Daredevil Message Board

[Dimetre]

[Foggy's Pal]

[Darkdevil]

I would concur with everyone's previous sentiments given about this issue, in regard to the scenes of Matt chasing down the Fixer and his crew to his growing internal battle of controlling his inner passions. Romita's art here continues to shine, the full page shot of Matt leaping in mid-air as he joins in the night dance is amazing.

This issue contains one of my favorite scenes of the entire story, simple in it's execution but so revealing about Matt's character as this point in his life. It occurs after he picks up Elektra's scent and he follows her into the park. I love the third-person narrator's simple description of Matt's effort with the line, "Provided this blind man can cross the street". It carries a slight sarcastic tone yet it also seems to convey a sense of overconfidence of Matt's abilities.

This is exemplified in the following shot of Matt crossing the street by leaping over a cab with seeming grace only to have his foot brush the cabbie's roof sign, throwing him off and making him fall. It highlights Matt's possible overconfidence in his abilities and shows that he is far from perfect (it also goes back to what some have mentioned over how Matt was thrown from the roof of the Fixer's car after smashing it's window instead of leaping clear).

Kuljit mentioned awhile back the controversy of Matt's age during this time. A telling sign, I think, is found in the college scenes immediately after the Fixer's scenes. The simple caption reads "one year later", which would make Matt, what, around 18-19 years old? Yet during the Fixer's scenes, he seems younger, perhaps 15 or younger. It's an odd discrepancy even though, for me at least, it doesn't detract from the drama and actions of those scenes. It also makes me wonder, where was Matt living during that time before he arrived at college? How was he supporting himself? And I would have to think, given his intense studies, that he was able to attend college on some scholarships at least.

So, in issue #2, from Matt dealing with his inner demons, releasing years worth of rage in avenging his father's murder to how this new woman, this Elektra displays the capacity to unlock those urges within Matt (in such a primal way, the narration is quite exquisite in this regard), Miller and Romita continue with the intense energy that issue #1 began with, terrific issue.

[Mike Murdock]

Very good point about Matt's overconfidence. I think that's true. And it shows a Matt who isn't quite Daredevil yet.

As I pointed out above, Matt was explicitly written in the script to be 16 when he was blinded. Romita just drew him younger. I think it's more visually powerful for him to be younger, though, fwiw.
_________________
Matt Murdock's cooler twin brother

Not sure what to read next? Check out the Book Club for some ideas!

I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!
Thomas More - A Man for All Seasons

[Mike Murdock]

Next up:

Issue 3-



For those following along in paperback, start with the full page of Elektra, end with the four pages of Don Rigoletto (the one with the rose visible).

Due 1/24
_________________
Matt Murdock's cooler twin brother

Not sure what to read next? Check out the Book Club for some ideas!

I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!
Thomas More - A Man for All Seasons

[Foggy's Pal]

Another great issue with some amazing pacing. I can't remember a comic recently that moved so quickly and fluidly while being filled with a lot of story. Miller is really at the top of his game here.
I really enjoyed the dramatic irony here as we get to see what Elektra is truly capable of murdering five people in an alley, while Matt finds her to be a fun loving girl. She even tells him, and he doesn't believe her. Hell, even Stick "visits" to warn him. While short in panel and page, the romance is believable. I think it works because Matt has lived a rough life of loss, so this would surely be tempting.
The switch from the romance to the death of her father was jarring, but set up the direction of the future story, which I'm guessing was the war mentioned by Stick as well. Her father was a part of a bigger game, which will apparently will include the Kingpin as he enters the story in cool fashion.
It looks like all the pieces are coming together quickly. I really liked this issue (even if I don't love the art of Elektra)

Btw, interesting that Elektra and Echo both play piano, and have a page or two dedicated to it.

[Mike Murdock]

Alright, I'll be honest. I didn't like this one as much. I think a lot of it has to do with the change in Elektra's character from how she was previously portrayed.

The story starts with the demons that Elektra insights in Matt. Just as he is saying he can control his addiction, he's playing out his addiction. And it leads a guy getting kicked through glass and falling what seems like forever to the ground. Even before she's explicitly described as crazy, she really comes off as crazy. Enjoying him breaking in and then sneaking out herself to have sex with him. Really, all this is a change in the character, who came off as cold and calculating not manic. And it was her encounters with the Hand that caused that. I get that she was a free spirit, but I wonder why her character was changed this much (really, the comparisons to Typhoid Mary, to me, are more pronounced here, after Typhoid was created, than anything in the original version of Elektra).

Still, he shows the good with the bad. She might be poison, as Stick says, but she's also someone whos hares his spirit, who makes him happy. There's a lovely shot of them together swinging on ropes (that, to me, reminds me of Matt with Black Widow in an earlier comic). The narrative is different. It's Elektra's inner-demons that she believes caused the death of her father and Matt thinks it's his breaking of the rules that makes him unhappy. The original Elektra story had a nice theme that I think is lost here. In that one, they debate whether the law is enough. Elektra doesn't respect any system that could allow her father to die. The idea that she's a foreigner studying political science contrasts nicely with Matt studying the law. It's a difference in philosophy that leads to their different paths, one a vigilante, the other an assassin. One fighting to protect and ensure society is functioning, the other accepting that might makes right and one has to simply be strong and survive. To me, that's a more fitting Elektra than this crazy Elektra, but this story is a more personal story and the inner-demons of both characters are more central. With that, it's Matt's guilt about breaking the rules that keeps him grounded more than anything else.

The ending is nice. I like the Godfather.

I think there's some good moments. Judged alone, they work quite well. The themes that Miller chooses to explore are handled masterfully. On the other hand, there's something a little unnecessarily psychotic about the whole thing that rubs me the wrong way. Particularly when it's difficult not to judge it in the context of everything that's come before. I'll give it Four Stars, though.
_________________
Matt Murdock's cooler twin brother

Not sure what to read next? Check out the Book Club for some ideas!

I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!
Thomas More - A Man for All Seasons

[Dimetre]

I have to agree with the bulk of what Mike Murdock typed.

Miller and Romita's depiction of Elektra in this issue seems to be indicative of a lot of Miller's women from the 90s onward: sexually voracious, crazy and ultra-violent. She's the same as a lot of women in Sin City. Elektra's fight in the alley is a slightly better written fight than Black Canary's in All-Star Batman and Robin. It makes me uncomfortable reading female characters written so one-note. As Mike Murdock said, she is crazy before the alley fight. Romita certainly draws her that way. What are those lines running from her lips to the end of her cheeks? This issue is her last appearance in this series. What does this character care about? Some would suggest her father, but she says a total of six words to him in this series, and doesn't even look at him when she's speaking them. Really, it's just Matt. There's really not much to her.

That's so different from Miller's initial Daredevil run in the early 80s. She wasn't a crazy person. She was a smart athletic girl with whom Matt had a lot in common. Back then, in the space of a few pages, Miller depicted a deep, meaningful college love affair. When we see the event that causes her to leave, it's tragic, not only because of how it hurt her, but also because we know the road it started her down, leading her, someone Matt loved, to become everything he stands against.

In Man Without Fear, Miller and Romita don't even show the event that causes Elektra to leave!

And, I'm sorry, but Matt isn't an idiot. No matter how hot a woman is, and no matter how into her Matt might be, if she says, "I killed five men last week," he should react appropriately. It should at the very least prompt a serious discussion. Matt isn't this stupid.

Miller had some good moments in this issue. I've always loved, "Your ribs can flex. Let them." The introduction of Kingpin was well done too.

Romita still does a great job drawing Matt's shoes. However, in this issue, I think he was making a conscious attempt to replicate Miller's art style circa 1993, particularly during the alley fight. The African-American woman was particularly Milleresque in a sloppy way. I didn't realize she was a woman until female pronouns started being thrown around.

Maybe too much bad Miller has been published since I first read this, and that alley fight seems to foreshadow some of his most atrocious work to come.

[james castle]

[admiralpetty]

I have to agree with the criticisms of some of the other forum members on this issue. The treatment of Elektra makes this my least favorite issue. To be honest, I found the original story much more interesting(although somewhat cliche). This version of Elektra has no real connection to the Elektra from Marvel's main continuity(perhaps owing to the fact that this story was originally a movie script). The one area where it succeeds is in showing the passion that so many young lovers show in their first (and often doomed) relationships.

It is also nice to see how it shows the effects of the relationship on Matt(and the unhealthy patterns it draws him back into). The Kingpin scene is also quite excellent and makes one eager to read the next issue. Art wise, it is as enjoyable as previous issues, but I particularly like the way that Romita draws Kingpin in this series.

3 out of 5

[Mike Murdock]

Next up:

Issue 4



Start with the fullspread shot of the Kingpin
End with Matt running and the words "make no sound" and "concentrate."

Due 1/31
_________________
Matt Murdock's cooler twin brother

Not sure what to read next? Check out the Book Club for some ideas!

I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!
Thomas More - A Man for All Seasons

[Dragonbat]

Once again, I am awed by the pacing. Virtually every panel advances the story. Loved the fight by the schoolyard. This is the first time I've seen Battlin' Jack Murdock in a pseudo-DD costume (though I recently stumbled upon a reference when I was Googling).

I do love Miller's Kingpin. And it's great to see Matt start to come into his own.

My one beef is the minor quibble I keep coming back to: inconsistent hair color. Though we're getting more of the red/reddish-blond, the last pages show bright yellow hair coming out from behind the mask. (Yes, I did say it was minor).

4.5 stars from me.

[DesignDevil]

I'm gonna comment on issue 3 and 4 since I forgot to critique issue 3.

Issue 3: 4/5 stars
Miller and Romita continue to be on fire. As others have said, the one problem which brings the issue down is Elektra. I don't have a problem with her being changed from her original version that much. I kinda like her being a little crazy and hinting at her future darkness. I think Miller just went overboard with it. The scene of her killing the people in the alley should have been left out, or at least more ambiguous. For too many pages the series switches focus from Matt Murdock just for a gratuitous fight scene. It should have been just a few panels of her realizing she's being followed and then cut to the next day. So when she says she killed 5 people, we don't "know" for sure that she did. Just my 2 cents.

The rest of the issue was amazing as ever. I don't have any problem with Matt being a little too head over heels for Elektra. I remember being 18-19 in college. Myself and everyone else was a horny idiot.

This is when Miller started really recycling stories elements. The sequence of Matt going to Elektra's home was repeated almost note for note by Miller again in A Dame to Kill For around the same time. Hero obsessed with woman follows her to heavily guarded mansion home. Gets wounded. Goes back home to find her waiting there. They screw their brains out.

Issue 4 is back fully on track. 5/5
I like the fact that Miller had Matt working at a law firm in another city briefly after finishing law school. That makes so much more sense than he and Foggy starting their own firm right out of law school. Him being drawn back to "fighting the bullies" when he meets back up with Foggy and helps him with his case is great.

As others have already said over and over, the pacing Miller and Romita bring is just masterful.

I've always thought Mickey would be a great character to reintroduce into Matt's life. Of course that would mean acknowledging MWOF as somewhat official. Come on though, she knows his name and that he has "magic powers" and grew up in The Kitchen. There's no way she wouldn't know he's Daredevil immediately once DD showed up in town. You could have her show back up now or have an "untold" story set pretty much any time in Matt's past and use her. She was 14 in this story, she'd be 26 or 27 now. You could do anything with her.

[Mike Murdock]

The opening has a nice menace to it. You get the sense of a wave of terror over New York City and even greater danger ahead with the Kingpin's assistant, Larks.

I said before I would comment on this so I'll point out that Frank Miller was the first writer who seemed to realize that undergraduate and law school are not the same thing. Here, Matt goes to Columbia undergrad and then Harvard for Law School. Having him go to (what was at the time) the number one law school shows how great he is at the law. But, of course, success in the law usually leads to entering a big law firm and a big law firm is often seen by many as a straightjacket. It's a good way to make money, but it's unfullfilling work (they take the best and the brightest and have them do meanial tasks for years). I like the meeting with Foggy, the idea that Foggy is fighting the good fight, and the idea that Matt realizes he can do good as a lawyer (as opposed to just doing well). To me, that moment is a nice little moment because it helps cement the idea that Matt Murdock can be a hero while just being a lawyer (yeah, I'm biased in that regard).

I like the character of Mickey. A girly who was like Matt in some ways. Together, they get a little friendship together. I missed it the first time, but it appears they actually met regularly over a period of time (I had always thought they only met once). The idea that she would be kidnapped is a bit contrived, but that's the only complaint there. But I love the fullpage shot of Matt standing in the rain with the parents thinking there's no one who can help them. It's truly the hero moment of the story so far.

Good action and great suspense. It really builds up at the end to just when you hit the stopping point!!! Oh well, something to look forward to next week. The artwork sells the action well. My favorite is when Larks is shooting at Matt and he jumps away. But there's other good moments throughout. Five Stars.
_________________
Matt Murdock's cooler twin brother

Not sure what to read next? Check out the Book Club for some ideas!

I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!
Thomas More - A Man for All Seasons

[james castle]

Yeah, this is where things start to look a lot like a Miller greatest hits package. Stealing children off the street to sell into prostitution doesn't really fit within the Marvel Universe or Daredevil or even with the Kingpin's character really. It sure fits into Sin City though! As RGdesigner points out there are some pretty heavily recycled plot points here and the whole thing starts to feel like the best of Miller's Daredevil, Sin City and Batman all packed together.

Which probably makes sense if this was originally a script. If Miller was writing for the movies it stands to reason that he would fire all guns at once even if they didn't fit squarely within the Daredevil mythos.

Also agree with Mike Murdock's assessment of the law stuff. Prior to this I don't think anyone even tried to make sense of Matt's schooling and early career but all this is dead on.
_________________
JC

So why can't you see the funny side?
Why aren't you laughing?