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DD Book Club - A Hanging for a Hero
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Dimetre
Underboss


Joined: 16 Feb 2006
Posts: 1366
Location: Toronto

PostPosted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 11:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Marv Wolfman has been leading up to this issue for such a long time, and the journey here hasn't always been pleasant. Time has been squandered with Uri Geller and the Torpedo, and there have also been bizarre pacing problems. Thankfully this issue is so much fun, it's all been worth it.

A lot of that is due to the Jester and Daredevil being written to the peak of their intelligence -- especially the Jester. Under Stan Lee and Gene Colan, I remember the Jester being amongst Daredevil's most cunning and formidable villains, and I honestly didn't expect Wolfman to be able to match that. But he proved up to the task. Whenever things even begin to go wrong for the Jester, he comes up with a quick scheme to turn things back in his direction, and that scheme often works. This forces Daredevil to up his game, and it makes a great match of wits.

John Buscema and Jim Mooney are back on art duties, and they craft a fantastic visual feast. Don Warfield's colours pop off the page (mostly reds, greens and purples). The highlight of this issue is easily the four pages where Daredevil navigates the Jester's Murder Maze, and moments like that have to be a gift to artists. We typed about how much fun John Romita Jr. had to be having during Ann Nocenti's "Daredevil in Hell" run. This isn't as crazy as that, but for 1976 a Jester Jack-in-the-box had to be a treat to depict.

I have only a few nitpicks. When Daredevil is gassed and thrown into the Murder Maze, it doesn't really make sense that when he regains consciousness he doesn't turn around and bust through the door to attack them. Of course we want to see the Murder Maze, so for the plot's sake it works. I also didn't buy that Daredevil could read the neon sign reading "Freedom." I think he could feel the heat from the sign, and tell that it's neon. Maybe, given time, he could make out the shapes, but Daredevil reads the sign instantly.

The on-air interview in the epilogue is is a fantastic message for our current crazy times.

Quote:
...I think all people should learn to get their news from many sources -- TV, radio, newspapers, magazines -- to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future. A well-informed public is the best weapon against blatant lies -- from wherever they originate.


All of that is still so true and so important. I think a lot of the problems people face today is that they choose media sources that validate their existing points of view. A proper media diet consists of multiple outlets with rigid journalistic standards. It's sad that in the 44 years since this issue hit the stands, it feels like the media landscape has regressed.

I think this issue is great, and while I found the preceding issues very shaky, this one paid off the set-up so well, it erased some of the stink from the weaker installments. I would give the entire story a 3.5, but this issue gets a 4.5 from me.
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Mike Murdock
Golden Age


Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Posts: 1750

PostPosted: Wed Nov 04, 2020 8:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here we are, the final story in this arc. In some ways, I could have started this even sooner because the fake news stuff actually stretches back quite far. The issue opens with some actual optimism for America as the Jester pushes things too far. Either that, or he's really that bad of an actor and he broke their suspension of disbelief. Of course, Blake Tower had something to do with it as well.

We have a bit of soap opera drama for a few pages, but the real draw of this issue is the murder maze. I think they do a very good job of making each interaction fun, unique, and suspenseful. My only real complaint is the part where he can "see" a neon sign. Even the fight after with Jester is quite good.

The epilogue is the fundamental message of this story: (1) Don't believe everything you see, (2) Check multiple sources to prevent misinformation, (3) Stay informed on the issues, (4) People are fundamentally good and can't be made to do something bad. In 2020, I feel like it's a good message, but people are more skeptical about number 4.

Still, this is a substantial improvement over the last few issues. Four Stars.
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I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!
Thomas More - A Man for All Seasons
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fubarthepanda
Flying Blind


Joined: 01 Jul 2020
Posts: 74

PostPosted: Thu Nov 12, 2020 1:01 pm    Post subject: DD #137 Reply with quote

Mixed feelings on the finale! For the most part, I liked what Wolfman was trying to do here, both in the prescient warning of Fake News, as well as having an extended storyline that ran for the better part of a year (first as sub-plots and then as a multi-part endcap).

But there's some hurried scripting in the finale, beginning with DD's loosey-goosey escape from the Jester's loose, followed by his rather convenient discovery of the Jester's base of operations, and then the clumsy way that he was captured (again) and thrown into the Murder Maze, etc. It's almost as if there should have been another issue, but Wolfman needed to wrap things up for the Ghost Rider crossover that was coordinated in advance...

That said, it's kind of a shame that the Jester wasn't elevated to the upper sphere of DD's rogues gallery given multi-part saga's here and during the Stan Lee run. He obviously has Joker-esque potential, but outside of some one-off and supporting appearances (most recently in the Bendis and Waid runs), he never amounted to much. (Guardian Devil would have been so much better with an actual DD villian like the Jester instead of borrowing Mysterio from Spider-Man!)

Anyway, not Wolfman's strongest work, but an interesting footnote in DD's history (and, if it got John Buscema to do some interiors, then it's elevated to a reluctant win).
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