Yes, she's back, back in black!
Black Widow is a 2020 series by Marvel Comics, written by Kelly Thompson. The comic stars the titular Black Widow, and is the eighth volume of her solo title.The first arc is "The ties that bind". Several enemies of Black Widow abducted her and James Grey, a random man, and gave them false memories of being in love and living together in a nice house. They even had a son, Stevie, who was actually the result of an artificial breeding and accelerated aging. But, as he was made with the DNA of Natalia and James, he is their son. Bucky, Hawkeye and Yelena are not sure what to make of this.
In the next arc she resumes her work as a spy, and recruits Spider-Girl for help.
The first issue was released on September 02 2020. The series ended with issue #15, which was released April 06 2022.
The series is collected in three volumes:
- "The Ties That Bind" (#1-5)
- "I Am the Black Widow" (#6-10)
- "Die by the Blade" (#11-15)
Tropes
- Action Dress Rip: Natasha does this in Issue #2 before engaging some crooks that have accosted a woman in an alley.
- Amazon Brigade: Natasha's team on Issue #10 consists of herself, Yelena, Anya Corazón, Kate Bishop, Lucy Nguyen, and Craig.
- An Arm and a Leg: The Living Blade severs Natasha’s right arm just above the elbow.
- Ascended Fangirl: Natasha asked Spider-Girl to help her with a case. Her reaction was a Squee.
- Brainwashed: Natasha and James were both brainwashed into thinking they loved each other and had a typical life as a Nuclear Family.
- Creepy Twins: The Twins, a pair of superpowered siblings whom Natasha and Yelena seek out to learn information about Apogee. The Twins give them the information after the Widows fight them for it and are seen contacting someone to alter them of the Widows.
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Had to send her husband and child away with Bucky to protect them.
- Death Faked for You: Knowing that the villains would try to kill James and Stevie, the Black Widow made it seem they were caught in an explosion and reacted with a Roaring Rampage of Revenge. But they are fine: this was just a cover for the Winter Soldier to hide them, fake their deaths and give them new identities elsewhere.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Not the usual way, Natasha had no problems with having suitors in the past. She completely shut the door to another class of love, that of mother and son, as her Red Room training would force her into a miscarriage if she ever managed to get pregnant. She never allowed herself to entertain the idea of having a son, that would never happen. But now, she did: it is her son (there was no pregnancy but he's made from her DNA), she remembers their life together (even if knowing that most of it except the last two months was fake memories), and still feels motherly love towards him. And she simply had to keep him hidden and away from her, for his own safety.
- The Dreaded: The Living Blade. He scares Natasha, and his reputation is enough to worry the Winter Soldier and Yelena as well.
- Literal-Minded:
- When Bucky accuses him of having the patience of a small child, Clint protests that he has the patience of at least a normal-sized child.
- When "Natalie" tells her son: "say bye-bye, Stevie", the boy obeys by saying: "bye bye Eevie" to the guy who introduced himself as Clint.
- Locked into Strangeness: After overusing her powers, Lucy Nguyen's arms now glow blue and are always loaded with electricity, forcing her to wear gloves.
- Lovely Angels: Natasha (or "Natalia") and Yelena. In the first arc Yelena infiltrates her home life as a babysitter, later on they are their regular selves.
- Meaningful Name: So that she won't suspect anything, Natasha's "fake" family in the first arc bear the names of people she knows: her husband is James, because she used to date James "Bucky" Barnes; her son is named Steve for Captain America, and her cat is named Logan. This way, if she has amnesiac resonance involving those names, she will simply assume she is thinking of her child, her spouse, or her pet.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Natasha has been missing for three months. Not really strange, it wouldn't be the first time she goes undercover. But, if she's undercover... why would she casually walk in front of a TV camera and allow herself to be seen on TV?
- Pragmatic Villainy: Viper is fine with leaving Natasha brainwashed in domestic bliss because it keeps her out of the way and attempting to kill her has proven too costly. Unfortunately, Weeping Lion spoils those plans for vengeance.
- Single-Minded Twins: the Die By The Blade arc features the Twins who finish each other's sentences and can shift mass between the two of them.
- Sue Donym: Subverted. A brainwashed Natasha is merely given the English version of her name, i.e. she goes from Natalia to Natalie. When Yelena goes undercover to investigate the situation, she follows suit and uses the alias Helen.
