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Black Widow (2019) #1-5
Viuda Negra: Juego sin restricciones
Natasha Romanoff was trained to kill. For years now she's tried to overcome that programming, to side with the angels...to be a hero. And where'd that get her? Killed. By one of the few true friends she allowed herself to have. Now she's back from the dead, angry as hell, and finding those better angels harder and harder to hear. Jen and Sylvia Soska - The Twisted Twins of horror - join with rising artist Flaviano to weave a web of vice, violence, and vengeance that will net Natasha the biggest bad men she's ever faced...or put her back in the ground for good.
COLLECTING: BLACK WIDOW (2018) 1-5
COLLECTING: BLACK WIDOW (2018) 1-5
112 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 30, 2019
23 people are currently reading
268 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
August 8, 2022
I thought this was completely kickass.
Black Widow goes to Madripor and stumbles onto a pay-per-view site that tortures and kills children. With the help of Tyger Tiger and a few others who want to put a stop to the snuff site, Natasha shows the criminals of Madripor how she earned her name.
She shows zero mercy and just slaughters her way to the top of the food chain.
It's a pretty violent comic that deals with some of the darkest subject matter out there.
Fair warning if that isn't something you want to read about. I honestly can't think of anything worse than child predators, so it was especially fun for me to see her breaking them into little pieces.
My only complaint was that she killed the ringleader too quickly.
I'd never heard of the Soska Sisters before this but I'll most definitely be on the lookout for them from here on out.
Good stuff!
This was recommended to me by James aka Omnibus Man.
Black Widow goes to Madripor and stumbles onto a pay-per-view site that tortures and kills children. With the help of Tyger Tiger and a few others who want to put a stop to the snuff site, Natasha shows the criminals of Madripor how she earned her name.
She shows zero mercy and just slaughters her way to the top of the food chain.
It's a pretty violent comic that deals with some of the darkest subject matter out there.
Fair warning if that isn't something you want to read about. I honestly can't think of anything worse than child predators, so it was especially fun for me to see her breaking them into little pieces.
My only complaint was that she killed the ringleader too quickly.
I'd never heard of the Soska Sisters before this but I'll most definitely be on the lookout for them from here on out.
Good stuff!
This was recommended to me by James aka Omnibus Man.
April 24, 2020
A great comic. I was a little dubious and curious about this book. I am glad my curiosity won out. In Secret Empire Balck Widow was killed. I was not sure is the whole thing was to be reset or what but I was sure she would be back. This comic does not go into the detail of how she was brought back, it is mentioned in the recap, but does deal with some of the fall out of Secret Empire. Peoples perception of Cap (Steve Rogers), and Black Widow being technically dead working behind the scenes.
For a book call "No Restraints Play", and such an excellent cover, I was a bit scared and disappointed in the art work at the beginning. I thought it was too colourful and happy-ish, but I am glad to say it was the perfect setup as it shows Nat as she is seen as the hero, where as, (like the writer say in the acknowledgments page), she works better from the shadows. The way they term is I "held back by the Avengers".
Madripoor is the perfect back place for Nat to blow off some steam and be unleashed. If there was ever a crime that need vengeance it is this. The perfect criminals for her to be unleashed on. A great comic the fights in here are swift and brutal. I like how the artwork get subtly darker as the story goes along. There is an full page cover of each issue at the beginning of each chapter, and the variants of issue 1 in the cover gallery at the back.
For a book call "No Restraints Play", and such an excellent cover, I was a bit scared and disappointed in the art work at the beginning. I thought it was too colourful and happy-ish, but I am glad to say it was the perfect setup as it shows Nat as she is seen as the hero, where as, (like the writer say in the acknowledgments page), she works better from the shadows. The way they term is I "held back by the Avengers".
Madripoor is the perfect back place for Nat to blow off some steam and be unleashed. If there was ever a crime that need vengeance it is this. The perfect criminals for her to be unleashed on. A great comic the fights in here are swift and brutal. I like how the artwork get subtly darker as the story goes along. There is an full page cover of each issue at the beginning of each chapter, and the variants of issue 1 in the cover gallery at the back.
February 24, 2020
Artworks were not much my cup of tea and having not read about Natasha's death in Secret Empire (it seems it's so bad that I'm just afraid of pickin'it) it was like arriving late to a movie, but this comic book was just far better, intense and bleak than expected, with lots of thrills, great cameos, and twists.
The Soska Sisters are known for directing often violent and visceral horror movies and you can see it here, this brutal storyline about power abuse and rich perverts enjoying a deep web violence on kids pay streaming service could have been a perfect R-rated Black Widow movie.
If only Cayton Crain's artworks were just not limited to covers this could have been a five stars review.
Kudos for the Wolvie's Patch and Cap's Kirby Mad Bomb easter eggs-references.
June 15, 2019
This is exactly what an R rated Black Widow movie would be like! So I've always been a big fan of black widow, she's awesome in the movies and she's had some okay comic solo runs, but nothing too groundbreaking. This series, however, was on a whole new level! So the story has Natasha go to Madripoor to hunt down a sex trafficking ring, as she discovers a site on the dark web called No Restraints Play, where the rich elite pay to watch torture online.
This series is definitely very dark with a story that feels like what you would expect from a Frank Castle Punisher story, but Black Widow does some of her own punishings! I really enjoyed the story and the more mature themes of it which wasn't what I was initially expecting from this series. The art is okay but I did grow to like it more as the series went on.
Overall this was a solid Black Widow book and probably the best I've ever read! Hope we see this creative team do more with the character.
This series is definitely very dark with a story that feels like what you would expect from a Frank Castle Punisher story, but Black Widow does some of her own punishings! I really enjoyed the story and the more mature themes of it which wasn't what I was initially expecting from this series. The art is okay but I did grow to like it more as the series went on.
Overall this was a solid Black Widow book and probably the best I've ever read! Hope we see this creative team do more with the character.
August 2, 2022
A rated R spin on Black Widow. The Soska sisters made their way by making horror flicks up in Canada. Now they've brought their dark vision to Marvel. Black Widow is back from the dead and pissed off. When she comes across an internet site that is torturing kids for the highest bidder, she finally has a whole group of sickos to take her anger out on. This is super violent and dark. Flaviano's art is just okay.
August 17, 2022
This was lethal omg!
So Nat has to go undercover to Madripoor and stop this "No restraints play" organization that takes online bid and does bad stuff to people and well this does not bode well for her and so teaming with Tyger Tiger she goes after these people, gets captured but still fights them and then the big fight and exposing this whole system and there was a fun banter with Steve in the beginning and end because of secret empire and I loved that part!
So yeah a recommend for sure, as far as BW stories go that are lethal and brutal as they should be, this one takes the cream of the crop for sure. A must recommend for a story which does touch on real world stuff but in a way that fits the story and character better and also it has amazing art by Gandini and it makes for a delightful yet brutal read!
So Nat has to go undercover to Madripoor and stop this "No restraints play" organization that takes online bid and does bad stuff to people and well this does not bode well for her and so teaming with Tyger Tiger she goes after these people, gets captured but still fights them and then the big fight and exposing this whole system and there was a fun banter with Steve in the beginning and end because of secret empire and I loved that part!
So yeah a recommend for sure, as far as BW stories go that are lethal and brutal as they should be, this one takes the cream of the crop for sure. A must recommend for a story which does touch on real world stuff but in a way that fits the story and character better and also it has amazing art by Gandini and it makes for a delightful yet brutal read!
April 10, 2020
“Let’s give you boys a little taste of Hell before you see the real thing”
Well, well. We need more stuff like this from Marvel... but maybe with a few adjustments.
What’s it about?
Natasha is pissed and fed up of being a goody two-shoes superhero. Now she’s going to a foreign country to go after anyone involved with a website called NoRestraintsPlay where psychos can pay money to watch people (mostly little kids who they also abuse in other ways) be tortured and killed in extremely brutal ways.
Pros:
The story is pretty bad-ass. A gritty take on the character that I’ve always wanted but never saw.
The art is pretty cool. So it took a while to get used to and there are a few not-so-great panels but once I got used to it I enjoyed it. I especially liked the way the sound effects were done, it even slightly gave some scenes a slight John Wick vibe (those who have read this and watched John Wick probably know what I mean).
The action scenes are frequent and work very well for the story. A lot more intense and brutal than most Marvel.
This book is more suspenseful than I expect from superhero comics. There’s some pretty good twists.
The dialogue works well for the characters.
Cons:
While Natasha is pretty bad-ass in this the other characters aren’t. Most of them aren’t interesting, the villains are kinda generic sadists and Captain America is actually annoying in the few scenes he’s in.
I think they censored this comic a bit too much. So this is obviously a story with dark and mature themes that shouldn’t be intended for kids and the writers are known as “The Twisted Twins” as they’re mostly known for (from what I understand) pretty fucked up horror stuff so instead of censoring the language constantly and even censoring some (though not as much) of the violence instead of just giving it the MAX treatment seems stupid on Marvel’s part to me. They really can’t decide if they wanna make mature readers comics or not.
Overall:
This is really good. I wish Marvel would quit fucking around with censoring their comics and I thought some of the characters that aren’t Natasha were kinda meh but those are very minor problems with a bad-ass take on this character that I always wanted! This is a grittier than expected story with interesting art, bad-ass action throughout and some good suspense.
Definitely recommended!
4/5
Well, well. We need more stuff like this from Marvel... but maybe with a few adjustments.
What’s it about?
Natasha is pissed and fed up of being a goody two-shoes superhero. Now she’s going to a foreign country to go after anyone involved with a website called NoRestraintsPlay where psychos can pay money to watch people (mostly little kids who they also abuse in other ways) be tortured and killed in extremely brutal ways.
Pros:
The story is pretty bad-ass. A gritty take on the character that I’ve always wanted but never saw.
The art is pretty cool. So it took a while to get used to and there are a few not-so-great panels but once I got used to it I enjoyed it. I especially liked the way the sound effects were done, it even slightly gave some scenes a slight John Wick vibe (those who have read this and watched John Wick probably know what I mean).
The action scenes are frequent and work very well for the story. A lot more intense and brutal than most Marvel.
This book is more suspenseful than I expect from superhero comics. There’s some pretty good twists.
The dialogue works well for the characters.
Cons:
While Natasha is pretty bad-ass in this the other characters aren’t. Most of them aren’t interesting, the villains are kinda generic sadists and Captain America is actually annoying in the few scenes he’s in.
I think they censored this comic a bit too much. So this is obviously a story with dark and mature themes that shouldn’t be intended for kids and the writers are known as “The Twisted Twins” as they’re mostly known for (from what I understand) pretty fucked up horror stuff so instead of censoring the language constantly and even censoring some (though not as much) of the violence instead of just giving it the MAX treatment seems stupid on Marvel’s part to me. They really can’t decide if they wanna make mature readers comics or not.
Overall:
This is really good. I wish Marvel would quit fucking around with censoring their comics and I thought some of the characters that aren’t Natasha were kinda meh but those are very minor problems with a bad-ass take on this character that I always wanted! This is a grittier than expected story with interesting art, bad-ass action throughout and some good suspense.
Definitely recommended!
4/5
June 15, 2019
That was really dark.
July 23, 2019
Solid action thriller. Darker and more violent than I was expecting.
November 15, 2019
First things first, that title: No Restraints Play. Without knowing the plot of the book, what the heck is that supposed to mean to me? Second, the cover art: who decided that vaguely anime Black Widow fan art would make a good cover?
No Restraints Play gets better from there, but only a little. "No restraints play" is the name of a torture porn service based in Madripoor (still a dumb name). Black Widow is in town basically to beat up some punks because she's mad about being killed and being a clone (???). Seriously, I read Secret Empire and I don't recall at all Black Widow's death. Yeesh.
Anyway, Black Widow gets pretty brutal - No Restraints Play isn't a light-hearted comic romp. The art, though, says otherwise, again leaning more towards fan art than a crisp, clean Marvel product. The plot and the art are both serviceable, but I can't imagine Black Widow was killed and revived just for this low-impact read.
No Restraints Play gets better from there, but only a little. "No restraints play" is the name of a torture porn service based in Madripoor (still a dumb name). Black Widow is in town basically to beat up some punks because she's mad about being killed and being a clone (???). Seriously, I read Secret Empire and I don't recall at all Black Widow's death. Yeesh.
Anyway, Black Widow gets pretty brutal - No Restraints Play isn't a light-hearted comic romp. The art, though, says otherwise, again leaning more towards fan art than a crisp, clean Marvel product. The plot and the art are both serviceable, but I can't imagine Black Widow was killed and revived just for this low-impact read.
November 9, 2019
When I wasn't paying attention, Black Widow got dead. Now she's a clone with implanted memories and that has made her a little grumpy. So when Captain America whines to her about not using deadly force, she runs away to Marvel's stupid lawless Asian city of Madripoor to hunt and kill child predators running a porn/snuff film ring. The writers' attempt at a gritty, nihilistic, noir thing is just sort of boring, predictable, and occasionally laughable.
Natasha should have stayed dead. Or, I guess, technically she did?
Natasha should have stayed dead. Or, I guess, technically she did?
June 16, 2019
Black Widow is back!
I haven't read a black widow comic in some time. I heard about what had happen with her and evil cap but stayed away from the actually story, since it seemed more like an end for her. But like everyone else in Marvel, She didn't stay dead for long! The Widow is back and she's MAD. Real mad. With the world still thinking she's dead, Black Widow decides to take some time and do some good deeds. She lands on an island that is using children as play things. This was a fun series. Well, as fun as torturing kids for money can be. But it was a nice way to reintroduce Natasha and get an understanding on how she does things. Its also nice to have a place to jump into without needing to read much of anything else. If you like the Black Widow in the movies and want a place to start, this is it.
My one complaint; I read these coming out in issues and I wish they had better covers for them. In the past Black Widow has had some really awesome covers and I feel like this series missed out on it.
I haven't read a black widow comic in some time. I heard about what had happen with her and evil cap but stayed away from the actually story, since it seemed more like an end for her. But like everyone else in Marvel, She didn't stay dead for long! The Widow is back and she's MAD. Real mad. With the world still thinking she's dead, Black Widow decides to take some time and do some good deeds. She lands on an island that is using children as play things. This was a fun series. Well, as fun as torturing kids for money can be. But it was a nice way to reintroduce Natasha and get an understanding on how she does things. Its also nice to have a place to jump into without needing to read much of anything else. If you like the Black Widow in the movies and want a place to start, this is it.
My one complaint; I read these coming out in issues and I wish they had better covers for them. In the past Black Widow has had some really awesome covers and I feel like this series missed out on it.
June 21, 2019
Man, what a ride!! The Black Widow is back form the dead!! She ends up in Madripoor and discovers a disgusting group of people have created this NRP website that tortures kids live on their stream. Some dark stuff. Natasha goes on the hunt to track them down. Some really great cameos, some cool twists and some nice action really make this worth picking up.
April 13, 2020
Still need to read how the Black Widow returned from the dead after Captain America killed her. She is back, but they are keeping it secret. The story was okay, not crazy about the art. But thanks to Comixology Unlimited, I get a chance to catch up on many of the Black Widow collections.
July 24, 2021
has to be nats most underrated run honestly
September 28, 2021
this was so much better than I thought it was going to be nat ily
September 4, 2019
This is pretty ugly, from the story to the hideous artwork. Seriously, Flaviano should not be allowed anywhere near a major publisher's characters ever again...
October 29, 2022
Be warned, the level of violence here is graphic and extreme. Still, if you can get past it, it's pretty satisfying to see how the perpetrators are punished.
Natasha was 'killed' by evil Cap at some point, so she wants to stay in the shadows for now. This means covert mercenary work like what Tyger Tiger of Madripoor offers. Her people have been trying to find an organization that commits 'unspeakable acts' on children in an show they call No Restraints Play.
Natasha was 'killed' by evil Cap at some point, so she wants to stay in the shadows for now. This means covert mercenary work like what Tyger Tiger of Madripoor offers. Her people have been trying to find an organization that commits 'unspeakable acts' on children in an show they call No Restraints Play.
February 16, 2022
Loved this!! When the writers for this really said a problem with Black Widow is that she's always held back and then said nah. This miniseries was legit so fucking cool. Black Widow was absolutely brutal and this entire story was like if the Punisher was Black Widow??
The vibe is so dark and gritty, she's a super badass and never holds back. It's just so satisfying to see her just completely go off and when you compare to the MCU, you can tell that they always hold her back. The fact that we get to see her rage filled quest against these rich perverts makes it even more satisfying. Yass queen kill the shit out of them.
Natasha has come back from the dead and loves the anonymity that comes with it. She goes to Madripoor to start a fight and the fight instantly finds her in the form of a site called No Restraints Play. They are men abusing and torturing kids online for money and Natasha really says oh fuck no. So brutal but it felt so well done but maybe I'm just in love with seeing Natasha open up a can of whoopass.
The art was solid, love seeing Black Widow get to be a rage filled killing machine not just haha she got titty.
I wasn't planning this but I had just read the Tales of Suspense comic where we see how Natasha came back to life so this tied to that pretty nicely besides a certain other ex soviet assassin not showing up.
The vibe is so dark and gritty, she's a super badass and never holds back. It's just so satisfying to see her just completely go off and when you compare to the MCU, you can tell that they always hold her back. The fact that we get to see her rage filled quest against these rich perverts makes it even more satisfying. Yass queen kill the shit out of them.
Natasha has come back from the dead and loves the anonymity that comes with it. She goes to Madripoor to start a fight and the fight instantly finds her in the form of a site called No Restraints Play. They are men abusing and torturing kids online for money and Natasha really says oh fuck no. So brutal but it felt so well done but maybe I'm just in love with seeing Natasha open up a can of whoopass.
The art was solid, love seeing Black Widow get to be a rage filled killing machine not just haha she got titty.
I wasn't planning this but I had just read the Tales of Suspense comic where we see how Natasha came back to life so this tied to that pretty nicely besides a certain other ex soviet assassin not showing up.
June 13, 2022
i freaking loved this<33
September 19, 2019
Well, this was dark. The entire story revolves around torturing children for fun and profit, so keep that in mind. I was relieved that this book both basically ignores the circumstances of Natasha's resurrection while also dealing with the emotional fallout, at least a bit. It's a fine balancing act. At any rate, there's a lot of action and you get avenging angel Nat without a lot of backstory baggage. You don't even need to be familiar with Tyger Tiger, though I bet a few people are going to be surprised to see a Sabertooth who isn't a total asshole.
August 7, 2019
this was brutal.
August 12, 2021
I read this book via Kindle Unlimited.
LOVED. ADORED. BRILLIANT. NEVER THE SAME. My god was this a harrowing story but my god did it make me love Nat. This story is set after Steve is recovered from his Hydra "evil Cap" stage and Nat has been resurrected after being supposedly murdered by Steve, without public knowledge, however. To the world, Natasha is dead and she'd maybe like to keep it that way a little bit longer. Heading to Madripoor, Nat stumbles upon a mission to uncover an underground torture ring that kidnaps children and does heinous and unspeakable things to them. Nat decides she is going to burn down the ring herself and essentially does just that. The thing about Madripoor though, you can't trust anyone, even the ones on your side. This collection highlighted how cool Nat's character is for me, she is fiesty, energetic and just an overall bad ass in this story. Her and Steve had some lovely moments and it makes my heart ache because I miss them both so much.
LOVED. ADORED. BRILLIANT. NEVER THE SAME. My god was this a harrowing story but my god did it make me love Nat. This story is set after Steve is recovered from his Hydra "evil Cap" stage and Nat has been resurrected after being supposedly murdered by Steve, without public knowledge, however. To the world, Natasha is dead and she'd maybe like to keep it that way a little bit longer. Heading to Madripoor, Nat stumbles upon a mission to uncover an underground torture ring that kidnaps children and does heinous and unspeakable things to them. Nat decides she is going to burn down the ring herself and essentially does just that. The thing about Madripoor though, you can't trust anyone, even the ones on your side. This collection highlighted how cool Nat's character is for me, she is fiesty, energetic and just an overall bad ass in this story. Her and Steve had some lovely moments and it makes my heart ache because I miss them both so much.
January 6, 2022
I read this in December lol
November 14, 2020
Отлично! Сестры Соска намешали коктейль из «Крепкого орешка» и фильмов Николаса Виндинга Рефна! Вдова зубоскалит и шутит (клоном ей лучше!), раздает люлей и спасает детей от смертельной опасности. Прекрасный и динамичный рисунок, все предельно кинематографично - мне очень понравилось!
January 24, 2020
Nat channels Punisher...and I'm feeling it.
What kind of vacation do you take when you're back from the dead (kind of, long story) and the guy who murdered you is moralizing about how iF wE kIlL tHe BaD gUyS tHeN wE'rE jUsT aS bAd aS tHeM? If you're Black Widow, you go to a crime island and kill some child abusers/rapists, of course!
The Twisted Twins bring us a violent, disturbing story about Black Widow letting loose her inner demons. I'm a little conflicted on this book, because on the one hand...it's super edgy and Black Widow barely feels like herself at times. On the other hand...it's just fucking satisfying watching Nat chop up pedophiles, ok?
This one comes with some massive TW for pedophilia, rape, sexual violence, general gore, body mutilation and mental trauma.
What kind of vacation do you take when you're back from the dead (kind of, long story) and the guy who murdered you is moralizing about how iF wE kIlL tHe BaD gUyS tHeN wE'rE jUsT aS bAd aS tHeM? If you're Black Widow, you go to a crime island and kill some child abusers/rapists, of course!
The Twisted Twins bring us a violent, disturbing story about Black Widow letting loose her inner demons. I'm a little conflicted on this book, because on the one hand...it's super edgy and Black Widow barely feels like herself at times. On the other hand...it's just fucking satisfying watching Nat chop up pedophiles, ok?
This one comes with some massive TW for pedophilia, rape, sexual violence, general gore, body mutilation and mental trauma.
July 30, 2021
So much carnage and self loathing when we now see the clone of Natalia. This clone has Nat’s memories but they’re hazy abs full of rage. You get vibe of The Punisher throughout this novel.
It’s but bad and I found it grittier and interesting as the Evil Twins do their take in this story line. I’m good with the violence but the horror of the story with child mutation is really dark. I enjoyed it enough to give it 3 1/2 Stars because it kept me wanting to read more even though at times, the drawings weren’t very good. One area the character is drawn this was, few pages down, it literally looks like another artist took over.
Faced paced and a hard but good ride. Spoiler alert, she does go see the person who killed her. That was interesting his they interacted.
It’s but bad and I found it grittier and interesting as the Evil Twins do their take in this story line. I’m good with the violence but the horror of the story with child mutation is really dark. I enjoyed it enough to give it 3 1/2 Stars because it kept me wanting to read more even though at times, the drawings weren’t very good. One area the character is drawn this was, few pages down, it literally looks like another artist took over.
Faced paced and a hard but good ride. Spoiler alert, she does go see the person who killed her. That was interesting his they interacted.
September 3, 2019
I’m so glad I picked up this comic! All the new surrounding the Black Widow film (by news I mean blurry distant set pictures) I was dying to read more about Natasha! This story was dark and gritty, following Natasha as she tackles some of the absolute worst in society. This is exactly the kind of story I imagine for Black Widow, rather than the alien fighting Natasha we see in Avengers. A great read!
May 30, 2022
this comic sorta made me think of what a proper black widow movie would look like, with the red room and all. i really enjoyed this comic, like a lot. it was really sad and almost hard to read just from the topics in it though.
March 16, 2020
The art took awhile but got better. Unfortunately the story was a little too animated series pilot for me.
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