Writers: Jen & Sylvia Soska
Art Team: Flaviano, Veronica Gandini, VC’s Joe Caramagna
Release Date: April 24, 2019
Cover Price: $3.99

Black Widow has been a surprise hit mini-series over here at Weird Science Marvel Comics Headquarters to the point we all get excited for the title when it pops up on the release schedule each month. Issue four here is the penultimate chapter in the series, with Nat caught by the N.R.P. team, and tied to a chair ending last issue. I fully expect a lot of fireworks here leading the way to a kick butt conclusion. So lets discuss the latest issue of Black Widow and see if it lives up to the quality of its predecessors.

The issue begins with Tech Ed and Tyger Tiger realizing the Black Widow is the latest victim of the No Restraints Play live stream, as they attempt to hack the N.R.P. system, and get the info behind who’s the man responsible for the monstrosity at play. Vlad begins by water boarding Nat, which results in her earpiece going a bit haywire, leaving her on her own against these terrible monsters. Retreating within her mind to withstand the torture, we get a beautiful spread page, recapping events that brought Black Widow to this point in her life. This scene works in tandem beautifully with the narration at play, really emphasizing how effective the comics medium can be, when art and dialogue work together to tell a story.

As Vlad, the torturer, attempts to reach further into his bag of tricks, Nat wiggles of the poorly tied ropes, and begins to extract her revenge, leading to some beautifully rendered and paced action scenes, taking up most of the second act of this book, and eventually sending the N.R.P. torture facility up in flames. Its awesome to watch Nat just go through and kick everyone around, while not holding back one iota, because these people are the worst of the worst. The Soska sisters really have set a a great tone, then let Flaviano and Veronica Gandini’s imagination go here, opening up the title to some beautifully rendered action work. Meanwhile Tyger Tiger is able to free the children held hostage, while Tech Ed is able to hack just enough info before the fire gets everything, to give the team a lead to pursue from this point forward.

The book begins to wrap up as the team pursues their new lead, taking them to the Prince. It seems the Price was lead astray while all this occurred under his nose, as he cooperates fully with Widow and company, however his cooperation sheds light on who may have been the one up to no good this entire time. This is a nice twist to the story ending here that really makes me pumped for the finale to the series.

Overall, the Soska Sisters, combined with the fantastic art team of Flaviano and Gandini, are crafting a beautifully brutal Black Widow title, that keeps the reader on their toes with some interesting twists and turns, which make me excited to get the next issue in my hands ASAP. After this run of four issues the Soska Sisters have my attention and I look forward to following whatever their name is on next. This is definitely a trade I’d recommend grabbing when it comes out if you haven’t payed attention until now.