Daredevil

Daredevil 227-233

So.  Good.  Kingpin’s destruction of Matt Murdock’s life is exquisitely horrendous and brilliant, but at the same time reveals that Wilson Fisk is not infallible.  His lack of discipline, his need to keep picking at the scab that is Daredevil, is what ultimately leads to his defeat here.  It’s also what leads to a third act that really shouldn’t work - The introduction of Nuke to the mix, the explosive finale, the appearance of the Avengers, the weird exploration of patriotism - It’s all so out of place in a very street level story.  But it’s all wonderful, all of it.  Still one of my favorite comics ever.

Dave Mazzucchelli is an artistic god.

Gorgeous cloth draping.

Then I noticed the sleeping motif.

So disappointed that it didn't extend to the last three issues.

What a way to start the story.  The colors by Christie Scheele!

Such a cute moment.

Glori's huge eyes should be grotesque, but they're beautiful.

Great narration, great art.

Obvious much with the Pieta posing?

Lovely shadows, chilling last panel.

Great addition to the canon.

My favorite drawing of Thor ever.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pure joy

Daredevil: Man Without Fear 1-5

Frank Miller fleshes out the bits of Daredevil’s origin story that he’s built up over his previous runs on the title.  Some of the scenes are pulled practically word-for-word from instances he’d already written, just redrawn by John Romita Jr.  Others are complete retcons - College Elektra is a completely different character from her original appearances.  Here, she’s a femme fatale with a wicked, sinister streak that doesn’t jive with her depictions either before or after her father’s murder.  It’s really off-putting.

The other thing of note is Joe Kelly’s future retcon of a pivotal scene here into the origin story of Typhoid Mary.  It’s pretty inspired.

I'll get to this when I review Deadpool.

Still, this is good stuff from Miller, I enjoyed myself thoroughly.  And this is one of the good Romita projects.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Daredevil: Ninja 1-3

Brian Michael Bendis takes a pass at Daredevil before his run on the main title.  It’s a complete waste of time - Daredevil fights good ninja in the first issue in New York.  He fights good ninja and bad ninja in Japan in the second.  He returns to New York in the third and fights more bad ninja.  There’s no plot to speak of until the last two pages, which is handled most anticlimactically.  (The baby from the Kevin Smith run is the reincarnated Stick.  Really.)

From what I can tell, Rob Haynes gets a lot of crap for his art here, and Bendis has gone on the record about their disagreements leading to an inferior story.  But I like his shadowless cel-shaded cartoon style.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice