Black Widow & Hawkeye # 1

 By Mark Rodriguez

I've been reading older Black Widow runs and the recent White Widow run. Let's see what Black Widow is up to nowadays in her latest run. It seems that this time Natasha has a symbiote....

'Broken Arrow part 1' opens in Siberia as a man stumbled down a hill trying to escape from something or someone. He falls on his back and symbiote spiders start to crawl on his face, all of them eager to bite him. Black Widow tells them 'not yet', for the man still deserves a chance to speak for himself.

Black Widow asks the man about the target he was paid to kill. She says he can either tell her, or her spiders will get the information for her. The man says the target he was looking for, Hawkeye, is dead. She asks the spiders to show her his mind, as they start to attack him. As the spiders morph back into pieces of the symbiote and return to her, she can now look into the man's memories. She sees Clint was in an explosion, but she won't believe it until she sees a body. 

24 hours ago in Madripoor, Hawkeye is running from an assassin. The assassin says he plans to skin him and collect his hide as a trophy. Hawkeye says he's more of the 'collectable sneakers' kind as he leaps back off the rooftop, firing off an arrow. The arrow hits a wall and has a rope attached, which Clint uses to swing through a window and onto the floor below. 

Clint remarks that this is the fifth guy to come after him in the last 48 hours. He says the guy before him wore a red mask and had a mace that would have been cool if he wasn't swinging it at him. Clint says that the current assassin after him is the first to plant a tiny bomb on his back without him noticing. There is an explosion seen from outside the building and the assassin's job is complete.

We jump back to 36 hours ago in New York City as Natasha visits a nightclub where she gets offered a drink. We see that she's speaking to Bobbi Morse, Mockingbird, former hero and Hawkeye's ex-wife. Natasha saw the TV news about something Hawkeye has allegedly done and contacted Bobbi to talk about it. Bobbi says the security detail assigned to her already noticed she's missing. Bobbi was told by the CIA that she can't be objective in this case since she's be likely to believe whatever Clint tells her.

Bobbi says things were going well with the New York Thunderbolts, as well as between Clint and her, but then the current events happened. Bobbi's been placed under administrative leave to keep her out of it while her fellow agents try to kill Clint, if the Russians don't kill him first. 

Natasha asks if she knows where Clint is. Bobbi says all her security access has been revoked, and all she has left is the name Mikhail. Mikhail is a Russian assassin who's been locked up for eight years but CIA surveillance picked him up walking around Moscow the day before. He's a free man with a full bank account, receiving anonymous deposits every hour since he's been spotted. Natasha figures if they find Mikhail, he can lead them to Clint.

Bobbi says she can't go with her, and warns Natasha about her going after Clint. Natasha says she's aware and it won't be the first time she's been an enemy of the U.S government and it won't be the last. She asks Bobbi if she thinks that Clint is actually guilty.

48 hours ago at a press conference in Washington DC, the Foreign Minister of Russia is called up to speak. He is honored and relieved that Russia and the U.S have found some common ground and he will promise that Russia will continue to build a strong relationship. Like all good relationships, theirs will be built on trust. Just then, lurking from the shadows, an arrow is fired.

40 hours ago in Russia, Mikhail is released from prison. 32 hours ago in Madripoor, Clint is avoiding the attacks from a guy in a red mask swinging a mace. 28 hours ago in Madripoor, soldiers are being sent out to hut for Hawkeye. 18 hours ago in Russia, Black Widow is fighting with soldiers and asking them where to find Mikhail.

Currently, Hawkeye thinks he died in the explosion, but then reasons he can't be thinking at all if he really is dead. He's in a lot of pain due to all the injuries he's gotten, including four broken bones, and he realizes he's in an ambulance. Just then the ambulance is rocked to the side, as Clint determines he's about to meet assassin number six.

This assassin has a whip-like mechanical claw hand and it latches onto Clint's boot. Clint gets pulled out of the ambulance and swung into a wall, and he remarks he misses the days when assassins just had guns. Hawkeye can't move and the assassin lashes out her whip, the sharp claw going for his face. Just then the symbiote's tendrils latch onto the assassin and someone says they've been to three different countries looking for him. Clint sees Natasha in her symbiote form.

Natasha tells him that he could have contacted Bobbi or her and not do everything on his own. Clint's hearing aid is broken so he can't hear 'the standard lecture' but know what she's saying. Natasha hugs him tight, being glad to see him alive, and Clint thinks to himself that now he has five broken bones.

Later on, Natasha and Clint are hiding in a small hotel. Natasha says they can't stay long. The Russians know where Clint is and Bobbi told her that the Americans aren't far behind. She figures the troops are in Madripoor and making their way through the border. She says she as an old contact they can try that can help them cross the border. Clint gets up and says he's not leaving. 

Clint appreciates that Natasha looking for him but says she shouldn't have. He knows she saved his life thanks to her symbiote, but he thinks he shouldn't have been saved. Natasha says this is a argument he will lose. Clint says he needs to stay in Madripoor and deal with things alone. Natasha says whether he's been cloned or brainwashed or whatever, they'll deal with it together like they always do. Clint says he's tired of their cycle. Clint says they never talk to each other unless one of them is in mortal danger, then they forego everything for one another. He says this isn't healthy. Natasha says maybe he is a clone. Clint says he's not a clone, he was there. 

Clint was at the rooftop during the ceremony. The Russian Minister was talking about rebuilding the bridge between America and Russia and working towards a more hopeful future. Clint says that's when he did it, and apologizes to Natasha. Natasha asks what he means by 'he did it'. Clint admits that he shot the Russian Minister.

Back up Story-

Many years ago, in Coney Island, Black Widow and Hawkeye are hiding out. Clint finds and wears his old costume from when he used to shoot arrows to entertain tourists. Natasha says it's no use, they will follow her wherever she goes. Clint says they will keep fighting, and he won't let them take her back to Russia. Natasha says she is a Red Spy, and Russia isn't the only thing they will need to fear. 

Clint understands he might be labeled a traitor, but he will do whatever he needs to to ensure her safety. Natasha can't ask him to stay as she doesn't know where she'll go or what she'll face. Just then an assassin named Snapdragon appears. She says she will be what they will be facing, and she was sent to retrieve Natasha either willingly or by force.

Hawkeye fires off an arrow, which Snapdragon blocks with her weapon. This gives Hawkeye time to fire a second arrow by her feet that causes a huge explosion. Hawkeye tells Black Widow to run while he keeps Snapdragon distracted. Black Widow runs off saying she will find Clint again, she always does.

My Thoughts-

Pretty interesting story with high stakes and a lot of mystery. It takes a bit to find out what exactly Clint did to have two countries come after him, and then we find out he actually did kill the Russian Minister and it wasn't a Hawkeye imposter or anything. Hawkeye was also, confusingly, narrating what we thought were the events of his own death, until he wakes up in the ambulance and acknowledges that if he were dead he wouldn't be narrating anything.

While we still need to find out exactly why Clint did so, the artists might have played their hand a little too early. That Russian Minister definitely had a suspicious look on his face right before he went down. Regardless of whatever the evil plans turns out to be in later issues, it would have made things more interesting if the Russian Minister came off as completely benevolent until 'the big reveal'. I'm curious to see where this will go.

And he just so happens to look like this while he's talking about trust? C'mon guys, he's up to something. Or rather whoever he's working with since he's dead now

Of course, I am also curious about the Black Widow now having a symbiote attached to her. From what I researched, 'Widow' is one of Venom's offsprings and it can gain the memories of whoever's brain it eats. In this case, Natasha sends bits of the symbiote in the form of spiders, and once they eat the victim's brain and return to rejoin her, she gains access to those memories as well. It seems she'd also be able to websling like Venom, and by extension, Spider-Man and also have superhuman strength.

This is very interesting, and so far it seems that Natasha has full control of Widow, but we'll have to see what will happen down the line. I also wonder if we will see more of Bobbi down the line as well. As for the back up story, it's also cool and an example of the other way around, this time Clint is risking his life and reputation to keep Natasha safe. I'm surprised that one is also a multi-parter, so we'll also have to see where that one goes.

I wonder if this Black Widow is still the clone from 'Web of the Black Widow', since that would mean the real Natasha is still dead after the event of Secret Empire. It would be kinda weird to have Hawkeye go on about how those two always look after each other, complete with a back up story set in the past, if this Black Widow is just a clone. I did some research but couldn't find anything conclusive on whether or not the real Nattie ever came back to life somehow or if we're supposed to just carry on as if the clone is the real deal. Marvel has a real clone problem nowadays.