Black Widow & The Marvel Girls # 2

 By Mark Rodriguez

Last issue, Black Widow was on a mission that gave her flashbacks of her time in the Red Room. Seen as a failure and destined to die, it was the Enchantress' intervention that let showed her handlers the potential that Natasha had. Despite coming close to escaping the Red Room, Natasha is taken back inside where she will be trained to become the Black Widow we know today. What awaits her in this issue?

The issue opens with Black Widow and the Wasp staking out Latveria on a Tuesday afternoon. Widow doesn't trust the way the farmers move, even though Wasp sees nothing wrong. Widow says she likes to be in control and she runs out to start shooting at the farmers, which turn out to be robots. 

Wasp jumps in and fights alongside Widow, who repeats that she figured the farmers weren't moving right. Widow says all information is useful in battle and the fact that Wasp currently can't shrink down makes her useless in battle. Widow runs towards Wasp with a pitchfork making her think she was going to betray her, but it's revealed she's using it to stab a farmer that was behind her.

Black Widow says the cows are normal and wonders if they can tell the difference between humans and security robots. Widow says Latveria has the highest level of security of any nation, and Doctor Doom creates the most sophisticated robots, second only to Reed Richards. Widow tells Wasp she should be suspicious of most things that move in Latveria and almost everything that doesn't, just like she suspected her of betrayal.

Widow tells Wasp that she thought she was about to stab her with the pitchfork. Wasp tries to explain herself and Widow says she wouldn't have doubted her if she was Iron Man or Black Panther. Widow has a Doombot in a wheelbarrow and says it's imperative they get this data out of Latveria.

Five hours earlier, the Avengers, Iron Man, Black Panther, Thor, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Black Widow and the Wasp are walking down the streets of Doomstadt within Latveria. T'Challa asks if they should be walking around in costume. Tony says they were openly invited by Doctor Doom so they should stay visible. T'Challa suspects a trap but Tony says if their mission is to succeed they need to do this diplomatically.

Scarlet Witch asks why Doom would release Professor Swinson. T'Challa says due to international pressure, it's more convenient for Doom to appear benevolent and let the professor go. Tony says they can learn from Swinson to prepare for the next time Doom goes mad. Black Widow separates from the group and Iron Man sends Wasp after her.

Black Widow doesn't trust Doctor Doom to just willingly release the same scientist that has been trying to escape Latveria for almost ten years, while also insisting that the Avengers personally escort him back to America. Wasp says they can allow Doom a tiny propaganda win now in exchange for rescuing a prisoner. Widow says propaganda can cause more problems and lead to more prisoners.

Iron Man asks the team what they think of the Black Widow, their latest Avenger. T'Challa says she makes him nervous and Wanda isn't sure they can trust an ex-spy. T'Challa says they will have to take her as she is, and Wanda says it would be easier if they knew what she was. Just then Doctor Doom and his entourage arrive.

Thor acts as the Avengers' spokesman. Doom wants them all arrested for bringing the Vision, an android, to his country. His scientists can study Vision to discover any state secrets he might have stolen. Iron Man figures this was Doom's plan, a way to use the scientist to decipher Vision's advanced designs. With Doom's men aiming guns at such a close range, Wanda can't move fast enough to avoid getting shot and Thor won't be able to protect everyone fast enough either. Tony tells Vision to power down.

The Scarlet Witch is quick to object but Iron Man says they don't have much of a choice. He tells Vision to power down for five seconds. As he does though there is a bright flash that knocks down Doom's forces. Tony explains that the flash was a EMP, which buys them a few seconds.

Tony carried Vision while Thor fights the Doombots. Black Panther asks Swinson if he was in on Doom's plot or if he really wants to escape. The professor wants to get out there. The Avengers head back to the Quinjet as Scarlet Witch makes walls crumble behind them to buy them time. Widow and Wasp are alerted of the situation and starts heading back too. Just then Black Widow is cut off by Doctor Doom. Widow tells the others to leave, she can find a way back on her own.

Wasp asks if they're really going to leave without Black Widow and Black Panther says only for the moment. Just then the Doombots start attacking the quinjet. Thor and Iron Man fly outside to deal with them. Just then the jet gets blasted and the explosion knocks Iron Man and Thor back. Wasp falls out of the jet and her wings are damaged, so she's unable to fly and hurtling towards her doom. 

Just then Black Widow catches the Wasp with a pitchfork full of hay. She was able to track where Wasp would land after seeing the battle against the quinjet. Wasp thanks her and Widow says she found one of the Doombots that fell from the sky. She plans to take it out of the country. 

We go back to modern day, later that same afternoon as Natasha and Janet are now using the farmer clothes the earlier robots wore as disguises. Widow wants to head towards a pub and Janet says they don't have time for that. Widow says there's always time to be careful, they can use the pub to find out how close they are to the border of Symkaria. Janet thinks it's too dangerous and doesn't want to go in. She doesn't want to be left alone in the streets either so she follows Natasha into the pub anyways.

Janet doesn't speak the language but Natasha does. Janet sits by herself feeling bored while Natasha mingles with everyone in the pub. After a while, Natasha has found out a lot of things including the identities of Doom's informants. She also has enough money for some purchases and keys in case they need a place to stay.

Later on, the women are back in costume and they head towards an airfield to borrow a biplane. At this point Wasp already assumes Widow knows how to fly it. As they take to the sky, they are attacked by some of the informants. The weight of the Doombot they took along is slowing them down. Black Widow guns down one of the planes with her Widow's Bite but the other plane is much more competent. 

Black Widow tells Wasp to get her parachute, but the plane doesn't have any. The plane is also out of bullets. The pilot is behind them and shooting at the women. Widow takes the plane in a loop and she gets close enough to shoot the pilot with her Widow's Bite. Both plane hit each other, both of them losing a wing. Wasp is sent falling out of the plane as she tries to get her wings to work.

Black Widow jumps out of the plane after Wasp, despite her not having a parachute either. Widow says she couldn't just leave Wasp alone, and she suddenly starts laughing. Wasp asks what's so funny since they're both about to die. Black Widow says she has no control and finds it funny, she feels so weightless.

Iron Man swoops in to save Widow and Wasp. He says they came back to get them after they shook off the Doombots. Once everyone is inside the quinjet, Iron Man says it was smart to nab one of the Doombots for study. Wasp says it was Widow's idea. Iron Man asks her what it was like to work alongside the famous Black Widow, and if she got to know her at all.

Wasp says she's not humorless as she first thought, but she's not very likeable. Janet adds that she does trust her, completely. Black Widow smiles.

My Thoughts-

So it seems the series is an anthology series that takes place in different points of Black Widow's life. In this case, this story takes place shortly after she joined the Avengers. At this point she is still a mystery and the team doesn't know if she's trustworthy. After all, she's an ex-spy and for all they know, she could be spying on them on behalf of one of their enemies. 

The story was interesting, though it could have benefited from being a two-parter. Doom invites the Avengers to personally escort a scientist he kidnapped back to the states, and used this a ploy to grab the Vision. Widow and Wasp get separated and have to work together to escape on their own. While Widow is very resourceful, the plan was to fly out of the country, only to get gunned down and possibly fall to their deaths had it not been for Iron Man randomly showing up. 

The main thing was seeing how Natasha and Janet got along, and it was rocky for a while. Natasha has lived a seasoned life by now, so she comes off as a know-it-all. She cuts off a lot of Wasp's sentences with her suggestions and eventually Wasp gave up and assumes Widow just knows everything. Actually if Wasp wasn't too busy being scared out of her mind in freefall, she might have called out Natasha on how her plan led them to falling out of a plane without parachutes.

I would have liked to have seen more of Natasha and Janet working together and getting along as they both worked their way through Latveria. With this having to be a one-shot, the final pages did feel a bit rushed. As for Doctor Doom, he vanishes from the story after the EMP blast, if he was ever really there at all. For all we know, the Doctor Doom we saw could have been just another Doombot. 

We'll see what more adventures awaits Natasha as she runs into Miss Marvel next issue.