A big step down from the first volume, as Thompson falls in the typical trap of introducing new sidekicks for the sake of introducing them (rather than wait for a supporting character with plot purpose to become surprisingly memorable and organically recurring), worsened by them all being trope-y teens and only Spider-Girl being a previously existing character. The plot is also much more by the numbers now, as a mysterious villain is giving teens super powers that might end up killing them. But the character work and dialogue continues to be excellent, and I'm impressed at how the events of volume 1 continue to inform Black Widow's mindset and decisions without overshadowing the new story.
So all in all, this is a decent read, just nowhere near as memorable and solid as the first installment. (Thankfully, the third volume that followed this proved a big step back up.) ( )

My expectations were high after the wonderful first volume of this series, but while the dialogue still sparkles, the plot is a disappointing, cliched, and haphazard mess. The big bad is a guy who gives an experimental and dangerous drug to vulnerable people to build an army of super-powered henchmen, which is as far from original as our heroine of course befriending one of those henches. Instead of building a supporting cast organically, other superheroes are just dragged in to help out as if Natasha is building her own Avengers or, more aptly, Black Widow and Her Amazing Friends.

The story advances by having things happen because the writer needs them to happen. At one point a man is pushed out a window on a parachute and a few pages later with no explanation he has somehow landed in a locked closet inside a different building across town. And fortunately he randomly has skills that will make the conclusion of the story possible. At another point a character chooses to wear a sleeveless outfit that coincidentally works out so well when it later turns out her arms are going to glow a lot now. Weak.

I still had a good time hanging with the characters, but I hope the next volume will not be so insulting to my intelligence. ( )