Review - Black Widow: The Name of the Rose

Following a brutal attack that left her on the brink of death, Black Widow is hospitalized. When a data storage device containing classified information is discovered inside of her, she is declared a traitor. Knowing that she’s being framed, Black Widow must escape and uncover the truth in order to clear her name.

Black Widow: The Name of the Rose collects Black Widow #1-5, written by Marjorie Liu and illustrated by Daniel Acuña.

The Name of the Rose is an elaborate espionage thriller that digs deep into Black Widow’s past. She is nearly killed, framed, and has a hit put out on her life by an unknown force. The key to unraveling this mystery is a single black rose, which is an obscure reference to something from her past. Black Widow must evade the government and overcome attacks from the world’s deadliest assassins (like Lady Bullseye!), so that she can find the puppet master who is pulling the strings. In some ways, this narrative feels reminiscent of a lot of prior stories starring Black Widow. It relies upon her past to build intrigue and to fill out the supporting cast. It reads like a more sophisticated version of Deadly Origin, but isn’t quite as intriguing and meaningful as Homecoming.

Despite the somewhat predictable narrative elements, Marjorie Liu proves herself to be incredibly adept at writing Black Widow. She’s still the icy spy that we know her as, but Liu also adds in some humour to the character and allows us to see her vulnerability. What stands out to me is that, for much of this story, Black Widow is gravely injured and she pushes on regardless of that. There’s a particularly memorable sequence where she and Elektra get into a physical altercation. Black Widow holds her ground and maintains her steely façade, but after Elektra is gone we see just how much pain she’s in. While Liu employs figures from Black Widow’s past to act as supporting characters, she doesn’t strictly rely on former lovers like most other writers do. Wolverine plays semi-important role in the story, which gives us an opportunity to see the unique dynamic that exists between the two. They have a mutual respect for one another that’s built on friendship rather than romantic feelings. It’s refreshing.

Daniel Acuña’s art is a perfect match for this story. The paint-like quality to his work gives the story an almost vintage feeling, which suits this world of espionage and intrigue quite well. In fact, it almost gives the story a noir kind of aesthetic. This is especially evident in how Black Widow is depicted. She looks like a film noir femme fatale, complete with a variation of the Veronica Lake hairstyle. There are a lot of characters featured in this arc and he does them all justice, with some standouts being Elektra and Wolverine. Beyond that, it’s worth highlighting the gorgeous usage of colour. There’s a lot of red and black throughout, which seems to be an obvious reference not only to our lead heroine but also to roses (the black rose being a pivotal plot element). The vibrancy of the red that reoccurs offers a lot of punch to the otherwise muted palette, while there’s some really neat contrast due to the shine placed on Black Widow’s iconic catsuit (since most of the colours used are matte).

Black Widow: The Name of the Rose is a worthy addition to any Black Widow fan’s collection. It’s visually stunning and features some incredibly strong writing from the award-winning Marjorie Liu. Though the story itself may not be the most original, the quality of the character work and action sequences are more than enough to make up for it.

RATING: B

Review: Astonishing X-Men - Unmasked

After discovering a mysterious artifact with ties to an enemy her people, Warbird goes rogue and is chased across Cairo by S.H.I.E.L.D. Then, the world is blanketed in snow and it becomes clear that there's only one person responsible -- Iceman. The X-Men must not only save the world, but they must rescue their allies from their inner demons as well.

Astonishing X-Men: Unmasked collects issues #57-59 and #62-68 of Marjorie Liu's run on Astonishing X-Men.

Unmasked offers a variety of stories from the desk of Marjorie Liu. This collection opens with the two-part Warbird-centric arc that deals with the Shi'Ar's complicated relationship with art. She uses these two issues to further develop Warbird's character and flesh her out beyond her role as a warrior. Warbird was one of the standout characters of Liu's run on Astonishing and she did a brilliant job of providing readers with some backstory to the character.

At the heart of this collection, however, is the Iceman-driven snowpocalypse arc. In this story, the X-Men are dealing with the aftermath of X-Tremination and come face-to-face with the reality of Iceman's dark side coming to the forefront. Over the course of this four issue narrative, Liu gets right to the core of Iceman's character and deals with his insecurities in a way that no other writer has done before. Despite being one of the original X-Men, Iceman tends to get ignored by most writers and it's rare to find a story such as this one that places him in a starring role. For that alone, Liu should be celebrated. However, she also provides us with some great cameos of the character's past girlfriends and posits Mystique as the story's secondary antagonist. For fans of the X-Men's resident frosted mutant, this story will not disappoint.

Character development is a crucial selling point for Liu's run on Astonishing and that continues to be the case here. Throughout, she focuses on the intricacies of the X-Men's relationships with one another and indulges in the downtime between missions to give us maximum development. While other writers are eager to toss the characters into battle, Liu takes her time and carefully crafts subplots into her stories for the singular purpose of providing the X-Men with depth. From Northstar's struggles with immigration to Warbird's acceptance of herself as an artist, Liu helps to remind readers that the X-Men are more than just your everyday generic superheroes and that they have personal struggles just like the rest of us.

Astonishing X-Men: Unmasked is a bittersweet ending to Liu's near flawless run on the title. She concludes her tenure with a bang, providing fans with amazing character development and a much-deserved Iceman-centric story. To top it all off, the art is top notch. Phil Noto's covers are gorgeous and Gabriel Hernadez Walta's interiors match the tone of the book perfectly. While there were still some problems with the material, Liu's handle on the characters remained strong and the title was getting addicting. The fact that it was cancelled, and with such a unique team, is sad. Fingers crossed that Liu will return to the Merry Mutants some day!

Rating: A-

Review: Astonishing X-Men, Weaponized

As the X-Men celebrate Northstar's nuptials to Kyle Jinadu, they make the startling discovery that their bodies have been infected with dangerous nanobombs courtesy of Hatchitech. The technology company's CEO Susan Hatchi offers the X-Men two choices, they can either do her bidding or be blown to smithereens. Decisions, decisions.

Astonishing X-Men: Weaponized collects issues #52-56 of Astonishing X-Men written by Marjorie Liu, as well as its first annual.

Picking up right after the events of the preceding trade paperback, Weaponized continues the arc of Susan Hatchi's manipulations of the X-Men. She's apparently set her sights on acquiring the island nation of Madripoor and is keen on using the X-Men to help her do it. It's a great story actually, so much so that Brian Michael Bendis decided to plagiarize parts of it in All-New X-Men. Susan Hatchi proves to be a devastatingly powerful enemy for the team and her machinations place them in intense life-or-death situations. A standout moment features the X-Men buried under rubble, with only Cecilia Reyes' forcefield protecting them from the crushing death that awaits them.

Marjorie Liu's keen understanding of her characters proves to be a major selling point for this collection. Their personalities, motivations, and powers are well defined, making them all the more accessible to the readers. Warbird continues to be a source of humour and is easily one of the best characters present. Even still, Karma and Northstar remain at the forefront of Liu's narrative. She's still very much interested in exploring Northstar's relationship with Kyle and handles the danger of mutant-human romance quite well. With Karma, she makes the character extremely relatable and makes some rather interesting revelations about her past. The downside to this is that Liu references past events that many readers may be unaware of.

While Liu's characters may be accessible, the narrative isn't always. Beyond Karma's past, Liu leaves the reader without context for many situations. The glaring issue here being Madripoor. While the nation should be well-known to long-time X-Men fans, newer readers will likely find its place in the story quite puzzling. The other issue with Weaponized is its art. Once again, Mike Perkins provides sloppy work that does a disservice to Liu's plot. David Baldeon, who takes care of the art for Astonishing X-Men Annual #1, would have been a much better choice. Finally, there is a slight misstep on Marvel's part in terms of how they collected Liu's run on Astonishing X-Men. They split up the Susan Hatchi arc into two volumes (Northstar and Weaponized) when they should have collected the entire arc in one larger trade paperback.

If you can get past the messy art, Marjorie Liu's Astonishing X-Men will leave you impressed. The attention she gives to D-list characters is admirable and she creates a story for them that develops them quite well. Astonishing X-Men: Weaponized is a character-driven collection that is unrelenting in its intensity and action. If you love underdogs, then this is the right trade paperback for you.

Rating: A-

Review: Astonishing X-Men, Northstar

Having moved from Toronto to New York City, Northstar is getting settled into his new life with his boyfriend Kyle. Unfortunately, he barely has time to unpack before he's called off for a mission with the X-Men. Someone is controlling the minds of villains and heroes alike, and it's up to Northstar to stop them.

Astonishing X-Men: Northstar collects Astonishing X-Men #48-51, written by Marjorie Liu, as well as material from Nation X #2 and Alpha Flight.

There is a lot to love about this collection. From the dialogue to the action, Liu delivers an engaging story from the very beginning. Her characters are three-dimensional and feel incredibly realistic, which is a feat rarely accomplished in mainstream comics. The chemistry between each X-Man is electric and the familial vibe is at the forefront of all their interactions. Iceman's trademark wit and Warbird's enthusiasm for combat serve as the comic relief, while Northstar's relationship woes add drama to the mix. Truthfully, enough cannot be said about Liu's band of X-Men. It's an eclectic mix of big names and D-listers, but it works to her advantage. I'm personally impressed by the focus she places on Karma and Northstar, two characters who are tragically in need of attention from writers. She also gets extra brownie points for including '90s X-Man Cecilia Reyes, especially since Liu gets her personality spot-on.

If Marvel's PR team were to tell us what the selling point for Astonishing X-Men: Northstar is, they'd probably say it's the much publicized "gay wedding" which occurs in the final issue in this collection. The pressure must have been immense for Liu, particularly since many have called the wedding a publicity stunt. Nevertheless, she takes on the task of writing such a controversial subject with tact and respect. It's a very touching moment and the issue itself is understandably quite important. My only criticism would be that we didn't get to see enough of it. Honestly, the issue should have been double-sized and packed full of mutant wedding goodness. After all, we didn't even get any moments between Northstar and his bestie Dazzler.

Astonishing X-Men: Northstar proves that Marjorie Liu is one of the most underrated X-Men scribes. Not only does she understand the characters she writes, but she also gives a voice to those who have been marginalized and ignored by other writers. It is a thoroughly enjoyable collection with punchy dialogue and thrilling action. The only issue I had was with the art. Mike Perkins' work is rather muddy and messy, which clashes with Liu's colourful cast. Dustin Weaver, who handles the cover art, would have been a much more suitable artist for the interiors. That said, you really can't go wrong with this trade paperback. In the largely joyless world of modern X-Men comics, Liu's Astonishing X-Men is a shining beacon of hope.

Rating: A