Graphic Novel Review - 'Black Widow: The Name of the Rose' by Marjorie M. Liu (Writer), Daniel Acuña (Artist)

It seems to be a thing for me when reading a 'Black Widow' comic: with a few exceptions, I will read the comic not being sure how I feel about it, but towards the end I will be blown away by it, and yep, I decide that I like it a lot. That's the way of good spy mystery thrillers, in a sense. Black Widow achieves her role vitally well.

It's amazing to think that I've only been reading her comics for under a month, and she's already been ranked extremely high on my list of fictional characters who have consistently suffered the worst shit imaginable for as long as they have existed. I mean, wow. The excruciating and overwhelming physical and emotional pain, those she has loved and lost over the decades, and the countless times her body and mind have been violated and fucked with. How many times have her memories been altered? Plus, now many times has she been through a torture scene where she's restrained to a chair naked, or half naked? It goes to show how strong she is that she still functions at all - still gives the appearance, at least, that she's stable, calm, sane and sure of herself - after everything she's been through her whole life. Or maybe that's just bad and careless writing.

But it's not like Natasha Romanova is an emotionless "strong female character", who might as well be a robot. Deep down, she is vulnerable, and the world's greatest spy shows her true emotions when alone. Or when things go horribly wrong and it's far, far too much for a single human being to handle.

This is demonstrated in comics such as 'The Name of the Rose'.

Published in 2010-11 (one of Widow's earliest status quo, canon characterisations, then), it is another dark thriller with an emotional core at the center of its mystery, which goes back several decades. And it is very dark, with horror-esque injury and surgery detail. All I'll say about the plot is that there is a black rose, a black ribbon, secret spy/superhero information stored in a pill in an intestinal area, paralysing poisons, androids, and downloading memories from brains in jars. It is about Natasha; she is at the heart of everything, and she is as active, clever, resourceful, cunning and ruthless throughout as she is secretive. She's not anyone's victim.

The comic's other heroes/antiheroes/villains are (no spoilers) Captain America (James "Bucky" Barnes), Iron Man, Hawkeye, Wolverine, Elektra, and Lady Bullseye. I love Wolverine here (such a smart, gruff and funny hunk), but the other heroes, the Avengers, are great, too. They remain loyal, and almost never falter in their trust in Natasha, whom they still consider their friend, in light of the secrets she's keeping from them. Well, she's had a long, hard, terrible, complicated, and distraught life, and every hero has secrets. It's a shame that she's barely seen to have any female friends in 'The Name of the Rose', however.

Natasha is a woman full of pain, tortured by so much memory, and everything she's built and worked agonisingly towards is crashing down around her. But as always, she will not let anything beat her. She also keeps a snarky, witty sense of humour, in spite of the mountainous grief and misery that is her existence.

'Black Widow: The Name of the Rose' is a very good comic. It took me a while to seriously get into it and believe in what it's doing, but I'm glad I stayed absorbed and finished it. There is heartbreak, bittersweetness, but also hope, catharsis and closure at the end, like every well written 'Black Widow' story, I think. An introspective, poignant, moving, bloody spy thriller superhero action comic. The art is excellent, and some of the best and most fitting to its story I've ever seen, as well.

Includes a separate issue at the beginning, written by Kelly Sue DeConnick, where Natasha saves a teenage version of herself at an opera house - well, it's the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow, where ballet is performed.

The best 'Black Widow' comics I've read have been penned by women. How enlightening. Wait, no: the correct word is obvious. Keep it up, and keep treating women and minorities - in your industry and staff as well as in your comics - with the respect they deserve, Marvel and DC.

Final Score: 4/5