July 27, 2006
Daredevil 87: Hello My Name is Mike Murdock
Wow. This six issue story arc is one of Marvel's Greatest Comics. It ends as strongly as it began, with a gut punch on the very last page. The revelation of Iron Fist as the second Daredevil (patrolling Hell's Kitchen and fighting in the Civil War) doesn't compare to the last big secret that Brubaker has been keeping. There's another huge mystery spilling into the next arc that will send DD travelling to Europe. I love all the elements here, Brubaker keeps surprising me, even with the scene where Matt finally busts out of Ryker's with the Punisher's help. "I never thought I'd say these words...but thanks, Frank." Even the afterword on the letters page is wonderful--I never knew that Brubaker was such an Iron Fist fan! Don't click on the link below, where Brubaker discusses this issue's events, until you've finally read Daredevil 87.
Let's get the party started, because Mike Murdock is back after 30 years, baby! Nuff said.
External Link:
Ed Brubaker discusses Daredevil 87 (Newsarama)
April 22, 2006
Pick of the Week: Daredevil 84!
Brubaker and Lark continue to amaze in Daredevil 84. When an A-list creator leaves a long running series, usually the team that follows will disappoint in one way or another. I remember when Frank Miller left Daredevil after his first run and Denny O'Neil took over the writing. While O'Neil was a solid scripter, he just couldn't match the same level of excitement that Miller brought to the series. 
Brubaker's defied the odds by taking Matt's situation of being in jail and made his situation as bad as it could possibly be. Not only is Foggy dead, Matt's secret identity is blown up for certain, with him beating down thugs left and right. We see in this issue that Matt can escape from prison anytime he wishes to do it-he's staying because the bad guys have a world of hurt coming to them. Think that isn't bad enough? Throw in Bullseye, the Kingpin, and the Punisher into the penitentiary, and you've got the makings of a humongous battle royale coming up. I'm so hyped about Daredevil that I'll even forgive Brubaker for stealing from Silence of the Lambs in the opening scene.
Kingpin's arrival is very interesting. He helped the feds put Matt in jail…is it possible he has a plan to get them both out?
I'm also wondering if Daredevil will play a role in the Civil War event. Matt Murdock seems like a prime example of why you wouldn't want your secret identity exposed or registered. Nuff said.
Posted by Kid Flash at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)February 18, 2006
Brubaker has the chops for Daredevil…but why did Quesada spoil the ending?
Spoilers abound, droogies. The pick of the week is Daredevil 82, featuring the new writer, Ed Brubaker, joined by his Gotham Central artist, Michael Lark. Both the story and art exceeded my expectations, which were already set pretty high. I had doubts about Matt Murdock being in jail, about why he wouldn't be given special treatment, and Brubaker answers all of them as part of the main story thread. He carries all of the plot threads and characters from Bendis' run and has Matt getting into even deeper shit now that he's in prison. A blind superhero with super-sensitive hearing and smell, stuck in a grimy jail cell, with Kingpin, Hammerhead, the Owl, and Tarantula as neighbors? That's my idea of hell. The artwork is superb. I wondered how Lark would draw Daredevil in a costume-only because I think he excels at drawing normal people and things like police\spy dramas-but he does an excellent job. I've always loved his artwork, but I've never seen it look better.
I'm not going to recap the plot, suffice to say if you like Daredevil, if you liked Bendis' run, or if you were a Sleeper fan, then this is a must-have comic. As for the spoiler, well, Marvel already spoiled it a few weeks ago. Foggy dies. We read this in the Marvel solicitations, and then Joe Quesada confirmed it in this Newsarama interview. I think it's to Brubaker and Lark's credit that I still found Daredevil #82 to have a powerful impact even though I knew what was coming. But if I hadn't known…I probably would have needed a stiff drink to recover. It's a shame that Quesada lessened the impact of such a great book.
When Bill Jemas and Joe Quesada took editorial control of Marvel Comics a few years ago, one of their first policy decisions was to clamp down on spoilers in the Previews solicitations. I thought this was an excellent idea. They went a little overboard at first, almost saying nothing in the blurbs, just showing the cover. Combined with the ban on overprinting and reordering, this made it hard for retailers to beef up their orders when a big event occurred. The excuse Quesada gave was that he wanted the retailers to order big on Daredevil 82, but they could have done it a bit differently. They could have just said that someone close to Daredevil dies-the first person I might have suspected was Milla, because no woman lives for long when they are around Matt.
Marvel is doing this trick again, with their upcoming one-shot, Death in the Family, featuring the Fantastic Four. They tell you in the solicitation that Sue Storm dies and it's not a hoax. In the latest Newsarama interview, Quesada not only confirms it's not a hoax, but they're gonna kill off two members of the F.F.! Mark Waid killed off the Thing and brought him back to life, but I enjoyed the heaven-trip and the nod to Kirby as God in the end. Quesada says these upcoming deaths are permanent, but unless you are killing H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot or Medusa (the Inhuman substitute for Sue Storm), death just seems like it's becoming cheap. I don't know. Call me crazy, but I just think these things are better off being surprises. I'll always remember reading Uncanny X-Men #137 and being floored when Jean Grey died for the first time. Or Daredevil #181 when Elektra died for the first time. Or the first time that I read the Bucky flashback when he tries to stop Baron Zemo's rocket. Big impact. And they all came back. Sheesh. OK, I really liked Resurrection Man--he died and came back to life in every issue. Nuff said.
External Links:
Quesada discusses Daredevil 82 on Joe Fridays 34
Quesada discusses Fantastic Four Death in the Family on Joe Fridays 38
February 2, 2006
Bendis Totally Trashes Murdock, Makes Podcasts!
I didn't immediately geek out over Daredevil #81 because, well, we've been geeking out way too much over Bendis' work lately. He's supposed to be our mortal enemy, after all, for tearing up the Vision like that. But the conclusion to his final arc was superb. Matt Murdock's life is trashed beyond belief. Warren Ellis asked a question in one his Bad Signals:
"...what *does* make a Marvel character work? (Answer: tragedy.)"
I can't think of a Marvel hero with more tragedy than Matt Murdock. Think of all the times he's been punched, shot, stabbed, and sliced. The girlfriends that died? The ex-girlfriends came back to life? And now it might happen to poor Foggy.
I still can't imagine anyone putting Daredevil in the same jail cell with the Owl, Kingpin, and Hammerhead. (Isn't anyone bothered that Hammerhead is appearing in the Sentry now and he's out of jail?) But it's gotta be that way for dramatic license.
There's a really cool podcast that Quesada conducts with Bendis and incoming writer Ed Brubaker on Marvel's web site. Brubaker said that he has two choices with Daredevil: put the genie back in the bottle (the secret identity) or push the situation even further (he's doing the latter). Word Balloon has a nice podcast interview with Bendis on Daredevil and many other topics, including decompressed storytelling. Nuff said.
Posted by Kid Flash at 6:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)December 30, 2005
Daredevil and Night Nurse
Night Nurse has been popping up in Bendis' Daredevil run. She's back in Daredevil 80, which is quite excellent. If you're not that familar with early 70s Marvel Comics, you may not know that Night Nurse actually had her own comic series in 1972! It only lasted for 4 issues and it was targeted towards the female/romance audience. At the time, there were a lot of popular doctor shows on television like Marcus Welby M.D. and Medical Center. You have to give Marvel credit for trying to bring in the General Hospital crowd. Night Nurse was written by then Editor-In-Chief Roy Thomas' wife, Jean Thomas. The character's name was Linda Carter--no lie, and it was before the Wonder Woman TV series. She didn't treat superheroes and didn't live in New York City. I suppose things changed as she got older, including her hair color.
Bendis is really wrapping up a great story in Daredevil. Next issue is the conclusion and I can't see how it will end. Will the Avengers step in and somehow get Matt a pardon? Will S.H.I.E.L.D. try to recruit Matt again? Matt's life is about as destroyed as it was during Miller's Born Again arc. That's really something. Nuff said.
Posted by Kid Flash at 5:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)November 25, 2005
Daredevil 79: DD and Elektra fight Bullseye!
Wow. That's all I gotta say after reading Daredevil 79. Best appearance by Bullseye in years. I always wanted to see DD and Elektra fight him at the same time. The issue ends in a very surprising climax which I won't spoil, save for the fact that we have a nice little guest appearance from an old DD friend. Wilson Fisk has a deeper plan in mind that we ever imagined. Good stuff.
Not everything is perfect: I have some problems with the fight scenes. Maleev doesn't have the Miller chops to carry off what the script calls for in terms of visuals. Daredevil beat Bullseye once; Elektra beat him once in Elektra Lives Again graphic novel. Should Bullseye last that long in a fight, and does he know kung fu that well? I guess that costume is permanently ditched for the target scar on his forehead. Minor quibbles, I love this book. Nuff said.
Posted by Adam Warlock at 5:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)November 2, 2005
Daredevil 78: Elektra and Black Widow Have a Spat
The longest Elektra appearance (with Daredevil) in decades. She appears and interrupts Matt and Milla during post-coital sex. Elektra talks, too. Talks a lot of Bendis dialogue about the Kingpin’s secret stash of evidence that proves Murdock and Daredevil are the same person. Then the Black Widow shows up with issues left over from Wolverine: “If you and this ninja are back together, I’m killing you both.” I’ve always wanted to see a Widow-Elektra catfight, but it’s not happening here. Love the last page, what a cliffhanger.
I've been catching up to the previous Comic Geek Speak podcasts, and episode
52 had a very good interview with Michael Lark. I've always thought of Lark as an artist suited for non-superhero books like Gotham Central or Vertigo series. Same with Ed Brubaker. His Sleeper series was so good, even though it involved metahumans, I just saw him as guy who wouldn't fit in the "mainstream" universes.
How wrong I was! Part of the reason Brubaker left DC was to get involved in the thick of the action. Brubaker's Captain America is so good, and it works on so many levels. In the interview, Lark says that he really wants to do superheroes. He wants to do Daredevil in bold superhero action. Both Brubaker and Lark want to break away a bit from Bendis and Maleev's talk-talky version. Kingpin will be a badass motherfucker again. Jesus Christ, now I am excited about Daredevil when these two take over. Nuff said.
Posted by Kid Flash at 11:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
