September 2021 BotM - Black Widow, Vol. 1: The Ties that Bind

[Erin]

This month's BotM pick is Black Widow by Kelly Thompson, Vol. 1: The Ties That Bind by Kelly Thompson! What did you think of this month's pick? Worthy of the Eisner win?

As always, this thread is FULL SPOILERS for Volume 1! If you've read beyond that, please no spoilers past Volume 1.

If it's ok to read your comments on the show, please include "OK TO AIR" in your post.

This month's episode will be a Patreon exclusive, available September 26th at https://www.patreon.com/ircbpodcast

[Lenny]

This wasn't my favorite book ever, but I do love seeing an all-women creative team for women characters (except for Cory Petit on letters). I'll read anything Thompson writes, and Casagrande's artwork is just frickin' fantastic especially paired with Jordie Bellaire's colors

The story was off to me, though. An amnesia storyline is a little 'blah' already, and for Nat's "perfect life" to revolve around a husband and son - and not include any friends, or her sister Yelena - felt...uhh a little uncomfortable. Especially when it ends in Nat in pain and in need of some serious therapy, which seems to be standard for Black Widow stories - but on top of that, she's pining to be a wife and mother. And she had to comfort Clint and Bucky's extremely selfish reactions to the whole thing. That being said, Thompson was spot-on with her relationships with Bucky, Clint and Yelena. But I'm not a fan of the direction it went in.

Ok to air!

[Nancy]

This thin graphic novel about Black Widow surprised me in how much I liked it, despite it being centered around the common trope of amnesia.

The story starts out with Natasha helping Captain America with a one-off mission in NYC, but then mysteriously being hit with some tranquilizers and falling off a building. Three months later she is spotted in San Francisco, as an architect, with a husband and toddler son. She seems blissfully happy, and the boy truly seems to be hers. What?! How could she have a child over a year old in three months time?

Clint (Hawkeye) and Bucky (Winter Soldier- why does he always wear a mask??) find her and are as confused as us readers. Do they intervene? Who is behind all of it? Unknown to them, Natasha’s sister Yelena has also found her and is trying to get to the bottom of it. A preposterous villain team has arranged it all (and how Natasha’s son came to be defies credibility, plus the question of her new husband’s past) but we need to have a suspension of disbelief and move on.

Natasha’s facade is showing some cracks as she steps in to help a woman in danger and discovers she had bad-ass skills and no memory of her past. Soon the villain team is after her so Natasha, Clint, Bucky and Yelena need to move quickly to save her husband James and son Stevie, as she rediscovers who she is. While this is supposed to be the first in a series, it feels like a stand-alone story, as the somewhat predictable ending seems to wrap up this chapter in Natasha’s life.

This book has an all-woman creative team which is appreciated and gives more weight to some of the emotional narrative threads. That Natasha has little time to grieve at the end and inappropriately has to comfort Clint and Bucky at the end, was intentional. Natasha carries the weight of the world on her shoulders and needs help in coping, not additional burdens, but isn’t that what women often do- carry not only their own problems but other's issues too? The art and coloring were excellent, with an illustration change during flashbacks. Little Stevie was adorable, and I believe that Natasha’s time with him will change her. For a story that was a bit formulaic, it worked for me.

*Ok to air*

[Lenny]

Nancy wrote: "That Natasha has little time to grieve at the end and inappropriately has to comfort Clint and Bucky at the end, was intentional. Natasha carries the weight of the world on her shoulders and needs help in coping, not additional burdens, but isn’t that what women often do- carry not only their own problems but other's issues too? "

Nancy, I love this interpretation as intentional, and potentially a commentary on gender. I didn’t read it that way at first but I think you’re really onto something. Like you said, this kind of storytelling is one of the many benefits to having an all-women creative team.

Now I’m curious if other aspects of the story are part of the commentary….Natasha choosing between this “perfect family” and being a spy (and her unilateral decision that it's impossible); using the names James and Steve, other men in her life. Is is a commentary on how society treats women who who try to (I hate this phrase) "have it all"? Is it about how we treat women characters, particularly in comics? I loved Natasha & Yelena's relationship and now it feels even more like that should have really been what grounds the book (or it did, and I missed it). Yelena is the only one who really sees Natasha. Would love your thoughts.

(ok to air)

[Nancy]

Lenny wrote: "Nancy wrote: "That Natasha has little time to grieve at the end and inappropriately has to comfort Clint and Bucky at the end, was intentional. Natasha carries the weight of the world on her should..."

I truly do think it was intentional, as men would have written the same scene with blinders on, while women writers would have a greater understanding of what a woman might actually be feeling and thinking. Speaking as a working wife and mom, "having it all" is nigh impossible, and Natasha takes a practical approach choosing one and giving up another, although it hurts to do so. I did appreciate Natasha and Yelena's relationship, for I have been complaining forever that books and movies hardly ever show authentic friendships between women.