Review by Frank Plowright
Any old timer who picks up Broken Arrow on the basis of a nostalgic rush at seeing Black Widow and Hawkeye as a team once more will find one hell of shock on the opening pages. Somewhere along the way, during Venom War to give a reference, Natasha Romanova has become the host of a Venom symbiote. It’s bonded with her and gives her extra abilities.
It’s not the only shock Stephanie Phillips drops over an action-packed opening chapter that keeps moving further back in time, with each jump preceded by a surprise revelation. It’s very clever, and sets up the remainder efficiently in a way that will have readers possibly more puzzled than the Black Widow, who has known Hawkeye for a very long time. It seems Hawkeye’s done something very bad. The US government certainly believes it and wants to bring him to justice, and when Black Widow eventually tracks him down, he admits it.
Phillips litters the narrative captions with historical information about archers, and keeps the momentum alive over four chapters, all excellently drawn by Paolo Villanelli. Everything necessary in terms of action and emotion is present, but Villanelli has an anonymous style.
In addition to spotlighting the present and the recent past, Phillips looks back further to the days when both Black Widow and Hawkeye were among America’s most wanted, necessitating the presence of their old enemy Iron Man in his old no-frills armour. She’s considerate enough to supply an explanation of how Hawkeye made the transition from outlaw to Avenger.
The lead feature is very satisfying in ticking all the boxes, but the back-up strips showing the first appearances of Black Widow and Hawkeye as enemies of Iron Man are extremely primitive. The best to be said about them is to note how well Don Heck draws the scenes of ordinary people, while trying to avoid noticing how stiff his superhero art is. Stan Lee’s plots and Don Rico’s dialogue have little to offer the 21st century.
