White Widow

The White Widow:Welcome to Idylhaven anthology collects releases 1 through 4. It was published in July 2024. The main character in this comic is Yelena Belova. She is a superspy and rogue agent. Yelena Belova has been many things, but striking out as a hero in her own right is new. Just as Yelena begins to settle into life in suburbia as a consultant for honest, hardworking assassins, change comes in the form of Armament – a company that seems to infiltrate every aspect of the tiny town of Idylhaven. As she and her neighbors are threatened with eviction, Yelena takes matters into her own hands. After all, she believes that there’s rarely a problem a little murder can’t solve. However, Armament is not quite what it seems, and a single mistake could cost Yelena everything. 

It was difficult to become interested in this story. After finishing the first two sections, I did not see any connection with the publisher's summary of the book. However, I was amused that Yelena was looking for an employer with good health care insurance and that the recruiter for the evil Armament company uses a wheelchair. Her statement was also amusing "the way I see it, every company is a vampire. They're all out for my blood and none of them are ever going to give back to me, not in any meaningful way." While Yelena is deciding which company to join, her buddy buys a cybernetic product from the Mind Your Own Business store which is having a sale. Later, the Idylhaven Academy becomes a charter school. While carrying out assassinations, Yelena and her co-workers discuss the company’s dental plan and rigid prescription coverage. Just a little modernity here with some humor.

As I mentioned above, I did not see any connection between what the story is supposed to be about and what I read. The long discourse on health insurance was humorous but, sadly, this book falls short. I am assuming that there will be another book soon that continues the White Widow story but I could not find any reference to future books. 

2 out of 5 stars.