Black Widow

We’ve been doing comic book recommendations based on your favorite MCU movie and character. Now this next one is going to be slightly more difficult because of the way the MCU just completely butchered the character of Black Widow. Many comic fans absolutely hate her on screen portrayal so if you liked it at face value, don’t bother with the comics. If you liked it because that’s the only badass woman representation we had in the MCU then these are the comics for you.

If you want some good insight into Natasha’s origins then look no further then No Place Like Home from 2004, this storyline is the summation of Black Widow volume 3 issue #4. Now for context one should really read the entirety of volume 3, these issues really get into the inside of the Red Room and we get to see really how Natasha became who she is.

If you loved the introduction of Yelena then I would like to turn you to The Itsy Bitsy Spider from 2016 that collects Black Widow #1-3 from 1999 and #1-3 from 2001. Now I want to warn you that if you like Yelena and Natatsha as a pair, and really love seeing that sisterly relationship then you are going to be sorely disappointed because that is an extreme liberty that the movies took that does not exist in the comics. They gave Natasha a family because they wanted to ground her and I get it but in the comics she is far more isolated. So you will see these two characters in opposition with each other.

Now if you just love Natasha and want to see her in an incredible Black Widow story I recommend The Finely Woven Thread. Published in 2014 The Finely Woven Thread collects Black Widow #1-6, and All New Marvel Now! This is really a classic Black Widow story with all of the spy feelings, and a great look into her as a solo character.

Last but not at all least we have Winter Soldier Volume 3: Black Widow Hunt from 2013. Now the Winter Soldier is really a passing line from Black Widow hinting at their past encounters but we really don’t get more than that in the MCU. Whereas in the comics they actually have a long and entangled relationship. There is a bit of romance between the two of them in a lot of comics as well as there being a lot of team up. Bucky as the Winter Soldier actually spends some time in the red room helping train other widows. So they both have some shared trauma that definitely comes up in some of their joint stories. This is a good place to start with them, as the title may imply it does center Bucky as a character a little more but I promise it is very much a team up book and there is a lot of Black Widow time.

Overall there is actually so much material for Black Widow in the world of comics. Natasha has been expanded upon so much in the last few years especially. I will also just recommend anything that Kelly Thompson has ever written in general, but definitely read all of her Black Widow stuff, there is plenty. Comic book Natasha has wonderful storylines and it truly is the badass that we all wanted to see on the big screen. Her earlier appearances are as over sexualized and useless as her MCU entity but most if not all of her solo excursions have given her more agency and adventure.