📚 Marvel’s Black Widow: Bad Blood
Genre: Superheroes, Thriller, Science Fiction Originally Published: 2020
💭 Quick Summary & Thoughts
This was an okay book. Nothing more, nothing less.
I’ve been working my way through Marvel’s comic-as-novel series for a while now - this is the third or fourth one I’ve read - and I’ll be honest, this was probably the weakest of the lot. But I want to set expectations properly before anyone reads on, because judging this book by the standards of “great literature” would be missing the point entirely.
These aren’t excellent pieces of writing, and they were never trying to be. They’re essentially written-out versions of a comic. So by design, the story can’t be too complex or layered - it’s meant for kids, and it reads like it. I tend to use this series as a palette cleanser after a relatively heavy book, something light to reset with before diving into the next demanding read. And on that front, Bad Blood did exactly what I needed it to do.
So don’t expect too much from it, and you won’t be disappointed. Expect a generic hero-versus-villain story with some action and a few thriller-style chases, and you’re golden. The pacing is genuinely the best thing here - it moves quickly and never overstays its welcome, which is exactly what you want from a book in this slot.
It’s just… fine. And sometimes fine is all you’re asking for.
⚠️ Spoiler Zone
🚨 Click to reveal spoilers 🚨
Honestly, there isn’t much to appreciate or critique here, because the book is just fine. Nothing particularly stands out as exceptional, and nothing feels glaringly out of place either. It sits comfortably in the middle.
The plot is about as straightforward as it gets. Natasha and Bucky’s blood is being used to create a bio-weapon by, of course, a megalomaniac billionaire who’s convinced he knows what will save humanity. They chase down different threads of investigation, beat up a few bad guys along the way, and thwart the plan, as you knew they would from page one.
And it leans on every tired trope in the book. The villains are always conveniently stupid enough to let the heroes live after going to all the trouble of abducting them. They always feel the irresistible need to monologue their entire evil plan out loud, before it’s actually been completed, so that the heroes can swoop in and save the day right on cue. Same old, same old. None of it surprises you, and none of it is meant to.
It’s competent comic-book storytelling translated to prose. That’s the whole thing.
💬 Quote Corner
“She had always thought herself the spider at the center of a web. Now she was the fly.”
⭐ Ratings
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