem to want to, but I wouldn't say they're actually good.
Avengers #43, from 1967, is easily the worst of the lot. It has all the same issues as the Tales of Suspense comics -- it's generic and a bit silly -- but the writing style is extremely grating as well. I don't know if it's just the author, or the focus on Hercules' dialogue, or what -- but this one was a challenge to get through. It does introduce Red Guardian, so that's the tie-in here.
The second Avengers comic, #196 from 1980, has aged much better. It focuses on Taskmaster, who is written here with an interesting attitude and accent, and was just better able to hold my interest and tell a good story -- although one very much part of a larger overarching tale that isn't included here. It also introduced me to the character of Jocasta, who I wasn't familiar with.
Web of Black Widow #1 is easily the highlight here, even though it's a miniseries from 2019 that's probably included as a way to promote it and boost sales. The modern art captures the spy thriller aspect of Black Widow well, the focus on her past is a good tie-in to the movie, and it's a well-told story that made me interested to read the rest of the series.
Overall, you're getting what you expect when you pick up one of these preludes. It's nothing special -- just a character recap and some historical issues, but four out of seven of them are actually pretty good.
October 2, 2021
I picked this up, hoping there’d be some interesting Natasha content in it. Not… so much. It’s basically just a recap of her MCU backstory, as well as the role she played in Iron Man 2, Avengers, Cap 2, AoU, and Cap 3. Funnily enough, I’ve been watching a ton of Natasha fanvids, and basically all the scenes featured in those also shows up here.
Basically it’s a short two issue recap, and the rest of the book is advertisements for other Black Widow comics; there’s her first appearance, and some other thing, both to advertise classic comic collections, as well as the first issue of “Web of Black Widow” or whatever.
Idk I guess I’d maybe find it more appealing if fans hadn’t done a better job of compiling these moments in fanvids?? It also reminded me that I can’t stand “classic” comics.
Basically it’s a short two issue recap, and the rest of the book is advertisements for other Black Widow comics; there’s her first appearance, and some other thing, both to advertise classic comic collections, as well as the first issue of “Web of Black Widow” or whatever.
Idk I guess I’d maybe find it more appealing if fans hadn’t done a better job of compiling these moments in fanvids?? It also reminded me that I can’t stand “classic” comics.
July 24, 2021
Innecesario cómic preludio que solo hace repaso de las apariciones del personaje de Black Widow en todas las pelis del UCM mediante una conversación, como si pensasen que existiese alguien que no hubiese visto todas para ir a ver la peli en solitario del personaje. Incluso los leves vistazos al pasado del personaje salvo saber con exactitud cuál fue la misión en la que se topó por primera vez con Winter Soldier, todo ya se sabía por AoU o la primera de Avengers (incluso esto de Budapest se muestra con 3 posibilidades).
Por decir algo bueno, el estilo de dibujo a lo "amerimanga" es resultón. Qué pena que hayan desaprovechado la oportunidad para que tuviese una historia cuanto menos decente o relevante para hacerla brillar.
Por decir algo bueno, el estilo de dibujo a lo "amerimanga" es resultón. Qué pena que hayan desaprovechado la oportunidad para que tuviese una historia cuanto menos decente o relevante para hacerla brillar.
August 2, 2021
Very much a curiosity read for me. With the new movie coming out, I was trying to remember a Black Widow origin story from back in the day. I kind of remembered her from when I was a kid, but she was always just pretty much a fringe character. So maybe this prelude volume could fill in a few blanks, right? Hmm. Not really. Interesting throw-back to her first appearance as a "Commie" bad guy for Iron Man to deal with, but after that it seems like it is just a random (and very small) sampling of Black Widow appearances through the years. Somewhat entertaining, but not what you'd call cohesive...or informative. So if you want to know the origin story, I guess you need to go see the movie. Ah yes. The timing of the release of this title makes perfect sense then, doesn't it? OK, they got me.
May 23, 2022
I have to admit, I skipped a lot of the older comics. I just read the two preludes #1 & #2 and then the bit where Natasha was undercover at a ball and Tony confronts her.
I enjoyed this and I liked seeing some extra stuff from what we got in the movies, Age of Ultron and Civil War. I was actually prompted to read this when I saw some panels from this book on twitter.
Not this one, I just liked this one and grabbed a screenshot.
I enjoyed this and I liked seeing some extra stuff from what we got in the movies, Age of Ultron and Civil War. I was actually prompted to read this when I saw some panels from this book on twitter.
Not this one, I just liked this one and grabbed a screenshot.
March 4, 2020
Often the 'Preludes' are just the comic adaptation of the last movie, but here it is different. Of course, all those events from the past form the plot of the comic, but they tell Black Widow's biography and career in the MCU. And, it set the scene for what is going to happen in the movie. As such, this comic did its job.
There is also some additional material from older comics included that adds to the background and retraces her origin in the Marvel universe.
There is also some additional material from older comics included that adds to the background and retraces her origin in the Marvel universe.
May 8, 2020
Not essential unless you're unfamiliar. The first part is a conversation between the Security Council member that Widow doubles in Winter Soldier and Thunderbolt Ross, bascially recapping Widow's movie history in moments. The rest includes her first appearance, a couple of important issues of Avengers with Hawkeye, Taskmaster, and Jocasta, and finally, a more recent espionage-based adventure with Iron Man.
January 7, 2024
the Black Widow Prelude part of this collection goes over everything Black Widow has done in the MCU. the art is cool.
this book also contains comics of the first appearance of Black Widow, Red Guardian and Taskmaster. which really help in familiarizing characters that appear in the Black Widow movie. # of the comics are featured in Black Widow Epic Collection: Beware The Black Widow.
this book also contains comics of the first appearance of Black Widow, Red Guardian and Taskmaster. which really help in familiarizing characters that appear in the Black Widow movie. # of the comics are featured in Black Widow Epic Collection: Beware The Black Widow.
July 11, 2021
Ok. I thought they would show some actual Black Widow MCU adventures not just a recap. The last issue was unnecessary and they should’ve put classic Black Widow in it along with the first appearances.
August 6, 2021
Although it shows what black widow does as a character in the comics and then in the movies. We see a Natasha with a beginning that yet to be still be solved in the MCU. But I'd one wants to see what happens way after civil war an before it. It will be small but interesting.
December 17, 2023
Deadly
Good color artwork, includes several old school flashback issues. Scarlett does a good job of portraying the emotional complexity? The physical specimen is hard to match. Peter David is a nut who wants to blow up trump tower, look at his author photo.
Good color artwork, includes several old school flashback issues. Scarlett does a good job of portraying the emotional complexity? The physical specimen is hard to match. Peter David is a nut who wants to blow up trump tower, look at his author photo.
March 16, 2025
No está mal, pero tampoco aporta tanto a la historia. Más bien resume qué sabemos hasta ahora de la Viuda Negra del UCM y poco más. Entretenido, pero prescindible a no ser que uno quiera ver Black Widow sin haber visto nada del UCM.
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May 17, 2020Why no intro to Yelena?
May 28, 2020
So "prelude" means "recap of Black Widow history". Ok, a new thing learned.
Still Black Widow is cool, so this was not total waste of time.
Still Black Widow is cool, so this was not total waste of time.
November 26, 2020
Excited for the movie. This was mostly recap from the movies, still good artwork though:)
July 3, 2021
What was the point of this ?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews