Fuck Yeah, Black Widow

You’ll never change, Matthew. You’re so unable to face the fact that— heroics aside— you’re just a man… no different than the rest. My self-respect almost demands that I pummel you for your presumptuous boorishness. But unlike yourself, I can embrace the baggage of my own humanity.

There’s a lot about Kevin Smith’s Natasha that I don’t like. Hell, there’s a lot about Kevin Smith’s Natasha I don’t like in this scene. But the “I can embrace the baggage of my own humanity” line is just right.

From Daredevil #2, by Kevin Smith and Joe Quesada.

MMMOBW 5: Natasha’s Last Word

Look within yourself for that peace before you look for it in someone else. Because you’ll only be setting that someone else up to disappoint you.

Hi, I’m going to be talking about Kevin Smith’s run on Daredevil. So, if you don’t want to read about slut-shaming, go, scroll past in peace.

I want to talk about Smith’s Daredevil because it’s important. It was a relaunch that relaunched, emblematic of the late-nineties sea change. Now, I’m not an expert on Kevin Smith, but I’ve seen Dogma like seven times on cable reruns and I feel pretty confident pinpointing two of his favorite themes as sex and Catholicism. Guardian Devil is about both. I sort of like to call it Faith and Fridges.

Natasha: Ten seconds… explain or I snap it!
Matt: The kid… is the… Antichrist!
Natasha: The anti…? Hahaha! Oh, Murdock— the job’s really getting to you. Ha hah ha!
Matt: A man came to me today. He knew things about me… told me things about the child. He said it’s the harbinger of the end times.
Natasha: And you believed him?!
Matt: He knew I was Daredevil!
Natasha: So did the girl, you said!
Matt: I’m being used, Natasha! Yes, it’s a baby— but he’s here to end the world!
Natasha: She.
Matt: What?
Natasha: It’s a girl.
Matt: You’re sure?
Natasha: Either that or he’s extremely not well-endowed. But that has no bearing on what just happened.
Matt: My god… what am I doing?

One day, I will write a lengthy analysis of Natasha’s role in Kevin Smith’s Daredevil. In the mean time, don’t give Matt Murdock any babies.

From Daredevil #2, by Kevin Smith and Joe Quesada.

And Elektra

I have a feeling this week I’m going to be writing a lot about awesome relationships that drowned in the comic book river of limbo. So here’s something completely different, a relationship that a lot of people think of, but doesn’t actually have a ton of history.

Fun fact: last year’s Black Widow #3 was the first time Natasha and Elektra met on panel.