“Now, you know what it does to me when you speak Russian.”
Daredevil attempts to seduce the second Black Widow
Description: The top panel sees a startled Natasha in the foreground as she notices Daredevil pop in through her bedroom window, saying “Good! You’re up!” We cut to Natasha, draped in a white sheet attempting a kick aimed at Daredevil’s chest. He jokingly shields his body with his hand and says, “Whoa! Sure you want to go another round?” Next, he grabs her hand when she goes for his throat, jokingly saying “I’ll take that as a yes.” Natasha speaks for the first time, in Russian, transcribed as: “Poshol k chortu!” Daredevil pulls her close and says “Now, you know what it does to me when you speak Russian.” In the bottom, slightly over-sized, panel he gives her a kiss. Her expression is one of wide-eyed surprise.
Now you may be wondering where this scene is from, and what Daredevil is doing trying to seduce a clearly uncooperative Natasha. It turns out that Daredevil is on a S.H.I.E.L.D. mission, that Natasha is in fact not herself, but a delusional Yelena Belova (the second Black Widow) who just believes she is Natasha Romanoff, and that the issue in question is the first of three in the mini-series Black Widow: Breakdown, written by Devin Grayson and Greg Rucka, with art by Scott Hampton. It’s not the most exciting mini I’ve ever read, but I do like this scene, and the ease with which Matt plays his part. If you’re wondering why he’s being instructed to feed, and even enhance, Yelena’s delusion, you’re going to have to read the rest of the story, available in full at Marvel Digital Unlimited (with a paid subscription, of course), or possibly in the back bins of your local comic book store.
4 comments
Aaron says:
Jan 8, 2010
That final image of Yelena is very, very creepy.
Aaron K says:
Jan 8, 2010
@Aaron LOL. I never noticed before how much Yelena looks like a mannequin in that picture. It IS rather creepy! Realistically, I found this entire miniseries a little creepy. The reasons given for screwing with Yelena psychologically never won me over, so SHIELD’s actions come off as little more than boredom, curiosity, and sadism. Though, if you get past that, this series has a lot of neat spy moments and some exciting suspense.
Nice timing on this post, Christine! You put this up the day that BW’s ongoing is announced over at IGN. (Perhaps you’re quite the super-spy yourself!) The interview with Marjorie Liu suggests that that series will look very little like the Grayson or Richard K. Morgan miniseries. I’ll remain cautiously optimistic concerning the general direction, but it sounds like a waste of an opportunity for an intriguing espionage comic with the world’s greatest(?) super-spy.
Christine says:
Jan 8, 2010
Hi Aaron x2! Yeah, my timing was pretty good, wasn’t it? Particularly when you consider the fact that I started drafting this post yesterday. It’s my superpower.
I read the Marjorie Liu interview as well, and I will definitely add the BW ongoing to to my pull list. Natasha is a very cool character, and there’s at least the chance of a Murdock appearance in a panel here and there (a flashback perhaps?), especially since they’re pointing out that the series will focus on her relationship to the superhero community more than her life of espionage. OTOH, she’s much more closely associated with other characters these days, so I won’t exactly be reading it for the Daredevil cameo potential.
And, yes, the page above is all kinds of creepy.
Francesco says:
Jan 12, 2010
wow, doesn’t he sound like a jerk…