The Things They Say About Her picks up where the previous Black Widow collected miniseries, Homecoming, left off. Natasha "Black Widow" Romanova is still embroiled in Cold War-style spycraft, revenge and the international drug trade; this time with human trafficking and experimentation as additional elements in the mix.

Nick Fury, Matt Murdock and Yelena Belova (also from the Black Widow program although not, in this version, Natasha's adopted sister) are along for the ride, offering assistance where necessary. The federal government, on the other hand, has turned on the Widow, and Fury and Murdock's reputations are among the collateral damage.

There's none of the Avengers-style sensibility when it comes to killing, either -- this Black Widow is perfectly comfortable with a messy resolution to her problems. Along the way, she racks up a pretty impressive body count.

But, while the team behind The Things They Say About Her is largely unchanged from Homecoming -- Richard K. Morgan is still the writer, and the art team of Bill Sienkiewicz and Gorlan Parlov has shifted to Sienkiewicz and Sean Phillips -- the tone of the book is vastly different.

I have to say, I really hate the illustrations. The art itself isn't bad -- it's not great, either, by comic-book standards, although it's certainly a step or two down from the look of Homecoming -- but much of the book is so dark and gritty, it's hard to tell what's going on. Couple that with a grindingly slow and overly complex plot, and I simply didn't enjoy reading it.

First impressions also matter, and the cover of Things They Say outdoes even the notorious team pose from the first Avengers movie -- you know the one, it emphasized the musculature of the men and the curve of Scarlett Johansson's butt. The cover here makes the Avengers image tame by comparison.