WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Black Widow #2 by Kelly Thompson, Elena Casagrande, Jordie Bellaire and VC's Cory Petit, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
Yesterday, Marvel Comics' Black Widow #2 shocked readers with an unexpected revelation: Natasha Romanoff has a son, Stevie. Now, the House of Ideas has revealed variant covers for November's Black Widow #3 and December's Black Widow #4, which further tease Stevie's story.
Annie Wu's variant cover for Black Widow #3 depicts an ominous family portrait featuring Natasha alongside her fiancé and young son, in which only Natasha's face is visible. Meanwhile, Black Widow's "shattered past collides with her idyllic new life" in Marco Checcheto's variant for Issue #4, which sees Natasha reading to Stevie. In its press release, Marvel teases that the "revelations continue nonstop" in these two issues.
In Marvel's new Black Widow series, the notorious spy is "unknowingly trapped in a seemingly perfect life in San Francisco complete with a fancy job and a loving fiancé," with Stevie's existence being revealed as the cracks in this façade begin to show. "Who is little Stevie? Who are the villains behind this twisted plot? And when and how will Natasha break free?" are the questions the New York-based publisher poses.
"Our first arc has some of the stuff you would expect in a Black Widow book, but I think twisted in a new way that’s interesting," series writer Kelly Thompson said in an interview with Marvel.com back on Sept. 10. "And where she ends up at the end of this highly personal and life changing story is also interesting!"
"I love to put on the pages all my visual knowledge from movies and TV shows, to find a kind of fine solution or charming fusion between the potential of the comic language and the modern motion-picture visual," added Casagrande said in a recent interview with Inverse on Sept. 27. "Panel layouts are inspired by movie frames but always keeping in mind tricks and codes of the comics that bring me the opportunity to give great vibes with fewer efforts."
BLACK WIDOW #3 (APR200951)
Written by KELLY THOMPSON
Art by ELENA CASAGRANDE
Variant Cover by ANNIE WU (APR200952)
BLACK WIDOW #4 (OCT200595)
Written by KELLY THOMPSON
Art by ELENA CASAGRANDE
Variant Cover by MARCO CHECCHETTO (OCT200596)
Written by Kelly Thompson and illustrated by Elena Casagrande with a main cover by Adam Hughes, Black Widow #3 goes on sale Nov. 4 from Marvel Comics, followed by Issue #4 on Dec. 2.