starkexpos:

Oh man. Where to start? It really depends on the Natalia/Natasha Romanova/Romanoff you want to get to know. I think she’s easily one of the greatest characters of the Marvel Universe. Where to start with my favorite ballerina assassin? Hmmm. Fair warning, I’m going to suck so hard at this. I’ll focus on current and readily available books, rather than the Historical Documents.

It’s important to note that the Black Widow’s first appearance is an an Iron Man villain in the early Tales of Suspense. If you’re feeling game, I love these older titles and it’s always interesting to see the progression of a beloved character. After leaving her super sketch past behind her, she becomes the 16th (someone fact check me?) Avenger. This edition pretty much collects all of her early appearances. 

Now, I don’t think it’s readily available, but check eBay and your LCS, but I have such a stupid love for The Champions. This was 1975 and Natasha is leading a superhero team. 1975. That’s amazing. I mean, to be fair you couldn’t pay me crazy Stark money to be on that team, but it’s still totally 70’s and amazing. Her SHIELD shenanigans and Marvel Fanfare tales are collected here. 

Then you can read Black Widow: Itsy-Bitsy Spider which is literally Natasha’s version of Aesop’s Fables. A very fucked up Aesop Fable. Like Nic Cage/John Travolta Face-Off Aesop Fable.

If you read anything off of this list, you read Black Widow: The Name of the Rose. I swear on Alan Moore’s Mall Santa beard, I am a that door-to-door random Christian-sect member asking if you have accepted Marjorie M. Liu and Daniel Acuña’s The Name of the Rose as your lord and savior. This was one of the very first ongoings I kept up with when I first started reading comics weekly. It’s a perfectly self-contained book that manages to introduce Natasha as a flawed and remarkable individual while keeping her steeped in the old world and new. This was a book that made me stop and say, “goddamn.” It’s a perfect marriage of art and words.

Other notable titles include the Widowmaker mini written (mostly) by Jim McCann. It sets up Hawkeye: Blindspot, if you’re interested in reading more, but it’s a fairly fun read. Naturally, pick up any books with Winter Solider in the title. There’s a fair amount of Natasha’s backstory in those books, so go proudly comrade. 

Here’s the thing with Black Widow titles, compared to other characters, you can pretty much just read everything, and it’s not going to take long. It might be difficult to find like Daredevil titles, but it’s out there. If you like her, it’s good reading.

Oh, and of course a Black Widow post wouldn’t be complete without required reading from Uncle Warren’s story time. до свидания, or whatever.

Agent Phil Coulson is #21 of MTV’s Top Movie Characters of 2012

word-smith:

We’re more than halfway through the MTV Movies team’s countdown of the Top 50 Movie Characters of 2012, which can only mean one thing: it’s time to bust out Earth’s mightiest heroes. But it’s not an actual Avenger on today’s list of spots 30 through 21; it’s one of the team’s supporting players, a brave soul who gave his life in service of saving the world.

21. Agent Phil Coulson (“Marvel’s The Avengers”)
He’s not the hero we deserve, but he’s the hero we need. No, we’re not talking about Batman, or even someone like Iron Man, for that matter. Frankly, Agent Coulson doesn’t need an elaborate suit of armor or crazy lightning powers to rank as one of the greatest movie heroes of the year. All he needs is his stoic sense of humor, his even-handed judgment, his eye-on-the-prize determination, and a sense of duty that would lead him to give up his life for the greater good. Coulson became a fan-favorite character over the course of multiple Marvel movie appearances, but it was his final send-off in “Avengers” that cemented his eternal place in our hearts — and on this list. Although, in fairness, this isn’t the last we’ll see of everybody’s favorite Phil… — Josh Wigler

fuckyeahclintcoulson:

So guys!  Guess what yesterday was?

Yesterday was Clint Barton’s birthday - the forty-eighth anniversary of his first appearance in Tales of Suspense #57!

“Oh, yeah?” you say.  ”What’s it to me?” you say.

Well, here’s what it is to you today.  In honour of Clint’s birthday, Fuck Yeah Clint/Coulson are giving away stuff!  Yeah, you heard that right: stuff!

Here’s what you get:

- a brand-new copy of the Hawkeye: Blindspot trade paperback
- a 8x5” watercolour sketch of your choosing by gilesfarnaby
- a 1” Coulson Lives badge 

Here’s what you do if you want it:

- like or reblog this post (yep, you read that right: likes count! and if you like and reblog, you get two entries)
- there are no formal rules about the number of times you can reblog this, but please be courteous and don’t spam people’s dashboards
- you don’t have to be following us, but, y’know, it’d be nice
- enter by Friday at midnight
- if you win, we’ll need a postal address for you (and you’ll need to have your askbox open so that we can let you know)
- you can live anywhere in the world; no limits on who can enter

Here’s what we do:

- choose a winner by random number generator
- drop an ask in your askbox letting you know you won and asking for your address and your sketch request

Okay!  Right!  Here we go, then.  Any questions, feel free to drop them in our ask or submit boxes.

Happy birthday, Hawkeye!

ladynorthstar:

I think their relationship is really sad, both ways.

Clint because he’s acting against his will, and will hate every single second of it without being able to take it out, without being able to defend himself, as his mind is so fucked up he’s not even aware he doesn’t want it.

Loki because he’s being deluding himself people around him adore him and worship him not just because of the influence of the gem taking away everything they really are… he thinks they would accept him as his king, he thinks he really has authority, and power, while the first one is tricking it’s himself.