It has been three years since Yelena Bedrova got a series, but she’s back and this time going solo. It’s a character that seems to allow creators to go a bit darker and more violent with the Black Widow archetype, yet few have cracked this character and made her unique. That may end this week, as Sarah Gailey and Alessandro Miracolo kick off a new four-issue miniseries, White Widow.
Customary of a title like this, Gailey kicks off the issue with a flashback. This helps build our expectations of who she typically is in the field while setting up a new “sidekick” character that matters later on. This scene reminds us White Widow kills her targets without remorse but is also training younger assassins seemingly out of the kindness of her heart. The scene involves Captain America and a few barbs from Yelena to Steve that probably hurt more than her strikes.
Much of this issue takes place in the present in a small American town called Idylhaven. Yelena is attempting to figure out who she is via things she loves, likes, dislikes, neutral, and hates via a chart. We’re reminded much of her personality is simple due to her not having an identity when being trained and used by the Red Room. She’s trying to find herself but isn’t regretful necessarily about what she’s done. That’s an interesting place to explore and take this character who wants to learn more about herself.
Sponge fingers…Yelena needs to get into roast comedy.
Credit: Marvel
There are a few creative ways Gailey and Miracolo punch up the visuals, be it the chart mentioned above, or how Yelena catalogs her dislikes even when she’s being attacked. A threat has come to the town that’s attempting to buy up all the property and it seems they’re willing to murder people who aren’t selling. Yelena has grown accustomed to and truly fallen in love with shops and shopowners–who are also cataloged via some nifty profile cards–and won’t allow it.
Gailey is also good at capturing Yelena’s Russian accent. It’s not overused–and sometimes I forgot to use it–but when it comes through it works.
The only weakness of this issue is the lengthy dialogue scenes, two of which sap the pace and energy of the book. They take place after Yelena saves the candy store owner. The dialogue spends a great deal of time fleshing out one of the townsfolk Yelena saves while setting up the enemy and also detailing how a town person sold their business.
White Widow is off to a great start, building on Yelena’s character in a natural way. She’s not rejecting her killer lifestyle, but embracing it, but at the same time seems to be finding that inner purely good hero thanks to small-town America. Throw in her desire to train younger assassins and there are elements to hang on to and build from. White Widow entertains with a good take on the lead character and creative visual ideas.
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