Political intrigue, a mission behind the Iron Curtain for two ex-patriot Soviet super soldiers, who comes face to face with their former teammates. Cady and Bazaldua gives you all the makings of a classic Marvel tale about some classic Avengers foes who deserve their time to shine. So Spasiba, moya lyubov! Read Full Review

Winter Guard #1 is a strong start for a series that shows a lot of potential to flesh out Yelena Belova, and may just introduce you to your next favorite super spy. Read Full Review

Of course this book is a timing thing; with both the led characters having a huge part to play in the recent Black Widow movie, this is just the sort of synergy that Marvel looks to extoll from its multi-media based franchises. I am just not sure how this will play out long term. Maybe Marvel agree with me, hence the limited issue count. Read Full Review

Jan Bazalduas art is good, with sharp visuals definitely enhanced by Federico Blees colors and shading, giving the linework added dimensionality that it might have lacked otherwise. There are some panels in particular that really have a near-photorealistic quality to them that I found impressive. The prologue of the issue is drawn by Djibril Morissette-Phan, but it doesnt really stick out as looking that out of place because of Blees coloring, once again proving the point of how important a color artist can be for the visual continuity of a book. Read Full Review

Although the conclusion is intriguing and makes me want to see where things go in the future, I do with that this first book would've been more cohesive. Read Full Review

There's a lot of fun here, but as long as it is bogged down in the Avengers and the look of American heroes, it remains a less than thrilling read. Read Full Review

I must be a sucker for spy thrills because I can't stay away from anything related to Yelena Belova (except the Black Widow movie). Plus this really gives more depth to characters who needed more time to breathe. The Winter Guard have pretty decent personalities when it comes to their operations. It comes as a surprise when there's a (spoiler). There's a real sense of camaraderie among some of them to warrant more looks into them all. Also it's pretty good to see the stakes and interactions with some characters. The way some people talk about Red Guardian to the point of Vanguard (his replacement) coming into conflict with him is pretty interesting.

Finally there's Red Widow, she always felt like a threat but here she feels like someone getting between everything to worm in and take control. She's more of a killing machine than the knock-off vision.

Sure the artwork's not the cleanest but Ryan Cady and Jan Bazalda bring out the best in each other. The way the scenes are presented with the lettering and actions are very smooth. Marvel really should've tried to market this title just a little more. more

I was not expecting to like this or to have this be so interconnected with the rest of the Marvel line, but hey, I'm glad there's another good comic to read for the next few months.

Pretty interesting for a first issue but I am slightly cautious about it.

The White Widow and the Red Guardian enter Russia in search of plot coupons (sorry, hard drives) from Alexei's past. They emerge from a first scrap with the Winter Guard unscathed. This is a basic story delivered with basic storytelling skill. Far from flawless, but not disappointing. It won't outrage big fans of the main characters -- but I doubt it'll make many new ones.

The continuity wank of fitting this into a consistent timeline with Avengers and Black Widow is more interesting than the story at hand. The creators certainly thought so -- thus the annoying prelude. Frankly, the main story would be stronger without it. The visual dissonance between the two artists is rough (I prefer Jan Bazaldua's main story art by quite a wide margin).
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