[I've posted a review of this comic on my LJ, and it just occurred to me that it might be relevant to your interests so I'm crossposting it here.]

I just read another book in the Avengers Prelude comics line which ties in to the movieverse: Black Widow Strikes. I enjoyed this one a lot, much more than the other Prelude books. Really liked both plot and characterization. I feel like the writer *gets her*.

The artwork is still hit-and-miss in places and part 1 doesn't even attempt to get her to look like ScarJo. But once you get reading the character comes to life, because her voice is spot on. The likeness in the last part is actually really good; I was seeing movie Natasha. In general part three has the best art imo.

caveat: When I first opened the book I was, I admit, turned off by the art in part 1. Notably the gratuitous lingeree shots. Now, I don't really have a problem with fanservice. (Let it be stated that I very much appreciated Jeremy Renner's repeatedly shirtless body in The Bourne Legacy.) But I'd like fanservice to be a) tastefully done and b) not so obviously only for the fanboys. Some of the camera angles here were just unnecessary. Well, at least they made the skimpy clothing plot-relevant.

So, I was halfway decided to skip directly to part 3 with the better art, but I started reading from the beginning just in case, and the story won me over quickly.

Natasha, undercover in a nightclub, musing about her cover identity...


What can I say, I'm easy like that. :) No, really, plot and characterization make up for the flaws of this comic. I'm reccing this one.