Part of an ongoing series revisiting graphic novels and collected editions from days gone by....

It's time to revisit a few books from my earlier years of reading comics and graphic novels. Black Widow: The Coldest War, a stand-alone story, provides an introduction to a character who, when I bought it back in the 1990s, was not high on my radar.

Re-reading it now, I'd say it holds up fairly well, but it's not perfect. I mean, Cold War spy games are always cool, and this book has them in spades. (They were much more in vogue when the story was written.)

The plot by Gerry Conway is fairly by-the-numbers, but it's still a pretty taut thriller as the Widow faces off against some of Russia's finest.

Natalia Romanova, aka Black Widow, is an Avenger and SHIELD agent whose KGB past comes back to haunt her when the specter of her long-dead husband is used to coerce her into committing treason against the United States. How far will she go to be sure her husband is really dead?

The book features cameos by some Marvel mainstays, including Hawkeye, Daredevil, Captain America and Nick Fury. The Red Guardian plays a pretty big role, too. Natalia here has a sidekick/father figure, Ivan, who seems very much like an Alfred character; he provides support, but he mostly seems unnecessary to the story.

It also features some big fights with allies that probably could have been avoided with a conversation. Of course, the Widow always is in control, even when it seems she isn't.

The art by George Freeman is probably the weakest part of the book. It certainly doesn't portray the Widow as a great beauty, unlike most renditions of the character; her features here are sharp and angular, with a thin jaw, a high forehead and an unpleasant expression on her face ... but, then again, no one looks particularly good in this book. Freeman shows action pretty well, but it looks like he went with the preliminary sketches rather than the polished final product.

If you like the Black Widow, you might enjoy The Coldest War, but it's by no means a definitive take on the character. Still, it's worth a read if you have the time to spare.