Here’s another batch of mini-reviews of the various comics I’ve been trying out recently.

Black Widow Vol 1: The Finely Woven Thread – Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto
Much like Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye, this is the story of what Black Widow gets up to when she’d not being an Avenger. Generally, she’s doing less than legal things in order to help make money to (somewhat) atone for her sins towards her previous targets families. This is a beautiful book and Natasha is awesome and I really like her relationship with her lawyer, who is also quietly badass. I love how Natasha does sometimes make mistakes (because she’s only human) and does get hurt but that doesn’t mean she stops fighting and being an awesome spy. 5/5.

Saga Volume One – Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Saga is a sci-fi, fantasy epic with star-crossed lovers. Alana and Marko fall in love and have a child, the only problem is that they are from long-warring alien races. Their marriage and child are against both races laws and they must fight for their survival while trying to bring up their daughter Hazel. I liked Alana a lot since she was no nonsense and tough (even when giving birth) but you can still see her softer side in relation to Marko and Hazel. Also I loved the artwork and how the aliens really look alien. Some are more humanoid than others but some of the best are the ones that look so weird and different – Prince Robot IV is kind of awesome since he has a human body but then a TV as a head. Saga is action-packed and funny and a great bit of epic science-fiction. 5/5.

Secret Avengers Vol 1: Reverie – Nick Spencer and Luke Ross 
The Secret Avengers are those who take part in the missions that are so dangerous and secretive that the team themselves don’t even know about them. The team includes Nick Fury, Black Widow, Hawkeye and Phil Coulson and has a bit of help now and then from the Hulk, Iron Patriot and Mockingbird. I have to say, the plot is kind of confusing and like how some of the characters don’t have the full picture, but neither does the reader. I’ve read the second volume and that does start to clear some things up but as an introduction to this story arc, I didn’t think it was the greatest. Slightly confusing plot aside, it is quite a good place for fans of the films to start with the comics since there’s so many recognisable characters. 3/5.

Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft – Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez
Locke & Key is a creepy, mystery graphic novel about an old mansion called Keyhouse where doors can transform those who walk through them and send people to somewhere else. This first book sets up the story as the Locke family moves to Keyhouse after a tragedy, with the youngest child Bode discovering these magic doors and a voice at the bottom of the well. The three kids are very life-like and realistic portrayal of children or teenagers dealing with a traumatic event as well as the troubles of a being new at school. The artwork is great and it’s definitely one of the more “adult” comic books/graphic novels I’ve read as it’s quite gory but that does help build the suspense. 4/5.

X-Men: Primer – Brian Wood, Oliver Coipel and David Lopez 
This X-Men team is more like the X-Women as the team is comprised of Rogue, Storm, Jubilee, Kitty Pryde, Rachel Grey and Psylocke and it is awesome! Jubilee returns to the X-Men with a baby who may be quite important and the team has to protect her and the school as an ancient evil force tries to take over the school. I love the art and everyone’s superhero costumes. Favourite characters were probably Kitty and Jubilee but everyone is pretty cool. I also liked the fact that the volume contains Jubliee’s first ever appearance in the X-Men world from 1963 as in the main story she had talked about how she found the X-Men so it was nice to actually see how it happened.

One thing I really liked and appreciated was the fact that this team and what happens is in the same universe or timeline as Wolverine and the X-Men as they are based at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. While the story is different, there’s still mentions of Wolverine as the Headmaster (who’d be rather annoyed at the cost of all the damages that are happening right now) and there’s students that are seen in Wolverine and the X-Men too. That being said, you really don’t need to have read Wolverine and the X-Men, it was just something I enjoyed having read a bit of that story. I’m definitely going to pick up the next book in this series. 5/5.