Black Widow, Vol. 3: Last Days (2015)

It's ended and I did enjoy reading this series. The artwork was amazing for the whole series. There was some sad parts but overall I was pleased with reading it. It's always great to see Winter Soldier show up.

This is my first Black Widow series I've read as a whole and I would recommend it to others, it was fast and fun read. ( )

~~ super quick review ~~

I loved this because I felt like, after reading it, that I knew Natasha Romanoff better than anyone else in the world and that was a lovely connection for the author to make with the reader. Noto's artwork was breath-taking, as usual and this volume was probably the most emotional of them all. I'm still working out about how I feel about it but overall, a really strong volume and had an excellent emotional pull.

I just wanna hold Natasha forever because she is important to me and I adore her. Also, my wife and I purchased issues from this whole series to hang up on our walls because we love the art so so much. I can't wait till we put them up.
(also, pls let this be the book that breaks my slump hahaha.) ( )

Black Widow Vol 3: Last Days written by Nathan Edmondson and illustrated by Phil Noto is the final volume of the Black Widow sequence that ended just before Secret Wars. It contains issues #13–20 of the 2014 Black Widow run with no need for random extra issues to bad out the volume (yay). I have previously read and reviewed volumes 1 and 2.

This volume of Black Widow had a lot of flashbacks. On the one hand, they were interesting because we got to learn more about her past, but on the other hand, they didn't necessarily move the main story forward. The main story being the one that the first two volumes were leading up to: Black Widow versus Chaos. Given how much trouble Chaos caused earlier on, especially in the first two volumes, I did feel that the final confrontation with a representative of Chaos was over too quickly and too easily. Not to mention that I wouldn't've minded a bit more explanation of the weird stuff going on with Chaos anyway (but there was a hint that we might be seeing more of that later, I suppose...).

I didn't dislike this volume, but it didn't grab me as much as the earlier ones. I ended up reading over a much longer period of time than I usually do, almost an issue at a time, until I got to the last few. There was also much less of an actual "Last Days" storyline, especially when compared with Ms Marvel's and Silk's corresponding volume and issue. Which isn't a bad thing, and probably makes sense given that Black Widow ended the earliest before Secret Wars, but was a bit of a surprise.

I recommend this volume to fans of Black Widow. I didn't love it — the art is still nice though — but I do intend to keep reading Black Widow in the future (is there a post-Secret Wars version? I'm not actually sure). Last Days does conclude the stories started in the earlier volumes and gives us more back story on the character. And we get to see the cat again. (Superheroes with cats are the best, as we all know.)

4 / 5 stars ( )

Third and final volume of the 20-issue Black Widow run written by Nathan Edmondson and inked by Phil Noto.

Great ending to the story, but it sure was depressing. Seemingly hopeless, especially the last issue depicting her time in Cuba while part of the Soviet's Red Room Initiative. Edmondson tried to end it on a hopeful note, but it just didn't quite make it there.

The artwork, as in the previous two volumes, was fantastic, especially the serene vision of the future the Prophet put into Natasha's head. It had a watercolor feel to it, and you almost wish she took up the offer from CHAOS just to see her content with Matt Murdock on calm waters. Of course, if that were the case, Black Widow would cease to exist, and we can't have that, either. ( )

I loved the first two volumes of Black Widow, so it’s a shame that a strong run ended with a whimper. The weakness comes from the necessary evil of tying into the Secret Wars crossover event, which is slated to write over the entire Marvel Now universe which has been so good for the solo series.

Volume 3 has a promising opening. After Isaiah is hurt, Natasha goes full throttle after Chaos. One could say with a vengeance, even. The action is heavy and continuous right up to the middle of the volume where it fizzles out. Natasha gets the bad guy, sorta, and then it all peters off into existential feel-good territory as Natasha suddenly finds peace. The shadowy organization “Chaos” is left hanging – never fully explored – and the ending is rather abrupt and out of sync with the tone of the series to this point.

Overall, Black Widow deserved better for her last days. And so did readers. This doesn’t bode well for the new Marvel Universe, post Secret Wars. Recommended only for the fantastic art and half of a great story. ( )