Black Widow ended last issues seemingly
betrayed by her closest friends and captured by the enemies who framed her as a
traitor to the super-hero community at large. This issue opens with her naked,
bound to a chair (only her restraints keeping the ‘naughty bits’ tastefully out
of view), and about to be interrogated by these very same enemies.  How she gets out of this mess, and the fact
that she does is no real spoiler, is a rather clever bit of business that leads
directly into her final confrontation with the true mastermind behind all her recent
problems. This confrontation serves to bring the 1st story arc of this ongoing
series to a strong, if somewhat flawed, close. 
One major problem lays with the actual identity of the villain who
serves as the arcs ultimate antagonist. 
While I was familiar with this character, he remains a fairly obscure
figure, one who I doubt the greater majority of the comics reading public has
ever heard of. The comic does little to really explain who he is or his overall
connection to Black Widow, especially strange in light of how previous issues
of this story have featured extensive flashbacks to various important moments
in her long life.  Still, as a whole this
has been a strong opening arc, going a long way to justify, creatively if not
financially, the viability of Natasha anchoring her own ongoing solo title.  Of course, the fact that the entire creative
team is changing next issue means I cannot guarantee the continued quality of
this comic. Fans of espionage laced super-heroics and/or strong female leads
are highly recommended to check out the pending first trade of this so far
excellent series.