Absolute's White Widow Absolute Fun, with Concerns

Born out of a Kickstarter crowdfunding effort, WHITE WIDOW is the creation of Jamie Tyndall and Benny R. Powell, and puts a sexy superheroine front-and-center of the action. Gabrielle Garcia has just learned she was born with a fatal disease, and that her parents arrested the disease using experimental technology from the government think tank where they worked. But when the cure began to fade, another unique treatment was applied. Only this time, her parents got caught and her father was murdered before her eyes -- but not until after injecting her with some special nanites to bond with the white widow spider DNA that had already been spliced into her physiognomy.

The result: Part Philip Wylie's Gladiator, part Marvel's Carnage, part Spider-Man. In fact, lots of Spider-Man, right down to the sticking to walls, spinning of webs, and spider symbol on the front and back of her nanotech / spider-silk armor.

In this second issue, with artwork provided by Iwan Nazif, Gabby's research reveals much of what has happened to her. But the agency that killed her father is after her as well, unwilling to let a super-powered agent not in their control roam free. And so they've sent one of their own after her, the electric-powered Pulse.

It's time for Gabby's first superhero battle. But is she ready?

This is a fun story with straightforward action and supeheroic origins. Jamie Tyndall's artwork is gorgeous, but he only turns in a few pages each issue, in addition to the covers. That's where Nazif steps in to carry the story, with artwork that may not be at the same level as Tyndall's (which is more pinup than dynamic anyway) but which serves the story and is not jarringly different in style.

Pick this one up before the House of Ideas gets the idea to look at this series a little more closely...