With only two issues left in their Black Widow run, Chris Samnee and Mark Waid are going into overdrive as they wrap up their story of child assassins and ass-kicking super-spies. The young girls of the Dark Room have been unleashed and are making their move to destabilize the global intelligence community in Black Widow #11, and in order to save the world, Natasha Romanoff needs to take out these killers that reflect her own tragic, violent upbringing. Black Widow has been an exhilarating action title, largely thanks to Samnee’s role as both co-writer and artist, putting extra emphasis on the visual storytelling. Working with colorist Matthew Wilson, Samnee has been delivering breathtaking artwork in every single issue of this series, and stepping into a writing role has only deepened his already astounding craft.
These preview pages of next week’s Black Widow #11 highlight this creative team’s remarkable control of atmosphere, beginning with a page that sets an extremely ominous tone as the young assassins make their way through cramped, dark spaces as they approach their targets. That’s followed by a two-page spread that establishes the isolation of the Antarctica base these girls are infiltrating, beginning with a stunning landscape shot (Matthew Wilson colors the most beautiful skies in comics) before moving into the cavernous, mostly empty facility. And then there’s the explosion of action as the girls burst through the air vent, raining down on the two S.H.I.E.L.D. employees in an acrobatic wave of silhouettes. Black Widow has been a gorgeous book, and readers can expect the visuals to only get more powerful as the creative team races to the book’s conclusion.