This collection on Black Widow (Natasha Romanov) and women’s equality is an interesting and informative read. The only draw back is that many of the authors analyze the same scenes in each of the movies Black Widow appears in and so it can feel a little like deja vu reading the almost fact same lines in each essay.

I was accepted for this book, but I was never able to download it. There was no access to the actual book.

Sophie read a copy of Marvel’s Black Widow From Spy to Superhero: Essays on an Avenger with a Very Specific Skill Set, edited by Sherry Ginn. As the title suggests, this is a collection of nine essays centered around Black Widow and examining the character from a range of different angles. Sophie especially enjoyed Malgorzata Drewniok’s essay on Black Widow’s use of language in The Avengers movie and Sherry Ginn’s examination of the use of mind control and brainwashing throughout the Whedonverse–taking in characters such as River Tam in Firefly, Echo in Dollhouse, and, of course, Black Widow and the other women who experienced the Red Room. As a strictly MCU fan of the character, Sophie also found Valerie Estelle Frankel’s essay on Black Widow’s comic book history deeply educational, and occasionally shocking as she read about some of the sexist storylines the character has been subject to throughout the years.

A lot of the book focused on Black Widow as a feminist icon, which Sophie has no doubt that she is. She does, however, feel compelled to call out the cover art of the book itself. For a title the spends so much effort examining the importance of feminist characters, the need for strong/complete female characters in fiction, and the obvious fan desire for Black Widow to front her own film–adorning the cover with an unapologetic butt pose (not to mention the abnormally long legs) feels at least like a disservice to the content, and, at worse, downright sexist in its own right. One should never judge a book by its cover, and this is a great example of why not.

This book proves that comic book nerds exist on a deeper more analytical level of knowledge than expected. First we get a brief history of Black Widow in comics then the presence of Black Widow in the MCU movies is explored in depth. Any comic book fan should pick this up and enjoy the history of a Marvel Character that also shows how Marvel treats all its characters. Any Human should pick this up and see how the battle of the sexes continues.

I'm not sure if it was the file or not, but every thing in the edition I read was in lower case letters and there was no punctuation.

Marvel's Black Widow from Spy to Superhero: Essays on an Avenger with a Very Specific Skill Set 
by Sherry Ginn (editor)
I received an Advanced Review Copy in exchange for an honest review
Fascinating! Fun! And educational about the red-headed spy and superhero.
For fans, you will find out things you never knew or considered about Natasha Romanoff, particulaly if you are like me and didn't read comics before the late 70's. Natasha is special among superheroines in that her skill set is both physical (she can out fight any man using whushu and gymnasitcs) and mental (she can seduce and/or interrogate anyone while making the victim believe they are in charge.)
The book was published prior to Captain American: Civil War and the May 6, 2016 Kevin Feige announcement that Black Widow will be starring in her own movie. So, the repeated theme of the utter unfairness of her not getting a movie even with fan support and creations may seem a little dated.
But the discussions of those creations through vidding make one of the best discussions of what makes speech and who is in charge of content that I've read. Vidding seems to bring out the best in future film makers and Widow fans, but many forget that her skill set isn't just butt-kicking, she also uses the mental skills of seduction, infiltration and interrogation
Many of the other chapters also deal with the rest of what would best be called the Whedon 'Verse. For instance, a chaper discussing how widow uses linguistics to control a situation also focuses on Buffy Summers (the Vamper Slayer). Essays on the mindcontrol Widow suffered in the Red Room, brings in the suffering and problems of River Tam of Firely/Serenity. Even in her own book, Black Widow can't be the only star!
It was interesting to see speech and linguistics expanded to not only the discussion between vidders and the studio or how Widow manages the people around her but to also include her costume and colors. As a red head, I was particulaly fascinated that it means I have a bit of magic.
Chapters on her relationships are often contradictory. One chapter presents her as often no more than a side-kick or a girlfriend. Often her boyfriends in this chapter are abusive, including the Man With No Fear and no sight, Daredevil who both verbally denegrates her even though she is his equal, he often treats her like an object for others to appreciate (even though he can't see her) and more than one slaps or hits her. A second chapter covering her relationship with Bruce Banner/Hulk presents it, and I believe correctly as a D/S relationship with Natasha being Dominant to whom Bruce willingly submts in order to control his other half. Her strong feminine side allows him to release the anger with in him.
Alternating essays also discuss her sterilization – the Graduation Ceremony – at the Red Room. One puts forth that it takes away her feminity and reduces her to the typical woman wanting a baby. A second essay, the same essay that cover the D/S portion of the Widow/Hulk dynamic points out that in the discussion that reveals this topic was brought up by Banner who not only can't have children, he can't have sex and therefore the relationship that Natasha wants with him is mathematic impossible.
My absolutely favorite essay is Heather M. Porters “In Search of the Complete Female Character in The Marcel Cinematic Universe. She replaces the overused and misunderstood term “Strong female character” who is often seen as having masculine traits and is incomplete as she had few female traits or friends with the term CFC or Complete Female Character. A CFC is a well rounded character, with a complete history, a complete future, talents that can come from bot her masculine and her feminine side. In other, words, Black Widow and many of Joss Whedon's other female heroines.
This book is for fans who just want to know more about one of the most interesting Avengers. It is also for intellectuals who are interested in linguistics, literature, film studies or even the meaning of fashion. In fact, I will

My daughters and I are huge fans of the Black Widow thanks to Marvel introducing a female character in their movies which are so full of testosterone you wonder how they don’t kill each other. Scarlett Johansson did such a great job she became a larger than life hero for my oldest daughter whose Autism sometimes makes her wish super heroes were real to protect her from those who treat her differently. Any time I can find something Black Widow related I jump at the chance to share it with her because there are so few really strong female role models.

Reading this book made me want to sign every petition possible or protest outside Marvel Studios until Whedon makes a Black Widow movie. Her fans deserve it. She has such a rich history there is plenty of material to work with not to mention DC is coming out with a female centered movie (Wonder Woman, remember her?) so why can’t Marvel create one? Johansson has ALREADY established the character in multiple movies.

These essays show her character’s intelligence, high skill level, strength but best of all her humanity because she wasn’t enhanced with special powers, magic or high tech suits of armor. She’s just a badass who through hard work, and some probable psych trauma with deep need of therapy, found a way to fight back through the injustices of the world. Something we could very much use in reality right now. She shows that women can be strong, intelligent and deserving of a place in this male dominated world.

I like how each of the essays examined a different aspect of her character so you get this incredible depth of understanding you don’t normally see in the movies or comics individually. Not to mention they show how the perception of who she is and her place in the Marvel world has changed with time and social constructs.

This is the perfect book to give Black Widow fans and women in general to remind us we have everything we need to be smart and strong inside of us.

This collection of essays first came to my attention last semester when I looking for sources I could use in a paper for my Cold War literature class about the position the Black Widow held when it came to Anti-Cold War propaganda in comic books. This essay collection is both a celebration of Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) and a criticism of the cultural environments that led to her creation and subsequent (frequent) reimaginings/reinventions as a second-string to male heroes in Marvel's various universes.

Let's get started!

A "Very Specific Skill Set": Black Widow's Use of Language in The Avengers

Malgorzata Drewniok opens the essays with a look at linguistics and how while Natasha is a character whose appearance causes other (male) characters to underestimate her because of looks, clues in her language show her true power. Drewniok uses five specific scenes from The Avengers for her analysis (1: Natasha's "capture" at the start of the film'; 2: Natasha's conversation with Bruce Banner; 3: Natasha's conversation with Bruce and Steve Rogers on the Helecarrier; 4: Natasha interrogating Loki; and 5: Natasha and Hawkeye's moment after his brainwashing is broken), placing them against Whedon's established body of work and looking at the clues in order to decipher what these scenes say about Natasha's role and power.

I think that there's way more weight and faith placed on Whedon's writing than he necessarily warrants though and it doesn't "call out" any of the problematic issues inherent in the fact that Joss Whedon is basically only capable of writing one type of woman from the dialogue on down.

(Also, I still can't see anything empowering about Whedon using Loki/Hiddleston as a mouthpiece by which to call ScarJo's Black Widow a "mewling quim" because really, it wasn't about empowering her. It was about Whedon getting a kick out of putting a really nasty archaic insult into what was essentially a Disney movie…)

In Search of the Complete Female Character in Marvel's Cinematic Universe

Next, Heather M. Porter, rejects the term "strong female character" in favor of a new title: "Complete Female Character". Using female characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, she defines her new title and then argues that these characters are consistently complex and complete but lack the focus and merchandise that male fans with lesser complexity would have.

I'm going to admit here that the second you list Darcy "I have seventeen minutes of screentime but twelve thousand stories on AO3" Lewis as a "complete female character" I start judging.

Hard.

The idea of the "Complete Female Character" is super interesting, don't get me wrong, but this entire essay started to lose me the very moment that I saw Darcy Lewis listed as a character that is "just as fleshed out as any male character". Because um… she's not in the slightest.

We know nothing about Darcy. Nothing about her family, her identity, or her actual goals. Fandom has done this thing where she gets fleshed out in fanworks (while other female characters – especially female characters of color – get not even a percentage of her same visibility in fanworks) but the MCU has not followed suit and, with Earth being left behind for Thor: Ragnarok, chances are that it never will.

If you can stand the fact that this essay definitely gives certain characters (and in essence, the MCU) more credit than they deserve and calls infrequently shown and one-dimensional female characters "complex", this might work for you. It didn't for me.

Front and Center: Examining Black Widow Fanvids

In her essay, Samira Nadkarni looks at how fans have made their own when it comes to getting a Black Widow solo film. This essay is actually really interesting because I've never thought of fanvids in this context before. Actually, I've never really thought of fanvids very much at all. Nadkarni's essay has a ton of nuance and got me kind of excited to think critically about the environment that makes fanvideos possible and even necessary in some cases.

Nadkarni's essay won me over by her pointing out that, "despite the claims of feminism that have begun to be associated with the calls for female- led superhero franchises, many of the fanvids that focus on Black widow repeat the same pitfalls that concern feminist discourse regarding the depiction of “strong women” in film." I love that she actually critiques the idea of the "strong woman character" as a faux-feminist framework and that she doesn't pull a single punch over this.

"Eyes Front, Ivan!" The Comic Books' Journey through Fashions and Men

Valerie Estelle Frankel's essay would have been the perfect essay to have on hand when I was writing my own paper on Black Widow because she does a great job looking through Black Widow's history and talking/thinking critically about how the character was presented via her looks and the men those looks attracted. Frankel brings up how Natasha's early appearances place her as someone who is linked to romance and men, but she also looks at how the character's fashion tells its own story about the misogyny behind her creation. (Frankel's observations on Natasha's style in the Seventies and how she was framed more as a seductress than a superheroine on her own rights even as empowerment was supposed to be a huge aspect of her identity were pretty awesome.)

Seriously, I think that if I had access to a time machine, I'd at least send my kindle back to last semester so I could use Frankel's well-written and well-researched essay as a source in my paper because it's basically the ideal.

Feminism in American Cinema: The Many Incarnations of Black Widow

Like Frankel, Jillian Coleman Benjamin also looks at the entirety of Black Widow's history, but also comes at it from a point of view that places Joss Whedon as someone that somehow destroyed "sexist archetypal roles" with his version of the character. At first, the essay works for me with its commentary on how characters who exist outside of established and rigid gender roles tend to be punished for it.

But then, Benjamin says that Whedon "uses stereotypically masculine traits in his female characters and feminine traits in his male characters, challenging gender roles and raising the status of his female characters to that of people," and I honestly couldn't disagree more with that. I understand the instinctive urge to want to reward Whedon for doing more than the average action director/writer but he's not even close to doing the most. I think really, Benjamin is trying to look at how misogyny, sexualization, and violence against women inform Black Widow's various narratives, but then becaue Whedon and the rest of the MCU men in charge haven't done truly terrible things to her, she decides that Whedon is somehow changing the face of action/superhero films despite basically just reusing the same tropes (including ones based on violence against women and dehumanizing them) in more subtle ways.

(Also this essay also SERIOUSLY drops the ball on analyzing Lois Lane and Clark Kent's marriage, framing it not as the mutual and positive relationship they've had for basically the past almost thirty years, but as something that has her "assuming a role of extreme submission". Look, if you're going use modern examples for Marvel with Black Widow, at the very least you need to update your Superman knowledge beyond the incredibly and consistently misogynistic Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane comics from the Seventies…)

Red Rooms, Conditioning Chairs and Needles in the Brain: Brainwashing and Mind Control in the Whedon and Marvel Universes

In this essay, volume editor Sherry Ginn looks at brainwashing as it relates to the Black Widow and analyses the way that mind-control techniques are used in not only the MCU but in writer-director Joss Whedon's many works. Ginn's essay makes the history behind brain-washing and conditioning largely accessible to readers that don’t have a background in psychology. What I liked best about this essay was that it had a message about reinventing yourself even after trauma that I really felt worked well to bring hope to the subject.

Joss Whedon's Radical Icon of Third Wave Feminism

In this essay, writer Lewis Call uses "third wave feminism" to analyze the character and essentially takes a slightly different view of the character as she's portrayed in the MCU than I'm used to seeing. I mean… the first strike against this issue is where Call says that Natasha embodies intersectionality and "brings intersectional diversity to the Avengers".

Call completely misrepresents what intersectionality is about. He congratulates Johansson for being "a Russophone actress of Belarusian descent, convincingly convey[ing] Romanoff ’s Slavic ethnicity" and then brings up D/s as an "alternative sexuality", positioning the relationship she has with Bruce Banner as a consensual one. (Also, when we talk about intersectionality and sexuality, we mean like queerness… not what you literally get off to. Geez and cheese.)

Basically folks, this essay one big "Bitch, where?" as Call's commentary basically makes no sense and spends more time propping up this idea of Whedon as a feminist filmmaker than actually taking time to analyze what Black Widow and her "happy to white wash" actress actually mean for intersectionality.

Athena's Daughter: Black Widow's Impact Aesthetic

David Kociemba uses his essay to talk about the aesthetics of Black Widow and how that works with her status as an action hero in her own right, referencing a "tradition of just female warriors that speak to gender-integrated audiences about power and responsibility". The essay is well… a bit clunky and while I get where Kociemba is going, it's difficult to care. Blocks of text (page long paragraphs, natch) and this desire to constantly frame ScarJo's Black Widow as this fantastic feminist figure who can do no wrong kind of get in the way of what had the actual potential to be an amazing essay about fighting style, gender identity. I do like that Kociemba draws attention to the way that Age of Ultron was a serious lowpoint for the character because Age of Ultron was terrible for basically all the characters in the film.

The Elusive Black Widow Film: Fan-Made Texts as Social Desire Paths

In the final essay, writer Tanya R. Cochran looks at how social desire – here fans' desperate desire for a solo Black Widow film where Scarlett Johansson is centered as the star. While I am invested in what Cochran has to say about fandom's desire for the Black Widow film that we're unlikely to ever get, I'm more invested in what Cochran as to say about fandom as a whole. Her work on "fans' needs and wants" makes me, someone that is incredibly critical about desire in fandom, makes me think about the spaces that fans inhabit and the relationships that they have with one another as well as with the Text.

Overall, this book had way more "misses" than I was expecting and it had a very "white feminist" slant both to how the authors looked at Black Widow's evolution and to Scarlett Johansson's reception and performance in the role.

Not enough of the essays seem interested in doing anything other than fawning over Joss Whedon's brilliance and I think that they do the character a disservice by not being more critical of the content Whedon created. Older creators – the ones who created Natasha – aren't removed from criticism but Whedon largely is despite the way that his writing Natasha is rife with the same tired tropes about women and this gender-essentialist idea of womanhood that he nurtured back in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and has continued to carry on in his work to this day.

(And okay, Lewis Call's essay was just actual garbage fawning over Joss Whedon and stomping all over what intersectional feminism is in order to paint his poor portrayal of Black Widow (and other women in the films) as this super feminist move that has saved the MCU, I guess.)

While I gladly recommend some of the contributors to this book, I don't recommend this book as a whole.

This collection of essays was pretty great. I really enjoyed the various takes on Black Widow and the way she is presented, all concluding of course that we want more. Just reading and now writing about the disregard the studio is giving to such an engaging character is infuriating. I would love to see a Black Widow origin story. If they can make shitty movies about wolverine, then they should be able to make a great one about Black Widow