Marvel Platinum: The Definitive Black Widow

by Stan Lee, George Pérez, Steve Englehart

Natasha Romanova, AKA the Black Widow. Spy. Assassin. Superhero. Avenger. Natasha's journey to hero and Avenger has been unique. Trained and brainwashed from an early age, Natasha became the star pupil of the KGB's Red Room program. Until, while on a series of missions in the USA, she defected and eventually became an Avenger. Marvel Platinum: The Definitive Black Widow brings together the very best tales from the Black Widow's 50+ year history, from her debut her greatest and most pivotal moments.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

304 pages, Paperback

Published April 6, 2020

About the author

Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.

With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.

Reviews

[Ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was surprised the older comics had so many words! More worse than pictures.

The newer ones are definitely more my cup of tea.

But seeing some of the black widow origin was cool

[Niamh Ennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

While ion parts dated and clearly drawn in the male gaze (even as late as the itty bitty spider in the 90s the angle being bum/cleavage up) widow is always kicking ass, witty, independent and only sometimes brainwashed (but it's a common theme even for Cap apparently). There's also the odd wtf moment which I usually just laugh at (surgically swapping faces!?) all in enjoyment and basic marvel stuff. She gets around but always as a partnership and if it's not equal she's out.

[Athena Wride · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an overview of the progression of Black widow as a character, by way of snapshots into her story from Inception to recent, it's quite good.

Unfortunately of course, all of the earlier stuff is painfully dated, even most of the more recent stuff is deeply male gazey.

And while seeing the various shifts to the characters status quo is kinda the point, the almost 50 years covered by this book means it has to miss a lot of them, as it can only pick and choose a few stories, so the changes can feel quite whiplash.

A nice choice for a fan who's wanting to dive into the history and get a flavour of the past.
Not one I'd really go for as a casual reader.

[hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

the comics in this collection written before 2000 are insufferably misogynistic but natasha is incredible as always

[Hal Caedus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good read. Lots of stories I hadn’t come across before and lots of lore I didn’t know. It was a pleasure.