Daredevil Message Board

[Darkdevil]

[Mike Murdock]

The first thing I'll comment on since I pointed it out last issue is this one starts in true first person narration. I think it's necessary because it shows how far Matt's life has sunk. And boy does it show it. He's gone into complete delusion. In a way, you'd hope he'd snap out of it. He was convinced the world was out to get him, now he should know it's just the Kingpin. But the combination of paranoia and depression is heart-breaking. He says he's staying there to think and plan, but his plan is barely a coherent sentence and he can't even do that. And it's in sharp contrast to Wilson Fisk: "The Kingpin looks at his city and thinks of how wonderful it is to be alive."

The unraveling of Matt and the Kingpin's joy take up much of the issue. Every moment is more and more shocking. The phone "conversation" on the payphone is what stood out the first time I read this. Next is the fight with the Kingpin. I remember how reckless Matt seemed. I didn't remember it being this sudden. It reads almost like a foregone conclusion. The lack of dialogue or narration stands out. It's just eery silence.

There's a lot of moments that stand out. While it's a dark issue, there's a little bit of humor mixed in there too. The description from Fisk's guy of the fight on the subway always brings a smile to my face. It's full of shocking violence, but it's very cerebral. And it doesn't end in a cliffhanger. Before it's over, it's revealed that Matt still lives and the Kingpin if vexed once more. I don't want to give this five stars. I want to have guts and say four and a half. For the first half, I thought I'd do that. But I can't. This is just wonderful.

Five Stars.
_________________
Matt Murdock's cooler twin brother

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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

[The Overlord]

Yeah this is another classic DD issue. I'm not sure what I can add that has not already been said.

I like Matt's slow descent into madness, the fact that he thinks everyone is out get him, the reckless way he tries to attack Kingpin and fails (this before the villain winning like this was common), Matt attacking random punks and a cop on a subway car. The art is amazing as well. You really remember how talented Miller was back in the 80s. Again I think this set the standard that would be copied for the various Born Again rehash stories that have occurred over the decades since this story was written. I also like the squalid conditions Matt is living in now, compared to his well appointed Brownstone he was living in the previous issue, you can see how far he has fallen. I also like the sense of isolation Matt feels, seemingly willing to blame Foggy for his current crisis.

I will give this issue 5 stars.

[Dimetre]

[Darkdevil]

[Mike Murdock]

I think there are some others, but I agree about decompression. This is a relatively long arc, but it's got a lot of material per issue. With others, I enjoy the work, but I'm referring more to a general sense than a particular issue.

Next up:
Daredevil Vol. 1 #229 - Pariah

[Dimetre]

"Pariah"

It's quite amazing how different this issue is in regards to structure from the previous issue. The narrative appears to move forward incrementally in comparison to the previous issues. In a way, this issue feels like a prototype for the decompression that typifies much modern comic story-telling.

The first six pages are a retelling of Daredevil's origin. Normally Miller would sneak in the obligatory explanation of Daredevil's powers and origin into a couple of sentences in a single panel. It's kind of surprising to see him dedicate so much space to it in this issue. However, he needs to in order to give Sister Maggie the proper introduction she deserves.

Once again, Miller does a beautiful job giving each character -- and each narrator -- their own unique voice. I especially enjoyed Ben Urich's narration. When it comes to Matt's narration, the way Miller references body parts and functions is always so visceral. He was always so good at that.

Lois the nurse also makes her first appearance in this issue. Miller and Mazzuchelli work wonders with her scenes.

There's really nothing to nitpick over in this issue. I thought I found something on the third page when Miller wrote, "But I won't die so I have to make do." For all my life I have been writing "make due", but it turns out that Miller is right and I've been wrong all this time. http://grammarist.com/usage/make-do-make-due/

I don't even think the lack of forward momentum is even a problem. Basically, Matt's actions consist of stumbling from the alley in which he wakes to Fogwell's Gym. He shares time equally with the members of his supporting cast. You have to realize that this was quite unusual for a mainstream superhero comic at the time. Normally comics raced from one climax to the next. Sure, nowadays you have writers like Bendis who I feel waste pages needlessly, but I think with this issue Miller deliberately slows things down to contrast the speedy momentum of the previous two issues. It's not Miller's fault that this issue reminds me too much of some present day comic book creators.

And this issue ends with the all-time classic line.

How can I give this issue anything other than perfect marks?

[Mike Murdock]

I love the intro this issue. It's familiar ground (the accident), but it's done in a different way. This is the world of Matt awakening to being blind but with new senses. There are little subtle things I think we take for granted, but are here for the first time - such as sheets feeling like sandpaper. The hospital had to be the least comforting thing in the world. Then we are introduced to a woman's voice and a cross of gold and shown how he gets through it.

Ben's story starts to become clear - he's going to investigate the cop and prove Matt's innocence. Karen continues to run for her life. Her stealing from a blind man somehow seems even more petty (although the metaphor is obvious and stated). Matt at first seems to be better. Not great, but you get a sense of hope as long as he's moving. But then he tries to intervene and stop Turk and Turk just stabs him. Likewise, Ben Urich gets beaten and the cop gets murdered by a particularly large and scary nurse. Even though I'm no longer shocked the second time through, the line about not passing out still hits hard. Even Karen Page, while seemingly at least getting a chance of hope, has to do so down such a dark path.

A Man Without Hope is a Man without Fear. I love that line. This might be the start of the turning of a page, but, if so, there's still a long way to go. And this one matched glimmers of hope with just as many bitter disappointments. I don't quite think the story is treading water (although Matt's story doesn't progress). Ben's story is the highlight and Karen's story hits a key point. Even Foggy's moments hit. Still, it's not as good as last issue. Four and a Half Stars.
_________________
Matt Murdock's cooler twin brother

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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

[The Overlord]

Sorry for posting a bit late, but I will give my thoughts on this issue.

This was a pretty good issue. Its mainly just Matt wandering around, but it shows how far he has fallen when Turk manages to stab him. The cop's son dying despite Kingpin's money was kinda sad, it makes him somewhat sympathetic despite his immoral acts. A nurse working as the Kingpin's enforcer shows how powerful Kingpin is. Kingpin himself seems to realize he has allowed his sadistic urges override his pragmatism in regards to Matt. The art is still amazing with the Christmas imagery and the snow storm contrasting the darkness of this tale.

I will give this issue 4 and a half stars.

[Darkdevil]

You all have hit on the highlights for this issue so for this late review, I will posit some ideas that I enjoyed about this issue.

First, Miller's creative talent shines here for AGAIN, he tweaks Matt's origin without altering or retconning any of it. It sounds simple yet is so hard to achieve with any significant lasting effect. It's a testament to the quality of his introduction of Sister Maggie here that along with Elektra and Stick, Maggie remains a subtle but vital element of the DD mythos to this day. I'm amazed at Miller's boldness to attempt this feat again, but he does it so well (and with black-outed panels with only dialogue no less) all the way to the fantastic one-page shot by Mazz of Matt lying in her lap in the gym.

Second, the pacing still works while we catch up on events and characters. I like the expansion of Foggy and Glori's scenes, Ben starting to unravel the conspiracy against Matt (and that nurse, wow, so creepy and effective). But I love the duality of the themes in Matt and Karen's pages, the focus on 'keep moving forward' for both of them. Obviously for different reasons for them, but I can't help thinking this is subtle foreshadowing by Miller in their 'moving forward' to each other, to heal themselves by reconnecting. Great drama and characterization here.

I think it's also very fitting and powerful that Fisk makes only one appearance in this entire issue and it's on the last page. He's been the dominant force in the previous two issues, but here, one page by Miller effectively conveys the emotion and frustration that Fisk feels over Matt's survival. He underestimated his opponent and that bothers him to no end.

Ah, A Man without Hope is a Man without Fear, not only one of the best lines ever in this title, but I think one of the best lines ever in comics. In fact, a side-note, when this story was first released, I was so enamored with the poetry and meaning behind that line, that I scrawled it onto the cover of one of my class notebooks in junior high.

One day, a teacher that I respected (for his intelligence and commitment) saw that line on my cover and inquired about it's origin. I gave him a very, very, abridged version of it. He nodded and then asked me a single question, "But is the reverse true?"

For someone with literally no connection to the story, I thought that was a very insightful observation and question, one that, frankly, I have yet to fully answer to this day.

[Dimetre]

[Mike Murdock]

Daredevil Vol. 1 #230 - Born Again

[Dimetre]

More beautiful work from Miller and Mazzucchelli.

Matt narrates in this issue more than I remember. For some reason I thought he was unconscious the entire issue. I wonder if that is what Miller originally had planned, but perhaps Macchio demanded more Matt time. The reason I say that is because Matt's supporting cast is without question the real focus of this issue. We even see Melvin Potter! J. Jonah Jamieson even makes an appearance, and I have never found him more admirable. Ben Urich is even front and centre on the cover.

I don't think I have ever seen so many different characters managed so well and share focus so effectively as this issue. Switching so swiftly from scene to scene is jarring, but that's the point, and I think only this medium can manage it this well.

Mazzucchelli is four issues deep into his work with Miller, and he is taking more artistic chances and risks than he ever did working with Denny O'Neil's scripts. There are little things, like the pattern of the easy chair in the Urichs' apartment, or the pattern of Foggy's jacket, but the scene with Jamieson and Urich is amazingly rendered. It's just red and the shadows from the venetian blinds. And the choice to show the triangle shape during Sister Maggie's prayer? That's just bold.

In four issues Mazzucchelli has been straying further and further from realism, and the results have been astounding. He has always been my favourite artist to ever draw Daredevil.

If I have any knock against this issue, it's not a solid one. The Kingpin is understandably disturbed that Murdock is still alive and that he can't find him. That may be informing his decisions, and that may be why his decisions seem quite careless from this point on. Readers at the time had no idea who Nuke was, but employing him to flush out Murdock seems crazy and un-Kingpin-like. Same thing with the psychotic he employs in the next issue. But I guess it can be explained with the perfection of the plan he had put into action in the first two issues, and even though it was foolproof, Murdock survived. How maddening. I guess that's why the Kingpin's head isn't where it should be.

I'll give this issue a 4.5 out of 5, simply because I suspect Miller wanted Matt unconscious throughout this issue, and that may have been a stronger choice in my opinion. However, I realize that is just my own suspicion.

[Mike Murdock]

In under the wire. First off, this might be one of my favorite covers ever. The iconic shot of Ben Urich huddled up with a broken hand, clearly defeated after being beaten up by a large, scary woman stands out. But it's also worth pointing out that the shadow of Daredevil is over him. Finally, there's sister Maggie praying in the corner where Daredevil usually is.

This issue starts with bits and fragmants of each story. Matt clinging to life, Karen in America and hoping Matt can save her, Kingpin beating up a bunch of people while being furious Murdock survived, Foggy and Glori moving on with their lives while still concerned and thinking of Matt (eleven days and six hours since he's been missing), and Ben Urich. There are a lot of lines that have always stuck with me from this story and "I don't even think his name" is certainly one of them. In this issue, Daredevil is nowhere to be seen. Kingpin is cursing the name Murdock. The description of his origin story (the whole "every comic could be somebody's first) doesn't start until page five.

The two stories that progressed the most are Ben Urich and Karen Page. Karen has some wonderful scenes with Foggy. They're a moment of respite from the grimness that is her life and the sickening feeling with everything she has to do. I love Jameson in this story. He's usually the one gun shy and Ben is a firebrand. Here, he's standing up for journalistic integrity. Ben is writing puff pieces (or sucking at writing them). I love the asides. There's a person in the background calling for and threatening the copy boy. But during the chaos, Manolis is finally killed off. Credit to Max Scheele who has a wonderful shot of Ben in red on the phone (followed by a good mix of blue next panel). Certainly, colorists don't get enough credit, but it's clear everyone is on the same page. In the end, he pulls off the cast and says his name.

Matt's story is him near death with Sister Maggie. One thing I found interesting with the benefit of future runs was the line she said "if I am to be punished for past sins, so be it." It ties nicely into Mark Waid's run. Additionally, the use of faith here works wonders. It's done unapologetically, but fittingly for this character. It also clearly fits well into the story. Finally, the reveal at the end is a big addition to the Daredevil mythos.

It feels a lot happened in this story even when it's possible to say very little happened. Certainly, there's no action. But the character scenes were so well-developed, it clearly doesn't miss it. This one was wonderful all around. 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

[Mike Murdock]

Dimetre, I disagree about Matt being unconscious throughout. I thought what they did was appropriate, which is to have him barely conscious. He's got a fever that incapacitates him. However, the reveal of his mother was a key point and this was the appropriate time to do so. To me, that moment is the key moment where things turn from bleak to hopeful.
_________________
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