Natasha has been working on getting settled in San Francisco. She’s had a bit of difficulty, but she’s made a few new friends and started to re-connect with a few old ones as well. This month, she’s going out to a big charity benefit with Yelena, Clint, and a few others. This isn’t going to be a stuffy formal event, though. Natasha has a special reason for wanting to go to the event in Black Widow #12. Writer Kelly Thompson begins her “Die By the Blade” storyline in style with a cloak-and-dagger adventure brought to the page by artist Elena Casagrande and colorist Jordie Bellaire. 

It’s The Golden Gate Gala: an annual benefit to raise money for endangered animals. Natasha has a reputation for being a spy, which would be a weird and complicated distinction were she not known for being an Avenger. A charity gala is exactly where one might expect her to be, which is why her own identity is the perfect cover. Deeper into the gala, a couple of Nat’s colleagues are overhearing an auction of exotic animals. It’s shady but not exactly the sort of thing that would raise the interest of the Black Widow. What is it about the way the animals are being described that might suggest that they aren’t exactly auctioning off animals?

Thompson is doing delicate work that manages to advance Natasha in the center of the panel while still managing to expand the ensemble to encompass a whole group of accomplices that all seem to get equal time on the page. A six-character ensemble isn’t easy to balance, but Thompson does a great job of it. Every character has a unique appeal, and they all fit into the overall story quite well. There’s a pleasant flow to the issue as well: Natasha wakes up, makes plans with her team, and heads off to the gala. Dramatic tension increases in a formal fancy-dress gala leading up to the action at issue’s end that leads to an appealing cliffhanger ending. 

Casagrande opens the issue with some more beautiful architectural background as the Black Widow headquarters before moving the action into the gala. Five consecutive pages of ballroom dancing might sound incredibly dull on a comics page, but Casagrande makes it work with the aid of Bellaire’s crucial colors. The mood lighting of the ballroom is given some deliciously radiant accent. Bellaire’s handling of the action at the end of the chapter is appealing in contrast with blood spatters, muzzle flashes amidst balletic aggression. Casagrande hits a few tense moments with some cleverly dramatic repetition. Drama from an unknown past echoes into the visual at issue’s end. 

Casagrande bows out of the next issue of the series. Guest Artist Rafael Pimentel takes over the visuals in a story with a new character out of Natasha’s past that should lend interesting friction to Natasha’s attempt to start fresh in a new city. Thompson continues to guide Natasha in intriguing directions as the series enters its second year.

Grade: A