Daredevil Message Board

[pbblair]

Why no threads on this yet? Weird.

I am very pleased with this issue. A few details I liked:
-First panel: the assistant editor of this issue is mentioned on the newspaper cover page!
-Lily meets Foggy: is that a ROSE in the background? Nice.

All in all, pleasantly cinematic... good pace. DD's thought process as he mindlessly beats up bad guys is a nice touch... he can practically do it with his eyes closed (figuratively, and literally I guess).

As the mystery stalker gets closer to Milla's personal space I become more uncomfortable. His POV on Milla in the waiting room is excellent storytelling.

The car crash sequence was great. I am sad that this is happening with Melvin, though. He's been used by previous writers as an example of a bad guy-turned-good thanks to Matt's hard work. I wish there were more of those who didn't get sucked back in all the time.

[Kuljit Mithra]

I'm interested to see who you guys think is behind this latest mystery... since Brubaker has hinted it's an old DD villain.

From his interview on CBR:

Readers will most certainly be paying attention to the bits and pieces of future installments of "To the Devil, His Due," as they try to deduce the identity of the mastermind behind the crime wave in Hell's Kitchen and Gladiator's blackout inducing murderous rages. "It's a familiar villain," Brubaker said. "I have to credit Ralph Macchio for pointing out this old Daredevil villain. I had read just about every issue of 'Daredevil' at this point, so I knew this villain, but I actually hadn't considered much of them. I was talking to Ralph about 'Daredevil' one day and he just sort of offhandedly suggested this character as someone who could have been a major Daredevil villain and he pointed out that up until Frank Miller, nobody really considered Bullseye to be Daredevil's arch nemesis. So I though, huh – taking an old Daredevil villain that has never been really seen as an arch nemesis and trying to make them a really cool and messed up villain might be fun."

My guess is Death-Stalker, since he'd be cool to see alive again and he can exist outside of "normal reality". Plus he has a past with Gladiator with the Sallis Papers. But watch it be Mind-Wave. Or it could even be Ringmaster, back to finish whatever he started in Playing to the Camera.
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Kuljit Mithra
www.manwithoutfear.com

[harryhausen]

I read that quotation, too, and have been wondering about the villain. All of your guesses seem plausible, but I'm thinking Purple Man: a) I gather he recently escaped (in Omega Flight or something?) and b) look at the scene in DD#96 with the mysterious "fellow patient" talking to Milla - purple jacket on Ms. Donovan-Murdock, kind of a lavender-gray tint to the whole page, emphasis in the dialogue on concepts of thinking and time? Also, in DD #95, when the dude is tailing Milla, he says, "I think" at the end of his call - more emphasis on thinking and thought, being unsure?

Could he be controlling Potter?

[Kuljit Mithra]

I was thinking Purple Man and Mr. Fear as well.

The clue has to be about "think", since the guy in the office with Milla also says "What do you think". Even the Assistant D.A. and the Doctor in the prison with Potter all say versions of "think". Hmmm....
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Kuljit Mithra
www.manwithoutfear.com

[CyberGhostface]

Does anyone think Gladiator's daughter will be brought up?

[tony2074]

my forst thoughts were purple man as well.

and this was another awesome issue. ive got to say we are very lucky to read on eof the most consistently brilliant books put out every month.

i also like how we are being drip fed clues and possible clues, making it interesting to hear all the different theories that may actually be plausible. just hope its not someone totally from leftfield though....
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[fox_limbo]

Now, if rgj would have "quantified" this thread with a poll on a grading scale (as he did with the last couple of issues), I would have clicked on the "A+"...

After last issue (an issue that I felt was a solid "A", but not quite an A+), I was expecting mister Ed Brubaker, somewhere alone this arc to nail a homerun. I didn't have to wait long to see that.

Given how the chess-board was set up last issue, DD#96 took off and ran with the story-thread. Given the story that is established, this issue was pitch-perfect.... okay, let me say it again, just in case you missed it... PERRR-FECT!

The intrigue deepens, the dialogue was spot-on, the mystery thickens... all of this was very, very well done.

The only thing I am missing, though, is the characterization of Melvin Potter. This isn't the Frank Miller / Brian Michael Bendis character that I've reluctantly come to appreciate. Then again, Melvin Potter isn't entirely himself, is he?... so, I can accept that. I am just not responding to his character with any appreciation or compassion. He is just a regular ol' schmuck and not the lovable loser that I have come to appreciate. But that is the only (albeit insignificant) grumble I have with this issue.

There has been discussion here of who this arc's undisclosed mastermind really is (hmm, didn't we have one of those "mastermind" types, say, three or four issues ago?... understand it's not a criticism, just an off-the-cuff observation). While reading (and re-reading) the issue, I felt "this" mastermind" is Death-Stalker (I would love to see this character return), but the theory of it being Mind-wave makes sense. Now, granted I know absolutely nothing of Mind-wave (and the whatchamicallit, uh "Think-Tank", all I see when I see those words is Pete on his proverbial soapbox preaching about this villain on the messageboard). Sadly, the only pre-Frank Miller exposure I've had to Daredevil have been the Essential Daredevil volumes, and since I have not seen any "tank-thinking" going on in volumes 1-3, I know nothing of of Mind-Wave. But I find it interesting that the continual use of the word "think" may definately be a large, looming clue in all of this.

I enjoyed Milla's moments, and I find myself fearing for her safety. Escalating the palpable dread of Milla being stalked as she walks along the sidewalk.

The return of Lilly Lucca was nicely done (just as it was pointed out earlier in this thread, there are the flowers in the background, as she meets and shakes hands with Foggy... hmmm).

It seems to me, that Ed Brubaker is hitting his stride on Daredevil. He has offically made Daredevil his own, or at the very least, stampped his "voice" on the title. For me, this was the first time I saw it as Ed Brubaker's Daredevil (and maybe I'm a bit slow on the up-take and perhaps I ride the short-bus and all), but reading this issue was the first time I am seeing it as this. As it's been pointed out, Ed (more or less) wrapped up Bendis's run and he is now entrenching his own direction, voice and flare into the character(s), and that is exciting to see.

The artwork was exquisit in DD#95, and the vivacious coloring breathed added life, and it continued in DD#96. This arc, as early as it is into it, this the very best Michael Lark, Stefano Gaudiano and Matt Hollingsworth has done on the title. Just as Ed Brubaker is making Daredevil his own, it seems this art team is doing the same, taking these characters visually as their own, and lending us their eyes to mingle in Matt Murdock's world.

DD#96 is a great issue and "To The Devil, His Due" is, so far, a great arc. Wonderfull done, all the way around. I can't wait to see what happens next...

[harryhausen]

Oh, hey, on the Purple Man front - recall that V. Fisk told DD that the perfume Lily wore was made by an "old friend" and, prior to that, Lily said it had "something to do with pheromones." That ties neatly into Purple Man, it seems.

Wouldn't it be great if this whole thing with Fisk(s) was some sort of uber-plot that involved the Purple Man from the outset? Maybe even Ms. Fisk is a tool in the machinations? It would be cool on several levels - explaining some of the (tiny) leaps in logic of Vanessa's scheme and flowing into the stuff Brubaker said about overlapping plots and arcs over the coming year or so.

Maybe they want to "reset" Matt so they scramble him harder than ever.

[the gael]

I have read the whole interview, and I can definitively say that there is only two possible choices for the mastermind.

As much as I love the death stalker ( the character has so much potential and he is probably my favorite DD villian ), I can say that what we have seen from the mastermind isn't his modus operandi at all.

the most logical is the purple man. If brubaker revamps him, I would be pleased. I never liked the character in the DD book. But making him less purple and more of a puppet master who used innocent people for his own profit ( I have learned that bendis made him a creepy rapist, it's a good way to begin ) and you can have an interesting and dangerous villian.

As I read the whole interview, I saw an other possibility. One of the line was very ambiguous. Did melvin kill because someone obliged him to kill by mind control ( purple man ) or did he did what he did because of... fear ( hello mister fear )

It's not the most probable guy but it's still possible. pheromones and a great hate to both DD and kingpin ( who betrayed him in the past during the karen case ). If I was mister Fear, distroying Matt's life and poisoning Vanessa ( who can buy the whole " karma " thing ) would be such a sweet revenge. And if brubaker could clear the whole cranston mess ( if it's possible ), the DD fans will be happy. ( Cranston is a great foe to both matt and DD, but how does he survive his fall to be alive again in DD 375 ??? ).

[djsweet]

[Dave Wallace]

[Clayton Blind Love]

Crime-Wave aka Hollis. Foggy's assistant from way back in the day. Daredevil Vol.1 #58-60. This is my way out there pick. Of course, I am expecting Death-Stalker and, a little lesser, Purple Man. Purple Man has already been reinvented thanks to Bendis (Alias) and Loeb/Sale (DD: Yellow), so I think Bru might not use him. Mr. Fear could be cool.

C.
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[The Overlord]

[Neilan]

The Purple Man seemed like the obvious choice and that's why I don't think it's him. I think Brubaker mentioned something about taking an old villain and making him cooler. Like many have already mentioned, I have to go with Mr. Fear. His 'abilities' have never included mind control, per se, but the whole pheromone based perfume seemed to reek of him. I always thought that he had a good look for a villain, but was never top grade. I'd love to see what a Bru makeover could do for him. The other choice, in the back of my mind, would be the Mandrill. He has pheromone based mind control powers, but I think they only work on women.
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[The Overlord]