Bendis Daredevil

Daredevil 66-75

The nonagenarian who was kingpin of Hell’s Kitchen before Wilson Fisk spends four issues getting his revenge on Matt Murdock before dying anticlimactically from an MGH overdose in the fifth.

Then the members of a Daredevil support group spend four issues sharing their DD stories before it all ends anticlimactically with a short chase scene and suicide in the fifth.  Brian Michael Bendis gets away with this inability to finish things as well as he starts them because his setups are just that phenomenal; I’m so happy with the journey that the destination is almost incidental.

This may be the best reveal ever.  Out of nowhere.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

What If…Karen Page Had Lived?

Bendis takes literally ten pages to set the stage before he gets to the traditional “What if?” question.  Ten pages of recap, useful for the uninitiated, completely pointless for someone who’s been binging this whole run over the past week.  

But once he gets into the alternative scenario, Bendis gets grim really quickly, and the ending is exceedingly bleak and sudden.  (It’d have to be, considering the limited number of pages devoted to actual new story.)  A nice enough read, but not worth re-buying.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice