The Matt Murdock Chronicles

Daredevil 284

2012-01-31T19:35:00.001Z

The Outsider by Ann Nocenti and Lee Weeks

One Sentence Overview: Daredevil returns to New York in a highly confused state and his mental state only worsens when he starts to hallucinate

First time on pencilling duties on DD for Lee Weeks, who I think hangs around for a while (sorry to see John jr go but he'd done a sterling job up until the final panels in Hell, when I think he was looking exhausted - and, hey, wouldn't you be in that kind of environment?). Lee's work is perhaps more classical than John's, though he has fun here drawing an old fashioned gangster and his mob, who look suspiciously like the Three Stooges (plus one).

But more of that later. Let's focus instead on the seminal moment which is Daredevil's return to New York. Recent events elsewhere have had a quite a negative impact on DD - and let's face it, his head wasn't really in the right place anyway when he left Hell's Kitchen to begin with. No, already distressed with doing the dirty to Karen by smooching with Typhoid Mary, Matt wandered out of the city without an aim or plan. He's literally been to Hell and back - and that's causing him some mental trauma. He rationalises that he couldn't have possibly been there as it doesn't exist (another slice of evidence apparently signifying that Matt's Catholic upbringing has translated into an actualised faith).

He can't remember what day it is. There's something clearly wrong in his head as he returns to the city. In addition, I've noticed that, since encountering Brandy Ash and her plans to overthrow her dad's business empire in DD271 (and with the exception of the one flashback issue), Matt has been locked into his Daredevil costume. Now that red suit's gotta smell a bit by now and I'm worried that Matt's lack of personal hygiene routine isn't helping his state of mind.

Not only that but Matt starts to hallucinate as well. Which is interesting as I wondered about how such a thing could occur to a sightless man, but I guess it's that radar sense thing (and people do have auditory as well as visual hallucinations, so it's not that contraversial). This leads to him getting knocked out by a two bit hood, Babyface.

Babyface is a fun character, a parody of the average thirties gangster, Ann doesn't even bother to explain why he and his mob are dressed up sixty years out of date. I guess it's all just part of his shtick. However, he's not meant to be taken too seriously. Before laying DD out, Babyface is even laughed at by the streetwise woman he's supposed to be mugging.

In other words, when Matt takes his medicine, we're aware that he's hit a new low.

By the end of the issue, perhaps aided by Babyface's knockout blow, Matt appears to have lost his mind altogether. Good job that a stranger appears on the scene to help him out when Babyface's mob decide to make mincemeat out of our hero and this new figure's accuracy in battle makes the reader recall... well, who exactly? This issue doesn't answer that question (though it's fairly clear who it was - see cast list below, if you're not sure; I densely didn't pick up on the clues until I perused DD285) but it's not a good idea that Matt unmasks in front of him - something his comrade is clearly thrilled to see occur.

And this leads to a neat turn in fortunes that we'll see fully explored next time.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Karen Page
Kingpin/Wilson Fisk

Bullseye
Typhoid Mary
Captain America/Steve Rogers
Babyface
Mephisto
Louie the Lip
Vincenzo
Jack

Rating: 8 out of 10

Daredevil Annual 1990

2012-01-28T12:25:00.001Z

Predator by Gregory Wright and Cam Kennedy

One Sentence Overview: Encountering a semi devoured body, Daredevil goes on the hunt of a strange creature stalking the alleyways of Hell's Kitchen

Ah, continuity - the curse of comic books. If you're an X-Men or Avengers fan, trying to rationalise where certain concurrently published storylines involving the same characters fit in a coherent storyline could drive a soul mad. And as for Wolverine, a guy who clearly doesn't know the meaning of spare time, his weekly schedule must be enhanced by a couple of handy clones hiding in a cupboard somewhere.

The problem with this story, Predator, is that it's set in New York, whereas in DD283 Daredevil is still out of town and in DD284, he returns to the city but, and hopefully not giving too much away, he is in no mental state to go off chasing some weird genetically modified creature that the Punisher encountered in his annual in the same year (and who would go to feature in another two annuals). The storyline commencing in DD284 appears to go on for a while so... well, we'll slot the annual in here, but it's clearly out of chronological order.

Regular annual writer, colorist, Gregory Wright is on the case for this story and the other three tales in the book. He's a curiosity - he appears to be involved in scripting further annuals but does not appear to be in favour for the ongoing tale. His writing is fine, more plot driven than Ann's and he likes his characters hard boiled and nasty. For example, his portrayal of Ben Urich in both this annual and the one the previous year moves the journalist away from the world weary but honourable soul to a more driven, ambitious writer which isn't really in character with the way most other writers portray him. (Though at least there's a nice put down by the writer from an anonymous Bugle staffer at Ben's smoking habit.)

But of greater interest to me is the artist of the piece - it's only Scottish genius, Cam Kennedy! Cam may not be overly familiar to the average American comic book reader, but in the UK he's regarded as a legend. Familiar to me from his work on British war comic, Battle (particularly Vietnam War tale, Fighting Mann) and perhaps best known for illustrating many Judge Dredd episodes in 2000AD, it's personally fantastic to see Cam beautifying this grim tale. Though it's the wonderful VCs (and Dredd classic, Midnight Surfer) for which I have my fondest memories of his work.

One fun aside about Mr Kennedy is that he illustrated his own difficulties at trying to sell his artwork Stateside in a well regarded Judge Dredd tale, 'The Art of Kenny Who?'. Here a talented Scottish artist is driven to distraction by the foibles of the Mega City art industry. This tale appeared about four years before this annual hit the shelves so Cam must have resolved some of his issues with the American comic book industry. Good thing, too, because his art is quite lovely here.

Look, for example, at how he manages to convey a character's shock with a subtle widening of the eye. Terrific stuff.

His portrayal of Lifeform himself conveys both horror and a kind of pathos, demonstrating that the creature is perhaps not fully in control of his actions.

As noted above, the story is 'part two' of a four part tale stretching over four diverse annuals following the rather grisly outcome of a thief who injects himself with some AIM serum (now why would you do that?) and becomes 'Lifeform', a figure who is not dis-similar to the likes of Man Thing. Here, Daredevil, Ben Urich and a couple of corrupt cops are after the poor fellow - all for different reasons. Ben uncharacteristically has his eyes on nailing a big story to beef himself up (instead of chasing the truth, his usual criterion for a story) whilst Daredevil just wants to stop the guy eating people (reasonably enough).

Despite this, Daredevil shows characteristic compassoin towards the creature and urges the cops not to kill him. NYPD's (not) finest, Hobbes, however, is keen to take down the ghoulish figure, it having nailed his partner (see the Innocent Bystander tale later in the annual). The boys with the guns appear to win the battle, though given there are another two annuals in this storyline it's unsurprising that there's ultimately a twist in the tale.

A pretty reasonable ghoulish tale. There's no subtext, just action, which no doubt appealed to many fans back in the day, especially those frustrated with some of Ann's fine musings. It's all enhanced, of course, by Cam Kennedy's great art.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Ben Urich

Lifeform/George Prufrock
Jet
Spit
Det David Hobbes
Det Paul Robbins
Lamar Kwiat
Allison

Rating: 6 out of 10

Truth or Dare by Gregory Wright and Gary Hartle

The first of three back up stories welcomes the return of the Fatboys. Here the gang of lovable rogues cajole Eightball into stealing a skateboard from an older gang. What prevents this being more than just a kooky wheeze is the violent response of the gang to Eightball's actions, emphasising the hard territory in which these poor kids are growing up.

The tale whizzes by in a flash but it's always a pleasure to see Butch and the gang.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Butch
Darla
Eightball
Ralf
Lifeform/George Prufrock
Jerry
Joey
Johnny
Laura

Rating: 5 out of 10

Innocent Bystander? by Gregory Wright and Thomas Sutton

The most striking tale in the annual is probably this one, which fills in some background detail on the two shady cops encountered in 'Predator' above. In that tale, Robbins is taken out fairly early on after dabbing his figure is some Lifeform goo. Later, his partner, Hobbes hears that he's dead and gets on with tracking the creature down. This story fills in the gaps. And, oh boy, does it ever fill in the gaps.

The tale is basically a grisly eight page endurance test, riffing on the kind of body horror more appropriate of a David Cronenberg movie than a Daredevil comic. In this, one must applaud Thomas Sutton for his truly grotesque artwork here. I wasn't aware of Tom, but he's actually a bit of a horror stalwart, having pencilled Werewolf-by-Night for Marvel and Vampirella and other scary comics elsewhere. Tom doesn't spare the reader much in the details of Robbins' demise, who endures horrific body mutilaton as well as having to listen to his wife and mistress argue whilst hallucinating.

It's pretty horrific stuff but kinda fascinating at the same time. Not for every taste but still strangely admirable.
Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Det Paul Robbins
Det David Hobbes
Mrs Robbins

Rating: 6 out of 10

Two Schizos by Gregory Wright and Michael Bair

The least succesful story in the annual sees the welcome return of Typhoid Mary in a politically incorrectly titled tale. Gregory sees an allusion between Mary and Lifeform as two beings who share personalities and obviously feels this contrast will be fascinating. However, what is a more interesting contrast is to portray this writer and Ann Nocenti's characterisation of Typhoid. Here, she seems more gleefully violent, lacking nuance and, despite the confrontation, the story feels somewhat flat and one dimensional. Disappointing end to the annual.

Cast
Typhoid May
Lifeform/George Prufrock

Rating: 3 out of 10

Overall Rating: 6 out of 10

Daredevil 283

2012-01-24T16:34:00.001Z

The American Nightmare by Ann Nocenti and Mark Bagley

One Sentence Overview: Daredevil and Captain America step in when an immigrant inventor comes under attack from a range of sources

Okay, I know I said I was going to review the annual next but actually, as the action takes place back in Hell's Kitchen, I've changed my mind and that review will go up in a couple of issues' time, once Daredevil's actually back in his old hunting ground.

So instead it's DD283 and a perceptive comment on the corruption of the American Dream. As one can tell from the (cleverly symbolic and not at all reflective of what actually occurs in the tale) cover, Daredevil and Cap meet again and get very cross about the infraction of an immigrant's rights to develop innovative technology that big business is going to frown upon.

Indeed, Cap appears a lot less conservative than I'm used to here - in an early scene, he picks up a magazine (called the Democrats, which tells you all you need to know, I guess) and becomes enraged at reports of America involving itself in the drugs war in South America. "Can't we leave Latin America alone?" the Sentinel rants. "Haven't we exploited them long enough?"

I'm not a huge reader of Cap - and Ed Brubaker's recent run doesn't dwell too much on Steve Rogers' political opinions (though Mark Millar clearly identified where he stood on the rights of a person to put a mask on one's face and beat people up) - so it's possible I'm misrepresenting his views. However, Daredevil is also shocked by Cap's anger at the way the oil industry controls things in his country. "I would have guessed he'd view such ideas as subversive," Daredevil ponders.

So where's all this pent up frustration come from? What's turned Cap into a raving liberal? Well, the letters page here recommends the reader pick up Cap's current run as he apparently has been acting strange over there. Hmmm. Well, a quick look at blogger Goodman Holiday's Reading Captain America's post on that run reveals that Cap was actually on drugs and therefore more paranoid and wired than usual. Okay, so being on drugs makes you more left wing, yet articulate? Interesting...

Cap's drug induced 'paranoid' reasonings don't seem out of step with what's actually happening to inventor Victor Cieszkowska. Vic's come up with the very topical and foresighted notion of creating a car that runs on an alternative fuel (garbage in this case). The moment he holds a press release, the IRS write to him suggesting he's in the US illegally, he's mocked by TV reporters, the FBI turn up to ransack his home and a bunch of hoods attempt to wreck his car. The (perhaps heavy handed) allegory is that the oil industry will crush anyone attempting to introduce an alternative energy source. Perhaps in 1990 this wasn't such a vital issue and maybe of more interest to environmentalists but, reading this in 2012, the story feels remarkably prescient.

Cap's rants about inequality in the US also feels very contemporary. His complaints about the growing difference between the rich and poor continues to be a significant problem, one examined famously in the last couple of years by the book, The Spirit Level. Hmmm, whatever you're taking, Steve, perhaps you could share it with those in power?

Never mind the politics, this is a bit of leap from running around the inner circle of Hell, jaw jawing with the devil, I hear you mutter. Where's Number Nine and the Inhumans? Well, in a piece of writing completely consistent with Ann's recent writing of the character, once DD and the gang returned to earth... he cleared off.

I guess with Brandy dead, there was no-one to make him feel guilty about being committed to other relationships. It's okay for Karnak and Gorgon - they've got Pope and they're off to Attilan, but what about poor Number Nine? I don't know if this is the last we've seen of the character. If it is, that's a darn shame. We only seem to partially understand where she's at and doesn't it seem a little mean for DD to leave her in the lurch like this.

Men! Huh.

Meanwhile on the letters page Not everyone's enjoying Ann's recent direction. Augie Pirente drafts a list of things he's currently not liking about Daredevil. It includes: "X-Men crossovers, Inhumans, Number Nine, Blackheart... stories about why we shouldn't eat meat, plots that try to tackle the nature of good and evil". But don't be downcast, Ann, Damon Frusha says that the writer's scripting borders "masterpiece level". Hurrah!

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Captain America/Steve Rogers
Number Nine
Karnak
Gorgon
Pope
Victor Cieszkowska
Nora Cieszkowska

Rating: 7 out of 10

Daredevil 282

2012-01-20T12:56:00.004Z

Crooked Halos by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Daredevil and his companions reach the centre of Hell and confront an oversized Mephisto

Daredevil's strange sojourn into Hell concludes this issue, no doubt after trying the patience of many a reader. The last two issues haven't been too bad, in truth, however, the conclusion is messier and feels oddly rushed and a little anticlimactic. The very notion of one of the weakest of all superheroes (which, of course, is part of the appeal to many of us) could take on the Devil himself and come out on top is problematic at its root. And, to be fair to Ann, she doesn't bother with trying any real kind of confrontation - other than a bit of shouting at each other.

There's a fair amount of arguing and counter argument here - and it's not just Daredevil blowing raspberries at Mephisto. No, much of the issue is given over to Blackheart spitting feathers at his old man. Unsurprisingly Blackheart has rebelled against the rule of this netherworld and accuses him of being a dinosaur and being archaic (echoing Brandy's words elsewhere, though for different reasons), his ways of operating contemptible in this modern age. The argument doesn't make a lot of sense if Mephisto is the embodiment of evil and therefore transcends culture, time and ethos, and so it's no surprise to see Mephisto crush his son, rather than cower and sob, "You're right, son, what was I thinking."

Nevertheless Blackheart resurrects just in time to give commentary on last issue's title. Funnily enough, he thinks it as cheesy as I did, though adds a coda, "Simplistic little morals, perhaps; but such simple gems Mephisto is blind to".

In other words, the willingness to believe the best, that good can conquer is an optomistic human emotion that Mephisto finds laughable. But it's in those little corny phrases where people find the strength to carry on and be resilient in their lives in the face of the most pessimistic circumstances. They're a little like globlets of faith for the individual. (Blackheart is eventually exiled to earth, perhaps another contrary Biblical allusion, echoing God throwing the Devil out of Heaven.)

Over the last few issues Mephisto has transformed from a lean, mean figure to a bloated monster, swollen in the poor cretins that make up the lost souls of the underworld.

It's like he's become lazy and complacent - though any sense that Daredevil may think that the old boy's past it is quickly put to bed when, with minimum effort, he annihilates one of the 'gang'. It's a sad moment to see a character we've gotten to know and like over the last few issues be so swiftly and efficiently dispatched (though, contrary to her own beliefs, her soul finds peace with her hunky angel by the end of the story).

As I say, all Daredevil can do here is holler, which makes this confrontation a little unbalanced to say the least. Good job then that the Silver Surfer has sensed that Mephisto's up to no good and comes down to give the guy a run for his money, allowing Daredevil et al to escape. It appears the only recourse in such a scene. But there's one element in all this that grates with me. DD279 concluded with the characters falling into Hell and Mephisto suddenly becoming agitated that Pope has descended with them.

Wouldn't it therefore have been more in keeping with this set up to have had the kid (rather than Norrin Radd) reveal some kind of power or wisdom that helps the gang overcome the evil one? I'm not sure why Ann hasn't bothered to follow up on this.

One can speculate what this all means in terms of a wider view of morality and evil. The most cogent thing I can come up with is that the small battles of underlings such as Daredevil and Blackheart are ultimately of little import to a monolithic metastructure of evil that has been with humankind for millennia. Intriguingly, Daredevil falls back on his Christian upbringing as he leaves. The way to defeat (or at least really hack off) Mephisto is not to battle him but instead pronounce forgiveness.

It's a daring move, some might say simplistic, especially as Daredevil would never have had the ability to stand against Mephisto. But it's in line with Daredevil's conclusion last issue that fighting is not the way ahead here. And it does really bug the boss of the underworld.

A couple of thoughts before closing. In this often verbose treatise on evil and its ways, Ann has brought in notions of another literary source. As Karnak and Gorgon make their way to the concluding scene they are weighed down by the damned or, as they call them, the 'Hollow Men', a deliberate allusion (I think) to TS Eliot's poem.

Eliot wrote 'The Hollow Men' in the aftermath of World War One and, whilst its meaning is obscure, scholars have identified that one of the sources for this work is, you've guessed it, Dante's Inferno. Ah, Ann, erudite as ever.

In all this darkness, there's one odd moment of lightness, or at least anxiety on behalf of editorial. Number Nine's friend, Lucifer, spent last issue wandering around bottomless. Well, this time round, colorist Gregory Wright is having none of it - and clads him in tightfitting jeans! Pretty odd stuff.

Ultimately this is quite a difficult read and perhaps Ann has overstretched, though, as always, one admires her for having the gall to tackle such difficult territory, especially in a book normally rooted in reality.

Next, Daredevil Annual 1990.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Number Nine
Brandy Ash
Karnak
Gorgon
Mephisto
Blackheart
Pope
Silver Surfer/Norrin Radd
Lucifer
Native American Angel

Rating: 4 out of 10

Daredevil 281

2012-01-19T17:16:00.004Z

Heaven is Knowing Who You Are by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Daredevil and his companions continue to negotiate their ways through their own underworlds

Hmmm, that title. Feels a bit self-help pop psychology, doesn't it? I guess what Ann's getting at is that, even with our characters trapped in their own kinds of Hell, the solution to their problems is within their hearts. Heck, that sounds like a cheesy movie pitch.

Anyway, this issue continues the peculiar journeys of the four groupings who descended into their own particular circle. The Inhumans, rather quickly, if you ask me (but I guess that's the problem with running four storylines together), persuade the Bicoastal Angel to let others into her realm of privilege (or "This year. One isolated woman. Opens up her heart. And lets the world come in." Or something.)

Daredevil realises that his best course of action against the demons assaulting him is not to fight back. ("This year. One man. Realises the best way to fight back. Is to surrender.")

Matt figures that his acts of violence are actually feeding Mephisto, giving him what he wants. That's perceptive. Though it doesn't appear to have really impacted Daredevil's ongoing use of violence in the next 200+ issues of his ongoing mag...

Actually the storylines involving Brandy and Number Nine are much more compelling here. I've often wondered, during this current run of issues, whether Brandy's actually Ann's voicepiece, the character who most closely articulates her worldview. I'm not sure that's totally the case as here she has something of a comeuppance.

Continuing to articulate her rationalist worldview, she insults the Native American angel who is insulting both Pope and herself. Making a quick jibe at the carving of a Shamen and then demanding the angel lift them to their destination, the hunky one rues Brandy's unwillingness to enjoy the journey she is on, perhaps her reluctance to embrace mystery and ambiguity and to pursue rigourously her own truth. The angel appears then to abandon Brandy and Pope once they reach their destination, telling Brandy that she would be careful not to chase an angel from her door.

Brandy, who appears to be quite taken with the would be male model, is devastated, immediately regretting his departure. ("This year. One woman. Realises that sometimes she has to sacrifice what she holds most dear. To gain what her heart truly yearns for.")

The most contraversial, and theologically deep, storyline involves Number Nine, whose own personal Hell looks at lot like popular perceptions of a somewhat banal Heaven. Given that perfection is her foremost difficulty, Number Nine is bombarded with the kind imagery that assaulted her back on earth. And then she meets Gabriel, an angel so hunky he'd given Brandy's beau a run for his money.

A nerdy looking angel is distressed at how Nine moons over Gabriel's pecks. Both angels incidentally are practically naked - the nerdy guy just wearing a vest and glasses, though like the Inhumans there's not much going on downstairs. Anyway our bespectacled friend approaches Nine, like the weedy school brainbox trying to hit on the leader of the cheerleader team, and introduces himself... as Lucifer.

Basically, Lucy (as he refers to himself) wants to convince Number Nine that appearances can be deceptive and that she needs to look a little deeper. Now how exactly are we to interpret this? Later, Gabriel tempts Nine with fruit from a tree.

Hang on, I'm sure I've read a similar story somewhere else... It seems that Ann's suggesting that Lucifer's the good guy here (and to be fair to Ann, she's not wrong about Gabriel, who turns out to be Blackheart in disguise). Well, that's all rather disarming. ("This year. One woman. Falls for an angel. But is won over by the Devil." Hmmm, not sure that one's going to fly.)

I think the subtext of all this is that Ann wants her readers to challenge and investigate spirituality and religious thought and not reject it (like Brandy) but also not to accept it without wrestling with what it's all about. Maybe. It's all a little esoteric and, no doubt, didn't appeal to every reader who picked the book up.

But, hey, never mind the theology, the Silver Surfer pops by too. More of him next time!

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Number Nine
Brandy Ash
Karnak
Gorgon
Mephisto
Blackheart/Gabriel
Silver Surfer/Norrin Radd
Pope
Lucifer
Bicoastal Angel
Native American Angel

Rating: 6 out of 10

Daredevil 280

2012-01-18T15:51:00.001Z

Twilight of the Idols by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Daredevil and his companions are separated and end up in strange netherworlds that they try to escape from

Back during the Inferno tie-in, Ann wrote a three part story that appeared partially inspired (at least) by Dante's Inferno. Mephisto's first appearance in the comic appeared, I think, the very next issue that mini saga concluded. I wonder if the events aren't connected in some way and that the story we have here, and for the succeeding two issues, isn't a continuation of thoughts provoked by the classical poem.

Because here, as suggested at the end of the last review, we find Daredevil and his cohorts in the underworld. But not just one underworld, more a smorgasbord, a little like the circles of Hell that Dante talked about. Ann splits the six characters who have fallen through the fabric of time and reality into four subgroups - Daredevil and Number Nine are on their own, the two Inhumans, Karnak and Gorgon are together and so are Brandy Ash and newbie, Medusa's missing son, Pope. And each encounter their own distinctive kind of afterlife.

In Daredevil, "raised as a Christian" as Ann tells us here, giving a little more meat on the bones of his Catholic upbringing, we find the character most anxious about where he has ended up. Like the worried nominal Catholic he is, Daredevil frets about where he is. This can't be Hell, he figures. Am I really that bad? Didn't I save lots of good people?

This kind of anxiety appears indicative of the worldview of someone brought up the way Matt presumably was. Instead he constantly tries to reassure himself that the indistinct, snowy empty landscape that's playing havoc with his senses is still somewhere on Planet Earth. His heightened abilities are unable to pick up a secret message written in the snow - the Number of the Beast!

Karnak and Gorgon end up somewhere with what appears to be lots of temptation - an incarnation of the Seven Deadly Sins - there's a pile of oversized money and food, pool balls and an advert suggesting you drink and drive. Plus a peculiarly adult neon lit sign offering 'Sloppy Sex', which even by 1990 appears a little saucy in an all ages comic book.

Oh, and they're naked. Perhaps as a comment on the base needs and desires of the inner soul? Their version of Hell though is curiously prudish, given that their gentalia is smoothed out like a doll or action figure. Though perhaps that's the point of Hell. All the desire but nothing you can do about it.

So there's nothing else for the two Inhumans to do but to pick up where they left off previously and fight each other. Like a manic cartoon, the characters appear to mystically acquire weapons of increasingly destructive nature until the two men are running at each with nuclear warheads. Weird!

After blowing themselves up, Karnak and Gorgon end up in a strange, palatial looking room with loads of intellectual tomes on the bookshelves where they encounter a weird woman who appears both angel and demon. They're not sure how to get out but there's a great line from the mysterious woman, who reveals that she can travel to both Heaven and Hell ("Heaven is kinda sweet, but it's boring") and is therefore 'bi-coastal'.

In another twist that confirms we're in Hell, Number Nine does not end up anywhere naked (just a silly joke). Instead she's sprouted wings like an angel, suggesting she might have gone to the other place. Hilariously, she's set upon by a bunch of mini-demons, all of whom appear to be wearing Heavy Metal T-shirts.

They're also pretty argumentative, trying to figure out themselves where they are and who's in charge. I do like the line though about their being "a million dumb rules" about where they are - as if their version of Hell is being caught in a mire of Bleak House level bureaucracy.

They end up accompanying Number Nine to a dream like place with her personal gripe - vanity.

Whilst Daredevil is practically paranoid, the Inhumans and Number Nine perplexed, the person who appears least phased by their transportation is Brandy Ash. Brandy is a rationalist and reassures Pope by telling him that they haven't fallen into Heaven or Hell because, simply, they obviously don't exist.

Those myths, she tells him, are just ways that the powerful control other people. She also has it in for fairy tales, whilst she's at it, telling Pope that those stories "ruin girls". However, she is bemused both by climbing up at steep rockface decorated by the iconography of every religious tradition on earth (her disinterest in religion is well highlighted by her referring to an image of the Madonna as "a Christian God, or whatever she was") and also by their encountering a very hunky looking angel, who might have turned up there via a stint in the Chippendales (early 90s reference there, folks).

And that's about it. Lots of little thoughts and musings about afterlifes, other worlds and some fun with it as well. It's setting things up for some kind of confrontation eventually with Mephisto but not yet. This is just about exploring stuff and, as always with Ann, when she's writing like this, despite the deeply serious subject matter on one level, it's weird and engaging. And, as you can tell from above, with a ton of interesting visual ideas and gags!

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Number Nine
Brandy Ash
Karnak
Gorgon
Mephisto
Pope
Bicoastal Angel
Native American Angel

Rating: 8 out of 10

Daredevil 279

2012-01-13T20:52:00.002Z

Before the Flame by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Karnak and Gorgon are relieved when they come to a small town and find an orphaned boy who may be Medusa's son.

Those skeptical about my feeling that Ann was riffing on that James Stewart classic, 'It's a Wonderful Life', last time round will be interested to know the name of the small town that our merry band of wanderers (Daredevil, Brandy, Nine, Karnak and Gorgon) come to this time round. Pottersville.

AKA the name of the town that Bedford Falls would have become if George Bailey had never been born. Well, of course, George was born... but obviously not in Daredevil-land, where the moniker signals that a settlement that is not at all appealing and given over to vice and malice. Given that Mephisto and Blackheart are steering the action at present, that's not surprising. The townsfolk aren't particularly friendly and, in an unusually cliched scene, they're keen on rounding on a small child they don't like with trademark pitchforks.

The young lad who's the centre of attention goes by the name of 'Pope', adding yet more religious allegory to the current storyline (especially his accidental slaughter of a [scape] goat). He's a peculiar sort, who is revealed to be adopted early on. Well, that's a bit of coincidence because there's these guys called the Inhumans and they're looking for a missing child... hey, wait a minute!!!

We'll not labour the point but I guess you can see where this story's headed. Instead, let's think about the nature of evil. One has to admire Ann - she doesn't mind tackling the big ones. Some of the dialoguing between Mephisto and his son here ponder the nature of free will and the right to challenge to malevolent forces. Mephisto becomes rather irritated when Blackheart intrudes on "a private moment with the accursed", as daddy charmingly calls it. Blackheart is "merely a reflection", whose purpose is "to do my work" and "be a sacrifice".

Ann has always portrayed Blackheart in a Christlike manner and chillingly continues to do so here. It feels like there's a rebellion brewing. Is Blackheart up to such a task? Can evil really be defeated anyway? And what does all this say about the relationship between man and God (there's a nice priest in the issue to temper things a little bit)? Sheesh, Ann.

Blackheart, for his part, is intrigued by his easy manipulation of human nature. Ann and John illustrate his feelings on their propensity towards evil by showing a bunch of moths drawn inexorably in the dark towards the light of a flame. I guess this is where the title comes in - the attraction and destructiveness of evil.

Phew, tough stuff. So it's a good thing that Daredevil et al decide to take a break from it all and hang out together in a diner like Chandler, Monica and company at Central Perk. To be honest, all this dark stuff needs a little brightness and it comes in the shape of Number Nine's golden locks... as she hallucinates that the waitress serving the gang is bleeding profusely from her head.

Okay, that kind of ruins breakfast. Even if we ignore Blackheart and Mephisto's dark dialoguing this issue, we're still led inexorably towards a bleak conclusion. Young Pope does appear to be the boy Karnak and Gorgon were looking for... so hurrah, happy ending - all back to Brandy's for a drink and a lie down.

Oh, no, wait. Everyone's just fallen into Hell. I mean literally everyone's just fallen into Hell. Now that's a tad unusual.

Aaand that's where we'll pick up from next time.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Number Nine
Brandy Ash
Karnak
Gorgon
Mephisto
Blackheart
Pope
Pope's mother
Pottersville Priest
Fred
Dead goat

Rating: 7 out of 10

Daredevil 278

2012-01-13T12:48:00.001Z

The Deadly Seven by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Daredevil and his companions begin to act irrationally when Blackheart intervenes on the Inhumans' ongoing search for Medusa's missing son

So after our brief sojourn into Christmases past, we're back to Daredevil's current situation. But just in case you thought we haven't had enough tangents already in terms of resolving the 'Inhumans' storyline, well, you're in luck. This issue kicks off with the reintroduction of another subplot - the eerie (under)world of Mephisto and Blackheart.

Actually the Christmas metaphor is quite a good one here as this issue begins a plot that is a kind of perverse mirroring of that ole Yuletide chestnut, "It's a Wonderful Life". Instead of wingless angel Clarence gaining instruction from his superiors in order to save George Bailey, Mephisto offers his wayward son the chance to gain respect in his father's eyes by turning the good away from virtue. (Another suitable and more literate, religious analogy may also be the Biblical account of the devil coming into the court of God to convince the Almighty that he should let him wreck the life of Job.)

This ties in with the title of the story - the Deadly Seven aren't a new supervillain combo (we're not in the 60s anymore, folks) but refer to the Seven Deadly Sins and how the likes of envy, lust and greed can worm their way into and corrupt those of good character. We see this early on with Brandy's envy of Number Nine and the way she flutters her eyelashes and tosses her blonde hair and manages to have both Gorgon and Karnak waiting on her every whim.

Later, when Blackheart assumes human form, he manipulates Karnak's jealousy of how Gorgon always gets the girl to such an extent that the two begin to knock merry hell out of each other.

Blackheart's loving this - even more so when Daredevil detects his presence and (wrathfully) begins to hammer down on his human form.

Incidentally, action fans, who may feel that recent dramas have meant a lack of fisticuffs will be well satisfied by this issue - though they may find Daredevil's vicious beating of a supposedly vulnerable, bespectacled middle aged man a little disturbing. Though, of course, it's that very discord which is what's very appealing about this issue.

I know what you're thinking. That's all fine and well but where's the sloth? Well, perhaps Skip Ash's continual presence in the background without any kind of comeuppance for his previous violations of human rights may be a good example of that. Indeed he and Brandy appear to almost be best buds here. I don't know if we'll see any resolution with Skip (I haven't read that far ahead) but perhaps it's kind of realistic to see the powerful white guy with links to military and government get away with it. Perhaps that's life.

I've been a little nervous about Ann's handling of the literal incursion of evil in the forms of Mephisto and Blackheart into a comic book that's at its best when tackling real issues, but it's thoughfully done. As often the case with Ann, a well written exploration of the human psyche.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Number Nine
Brandy Ash
Skip Ash
Karnak
Gorgon
Mephisto
Blackheart
Pope's mother
Pottersville Priest

Rating: 8 out of 10

Daredevil 277

2012-01-11T17:42:00.003Z

Of Crowns and Horns by Ann Nocenti and Rick Leonardi

One Sentence Overview: Matt is the unexpected guest at the dinner of a psychiatrist, intrigued by his wife's extraordinary hallucinogenic experiences

It's easy to get complacent about John Romita Jr's tremendous workrate on Daredevil. Unlike these days, where, if an artist is behind the comic book is delayed until he can catch up, Marvel comics in the late 80s came out every month whether the artist was ready or not. Here, though, instead of introducing a new artist to the engaging Number Nine/Inhumans/(upcoming) Mephisto storyline, Ann has written a story set in Christmas past (another Christmas story!) with Matt back in Hell's Kitchen. The flowing art of Rick Leonardi is a more than satisfactory replacement for the, no doubt, worn out Mr Romita.

The last Christmas we saw in Hell's Kitchen involved Matt getting drunk in a bar, whilst being inadvertently chatted up by Mephisto. This must be from a Christmas prior to this as we have a rather more together Mr Murdock than we're used to is involved in this story. He encounters a young woman called Vivian who has some extremely vivid and disturbing hallucinations, as the opening splash page reveals.

Vivian is married to Daniel, a psychiatrist. And that's where we run into a problem. Daniel doesn't just love Vivian (and he does love her, as is clearly identified in the story - this is not an intentionally abusive husband) but sees her as a test case. Her problems are so pronounced and unusual that he becomes obsessed with writing a paper on her that will make him a household name, perhaps like Oliver Sacks, writer of the bestselling 'The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat' (published in the mid 80s, so Ann may well have been aware of this tome) and 'Awakenings', which was made into a very fine film not long after this comic appeared on the stands.

It's interesting to ponder who is actually the more deluded in the marriage. And perhaps Daniel's ill conceived obsession would have continued where it not for his wife's chance encounter with Matt outside a gift shop. Vivian's psychosis appears to include instant trust of strangers, because she immediately invites Matt home for dinner, despite the fact it's Christmas Eve and her husband doesn't know this strange, handsome man is coming.

Matt quickly identifies a highly dysfunctional relationship and works to persuade Daniel to rethink his priorities - is a relationship with his wife or career more important? For an educated man, Daniel is staggeringly insensitive, outlining his wife's extraordinary condition to Matt (a laspse of ethics in itself?) as if she wasn't in the room, though she's sitting next to him at the dinner table.

What is great is we begin to see that Vivian's hallicinations are not just bizarre and surreal, but actually reveal the emotional truth of a situation. So at the dinner table, with her husband holding court, she believes herself chained to the chair, feeling condemned and trapped by Daniel's patronising attitude (she's too sick to work, she must remain at home).

As Daniel continues to pontificate and come across as thoroughly disreputable, Ann does something surprising, turning the situation on its head and reveals the psychiatrist to be a man fearing his wife's condition. We see this, again, in another of Vivian's hallucinations.

Ultimately it's up to Matt to try to salvage the relationship. The story is quite mellodramatic but its strength is in not presenting Daniel as a monster, which would have been quite easy to do (he does not over-react when he finds she has accidentally bought him a shrunken head rather than the crown the reader had previously seen her considering as a Christmas present). Rather both partners are flawed and frightened - and both potential recipients of redemption.

So we end with the resolution of a rather bizarre dinner party. It's a cerebral story that doesn't require Matt to change out of his civvies at all and it's a little odd to see him in counsellor mode. There's perhaps an underlying subtext about psychiatry and labelling of individuals. Vivian could have been seen as merely mentally ill but Ann presents her much more compassionately, even Daniel acknowledging his wife's creative, artistic temperament as a good quality that perhaps would have not been there if she did not have her own difficulties.

Overall, a dramatic, rather than thrilling, piece of writing, a little slower than the average comic book fare but, as always with Ann, brimming with plenty of intelligent thought.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Vivian
Daniel
Bruno

Rating: 7 out of 10

Daredevil 276

2012-01-07T16:32:00.000Z

The Hundred Heads of Ultron by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Daredevil and the Inhumans team up to attempt to rescue Number Nine from the clutches of the confused robot, Ultron 13

Last issue, I felt that Ann was referencing Bride of Frankenstein such was the relationship between Ultron and Number Nine and his search for the perfect woman. This issue, which, as the title infers, includes lots of robotic heads scattered everywhere (something to do with Ultron searching for his true, unsullied identity), has another obvious filmic reference. As Ultron and Number Nine ascend a skull strewn mound, one is immediately drawn to the final scenes in King Kong, with the huge ape atop the Empire State Building with his precious vulnerable captive.

Number Nine isn't as frail, though, as Fay Wray's character in the old classic. Indeed, here, she continues to confound Skip's programming and develops more independence, unexpectedly able to out-think Ultron's plans, making him realise that his plans to guard and keep safe Number Nine conflict with her right to freedom.

Ultron is moved by this, his flawed programming a byproduct of Dr Doom's plans last issue to hone his ruthlessness by attempting to add a kind of conscience. The robot becomes confused, frustrated that his circuitry is in conflict with making him and Number Nine happy and thus begins an internal examination to rid himself of that which might lead to hatred.

It's a complex idea but basically reveals that Ultron is more childlike (apelike?) than adult - he cannot accept that he cannot always be happy and perfect. Ultimately this leads to him feeling that the problem is in his head and therefore, logically, decides to decapitate himself.

This act of self-destruction is just as well because Daredevil (remember him?) is well out of his league here. Like Sisyphus, Daredevil (accompanied by two equally inefficient Inhumans) rolls up the hill to try to fight Ultron only for the robot to continually knock him back to earth again and again.

But really this issue isn't about Daredevil - or even Ultron (and in some ways there's not a lot to the story). Instead it's where it finally appears that Number Nine is ready to challenge and move beyond her grim programming. Like Fay Wray, it's her compassion that finally wins over and mollifies the monster. There is a peculiar coda where Nine retrieves Ultron's head, hoping she can eventually revive the robot, revealing both a humanity and possibly a naive hope in redeeming love.

Actually, I'm really beginning to like Number Nine.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Number Nine
Brandy Ash
Skip Ash
Karnak
Gorgon
Ultron 13

Rating: 6 out of 10

Daredevil 275

2012-01-06T13:20:00.001Z

False Man by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Sent to kill Daredevil by Doctor Doom, Ultron 13's focus changes when he meets the indestructable woman, Number Nine

Oh, deep joy, (yet) another tie-in. Whilst Daredevil actually has a pretty good record in terms of maintaining a high quality in the midst of adopting storylines from other titles (a trend which continues here), it still irks that there may be a cynical financial drive behind such tie-ins and it often slows the story down. In this case, after three issues of preamble, a storyline involving the Inhumans looked like it was finally going to go somewhere when Daredevil encountered Gorgon and Karnak on the final page of DD274. However, it seems that the search for Medusa's exiled child is put on hold due to the necessity to engage Daredevil in 'Acts of Vengeance'.

Acts of what exactly? Well, according to the interweb, Acts of Vengeance was a late 80s escapade entailing Loki manipulating the other big name Marvel villains into taking down the Avengers (no change there, then). So why does this involve Daredevil (given that this is over 20 years before he actually joins up)? Well, that's a very good question. And one I'm frankly struggling to answer (particularly as Daredevil's nemesis here, Doctor Doom, has rarely appeared in these pages before). Indeed, I can't help thinking that Doom's throwaway line to a reconstructed Ultron, "Your circuits contain information on Daredevil. Destroy him." - with no further elaboration as to why - may indicate a creative reluctance to go off on another company inspired tangent.

That said, the story that Ann develops here is very fine indeed. As one might expect, Ann doesn't appear particularly interested in Daredevil fighting lots of A-list bad guys, so instead ruminates on the new Ultron's developing - and conflicted - worldview. There's some brain numbing theorizing here. When the machine realises that Doctor Doom has created him imperfectly, he reasons that his creator is therefore flawed in some capacity, leading him to hypothesize that his instructions are therefore also flawed. This makes him ponder whether or not he should kill Daredevil.

Well, I guess if he'd sat in a corner and mused on this for 20 pages, that wouldn't have been a particularly compelling comic (though perhaps appealing to students of philosophy). So he does go off to find and kill Daredevil. However, the twist here is that he bumps into good ole Number Nine first. When Ultron reveals his plans to kill DD, NN naturally refuses to assist the robot in his task. So Ultron kills Number Nine. Well, tries to. Those big blasts of his normally reduce humans to ash but Nine is barely scorched. Suddenly a Bride of Frankenstein epiphany occurs - is Number Nine Ultron's perfect mate? It's corny but also kinda cool.

Before all this takes place, Nine's been up to her usual uber fussing around her male protector, Daredevil, though there 's a nice scene here where she appears to challenge her programming. Resorting to the 'male wanting to run away from his responsibilities' stereotype with which Brandy Ash has him tagged, Daredevil's packing to leave. Number Nine spots this and offers to help out. However, to DD's chagrin, Number Nine unpacks all his stuff, pointing out to a bemused Gorgon, "Oh, look. Daredevil's unpacked! He's staying after all."

For his part, Daredevil does not look too pleased. Indeed, with the Inhumans on hand, DD has developed a "well, nobody needs me any more" self piteous funk, hiding in the attic and slandering the good folk gathered below. "I just wanted to live quietly," he complains. "How did things get so absurd?"

Given his state of mind following the whole Typhoid Mary carry on (and his previous episodes of depression), this lowness of mood is, I think, quite believable. Not that the aforementioned Brandy is sympathetic. Later, the Inhumans having explained their mission and Skip indicating his (sudden) disinterest in hassling Number Nine and his daughter any further, Brandy slyly comments, "I guess you're free to cut out if you want."

Perhaps narked by this, Daredevil decides to stay. Which is just as well as he soon discovers a big robot making moves on Number Nine... But we'll pick up on all that next time.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Number Nine
Brandy Ash
Skip Ash
Karnak
Gorgon
Lockjaw
Doctor Doom
Ultron 13
Jocasta

Rating: 8 out of 10

Daredevil 274

2011-12-31T17:19:00.000Z

Bombs and Lemonade by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Whilst Brandy and Number Nine argue over the role of women, Skip Ash turns up to try to take control... like a man!

If you're not a fan of writers deliberately shoehorning in socio-political comment, specifically about issues such as feminism and patriarchy, then, as the previous episodes have directed, this current storyline really wouldn't be your cup of tea. And, as this issue well demonstrates, Ann hasn't finished yet.

The story title refers to the slightly contradictory nature of Number Nine, the resident 'male fantasy', both in terms of looking stunning and fighting ability. Here, she literally prepares both for her companions, Daredevil and Brandy, and holds each aspect of her personality in equal regard.

As revealed in the last review, this is driving Brandy nuts and things come to a head here with both girls ending up in a physical scrap. I couldn't help thinking this was a peculiar situation for a feminist like Brandy to get herself into, but I guess one can appreciate her ire - she has to put up with a great insult from Number Nine: when she tells Daredevil she's ready for action, Nine retorts, "You don't look ready - your hair is a mess!".

Once again, here, Nine is fawning over Daredevil like a lovesick puppy and Brandy's assessment that she's sending the women's movement back to the stone age does not seem entirely unreasonable. Still, the scene is a very strange one. In fact, the way it's written ends up with Daredevil on the sidelines, a wry grin on his face, almost with a "Women, eh?" aside to the readership.

I doubt any male writer would have been so bold and I'm not entirely sure Ann gets away with it either. One has to admire Ann attempting to be even handed with Number Nine's arguments here too, pointing out as she does to Brandy that some women like the caring role (in the same way some men like to care for the woman in their lives, I guess).

Things perhaps become even more confused when Skip turns up later and argues that Brandy is as bad as he is because she uses illegal methods to achieve her aims - something that actually appears to mollify Brandy to a degree. Well, there is a point there but Skip was indulging in human trafficking and I'm not sure Brandy's reactions to this were entirely inappropriate as a result.

Even stranger is the introduction of Skip in this issue, revealing some more brave writing by Ann. Skip bemoans the lack of success that the power of the CIA and tech nut Shotgun have had with retrieving his dream woman. Therefore he resolves that he will tackle the girls and Daredevil himself, on his own... with only "his manhood" as weapon. As Skip stands admiring himself in the mirror, we're left in no doubt as to what he means!

Indeed, when Skip does turn up, it appears that "his manhood" does mesmerise the two girls. Due to her programming, Number Nine is uncertain as to whether to fight him or not, whereas surprisingly Brandy suddenly leaps to her father's defense when she sees he's taking a beating at Daredevil's hands.

I should point out that Skip's manhood doesn't literally do anything (thank goodness) but the figurative and philosophical nature of what's being written about here is, well, not what one normally expects from this genre of storytelling.

There's so much going on here in terms of sociological and psychological theories that the issues sometimes become quite confused - indeed, never mind the manhood, everyone seems rendered impotent by the end of the issue as each character's arguments fly back and forth, with their 'you're no better than me' accusations until everyone's glad that things are resolved by the sudden appearance of the Inhumans.

Ah, the Inhumans - I'd nearly forgotten about them! They've been skulking in the background for three issues now with the reader on tenterhooks about what the connection with our main cast could be. Well, we don't move much further forward this issue (they only turn up right at the end) but what we do see is another key feminist argument, articulated early on by Medusa, who reflects on her powerlessness upon losing her apparently genetically flawed child. The text accompanying this is very revealing, talking of how Medusa wanted to fight for the right to control her own body, a key aspect of sexual politicking and even abortion rights.

Yes, it's just a couple of frames but once again Ann successfully puts forward grievances about the treatment of women in this unexpected medium and, whilst this issue is not an unqualified success, her continued daringness is to be applauded. And, hey, isn't that kind of appropriate in a comic called 'Daredevil'?

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Number Nine
Brandy Ash
Skip Ash
Black Bolt
Medusa
Karnak
Gorgon
Lockjaw

Rating: 7 out of 10

Daredevil 273

2011-12-29T15:23:00.000Z

The Billion Dollar Ashtray by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Attempting to protect the newly freed Number Nine, Daredevil battles Shotgun, whilst Brandy Ash begins to regret rescuing the girl

We may be in the middle of a storyline which allows Ann to give her readership a crash course on the finer points of feminism and the cultural oppression of women, but that doesn't stop her from musing on some other stuff that bugs her. Skip's intense hunt for his daughter and his dream woman, Number Nine, also allows Ann to look at the uneasy relationship between (male) big business and how the Government colludes with this.

The last couple of issues have clearly demonstrated that intensive farmer Skip Ash is in the pocket of the military. They're as much interested in bringing Number Nine back home as the horny farmer, inasmuchas they don't want the living weapon they've invested in to be lost or picked up by other parties. In the last episode, a CIA handler introduced Shotgun, a tech hungry assassin, whose motto appears to be "the more expensive the weapon, the better".

And that brings us to the story's slightly enigmatic title. I'm afraid to say that there aren't frames filled with uber expensive ashtrays from some forgotten golden age that will go for a fortune at a charity auction. No, the 'ashtray' instead refers to the way the military hide expenditure on secret weapons. This explains how the bad guys here are able to afford a new fangled weapon heavy multi purpose vehicle that Shotgun becomes deliriously happy about.

I haven't said an awful lot about Shotgun but there's not much to say. Ann appears to have deliberately underwritten him as a gung-ho type with no real moral centre, merely interested in new weapons and the next pay day - just the sort of guys that appeal to the men with money.

Instead, as with the last episode, she's much more interested in Brandy's worldview and her dynamic with Number Nine. Whilst Brandy was initially compelled to rescue and re-educate Number Nine, here she's frustrated at her inability to break the blonde bombshell from her patriarchic programming and this leads to some funny scenes.

Ann's writing here is very shrewd - Number Nine isn't just about male fantasies of the perfect women but also a comment on how female superheroes are presented in comic books (often, of course, a milieu for male fantasies). Nine has fashioned her own costume here but has she developed it from Brandy's wardrobe of practical outfits? Has she heck.

In line with her programming, Number Nine has developed a slinky skintight number, which appears to have included her forgetting to cover up one leg from the thigh down, recycled from an old US flag. Brandy seethes as she sees 20 years of feminist thought go up in smoke. "Keep me from slapping the lipstick off that bimbo," she growls.

She's angered even more, though, by her being enamoured by Daredevil. As one might expect given Skip's experimentations, Number Nine has honed in on the nearest male and wants to meet his every need - including bringing a picnic along for his battle with Shotgun.

Funniest moment, though, is Number Nine's sudden distress at realising one of her fingernails is damaged.

All this and some more Inhumans interaction too about Medusa's missing child. No, DD doesn't mean the Attilan dwellers just yet, so we don't know where all this is heading. Ann obviously likes these characters but I keep thinking this is a strange fit. But we'll see how it all pans out when they finally do link up...

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Number Nine
Brandy Ash
Skip Ash
Shotgun
Medusa
Karnak
Gorgon

Rating: 7 out of 10

Daredevil 272

2011-12-28T17:46:00.003Z

Liberation by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Having helped Brandy Ash rescue poorly looked after farm animals from her father, Daredevil is uncertain about whether he has a role to help her look after another escapee, a mysterious young woman only known as 'Number Nine'

Woah! Not too many issues of Daredevil open up with a splash page of a naked woman! And, to add to the irony, this is an issue about the rights of women, their subjugation and ways of empowerment. My eye is initially caught by John Romita Jr's stunning (though completely chaste) interpretation of an ecstatic 'Number Nine', a genetically enhanced young blonde woman, thanks to Skip Ash's diabolical plans for his own 'Stepford Wife'. However, the text surrounding the picture gives context to why this girl, who appears so free, is actually a product of her environment, specifically the pressure to be an idealised version of what a woman should be. Number Nine is haunted by "Cinderella myths... glamor myths, Hollywood myths" and by "glossy magazines, parading endless perfect faces, manicured fingers, well-turned heels".

Skip's plans have taken away the need for this woman to make her own independent mark in her life, instead turning her into a male fantasy - not only beautiful and (relatively) submissive but also bullet proof! (Well, hey this is a comic book after all.)

There's a brilliant scene that also encapsulates Number Nine's twisted thinking. In Brandy's kitchen, she's in heated food preparation, telling Daredevil and Brandy that she is "destined to cook".

The title of the tale, 'Liberation', gives a clear indication of Ann's thinking. In the previous tale, Daredevil was interestingly a little caution in supporting Brandy Ashe's rescue of the animals her father was keeping in overcrowded captivity, worried that she hadn't thought through where the freed animals would end up. As such, Daredevil represents a paternalistic view - one that fears that those who are dependent upon a (invariably alpha male) group leader are unable to cope outside of those structures. I like that Ann doesn't have DD copmletely buy into Brandy's views straight away - it chimes with the Matt Murdock who was reluctant to let Karen Page go off to find her own way in Hollywood (see DD67), preferring she stay under his wing, or who wanted to control his relationship with Heather Glenn (see, for example, DD186).

Here, once Number Nine has been liberated, Matt's happy for Brandy to look after her so that he can go off for the next adventure somewhere else. "Time to move on," Daredevil tells Brandy, "You ladies will be fine. I'm sure you can teach each other a lot." This little passage is a brilliant little insight from Ann into the male psyche, particularly regarding commitment issues. For her part, Brandy rails against DD's notion of being the "big romantic solitary man", instead preferring for him to step up and help Number Nine and her because it's the right thing to do.

Like a typical male, Daredevil skulks off at the first opportunity, though not without some pause for thought. "We could all use some liberating from our programming," he muses before continuing, "Am I running away?" Well, I think it's quite clear from the tone of the script so far, Matt, that yes, you very much are. Oh, if only a man had written this issue, then you wouldn't be feeling so darned guilty...

And that's that, is it? Well, luckily for the girls, Skip's hired an assassin called Shotgun who helps fulfil Matt's need for an alpha male role, to be a protector. So with this guy on the patrol, he's back with the girls ready to help out! I'm not sure that's a case of Matt doing the right thing or Ann pointing out his inadequacy at being able to accept a role in this adventure that is not functionally male. There is another way of looking at this - Matt's uncertainty reflects male suspiscion of feminism and their role in this worldview. In running away, is Matt fearing emasculation by not staying behind and helping Brandy in providing a restorative or caring role with Number Nine?

There's more paternalism on show elsewhere with a scene change early on in the story to the moon, Attilan, home to the Inhumans. There's nothing in this comic to indicate why we move to these otherworldly folk, though it's obviously setting up a future storyline. However, it is interesting to see that Ann continues the theme of Number Nine's tale to this alien environment. Here Gorgon, carrying a couple of women who he has managed to inebriate, is challenged by his fellow Inhuman, Karnak.

However, Karnak is not so much bothered by the potential date rape scenario as to the fact that Gorgon has brought two women into the Royal Court, the implication being that one does not do such a thing. By scripting this, Ann comments upon the rules and regulations of political, religious and social organisations that exclude women from the epicentres of power. Ironically, it is the drunken Gorgon who is on the side of his female companions against the more measured and seemingly intelligent Karnak.

This is all contrasted with a nice little vignette between the Inhumans leader, Black Bolt, who reveals that his ire can be mollified by his wife, Medusa. Before we yield too much praise to Black Bolt, this scene also reveals that naughty BB has apparently kidnapped his wife's child. Yes, even the most noble of male Marvel superheroes are still not averse to a bit of female subjugation when they can get away with it.

The most blatantly feminist piece of writing from Ann in her run to date and I love how much she's managed to cram into a (predominantly) boys' comic about costumed blokes hitting each other. This is certainly not 'preaching to the converted'. A writer should challenge her readers' ways of thinking and there's no doubt here that Ann succeeds.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Number Nine
Brandy Ash
Skip Ash
Shotgun
Black Bolt
Medusa
Karnak
Gorgon
Chuck
Jack

Rating: 8 out of 10

Loic Zimmermann

2011-12-10T19:19:00.001Z

Dan from the fabulous It's A Dan's World blog gave me the heads up about French concept artist, Loic Zimmermann. His work is fabulous and his connection to Marvel appears to be in coming up with concepts for some of the movies they make. However, of relevance here is a terrific, funny little piece Loic has completed called "Daredevil's Training Day" which I reproduce below.

If you want to check out his stuff, his webpage is here.

Daredevil 271

2011-12-09T09:50:00.001Z

Genetrix by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Daredevil is drawn into an ethical battle of wills when he encounters an animal rights activist, appalled at the way her farmer father treats his animals

You know the story about movie stars who take the dollar for a blockbuster or two in order to win favour with film studios to make their own pet projects (e.g. George Clooney)? Well, I feel like we've had two consecutive issues of more 'traditional' comic book fare, with Daredevil battling against bad guys or in the case of DD270, a supernatural freak, and having delivered this, Ann feels comfortable about drafting an 'issues' heavy escapade with next to no 'action'. (Indeed, the best an action fan gets is Daredevil putting a poor young woman in an arm lock - you should be ashamed of yourself, Matt!)

Here, Ann concentrates on a couple of big themes that interlock - animal rights and the rights of women. First up, we're reintroduced to the cocaine dealing Skip, a guy Daredevil rescued from a burning plane back in DD267. But it appears that the white powder's a side line - rather, Skip is an intensive farmer, whose methods of meat production are, to say the least, unkind. Skip likes to keep his animals in the most inhumane manner possible. Who cares, he tells his farm manager, Harry, if the pigs are breaking their legs because of the grids he keeps them on? They're not being bred to walk anyway. Who cares about chickens being debeaked or geneticaly tampered with to create extra meaty chicken wings? Instead Skip moans about animal rights activists turning up to protest in leather shoes.

Skip, however, faces an unlikely adversary in his daughter, Brandy, who has, up until now, quite happily taken the Ash family shilling. When she meets Daredevil (dressed, rather amusingly, in her late 80s aerobics gear), she fills him in on the appalling conditions in which the animals her father keeps live. She blasts the apathetic view of the citizenry, who she feels have a rose tinted view of animals roaming free in the beautiful countryside until their time comes. There then follows a couple of pages that could have been drafted by Morrissey, where we see scenes of animal production splashed with ugly red splurges that drip down the pages.

Animal mistreatment is an intriguing, if irregular, theme for a comic story. However, Ann takes things further here when she introduces an even more sinister element to Skip's work with genetics. Before I come on to that, I think it's worth commenting on Skip's relationship with his daughter. As stated above, Brandy has been happily living off the funds of Skip's immoral gains, albeit with the intention to eventually screw him over. With this in mind, though, Skip's telephone conversation with Brandy early on is, to say the least, pretty creepy. "Sure you want daddy's drug money?" Skip asks his daughter. Brandy's response, "Don't do this" feels ambiguous, almost as if she is a victim of her circumstances or she is being abused in some capacity.

Having set up Skip as a controlling, nasty piece of work, Ann brings us to the piece de resistance about half way through. Skip is not only modifying animals but has a laboratory full of beautiful, naked young blonde women too! There's something Stepford-ian about Skip's plan for a perfect wife or "living barbie doll" as the charming man refers to her. When one of Skip's scientists tell him that 'number nine' is exhibiting a more independent, fiery nature than the others, Skip is pleased - "I didn't ask for a boring mate".

Skip goes on to reveal that the girls are not clones but willing volunteers who came forward, seemingly in order to achieve some kind of physical perfection.

It's a disturbing, yet somewhat convincing, twist. Over 20 years since this was written, modern culture continues to invoke anxiety in young women that they are somehow not good enough, not pretty enough, not thin enough. Skip's plan seems ghastly but one could believe that there would be young minds willing enough to be exploited by him.

The most eerie moment, however, appears right at the end. Bearing in mind his peculiar relationship with Brandy, when Skip's daughter's plans kick off and the farm is ransacked, Number Nine is freed from her shackles. Her first word? "Daddy".

Erk! This is positively Electra complex territory we're entering now!

What's intriguing to me about this whole story is how nasty and irredeemable Skip appears. And yet this was also the character that Daredevil neglected to interfer with in issue 267 (due to his own state of mind). Perhaps there's a slightly pessimistic sense that men like this - the rich, white man with connections - have so much to protect them, so much going for them in society that even a superhero can't stand in their way. Whatever the case, this may not be typical comic book fare, but it's very dramatic cohesive material.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Skip Ash
Brandy Ash
Number Nine
Harry
Jack

Rating: 8 out of 10

Daredevil 270

2011-11-30T09:46:00.001Z

Blackheart by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: A mysterious creature attacks Daredevil and Spider-man at an abandoned fairgound, Daredevil unaware of the connection of his foe to Mephisto

A few issues back, I commented on how Ann's Christmas tale (DD266) felt a little like an MR James ghost story tribute. Here, Ann gives this tale a very unusual opening, especially for the time, with three splash panels accompanied by the kind of text one might expect from a gothic short story (perhaps more Poe than James?). It's a very promising start, the text chillingly relating the tale of one Abigail Housman, a murdered girl, her life brutally taken from her at the top of a small hill in 1658, Ann describing in morbid detail how "the blood soaked the land for many hours before she was found".

The text is delivered in typed text, giving the reader a feeling that they've stumbled across an ancient historical document. Indeed, I initially thought, given that the incident is dated, that Ann had based this story on a factual event. As in all the best ghost stories, we go on to read that the ground is thought to be cursed and is effectively abandoned over the centuries... until now (naturally).

It's a terrific opening which isn't really sustained for the rest of the story (albeit with a brilliant coda on the last page.... but we'll come to that). However, Ann paints the portrait of a place that is alienated and inaccessible, surrounded by overgrown thorn bushes (and that's very significant), and the sense of foreboding imbued upon it by those who live nearby has given it some kind of unnatural power that gives birth to a creature. The creature, Blackheart, the son of Mephisto!

And here's where I lose a little interest. Ann has demonstrated herself to be a brilliant writer of implied evil, especially that which has been wrought upon individuals by poverty, neglect or just unfortunate circumstances. Here, evil appears to be a literal character (moreso Mephisto than Blackheart, the implication being that he's almost a victim) and there's a sense of letting the cat out of the bag. Instead of a range of circumstances conspiring on an individual to turn to crime (for example), a character like Mephisto potentially undermines all this and may denude villains of their power.

Naturally, this being his comic and all that, Daredevil encounters Blackheart. In this battle, he is helped by Spider-man, who also just happens to be in the neighbourhood. This allows Ann a moment to have fun with Spidey's wacky dialogue.

This isn't the first time Ann has written Spider-man, having already scripted a bizarre three parter, 'Mad Dogs' with Bill Scienkiewicz, in that character's own title. Spidey, of course, recently battled DD after being turned into a hound in a recent annual. The characters don't discuss this though (I'm guessing Spidey was too embarrassed).

There's a sense that Ann's setting up something here, perhaps interested in meditating on the nature of evil some more. However, overall the issue's something of a letdown after that really intriguing beginning. There's something of a coup in the issue's finale though with Ann taking us back to the hill from whence the creature sprung and gives a terrific twist to the tale by revealing the mound's name - "Christ's Crown".

This revelation is accompanied by text that reads, "He cries out in anger to his absent father, why was he brought forth? Why was he forced into being, into this, a dark, cruel world? He does not want this, his own birth. He does not want to live, just to suffer, to die." I don't think I need to comment any further on the allegory alluded to here, but it's certainly powerful stuff, rescuing an otherwise mediocre issue.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Spider-man/Peter Parker
Mephisto
Blackheart
Abigail Housman
Sarah
Peter

Rating: 6 out of 10

Daredevil 269

2011-11-26T11:07:00.001Z

Lone Stranger by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Daredevil arrives in town just in time to rescue an unregistered mutant elude the grasp of Government sanctioned villains, Freedom Force

Hey, reader, do you like your comic books light and frothy with superheroes fighting supervillains? Do you hate it when comics go all angsty and take the hero through a dark night of the soul? Are you annoyed by a writer who likes subtext and depth but you feel it's all a bit preachy? Well, if you say 'Yes' to all the above questions, then why don't you try new DD269?

Yes, that's right - DD269 leaves out all that nasty stuff and just delivers pure unadulterated biff bash bosh. DD269. Because not everyone wants to be depressed all the time...

I should have known that this was a slightly lighter issue than we've been used to under Ann's watch early on when Matt tuns up in the next rural locale of his merry wanderings with a shaved face. If Matt's felt good enough about himself to take a razor to his chin, he must be coming out of the self imposed funk and maybe thinking twice about his exile.

This issue focuses on a contretemps with Brotherhood of Evil Mutants alumni, Pyro and Blob. Whilst I miss the depth that you usual get with Ann's writing here, the story is pretty good and bringing Daredevil into a senario that reflects what is going on in the larger Marvel Universe, namely that the bad guys have become a Government force, whilst the X-Men are in exile.

Interestingly, this idea would gain greater currency nearly 20 years later with Bendis' Dark Avengers, but the roots of that presumably lay in the foundation of the Freedom Force in the X books back in the day.

I'm not sure if there was any pressure on Ann to do a tie-in - there's nothing on the cover to indicate that the reader should pick up X-Factor or another title to really check out the background to this. Also, I know that Ann was an editor on the X books for a while, so she might have just wanted to have fun with bringing together some characters from both milieux.

For their part, Freedom Force are trying to bring to 'justice' an unregistered mutant (oh, wait a minute, didn't Civil War do something similar nearly 20 years later... well, I guess there's no such thing as a new idea) with only DD in their way. Cannily, Ann realises straight away that Daredevil is out of his league, so attempts to even the odds by having Matt get Pyro and the Blob drunk.

It's a nice idea, resulting in the two villains arguing in a less than sober state over who gets the girl, allowing Matt to sneak her away from under their noses.

The nicest part of the issue, for me, comes right at the end, with the mutant, Amanda, whimsically sighing after the 'lone stranger' who has come into her live and left. In the background, we see Matt leaving town, whilst Amanda muses, "After meeting him, everyone else seems pale".

I like that, for a moment, Ann lets us into a female perception of the attractiveness of the rugged hero, the rescuer, who remains distant, mysterious and, no doubt, sexy.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Pyro/St John Allerdyce
Blob/Fred Dukes
Spiral/Rita Wayward
Amanda

Rating: 6 out of 10

Daredevil Annual 1989 - Additional Credits

2011-11-24T13:25:00.001Z

Thanks, incidentally, to Michel Fiffe, for reminding me about this annual! I'd clean forgot...

Daredevil Annual 1989

2011-11-24T10:23:00.001Z

A Friend in Need by Gerry Conway and Mark Bagley

One Sentence Overview: Daredevil is persuaded by Dr Strange to investigate a drug rehabilitation unit which is the front for a much darker purpose

A mere thirteen years after its last one, here's another annual. I'm not sure what the term is for something turning up once every thirteen years, but 'annual' seems somewhat inadequate. Still, there is now a run of annuals each year for the next little while anyway. This is actually the fifth Daredevil annual, though it's incorrectly numbered '4' on its cover. I have only reviewed two of the four that preceded this one, as the other two are comprised of reprints. This annual, however, is a veritable feast of original material and includes - count 'em - a wopping five stories. However, quantity does not necessarily equate to quality...

The main event is 'A Friend in Need', a tale that picks up on the current Daredevil chronology, with Matt wandering around in cowboy hat and long coat a la the man with no man. Two things of significance here. Firstly, this story is part of larger meta narrative streamed across the annuals of Marvel comics in this year called 'Atlantis Attacks'. I'll not say much more than that as, honestly, I don't have much interest in the other 13 (yup, thirteen!!!) episodes, other than to say that it shoehorns in the usual supects, such as Spidey, Fantastic Four, Avengers et al. Secondly, the tale is a curious bringing together of the old guard and new bright sparks, with the return of Gerry Conway, no longer the wunderkind he was taking on scripting DD in the late 60s, and young Mark Bagley, later to find fame with his record breaking run on Ultimate Spider-man.

I remember Gerry's writing as being very much influenced by the counter revolution movement of his youth. Here, he sets things up by having Daredevil overhear a conversation griping about a group called 'Save our Society', at first glance appearing to hint at the prejudices of small town folk opposing outsiders bringing a drug rehabilitation facility into the area.

This would have been in tune with some of Gerry's writing back in the day. However, these views are undermined when we find out that 'Save our Society' is actually a front for the Serpent Society and the drug dependent are merely pawns of one Dr Tyrone, who creepily feeds off their emotional dependence.

Well, frankly, that just sounds bloomin' unethical. Though perhaps not quite as unethical as when Tyrone reveals himself to be classical 60s villain, Tyrannus, and that he's invited the rather fetching Madame Viper for dinner... or rather, Madame Viper is dinner, being primed to be served up to the god Set.

Madame Viper's not the only patsy here, though. In the previous episode in the Spectacular Spider-man Annual, Spidey was captured by Tyrannus. Indeed, the subterranean ruler appears to have turned him into some kind of... well, lap dog.

Naturally, when Daredevil comes calling, Tyrannus sends his hound to see the hero off, setting off one of those old style hero battles we know and love. The notion of this occuring gives the reader a sense that we are really into some old school story telling here - Ann Nocenti's socialism realism be damned!

However, Gerry doesn't completely abandon how the likes of Ann, Frank Miller and Denny O'Neil have transformed Matt's character. There is a nice scene in the battle of the two superheroes, where the unwitting Spidey is holding Daredevil underwater. Instead of fighting back, DD's happy to go with the 'flow', as it were, and drown - after all, what's worth living for now given his recent history of letting everyone down?

But, of course, Matt comes to his senses just in time to rescue the hoodwinked drug addled SOS patients. Which brings us to the title of the story and the strongest piece of writing in the episode. Daredevil is initially encouraged to tackle Dr Tyrone and the Save Our Society folk by a guy called Leo Baxter. Leo's something of a redneck, angry that SOS have 'kidnapped' his friend Wally, who, he insistently tells anyone unfortunate enough to be within earshot, hasn't got a drink or drug problem. There's a fine piece of flashback storytelling, where Leo tells DD that his old friend, Wally had married a girl, who was "a big mouthed broad" and was "killin' the guy". This is accompanied by a picture of Leo, looking on admiringly whilst Wally smacks his wife around. The unreliable narrator personified.

Despite this, Leo is treated fairly sympathetically, even being rescued by Dr Strange at one point. By the end, Leo is shocked to find that the rescued Wally does believe he has a problem that he wants to address. Leo can't face up to this truth and we have another lovely example of Zen Daredevil, wisely pontificating like a modern day Confucius that he who does not accept the truth of a situation is broken by it.

Oh, such wisdom!

This part of the story is the most successful and most in keeping with the Daredevil oeuvre. The wider narrative isn't terrible, but there is a slight feeling of cynicism, of Daredevil being coerced into a bigger story that's been created to pull more readers into other books.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Spider-man/Peter Parker
Dr Steven Strange
Tyrannus/Dr Tyrone
Madame Viper
Leo Baxter
Wally Jordan
Clarisse Jordan
The Punisher/Frank Castle
Moon Knight/Marc Spector

Rating: 5 out of 10

Of the other four stories, one, 'Saga of the Serpent Crown', has nothing to do with Daredevil and appears to be part of an ongoing story in the 'Atlantis Attacks' narrative. The other three feature members of the Daredevil supporting cast in their own little yarns from the time when Matt was still hanging out in Hell's Kitchen. First up, we have:

Role Reversal by Gregory Wright and Jim Lee

All three of the back up tales are written by Gregory Wright, who was also a colourist for Marvel. Gregory was introduced to Marvel by a certain DG Chichester, who at this time, was writing for Marvel's more mature wing, Epic. Role Reversal is drawn by the highly regarded Jim Lee and features two of the most obscure DD cast members - Spit and Jet, aka the Wildboys.

These were the guys who basically beat up an already near comotose Daredevil back in DD260. The story follows the two villains as they accidentally take down a criminal the NYPD had been chasing. Not a terribly original concept, Jim Lee's energetic artwork probably the most interesting aspect of the story. It does, however, feature a cameo from Eightball from the Fatboys and helps to set up the next story, that takes place at the same time as this one...

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Eightball
Jet
Spit

Rating: 3 out of 10

The Rescue by Gregory Wright and John Romita Jr

Featuring the Fatboys! Hurrah!

Here, lone female Faboy, Darla is kidnapped and her brother, Butch, along with alumni, Eightball and Ralf, decide to rescue her. And, er, that's about it. Darla's captors are the kind of guys we saw previously in DD259, men preying on vulnerable girls with the implication of sexual exploitation of some kind. Whilst DD259 was well told, this is more knockabout and, as such, the tone doesn't feel quite right. There's a bizarre Disney-esque ending with Daredevil telling the Fatboys off for intervening, which feels a little like storytelling from another era and not at all in character with the streetwise kids in Ann's writing.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Butch
Darla
Eightball
Ralf
Guice
Williams

Rating: 5 out of 10

The Redeemed and the Condemned by Gregory Wright and Whilce Portacio

This little tale, featuring Ben Urich, is drawn by Image Comics co-founder, Whilce Portacio, who does a fine job. Here, a seemingly slightly out of character, Ben Urich, is putting the squeeze on a low level drug dealer to shop his supplier. At first, I was uncomfortable with the way Gregory was writing the character but, as the story progresses, it becomes clear that Ben recognises his attitude in chasing the story is not only obnoxious but endangering his informant's life.

It's a pretty well told little morality tale and is actually the best thing in the annual.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Ben Urich

J Jonah Jameson
Butch
Darla
Eightball
Bushwacker
Patrick Nidetz
Nick Lambert
Amy Nidetz
Reynolds

Rating: 7 out of 10

Overall rating (for the annual): 5 out of 10

Daredevil 268

2011-11-18T21:22:00.001Z

Golden Rut by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Whilst staying at a bed and breakfast, Matt overhears how his host, Raymo, is stuck in a rut, earning money by immoral means

As we saw last issue, Matt's left New York and is wandering around a rural hinterland unfamiliar to the city slicking lawyer. This suddenly nomadic existence seems a little more in keeping with Bruce Banner (certainly the TV Bruce Banner anyway) or even David Carradine's character from the old TV show, Kung Fu. Whilst its unusual territory for Matt, it's not unique to see him in a less urban environment - the mysterious wordless stranger has already been seen in the Frank Miller scripted DD219 and much later Andy Diggle has Matt retreat in a similar fashion in Daredevil Reborn.

Here, though, he comes to the aid of a couple, trying to live the American Dream, but, in doing so, have compromised themselves so that the male party is working unhappily for his criminal brother, whilst his partner appears trapped, stuck at home, running a guest house. It's a curious set up - the scenes in the bed and breakfast are quite stagey and melodramatic, almost like a soap opera. We see a couple who love each other but are unhappy because of the choices they've made.

Whilst much of the issue dwells on Raymo's job working for his brother as a debt collector - and the inherent violent enforcement within that role, Ann beautifully draws out Sally's own misery and frustration at how unfulfilled she is. There's a lovely bit of reflection from Matt early on as he takes a room at the couple's home. Noting her perfume, he adds, "But it doesn't hide the laundry soap... the meals she cooks... floors she scrubs... the heaviness of her steps, the hundreds of times she's climbed these stairs, walked this hall..."

More explicitly than usual, there feels like a feminist message coming across here. This passage is immediately followed by a run of three panels captured from a very unusual perspective by John. It's kind of a Daredevil eye view (ironic, I know) - Sally showing Matt the rooms, in a dishevelled just out of bed look, the very antithesis with how young women are often portayed in comic books.

Why show Sally in this way? I'm not sure but it may be to give a sense of servitude - the reader is being shown round by a lowly character.

Later, Ann gives Sally her own voice to reflect on both the blind, near mute stranger skulking in his bedroom upstairs and her partner, Raymo, who she wishes to persuade does not have to pursue a violent path to be like a man. "My house is just full of brooding men," she sighs, giving a sense of her frustration with the inarticulacy of men, unable to express their emotions outside of violence or passion.

Indeed, whilst Daredevil steps in to help redirect Raymo's life, he does so in his usual aggressive (though quite spectacularly sadistic) fashion, without bothering to explain himself to Sally or Raymo, merely leaving the bed & breakfast at the end, with Sally frustrated by their guest's apparent non-involvement with his hosts.

So in some ways a story that might be more at home on theatre or a mid afternoon soap. But it's also enlivened by some fine art by John. There are unusual views - I loved the scene of Sally and Raymo talking at the foot of some stairs but drawn from the perspective of the top of the staircase, allowing the reader to understand that Matt's listening in on them.

Better still are the way John portrays Raymo's nightmares, suddenly entering Bill Sienkiewicz territory.

Or another scene where Raymo thinks back to his childhood and it's like we've entered Peanuts or another such cartoon.

All in all, for all its ordinariness, a strange and very serious little tale.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Sally
Raymo
Hank
'Fido'
Billy
Queenie

Rating: 7 out of 10

Daredevil 267

2011-11-17T19:48:00.001Z

Cremains by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Matt burns the remnants of his previous life and decides to leave New York

Cremains? I'll happily confess to having never heard the word before and I was curious if this was some weird made up term or a mis-spelling like 'Gantlet' (see my review on DD175 to get a full sense of my incredulity). As one might expect, it's a portmanteau created from cremation and remains, in the sense that cremains are the ashes of a deceased person.

Now there is a bit of firesetting this issue, with Daredevil visiting his desolate legal clinic to burn away his law books and other items, apparently signalling the end to this period of his life. However, those aren't human remains in the fire (thank goodness) so I think the sense we have of 'cremains' here is as likely to refer to what Matt has become, what is left of his fragile psyche with his romantic life in tatters and everything he believed in stipped away from him. (Daredevil says as much to a young tearaway who encounters him in a building, telling him he's trespassing on his own funeral.)

Indeed, in a highly symbolic opening, Matt visits his mother, Sister Maggie's church to make confession. Denny O'Neil skirted around the notion of Matt's catholicism but this is the most explict reference to his religious tradition in the DD canon to date. Ann highlights that Matt is something less than a devout and zealous parishioner by telling the priest that it's been "many, many years since [his] last confession". Still, it's a moving little sequence where Matt expresses his frustration at trying to maintain justice whilst acknowledging a bloodlust.

Even more impressive is Ann's own little snippets of theological insight. Before taking confession, Daredevil muses on the smell of the cheap wine and the plain flour that made up the host. There's a sense of pathos here but also yields the notion of the accessibility of noble, genuine servants of God trying to make an impact in the area.

Nearby there's a nice scene with Sister Maggie talking to a bunch of kids about forgiveness, a concept so good that the youngsters can't believe it isn't a "racket". There's a terrific panel where Sister Maggie tells one boy that God would be willing to forgive Lucifer. The boy is aghast. "Then he's stupid!" he concludes.

I think Ann, though, is pointing out that Matt can be forgiven his recent indiscretions with Typhoid Mary and the questionable moral judgements he has made, if he should so wish. Matt, for his part, is inconsolable, eventually fleeing from the church thinking he cannot be forgiven, such is the guilt and shame he feels.

The flipside of forgiveness is vengeance and, considering the pasting he received in DD260, Matt's quite interested in taking revenge on Bullet, his first assailant on that occasion. This happens when he chances upon Bullet's son, the unfortunate and very traumatised Lance. Daredevil is bemused by Lance's survivalist mindset and all the post apocalyptic equipment he has gathered. There's a neat panel showing, on surface, a slightly cagey conversation between the boy and the superhero, whilst their thoughts reveal a deeper anxiety - Lance revealing his fear that Daredevil is there to kill his father, Daredevil, for his part, appalled to be associated with the amoral gun for hire, Bullet.

Bullet's arrival and inevitable squabble with Daredevil which, as the cover shows, could be the issue's centrepiece, is all a bit of a red herring. There's much more of interest elsewhere. The way their confrontation ends, though, is great and telling. Lance lets his father know that he has misunderstood Daredevil's presence - Lance has brought him there. But it's the way he does this that's interesting. The young boy stops the adults bickering by firing a gun into the air.

That's a gun, folks. Just as interesting is the worn out Daredevil's approach. He appears uninterested in intervening to rescue Lance from his fragile psyche or neglectful upbringing. Instead, despite the boy's interest in firearms, Daredevil just leaves Bullet and his son to it. He walks away, perhaps thinking he's interferred enough elsewhere and now regrets this.

This laissez faire attitude is demonstrated again at the conclusion of the story when Matt rescues a man from a burning crashed plane, only to discover he's carrying bagloads of cocaine to sell elsewhere.

Once again, Matt does not interfer and, instead, is only too pleased to be given his daughter's address as somewhere he can stay awhile. If the guy wants to flood the streets with his illegal produce, well, let him. Our Matt is too broken and disillusioned to stop him.

I like the melancholic Morrisseyesque Matt we're presented with this issue as he leaves New York on a train that'll take him as far away as the dollars left in his pocket will take him. Before he goes, let's return to the scene of his book burning and a moment of wisdom that could be ages old. As his old law books turn to smoke, Matt stoops close to profundity as he notes, "The Bill of Rights is a piece of paper. It burns like anything else."

That could be one of the great philosophers, couldn't it?

A fine issue, where the incidental moments, the little encounters Matt has with tell the reader so much more than any tussle with a villain could yield. Ann's ability to bring out so much from such small moments is, as always, thrilling.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Sister Maggie
Bullet
Lance
Priest
Skip

Rating: 9 out of 10

Daredevil 266

2011-11-16T16:08:00.001Z

A Beer with the Devil by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Distressed at his betrayal of Karen, Daredevil spends Christmas in a bar where a mysterious woman attempts to seduce him

Well, ho, ho, ho. This is the third issue in Ann's run to reference Christmas which makes you think that Ann's a fan of the season. The first yarn in DD241 was pretty bleak stuff, whilst the following year's DD253 was a (slightly) upbeat sentimental slice of quasi-Dickensian pie. This year's festive offering falls between the two... okay, it's probably closer in tone to DD241's 'Black Christmas' but, hey, there are people singing carols and kissing each other on the first few pages, so that's not so bad, is it?

However, we get to the nub of the problem when some bypassers outside a local drinking establishment tut about how much of a loser you must be to spend Christmas Day drinking your troubles away instead of seeking out the solace of loved ones.

And who's indoors, exactly? Why, the very fellow who was sitting at a bar stool in the last few panels of the last issue, still ensconced in his crimson red get up, jaw still bandaged up, a platoon of beer bottles on the counter in front of him. The poor sod looks like he hasn't been home for days (and no doubt stinks to high heaven). What's funny too is that, given the disregard heroes are held in in Ann Nocenti's Hell's Kitchen, no-one gives the superhero a second glance. The only one interested is the guy behind the bar keenly waiting for the next order.

And whilst our morose hero drowns his sorrow, a phalanx of characters come and go around him. One guy, ignorant of Matt's own crumbling love life, complains about his ex-wife; another lonely old soak wants reassurance that she is still beautiful, whilst another middle aged man regrets how his fear holds him back from preventing a mugging outside. As usual, these inconsequential characters are beautifully realised by Ann, despite the fact they take up only a few frames.

Of more importance are a pair of brothers killing time before heading round to their mother's for the annual Christmas festivities. Hector is sensible, Hugo more irresponsible but Hector envies him his freedom. As Hector tries to persuade Hugo to get out of the bar, his jealousy builds and builds until...

Well, that would be tellling but it could be connected to the peculiar looking woman who's now occupying the vacant stool by Mr Murdock. At first, given the big frizzy 80s hair, I thought this might be Typhoid Mary. But actually, given that this is the 80s, this is just some other lady, though one with a slightly peculiar back story - she was in Cuba in 1960, Dallas in 1963... wait a minute, isn't she too young for that? And don't those dates and locations have something in common...?

Odder still is that the other patrons passing Matt and Mystery Woman make mention that this woman is, er, well, a man. How odd! Why would they think that? Look, Matt's even snogging her - that's no man!

Oops! Next second, the guise slips and we find Matt's been locking tongues with Mephisto! Now that's gotta be uncomfortable. At this point, a very interesting downbeat little tale suddenly morphs into the surreal, the horrific as the reader suddenly realises that the story's title actually contains a double meaning. There's a bit of pontificating from Mephisto about how small Daredevil is in comparison to the vastness of evil, wonderfully illustrated by a great splash page by John. "You used to believe," Mephisto hisses, "that one man, no matter how small, could fight evil.... One day I'll tip the scales and I'll welcome you into my arms."

It's a calling card to how much the whole tenor of superhero tales have changed since the halcyon days of the early 60s - crude realism burning away the dreams of the hero always saving the day.

To be honest, I was kind of disappointed by this sudden preternatural intrusion into the earthy world of Daredevil (perhaps Ann had been rummaging through MR James' Christmas ghost stories in preparation for this issue?). It's very strange and somewhat disconcerting. Ultimately Mephisto returns DD to earth, dumping him in the garbage in an alleyway, where the old soak and separated man find him and invite him to Christmas dinner at the soup kitchen. Daredevil, bless his miserable soul, decides this is as good an offer he'll get this Christmas.

No doubt, many readers dislike their heroes this hopeless... but, heck, I kinda like it.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Mephisto/Mysterious Woman
Hector
Hugo
Jack
Sammy

Rating: 8 out of 10

Daredevil 265

2011-11-12T19:28:00.001Z

We Again Beheld the Stars by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: New York's transformation into Hell appears to be completely unnoticed by its strangely innured citizenship.

And, after a month's break, we come to the conclusion of the Inferno storyline which, unsurprisingly, takes for its title the final line of Dante's epic poem, with the poet ascending out of Hell and turns towards Heaven. That gives a sense of where we're heading in this particular chapter of Daredevil's life.

And it brings me joy to report that, after the second part of the Inferno saga didn't exactly set the house on fire (as it were), Ann's got her mojo back! This is an extremely entertaining and engagingly bizarre little tale and, although one may argue that Daredevil isn't playing harps with the angels by the end of it, well, at least New York looks a little better.

The most pleasing aspect of the tale, threading its way throughout, is the notion that despite the city being over-run by deeply unpleasant demons, most of its citizens are gloriously apathetic to what's going on around them. It's as if the horrendous things occuring are, well, no worse than the usual day in a New Yorker's life. And Ann has a lot of fun with this idea.

A brilliant example of this hits the reader straight away thanks to a wonderful splash page, featuring a dentist having a bit of dental work forced upon him. There's something rather amusing about seeing a mouth doctor getting a bit of his own medicine. The next page, though, it s dream. The scene shifts to the now 'demonised' dentist walking through his own waiting room and engages in petty conversation with his patients - none of whom either notice or appear to care that their dental care provider has morphed into something alien.

Citizens like this dentist drive the narrative this issue, with Ann deciding to leave Daredevil completely mute throughout the story - he doesn't utter a word. Instead, we see couples discuss watching 'The Lady and the Tramp' whilst a demon chomps through a car engine to their left; a woman worries about a devil tearing a hole in her coat, not thinking about her own mortal danger and a nonchalant businessman, looking to leave the city, doesn't notice the taxi driver he's flagged down is a little less than human in appearance.

Best of all, whilst chaos reigns all around, a poor citizen taps Daredevil on the shoulder and asks for a lift because "I'm late for work, and all the bus drivers are being eaten by demons." It's not so much the statement but the lack of anxiety which comes across, as well as the fact that there are still a bunch of folk looking to take the bus anyway.

It's not just anonymous folk affected, though. Even the blessed Fatboys have been targeted with Butch's sister, Darla, looking a little worse for wear. Butch is naturally concerned, especially when Darla, a little more moral than the average Fatboy if previous stories are anything to go by, tells her brother to step worrying and help her loot a store instead.

If it weren't already obvious, Ann makes clear the subtext of all this before story's end. Tackling the nominal bad guy - 'Officer Drillbit', a weirdly morphed traffic cop - Daredevil is treated to an exposition on the desensitization of the average New Yorker. Drillbit tells DD, "It beats you numb, in the end. Brutalizes you day in, day out. Till you're so hard, you're inhuman."

Ergo our cast of characters here brutally ignoring everything around them and concentrating merely on their own survival. That sounds really bleak and yet Ann wraps this message in a terrific piece of strangely funny writing. That sweetens even the bleakest of pills.

And Daredevil? Where does he end up as New York returns to normal (thanks to some X-Men action taking place elsewhere)? Well, he's off to 'celebrate' in the pub, where we'll find him next time...

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Butch
Darla
Officer Drillbit
Dentist
Rachel
Jack
Mac
Charlie
Susan

Rating: 9 out of 10

Daredeviil 264

2011-11-10T19:39:00.001Z

Baby Boom by Ann Nocenti and Steve Ditko

One Sentence Overview: The Owl returns to the streets of Hell's Kitchen to try to take control of the cocaine trade whilst a baby in a bag leads to a comedy of errors

Well, may I be the last to congratulate John Romita Jr on his wedding... which took place the month this little colourful wonder was due to hit the shelves back in '88. [Though perhaps I shouldn't - a quick interweb search reveals that they're no longer together... and also that apparently JRjr's first wife was the model for Typhoid Mary!]

Moving swiftly on, therefore, John's leave of absence means yet another cameo from comic book legend, Steve Ditko. I'm always astonished to see Steve do something for post 60s Marvel as I thought he had fallen out badly with them. Nevertheless, with the legendary artist on board, Ann seizes the opportunity to do something a little different - a bit of homage. This story interrupts the current Inferno storyline and the action, we're told at the beginning, takes place a few months back. However, it could be even longer in the past - bringing the Owl back (he's an oldie... but a goodie), Ann appears to mimic Stan Lee's narrative style, particularly in a longish section early on where she has the king of hooting deliver a verbose soliloquay to an attentive bird.

It's fun but perhaps more interesting is the Owl's interactions with a bunch of hoods, who (in quite a Tarantino-esque postmodern way) discuss the merits of the old style of bad guy and the new style of bad guy. These more realistic villains feel they own the streets now and laugh at Leland's garb and moniker.

However, when he starts flying, they start to become a bit more impressed. Strange, though, in this throw back to a 60s style of writing to see the Owl talk about raiding crack houses.

The Owl and his minions are diverting enough but the most interesting aspect of the issue is the surprise return of another couple of characters - the nameless armed robber and the abandoned baby he encountered back in DD252. Despite his reappearance, the reader is not really given any further insight into the poor sod. No wonder Daredevil keeps turning to the wolly hatted street bum and think, "Who is this guy?"

It's quite a bleak comment on the Hell's Kitchen landscape that our escaped convict can come across a baby and start to bring him up without any state intervention.

Daredevil thinks about intervening but when he sees how compassionate the robber is to his charge, he lets him go. It's a strange set up, but in contrast to a recent story about child sex trafficking in DD259, the street bum here is a reformed character, ready to take on responsibility for another soul abandoned by the Kitchen. It's little details like this that really makes me warm to what Ann has created in the book.

What we end up with is a strangely knockabout story, centring around the old chestnut of identical bags being swapped - one with a bomb in it, and one with er, our robber's baby in it! You can appreciate the subsequent pandemonium. By no means a classic, but enough to raise a grin.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

The Owl/Leland Owsley
Armed Robber and abandoned baby
Einstein

Rating: 6 out of 10

Daredevil 263

2011-11-05T19:12:00.001Z

In Bitterness Not Far From Death by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Daredevil awakens from his coma to find New York in the grip of a hellish transformation

Another line from Dante's Inferno marks out the territory we're covering - namely New York's apparent descent into a kind of Hell. Indeed, colourist Max Scheele must have used up her entire supply of red ink this issue, such is the extent of the fire, fury and demonic activity on show. Let's just say that, if you're looking for a comic book with a relaxing, easy on the eye palate, this isn't going to be your cup of tea.

In contrast with what we have come to expect from Daredevil over the last 100 issues or so, here we're confronted with a supernatural tale and Daredevil apparently tackling a rather large devilish character. I say apparently. DD starts the story recovering from a coma in hospital and one could almost be led to believe that the entire story is taking place in his fevered imagination. However, given that this is a tie-in to a larger more fantastical X-Men narrative, that's not really the case. The hellish landscape New York appears to have become is real.

I'm intrigued by how much freedom Ann had in this - was the storyline foist upon her, following her early brilliant Fall of the Mutants tie-in? The story is not typical Daredevil territory at all. However, whether by coercion or choice, one must at least applaud Ann for drawing on classical literature to bring an allegorical context to a tale that, at face value, appears confusing and out of character. Daredevil's battling with a demon who appears to have evolved from a subway train (of all things) mimics Dante's descent into Hell. Some of the panels, terrifically realised by John et al, are accompanied by exigesis describing the different types of sinner and damned, in the manner of the Italian poet.

Ultimately, though, this feels more like DD73 than DD252 in terms of being a Daredevil story. The former is one of the worst issues of Daredevil on the basis that it throws our hero cynically into a scenario with a bunch of other Marvel heroes, with little or no sense of what makes Daredevil distinctive in its own right. Moving the goalposts so dramatically with this storyline just feels a little clumsy.

But there is a redemptive moment early on that at least gives the story a little emotional value - namely, Karen and Mary finally encountering each other. We've been waiting for this and, oh dear, poor Karen doesn't like what she finds. Not only does Mary turn up to see how Daredevil's doing, it's her name, not Karen's that's called out, when Matt finally wakens. Ouch!

With great economy, John captures the moment brilliantly as Karen dashes from the hospital, heart broken - and with an 'Emergency' sign beaming out beside her. That's a lovely little touch.

But other than that, and it saddens me to say this when I've so enjoyed Ann's writing to date, I really struggled with this issue.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Karen Page
Kingpin/Wilson Fisk

Typhoid Mary
Butch (Fatboys)

Rating: 3 out of 10

Daredevil 262

2011-11-04T20:35:00.000Z

I Found Me in a Gloomy Wood Astray... by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: A badly wounded Matt begins to stir whilst Karen and Natasha navigate their way through a city that appears to be under some kind of evil spell

Fans of medieval Italian literature no doubt will be thrilled by this issue and its superb title, taken as it is from Dante's Inferno. I must confess, I haven't read it, though have a rough idea what the whole thing is about - a rough guide, if you will, to the nine circles of Hell. Being a 'devil' and nominal Catholic - oh, and as we have seen from the previous issue, presumed dead - that gives a bit of resonance to the literary allusion. Is it a little pretentious? Maybe, but I'd forgive Ann that unreservedly. She's a writer unafraid to put intelligence and depth into her scripts.

Poetry fans will appreciate my now turning to fellow Irishman, Seamus Heaney, and his translation of the stanza in question, which includes our story title:

In the middle of the journey of our life
I found myself astray in a dark wood
where the straight road had been lost sight of.

It's a good summation of where Matt is at the moment, or perhaps where Matt is to go. Not only is he at death's door but he has lost the purpose and meaning for his life, he is uncertain about what is important. Indeed in some early scenes, a comatose Matt is visited by his old mate, Stick, who is doing his crude Zen thing and trying to encouarge Matt (in a barely more sympathetic way than the ghost of his old man two issues back) to get his act together.

A more obvious allusion to Inferno is that we have a (dreaded) crossover here with the X-Men saga of the same name. As I mentioned two posts ago, I had given up reading comics at this point so am not entirely familiar with this plot, though know it involves Jean Grey and her doppelganger, Madeleine Pryor, going toe to toe. It also involves New York city being infested with demons.

There's no direct need to involve DD in a mutant bun fight and it seems strange to invoke such a supernatural element in a comic book that, at that time, was grounded in reality. However, perhaps the feeling was that the recent Fall of the Mutants tie-in in DD252 was so successful (and it was pretty darned good stuff) that, hey, we might as well toss Ann another bone to chew on.

Like that issue, this story is at its best when it concentrates on the peripheral issues surrounding the big bad battle going on elsewhere. Here that involves a rare team up between Karen and the Black Widow as they wander round New York looking for DD, with Fatboys Butch and Darla tagging along. It's entertaining stuff, with some good, freaky scenes in the subway - I love the way a whooshing train interrupts the dialogue between our protagonists.

Once on the subway, our heroines are shown very little respect by an increasingly antagonistic (and no doubt freaked out) citizenry. There's a great moment where Karen nearly gets a hypodermic needle in the eye. It's pretty grim but I like the use of such a threatening and possibly disease ridden implement being used by a low level junkie against Ms Page.

It reminds me of rumours from my youth of people being threatened by muggers with hypodermics in inner city areas. A chilling, desperate measure. Karen's been through much worse, of course, and she takes the incident in her stride. She's possibly more offended when she gets to her legal clinic and finds it trashed.

Though that location is used to great effect for Natasha to save our dear Fatboys from a rogue elevator - a scene that recalls somewhat disaster movies like 'The Towering Inferno' - oh, wait a minute, now I see what Ann's up to...

Not much else happens here, though Daredevil is back in the land of the living and ready to rock next issue. Well, as long as Typhoid Mary, who witnesses his reawakening, doesn't finish the job she failed to complete. We'll find out... next time! (Though perhaps the fact that there's another 260 odd issues of DD to review, the answer to that is a moot point.)

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Karen Page
Black Widow/Natasaha Romanoff

Typhoid Mary
Butch (Fatboys)
Darla (Fatboys)
Stick
Bucko Leary

Rating: 7 out of 10

Daredevil 261

2011-10-29T13:08:00.001+01:00

Meltdown by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: At the behest of Karen, the Human Torch hits the streets of Hell's Kitchen to look for Daredevil, whilst the Kingpin shows his anger towards Typhoid Mary for disobeying his instructions

Daredevil is dead. The district's guardian and protector is gone. Well, at least that's the rumour going round Hell's Kitchen - as Ann tells us, "The streets are open turf now, and everyone who's hot to trot wants a piece of the action". But it's all a bit presumptuous, isn't it? In the UK, a missing person isn't declared legally dead until there are seven years without any sightings. And this is probably, at best, a few days since Matt tumbled from an old bridge at the hands of Typhoid Mary.

But anyway, let the Kitchen posse believe the mistruths if they must. Truth be told, the way they're presented here in a very entertaining bar scene gives the impression that most are blessed with a whole lot of brainpower. But how do we get to the bar in the first place...?

Well, over at the legal clinic, Karen's losing the plot. Not surprising really, given that her lover's missing (and she's also curious as to whether anyone will make a connection with Daredevil's 'death'). So it's up to that famed legal eagle, Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, to come down and lift spirits. Which is kind of exactly what he does. He isn't doling out advice (thank goodness). Instead he's joyfully impressing the Fatboys with innovative ways to light a cigarette.

A very funny little vignette that wouldn't make today's books for health reasons but nevertheless captures the spirit of the neighbourhood - and Johnny's character.

Karen persuades the younger Storm sibling to help her look for Daredevil. Johnny wonders if he can fill DD's boots, even if for a moment, and so changes his look when he calls at a local dive (for once, not Josie's) in an attempt to, er. blend in and seem cool.

It's a great piece of writing showing an iconic character completely out of his depth. There then follows a fun fight scene between Torch and the extraordinarily named Baby Elmo.

Some of the dialogue here, for once, is leaning towards parody, though in some ways, that's okay - the scenes with Johnny Storm, in stark contrast to Matt's perilous situation, are atypically largely played for laughs. The net result is Johnny recognising he can't be Daredevil. I really liked the end of this book as it gave a terrific contrast between the territory of Daredevil and what a hero had to be to survive in such an environment and the most whimsical world of the Fantastic Four. They may save the world, but aren't so comfortable with the coalface of a deprived inner city neighbourhood (though perhaps that's a bit unfair on Yancy Street's Ben Grimm).

The fun with Johnny is contrasted with some of the darkest writing yet about sexual politics. In a very disturbing scene, Typhoid Mary goads the Kingpin until he snaps and starts to knock the crap out of the woman.

Having dramatically roused his passions, Mary manipulates him into having sex with her. It's uncomfortable stuff, a little prescient of the likes of John Dahl's 'The Last Seduction', a few years hence. Indeed, I'm not sure a male writer would have got away with this - at Ann's hands, you feel there's a point being made about sexual violence and power. Having manipulated matters, Typhoid Mary is not a victim, as such. However, the scene certainly doesn't show Wilson Fisk, whose wife remember is an invalid, in a very good light - moreover, it confirms that this is a frighteningly powerful character and not some rotund jolly villain.

Which brings us to the Gratuitous Panel of the Month:

Before winding up the Kingpin, Typhoid does a little flirting with one of his bodyguards. In a piece of dialogue resplendent with double entendre, Typhoid slinks up against the poor sod and whispers, "Oooh! You're so hard, so rigid..." Blimey!

But where's Matt in all this? I hear you cry. Well the poor soul spends the entire issue face down, unconscious, in a bunch of long grass underneath a bridge, his fate uncertain. I love it when writers do something like this. Will he finally rise again next issue...?

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Karen Page
Kingpin/Wilson Fisk

Typhoid Mary
Human Torch/Johnny Storm
Butch (Fatboys)
Darla (Fatboys)
Eightball (Fatboys)
Hilda
Baby Elmo

Rating: 8 out of 10

Daredevil 260

2011-10-27T17:10:00.001+01:00

Vital Signs by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Typhoid Mary's gang of disgruntled DD combatants team up against the man without fear on Independence Day

A seminal issue for me… but we’ll come to that at the end ofthe post.

There are basically two plotlines struggling for supremacyhere. One is a seemingly straightforward(initially) battle between Daredevil and a bunch of C-list villains. The second is the subtext, the violence ofmen, which provides the backdrop of an anti-nuclear warfare march taking placeon 4 July in New York. For once, it’sactually the superhero biffing and bashing that is perhaps the more compellingof the two.

But before we get to that, there’s a lovely little prologueinvolving an uncharacteristically upbeat Daredevil riffing with Karen Page intheir little apartment (the calm before the storm, folks). With Mary nowhere nearby to screw up hisemotions, Matt is somewhat remorseful about his relentless flirting with thedark haired girl and is celebrating his love for Karen instead. The kookiest moment is where he lists theshopping Karen’s just brought in thanks to his enhanced smell – even she’staken aback when he identifies the bottled water!

But that’s enough pleasantries for now. Things are about to go seriouslydownhill. Outside the aforementionedpeace march is going on, resplendent with pretentious left leaning culturalcommentators to one side arguing about the semantics of the language of Armageddon. Talking about ‘Mutual Assured Destruction’,one sniffs that the phrase is ‘insidious’. “It means everyone dies but they use reassuring words to ‘camouflage’that reality”. It’s like being back atschool…

Daredevil’s keen to join the march, given that he wasblinded by radioactive material to begin with, so he feels he has someownership on the issue. However, when hedecides to join in, he’s shocked to see he isn’t invited – “Superheroes are ‘warheads’,”one marcher shouts to DD’s embarrassment.

Later a badly injured Daredevil is treated to a lecture froma learned bystander and talks about how even geniuses are seduced into destructiveness,telling the man without fear, “Einstein’s big and brilliant thoughts created abomb”. The bystander looks at Daredevilsympathetically though. “Sometimes evenpeaceful, well-thinking men create destruction,” she says.

But who is this strange herald? Hmmm. Young female New York citizen with long brown hair and well thought outliberal views. Wait a second… It couldn’t be, could it? Has John Romita Jr just drawn Ann Nocentiinto her own comic?!? Okay, that’s justa guess but, hey, it’s not a bad theory, huh? (Not sure about that big perm, though…)

Let’s move on and focus on the foreground. Last issue big bad Typhoid Mary rounded upthe usual suspects – Bullet, Ammo, Bushwhacker and, er, Jet and Spit (theWildboys) – in order to take out DD. With Mary leading events, we have six villains on Daredevil’s tale. Six, eh? Why does that number ring a bell…? Wait a second… It couldn’t be, could it? Is this whole thing a homage to the brilliant Spidey tale, the SinisterSix?

Well, it’s not a bad thought. Like the Amazing Spider-man Annual thatfeatured Doc Ock and co getting low down and dirty with Mr Parker, this storyfeatures sequential battles between DD and the above named which are announcedby splendid splash pages. These displaysome delicious artwork from John jr – I particularly liked Ammo’s entry.

Unlike the Sinister Six, however, after seeing off Bulletwithout a lot of difficulty, the man without fear comes rather unstuck.

Interestingly, one could argue (quitestrongly, actually) that Daredevil faces his most formidable foes first –namely, Bullet and Bushwhacker – before moving on to the pretty decent but let’snot exaggerate Ammo and finally on to the nadir of DD bad guys, the strictlylow rent Wildboys, Jet and Spit.

However, by the time DD’s ended up with these two losers, he’snot high on confidence from seeing off three pretty decent heroes, he’sbattered senseless. And I pretty muchmean that literally. At one point hestarts hallucinating, believing his father is in front of him – in a strangelymoving and disconcerting section, Matt calls out to Battling Jack “daddy” andthen receives a pasting from the ghost, mad at the career path he’s taken.

Before that, though, things build badly. Whilst tackling Bushwhacker, DD’s radardeserts him so disastrously he starts attacking a poor disabled war veteran,shaking a can for trash – one of Daredevil’s lowest moments ever, surely.

Well, I say that. Thepasting he gets from Jet and Spit is quite possibly lower still. We aren’t talking Magneto and Dr Doom here,we ain’t even in the league of Mr Hyde and the Cobra. Even Turk and Grotto have a bit more goingfor it than these two. Hey, let’s faceit, I think Laurel and Hardy would usually make a better fist of things. Despite that Jet and Spit very effectivelymanage to dump DD in a garbage truck and then drag him off to a bridge to throwhim to his death…

…Which is where Typhoid is waiting for him and we end with aquite stunning denouement. Typhoid tellsDaredevil he must die. DD doesn’t understandwhy she has it in for him. Typhoid doesn’texplain her connection to him. Insteadshe just drops him off the bridge. Thefinal two pages are outstanding – Daredevil falling whilst Mary finally appearsto break through Typhoid’s façade and a tear falls down her painted face. It’s incredibly moving.

I have a vague recollection back in the late 80s of beingsomewhat miffed at seeing Daredevil being disposed of so easily by a bunch oflosers. And I remember not likingTyphoid Mary at all. Who was she todeliver such a blow to Matt Murdock? Despite this, I still loved Daredevil, the comic. Well, up to a point. Lots of things were going on in my teenagelife and one involved whether or not still to read and collect comicbooks. This, my friends, was the lastissue of Daredevil I would read for over 15 years (until volume 2, issue 61, to be precise).

A month or two after this appeared on the shelves, a guy Iknew came round to my house and started flicking through my collection of 60 orso issues, including a sizeable part of Frank Miller’s run, bought atextortionate prices (for the time) a couple of years earlier. “You can have those,” I told the guy. His eyes lit up, unbelieving. “Really?” He merrily gathered up my bunch of Daredevils and went home withthem. I’m not even sure if I ever sawthat young lad again.

But that was that. What it means, is that I haven’t read anything else in Daredevil Vol 1 –so from next issue onwards, as far as I’m concerned, it’s virginterritory. Hope you’ll stick around forthe ride.

Cast

Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Karen Page
Kingpin/Wilson Fisk

Elektra Natchios
Typhoid Mary
Bullseye
The Gladiator/Melvin Potter
Battling Jack Murdock
Human Torch/Johnny Storm
Bullet
Bushwacker
Ammo
Jet
Spit

Rating: 10 out of 10

Daredevil 259

2011-10-26T17:47:00.000+01:00

The Children are Watching You by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: When the Kingpin tells Typhoid that her Mary persona is becoming too dominant, Typhoid recruits a deadly gang to kill Daredevil to spite her

I think Ann Nocenti's writing is at its most compelling when she's writing about the bleakness of the lives of those living in Hell's Kitchen. Since her debut on the book and especially since the arrival of Typhoid Mary and the success of the legal clinic, she's toned down on the pessimism. But here she turns her focus on to how, on one hand, the most vulnerable are treated and, on the other, how hope can be fragile and snatched away.

We readers have been aware, as part of the ongoing Typhoid Mary narrative, of the war between Mary's two psyches and how dominant Typhoid can be. It's also been highlighted that Typhoid is 'playing' the Kingpin. But when you play power games with Wilson Fisk, don't think you're taking on an amateur. Here, the previously powerful Typhoid is cunningly outmanoeuvred by Wilson, who traps her in a weights machine, tells her, rather amusingly, to "never call me fatman" and then moves in for a sneaky smooch.

Typhoid is hardly a victim (and Wilson goes no further than a kiss on this occasion). However, outplayed by the Kingpin, Typhoid takes her revenge out on someone much weaker and more vulnerable than she is - Mary. "I hate her!" she seethes. "If I can't have Daredevil, no one can!" As such she sets in motion a plan that will have a devastating impact on Matt - though not in this issue. This plan once again involves her using her own seductive powers to take control over a bunch of men, who aren't on Matt's Christmas card list - namely, the guys Ann has introduced in the book over the last dozen issues or so.

One such character is Bullet, though its Bullet's troubled young lad, Lance, who Typhoid alights on initially. As the story title reveals, it's the children, in particular, in this story who are the focus and who come in for the most grief. Being the absent father that he is, Bullet is not around to prevent Typhoid from twisting Lance's already fragile psyche into near breakdown. Seeing that the kid has a fixation on global nuclear meltdown, Typhoid's method of reassurance leaves a lot to be desired. "Lotsa crazies out there with bombs," she tells him. "It's all gonna blow, violently too." It's a revelation to Lance, who suddenly feels that the adults in his life have been lying to him.

Bullet turns up to try to rescue his son. But instead of doing the right thing, seconds after admonishing Typhoid, she's calling him a "sexy lady" and getting saucy with her... in front of Lance, naturally.

Lance isn't the old kid suffering this issue. The story starts with Fatboy alumnus, Butch, catching a prostitute selling a child to her pimp for a heroin hit. It's implicit but the story focuses heavily on a child prostitution video ring - boy, we're moving into some dark territory here.

Later, Karen Page goes undercover to try to get to the bottom of who it is preying on the vulnerable in such an awful way. As one might expect, her initial enquiries are met with suspicions. However, cleverly (and amusingly) when someone realises she's the former 'film star' Karen Page, she's suddenly allowed access to the dark world. It's not explicitly mentioned that Karen's been in the porn industry but the implication's pretty strong.

Good old Butch dashes off to see Matt to alert him of the problem and seeks reassurance from him. What follows is a terrific piece of writing. Butch shows how he's worried about the missing kids in the city - will they end up the same way as the girl? Will he end up this way? He thinks his mum won't even notice should he disappear. Matt pulls him to him and says, "I'd notice."

It's a lovely moment that is stunningly undermined by what happens next. Matt turns to leave but Butch has one more question. Dashing after him, he follows Matt into an alley where he catches him in a close embrace with Mary. Mary, not Karen. He's devastated. He had finally found an adult who he could look up to, who he could depend upon but he's trampled all over his trust by showing his own human frailty and his desire for Mary. "Poor Karen," Butch muses and then adds, "I hate him!"

It's a small but breathtaking moment. Where will Butch go to from here?

There's some terrific artwork in this issue from John jr. There's some lovely late 80s fashion moments, especially in a park scene early on. However, best of all is a terrific scene that invokes Superman where DD swoops over the city with the mistreated Karen in his arms.

At his best, John's stuff can be just wonderful.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Karen Page
Kingpin/Wilson Fisk

Typhoid Mary
Bullet
Lance
Butch (Fatboys)
Ammo
Bushwacker
Jet
Spit
Joe
Sheila

Rating: 9 out of 10

Daredevil 258

2011-10-22T19:41:00.002+01:00

I Heard the JungleBreathe byFabian Nicieza and Ron Lim

One SentenceOverview: WillieLincoln looks for Daredevil's protection when he becomes aware of a mysteriouskiller tracking down members of his old Vietnam platoon

Willie Lincoln's back! Buthere's hoping no diehard DD fans were holding their breath for his returnbecause his reappearance here occurs precisely 199 issues on (and 19 years)from his last guest spot in DD59. However, it's Willie's firstappearance in DD47 that's explicitly referenced here. For those not in theknow (and given that 19 year wait, one has to assume there were many back inthe day), Willie was a character who initially turned up, having returned homefor Vietnam, blinded for his troubles in that campaign.

That first story, by Stan Leeand Gene Colan, allowed the creators to contrast Willie's condition with Matt'sas well as make a comment on the hardship suffered by war veterans. This tale,told by fill-in writer, Fabian Nicieza, fills out that original story but givesit an interesting twist. Originally, in DD47, Willie turned up at a moraleboosting 'benefit' featuring a guest appearance by Daredevil (I guess the morepatriotic Cap or Iron Man was unavailable). He's dragged along by his pal, SamBirulin and already losing his sight - there's no back story to tell us exactlywhat happened. Fabian makes up for that lapse now by showing that Willie losthis sight protecting his comrades from an enemy grenade.

What immediately follows,however, is a tale that couldn't have been told even by the most liberalobjector to the war back in 1969. It is a tale that strongly references the culturalinterest in the plight of Vietnam veterans, especially in Hollywood movies, ledby the likes of Oliver Stone. 'Platoon' had hit the screens two years beforethis story, with Stanley Kubrick's 'Full Metal Jacket' the year before. Stone's'Born on the Fourth of July' and Brian de Palma's 'Casualties of War' wouldcome out the following year, 1989. All these pictures portrayed the conflict asan amoral mess and de Palma's picture, in particular, would show how youngAmerican soldiers were corrupted into committing horrendous acts, far beyondwhat one would condone.

This story's protagonist is aguy called the Bengal, who was just a boy when Willie Lincoln and his platoonwere burning up the Vietnamese jungle. In fact, it is he who witnesses an actof atrocity carried out by the Americans, when they vengefully burn down avillage in retaliation to Willie's blinding. It's not the worst thing they do,however, The Bengal is the only survivor of the massacre and grabs hold of thehelicopter that is lifting the American soldiers to safety. The most vicious ofthe bunch, Janes, spots him and ruthlessly, over a run of panels to increasethe impact, stamps down on his hand and lets him fall to his supposed death.

However, the Bengal does notdie. In fact, here he is two decades on all grown up (whilst Matt appears to bethe fresh faced young lawyer he was since his first meeting with Willie) andusing a telephone innovatively to take care of Willie's old pal, poor SamBirulin.

Grasping the moral ambiguityof the matter, Daredevil tackles the Bengal, whilst musing on the futility ofit all.

This passage may be anexplicit reference to another in DD47, where Stan and Gene regretted the lossof young American lives. Fabian takes things a stage further here, clearlyidentifying with the impact on the Vietnamese as well. It's not necessarily anoriginal thought, this was clearly in the air at the time and, more than adecade on from the conclusion of that war, there was acceptance in the media toacknowledge the same.

Still, whilst by no means aclassic, the story does pack a punch and continues the Daredevil tradition oflooking seriously at social issues. And, let's face it, it's always nice to seeyoung Mr Lincoln, huh?

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Willie Lincoln
The Bengal
Sam Birulin
Janes
Carl Brasel
Chin Fong
Talltrees
Rhodes

Rating: 7 out of 10

Daredevil 257

2011-10-19T21:56:00.003+01:00

The Bully by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Whilst Typhoid Mary seduces both the Kingpin and Matt Murdock, the Punisher and Daredevil tussle over what to do with the criminals over-running Hell's Kitchen

After a compelling piece of writing about sexual politics, Ann returns to another of her favourite themes, that of male machismo and control. However, whilst our previous story was vibrant and daring, this tale doesn't work quite as well. In some respects, the dynamic between DD and the Punisher has already been compellingly told by Frank Miller back in DD183 & DD184 in particular. Despite this, there's a close to shocking opening here when the Punisher comes across a group of crack dealers and, with the story's title 'The Bully' emblazoned on a splash page, lets rip with his machine gun. This is judge, jury and executioner and no resorting to establishing why.

Of course, this is a key difference between Frank Castle and Matt Murdock. Both men are on the trail of a guy called Alfred Coppersmith, who has become redundant because a computer system can do his job better. The bullies in question here are not the superheroes imposing their rule but the cold technology that is shedding Alfred of a reason to keep on the right side of the law. Ann builds a story with a foundation on a destroyed man, not a psychotic. Indeed, at the story's end, whilst Coppersmith has been clearly cited as a murderer, Matt tells him he nevertheless deserves a good defence because "society must take care of the people it crushes". This is an explicitly 'bleeding hearts' liberal viewpoint that, I guess, may not have gone well with every reader of the book.

Earlier though Alfred witnesses a long battle - for the right to take the mulleted murderer in - between the Punisher and Daredevil. It's a little strange to see Ann give so much time over to a bunch of fisticuffs but she does this with a very detached eye. There is no dialogue between the two protagonists, instead Alfred muses on their different worldviews and his own fate - this fight taking place over six long pages.

John sure had fun but I was slightly bemused at how prolonged this was, though have no doubt that Ann wanted to make a deliberate point here about male violence.

Elsewhere Typhoid Mary continues to appear and lights up each page she's on. Last issue I commented that the Kingpin had not given in to her charms. Well, turns out I spoke too soon. It's clear that he and Typhoid are making whoppee to some degree - and Typhoid makes it clear she's in charge of the dynamic.

So we have Kingpin having an affair with Typhoid and Matt having an affair with Mary. Interesting! Indeed, we move close to the realms of Greek tragedy when the Mary persona visits the Kingpin and Wilson becomes repelled when he is confronted by a woman whose eyes are only for Matt Murdock. Sheesh - this storyline's becoming one for the Freudian analysts!

Gratuitous Panel of the Month

More great late 80s artwork by JRjr - look at the mullet, thinning hair combo. And those horrible airpits too - yuck!

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Kingpin/Wilson Fisk

Typhoid Mary
The Punisher/Frank Castle
Bucko Leary
Alfred Coppersmith
Jackie

Rating: 6 out of 10

Daredevil 256

2011-10-15T18:54:00.000+01:00

Blindspots by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Matt finds himself increasingly drawn to the mysterious Mary as his court case representing Tyrone Janson draws to a close

Okay, before you start reading, make sure the heating's down, the's window open nearby and there's a glass of ice cold water in your hand. Why? Because this is hot stuff, baby! Ann's ramping up the sexual intrigue big time this issue and the pages drip with desire and jealous lust. And it's all served with a side order of guilt and ambivalence. Hmmm, just the way you like it.

It's very easy to read the current Typhoid Mary storyline at face value and come to the conclusion that Matt's being completely manipulated into an affair against his will. But is that the full story? I'm not sure it is and there's some great plotting here that hints at Matt's own emotions swinging like a pendulum.

This is evidenced early on with Matt on his way to work thinking about how Karen loves him whilst simultaneously his enhanced senses are honing in on Mary - well may he ask, "Who protects her from me?" Matt knows he's being pulled into something he seems powerless to resist. But is he powerless? Isn't he actively pursuing his desire as well?

Typhoid Mary, when later in conversation with the Kingpin, says something very telling. "You told me Murdock was so moral," Mary teases Mr Fisk. "Well, I'm finding him as willing to cheat as any guy." This may indicate that Matt may be complying as some level with the affair.

As for Wilson, even he is finding his new employee difficult to resist. There's a terrific scene where she plays off her regular boyfriend/sex (and violence) slave, Rip, against the mob leader. Unusually for the Kingpin, he appears to lose his cool as she flirts. "Why did you do that, sir?" our seductress asks. "You don't know? Well, baby, I do..." To be fair to Mr Fisk, and in contrast to Mr Murdock, he isn't jumping out of his seat to do some lip locking.

Heck, never mind Matt, Fisk and Rip. Mary's smouldering sex appeal is even putting statues of angels in compromising positions, as evidenced by this wonderful panel!

As their sordid goings on increase, Matt and Mary become less and less hidden about their desire. Poor Tyrone is once again the gooseberry in quite a tragi-comic little panel. "Guess they figure having a blind kid around is just the same as being alone," he muses ruefully.

What's interesting in all this is that Matt's not the only one feeling guilty about what's going on - Mary is too. There's a great run of panels showing Matt and Mary doing the same thing - coming home, jumping into the shower, with the same feelings coursing through their heads. They feel the need to get clean - and mainly because of the influence of Typhoid.

Indeed, this scene immediately follows Matt and Typhoid tangling in a sewer, with Matt feeling repulsed by a woman he is not quite aware is the same he's keen to toss between the sheets. There's an intriguing, uncomfortable line whilst they battle together. "I love the hate in your eyes," says Typhoid (erroneously, given that DD's costume doesn't have eyeslits, but we'll let that go). "It's so close to something else..." A very bold statement, hinting at the darkness behind lust and violence.

Through all this, Matt continues to represent Tyrone in court and has a bit of a result as the case goes his way. A thrilled Ross Janson turns to his attorney and tells him, "You're a good man, Matt Murdock". You can feel yourself cringe as you hear Matt reply uncertainly, "Sure. Yeah, sure." and the panel cuts to Mary lurking in the background. Ouch!

Now, I know what you're thinking. Never mind the subtext, what's actually going on in this issue? Really? You really want to know after all this? To be honest, this issue is all about the uneasy, heartbreaking desire of unbridled lust and that's much more important than anything else (though the story does involve a female juror being ambivalent over whether or not to take a bribe, which is, of course, all about the moral lines individuals cross and may just have a teeny weeny bit to do with the story's main theme).

Ultimately, though, it's intriguing to ask, is this a story about one woman's seemingly hypnotic desire over a bunch of men? Or is it about how men are so easily led astray by their lust for an attractive woman? I'm not sure what Ann's intentions were, but given her intelligent writing to date, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there's more going on here than at first meets the eye.

There's a ton of other stuff here that I could draw out, practically every page makes a great emotional point. Some truly excellent, thoughtful writing with Ann unafraid to tackle some difficult aspects of sexual politics. Now switch the shower on and turn it right down to its coolest setting...

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Foggy Nelson
Karen Page
Kingpin/Wilson Fisk
Glorianna O'Breen

Typhoid Mary
Tyrone Janson
Ross Janson
David
Rip
Judge McCarr
Ambivalent juror

Rating: 10 out of 10

Daredevil 255

2011-10-13T16:20:00.000+01:00

Temptation by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: Typhoid Mary continues her seduction of Matt Murdock whilst the Kelco Industries trial begins

Hot on the heels of his beginning to be seduced at the end of the last issue, this story's title, 'Temptation' gives the reader a good idea about where things are unfortunately heading. Yes, the more sympathetic part of Typhoid Mary's personality is on show here early on when she brings Tyrone Janson (first time we get his surname this issue - wonder where they got the name...) on a visit to see Matt.

What follows is another brilliant dramatic sequence which would perhaps be more at home in a soap opera than a comic book. But it works really well. Whilst poor unsighted Tyrone stumbles around the office, Matt is mesmerised by his carer. Mary pulls the erstwhile lawyer close to her, whilst in the background the answering machine clicks on and one Karen Page leaves a lovey dovey message, amping up the pathos as Mat and Mary finally embrace and kiss passionately. And Tyrone's still wondering where everyone is. Great little scene.

Interestingly, when Daredevil encounters Typhoid Mary for the first time later on in the book, he has no idea that this is the same gal. Of course, that runs counter to Matt's intuitive powers. But don't worry, Typhoid explains everything - "When I'm that stupid, sappy Mary I have a completely different smell, heartbeat, gesture, pulse rate... no one can tell we're the same woman." For dramatic purposes, handy that...

Typhoid reveals herself to be a well read, superior type, getting into a philosophical wrangle with Matt in what is the only real action sequence in the book. I can imagine a lot of readers raised on the biff pam pow school of superheroics being frustrated that a potential punch up being rendered impotent by a brief precis on Nietzsche.

This battle's soon over and we're left with probably the first real significant courtroom contretemps in the whole run of Daredevil and, heck, Matt's not even involved. A character who's been lurking around in the background in the past few issues is a young guy called David, a clean faced lawyer, probably straight out of college and with the kind of high ideals that Matt and Foggy had when they first approached the bar. Early on, he hits Matt with quite a good, caustic gag aimed at his profession. "Why are scientists experimenting on lawyers instead of laboratory rats?"

"Because there are some things rats just won't do!" ...No? Well, I thought it was funny.

Here David takes centre stage when Matt uses him as his 'front' in his ongoing battle with Kelco Industries and his attempts to achieve justice for Tyrone. Defending is a certain Franklin Nelson, suddenly panicking when he sees Karen turn up with the blinded boy. What is interesting in this passage is that it reads very well in terms of being even handed in its arguments - Foggy gets reasonable lines that could come from a genuine court case as opposed to looking like a moron - and the scenes feel like something Grisham could have come up with.

That it plays out in the business end of a comic book, where the brightly coloured boys usually sock it to each other, is another indication of the maturity of the writing and that Daredevil appears to be aimed at a slightly older audience than other books. It depends, I guess, on how much you love courtroom dramas whether you really dig this issue or not - I'm kind of agnostic on them but this is still a pretty good read. What it does signify is that the lives of the characters remain central to the book's concerns and that's always a good thing.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Foggy Nelson
Karen Page
Kingpin/Wilson Fisk

Typhoid Mary
David
Tyrone Janson
Ross Janson
Judge McCarr

Rating: 8 out of 10

Daredevil 254

2011-10-12T19:44:00.001+01:00

Typhoid by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr

One Sentence Overview: The Kingpin seizes a chance to get under Daredevil's skin when he encounters the troubled Typhoid Mary

There's a new player in town... and she's a little bit like Elektra. Well, yes, she is but Typhoid Mary's a terrific character and there are a couple of things about her that elevate her from the sense that this is Ann merely repeating a similar scenario that Frank Miller gave us in his first historic run back at the beginning of the 80s.

But before we get to her, let's discuss her look for a moment. One thing I've really noticed about John Romita Jr's art is how it captures the time in which it was drawn. We've already had Cain's mullet from a couple of issues back as well as the fact that the likes of Karen's junkie friend, Hilda, has had something of a contemporaneous makeover. However, with Typhoid Mary, we really get a sense of the look of the late 80s.

That big hairspray draining coiffure was very much of its time (and actually John had previously given Rogue a very similar 'do when on his X-Men run which I think immediately preceeded his Daredevil stint). But the clothes too give away the time - perhaps not so much the fishnets that are quite often (let's face it) the clothing of choice of female comic book miscreants, but rather the baggy armed shoulder padded top, the flashy belt and the stilletto heeled ankle boots all give away Mary's era. It all of course dates her horribly and makes her almost clownish in appearance (though Alex Maleev does a sterling job of updating her look a couple of decades down the line). But she's still a pretty formidable character.

It's very interesting to see Ann deliberately introduce her as a kind of 'alpha female'. I'm not sure if this was a comment on how unrealistic a lot of women characters were written in comic books or whether Ann just liked the irony of uber focused Typhoid (which she went on to contrast with her alter ego, Mary) but it makes for fun reading. Like a spider pouncing on a fly, she entraps a small time hood named Rip and effortlessly seduces him. Rip is perturbed - "You treat me like you're the man and I'm some girl" - but despite his protestations he lets her on top - literally.

Rip isn't the only one to fall for Mary's charms but let's pause a moment and bring the object of her affections into play.

One of Ann's strong points as a writer is sticking with seemingly incidental characters or plot points that didn't appear to be central - I'm loving how the Fatboys and Hilda continue to turn up in the background. However, the reason for Matt returning to (quasi) legal practice was a tragic event that occurred to a young lad called Tyrone back in DD248 and the boy is still playing on his mind. There's a great subplot here that shows Matt in perhaps a poor light. Reflecting on how Stick trained him, he decides to help Tyrone. However, a flashback reveals that Stick's training was, well, let's just say it's probably just as well Social Services weren't around whilst Stick was introducing his exercises, involving as it did a sightless boy very close to a dangerous cliff.

Matt's well intentioned but his passion is misplaced - his desperate desire to help Tyrone endangers the lad. I like how Ann writes this passage - it feels like a genuine thing that someone like Matt would do and yet it also shows us that our hero doesn't always make the right call.

And, oh boy, is that demonstrated in the fabulous finale in the issue. Typhoid Mary's desire to make her presence felt has brought her to the attention of one Mr Fisk, who, upon learning of her unusual poisonous powers and multiple personality disorder, is more than keen to recruit her to seduce Matt Murdock. In a mere couple of frames, Mary's empathic ability draws Matt to her.

It's a great sequence that perhaps says a lot about how men are often led by their nether regions no matter how good a relationship they're in. It's perhaps a sequence that a female writer nails better than a male one.

Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Foggy Nelson
Karen Page
Kingpin/Wilson Fisk
Glorianna O'Breen

Typhoid Mary
Stick
Rip
Tyrone
Eddie

Rating: 9 out of 10

The Worst of Daredevil?

2011-10-01T15:47:00.003+01:00

Blogger has been giving its users statistics on its most read posts for some time. However, it's recently updated its format and I've noticed they've now added the number of times each post has been viewed next to the post itself. Which intrigued me. It caused me to wonder which was the least viewed issue of Daredevil and was it a particularly poor issue?

Well, the honour of least popular review of Daredevil with a grand total of seven (yes, that's right, a mere 7!) page views is....

Daredevil 46!

A little tale about Daredevil and the Jester. I gave it 4 out of 10, so it's not great, neither is it the worst. Obviously eminently forgettable, though, given its lack of traffic. However, now you know, why not check it out... and make another review the Worst of Daredevil instead!