Daredevil Message Board

[Dimetre]

This issue is another mixed bag of good and less good.

By this point, Matt has gone undercover to infiltrate criminal organizations before. We should all remember that the very first time he encountered Wilson Fisk in person was while he was playing a character named Shades. Here, he renders a gangster named Sal Bechetto unconscious so he can hustle some of Kingpin's men at billiards. Many years later, Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale would do the same thing in Daredevil: Yellow. I wonder if they read this. I like the idea of Matt hustling people playing pool. However, I don't know if there is any pool cue with a tapered enough tip that can fit inside the barrel of a gun. It's a cool idea, but somewhat unbelievable.

The scene that follows involves some of Fisk's goons, and an agent of Hydra. What this scene shows is that the only effect Matt has had so far is that he's got Fisk's men to start publically talking about Hydra's infiltration of the organization. That's not a small thing, but any agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. could have done that. This doesn't justify Fury getting Daredevil involved. Yes, Matt was determined to do something about Fisk, but he's only indirectly affected the story so far. Hydra actually was involved in Fisk's organization. S.H.I.E.L.D. was already going to do something. So far, Matt has placed a picture of Vanessa on Fisk's desk, removed Typhoid Mary from his organization, and shot off his mouth about Hydra.

Yes, he goes and gives District Attorney Kathy Malper (a cool character) evidence about Fisk in an effort to clear Murdock's name. But Foggy could have done that. I suppose a scene with Foggy wouldn't have featured her barbs about his skin-tight outfit, and it gave Daredevil the opportunity to save her life. However as amusing as the scene is at times, it's just as often awkward. Again, Chichester often has these conversations that seem to have entire missing sections. Daredevil says, "I've got some material here I thought might interest a U.S. district attorney... It regards Wilson Fisk." Malper replies, "Fisk, huh? Talk about criminal." "I couldn't agree more..." says Daredevil, to which Malper replies. "I meant Carlton-- number 27. Red Sox should've never let him go." The way this conversation flows makes no sense. Daredevil said Wilson Fisk, so it makes no sense for her to start talking about Carlton Fisk. And yes, I had to google "Fisk 27 Red Sox" to find out that the baseball player to whom she was referring was named Carlton Fisk. I'm not the biggest baseball fan. There was no google in 1991, so unless the reader were big baseball fans, how would this amusing exchange have made any sense to them?

The conversation between Matt and Karen is similarly disjointed in places. Matt refers to "nickel metaphors" and, indeed, the stuff about overturning boats is painful, but I couldn't help but think that Matt should have been aware of Fury and Dugan's surveillance way earlier. And if Matt wanted to not worry Karen, he should have responded to it way more subtly. All he had to do was chuck a stone at the scope. He didn't have to rant while doing it.

I have no complaints about the showdown between Hydra and Fisk's organization, except Daredevil had nothing to do with it. This story is starting to remind me of Underboss. Some of us had the same complaint -- Daredevil does not have much, if any, effect on the story's plot. The one saving grace is that it's setting the stage for the next issue, which is when Matt makes his big move.

So, I like the billiards and Kathy Malper, but I'm giving his issue a 2.5 out of five.

[Mike Murdock]

Starts off with Matt playing pool. I had forgotten it was in this story - figured it was just something from Daredevil: Yellow. Here, he isn't letting anyone know he's blind (in that story, I thought he should have blindfolded himself, though), but is pretending to be a pool hustler from Chicago. Basically, he learned that the cracks are forming in the Kingpin's armor thanks to Hydra. And it's clear that Chichester is still giving Matt credit for it. Still, we see the Kingpin make the first move against Hydra, which shows he's no small fish.

Next we see Daredevil interact with someone I consider to be a very underrated character - Kathy Malper. I believe she appears again after Chichester with a typo in her name a complete character swap. Ms. Malper is described as a "Manhattan District Federal Prosecutor." That title is correct (although Daredevil calling her a U.S. District Attorney would be wrong). It wouldn't have hurt to have given her a correct title - "Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York." She's an aggressive, non-nonsense prosecutor. More importantly, she's a Red Sox fan (the screw up I mentioned earlier replaced her with a Yankees fan). To me, that's a sublte nuance - as a federal prosecutor, she's an outsider. She's not someone from New York. Anyway, after Daredevil saves her life, they decide to work together.

The issue ends with Hydra hitting back hard. The way it happened certainly bothered me. The Kingpin is overwhelmingly the biggest threat Daredevil regularly faces. And, despite some small moments suggesting they could be evenly matched, Hydra just suddenly and mostly off-screen destroys the Kingpin's empire. Well, at least Matt's happy.

For part three of four, it feels like it's setting up a lot still. In a way, the first issue almost feels unrelated to what's happened in the final three. Underwhelming issue from top to bottom. Two and a Half Stars. And I still consider this his best story arc.
_________________
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

[The Overlord]

[Darkdevil]

This was an odd-duck issue. Matt continues to spread rumors of Fisk's ties with Hydra throughout the underworld, this time by impersonating a pool hustler. While the idea of Matt hustling pool is cool, I'm a bit more flabbergasted over the notion that he does it so well that no one ever notices that he is blind. Still, it shows the lengths Matt is willing to go in order to continue sowing the seeds of discord.

At first impression, Kathy Malper is annoying and perhaps even a tad stereotypical, the gruff no-nonsense Federal prosecutor with no time for superheroes in tights. While her attitude towards superheroes is refreshing somewhat, I can see Matt's reasons for visiting her, hoping to gain her influence into giving his disbarment appeal more traction. But the scene is odd, her basically asking him to wait throughout her office birthday party...which he does. Her being a Red Sox fan and her dialogue concerning that do add some nice character touches though. (Her Carlton Fisk comment was great as was the addition of his poster along with Yaz's poster on her office walls).

The shotgun-in-a-briefcase scenario makes little sense. Why not a bomb instead?

The park scene with Karen was erratic (although the opening narration about the park mentioned no warring groups trying to gun down loving couples out of mutual hatred. A possible Punisher reference?) At least Karen has become more intuitive towards fathoming the reasons behind Matt's earlier questions about ends justifying the means.

Fury's ongoing goals here are equally confusing. Dum Dum would seem to suggest that Fury thought, once having told Matt about Hydra's involvement with Fisk, that Matt would immediately run to Ben Urich at the Bugle and spill all the beans. Instead, Fury seemed to have counted on Matt using this info as part of his ongoing vendetta against Fisk instead. Either way, I find it strange again that if you have such damning information about one of the country's largest, if not THE largest, crime bosses, you don't act to bring him down.

The end scene between Fisk and Garrote was okay. Fisk, in trying to display leverage and power, apparently overestimates Hydra's influence and resources, which I find acceptable. It's akin to Fisk trying to take on SHIELD, it's a mismatch.

My problem comes with Garrote's actions and implications. Hydra emptied the personnel out of and then blew up all of Fisk's properties, both legal and illegal in the city. Really? How much of the city did they just blow up then? Such a plan would take time and effort so how come no one noticed such activity and alerted any of Fisk's operators that, hey, something's up? It's a stretch to say the least although I can understand the reasoning behind such a move.

As Overlord mentioned, I think this story would have more meaning if the Kingpin's downfall was engineered more by a scheme of Matt's own invention. So far, all of this happens to be a happy coincidence. Matt starts off his plan, planting doubts in Fisk's mentality, taking Typhoid Mary off the board, and then suddenly Fury gives him a silver lining to use against Fisk. Perhaps Matt could've learned of Hydra's involvement on his own, perhaps not. Maybe all of this would have come to light regardless of Matt's actions or intentions. But the underlying point is that Matt was handed a way to bring Fisk down instead of engineering one himself. It does feel less satisfying so far.

I haven't mentioned Weeks' art much in this arc, I've enjoyed it overall though there were some rough patches in this issue. Though I admit, the last two page splashes, the mirroring of both antagonists, was very good. Chichester's narration on those two pages were the strongest of the entire issue (especially Matt's last lines of dialogue).

Still, I'd have to give this issue around two stars.

[Mike Murdock]

[Dimetre]

This is what it's all been leading up to, and I think it's very good. Not perfect-- but close.

The issue opens very shakily. Weeks' art is very strong, using the shadows from the venetian blinds to set the mood. While I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea of Daredevil borderline bullying Jameson to put what he wants on the front page, he has valid reasons for it. However, on the issue's first page, Matt is able to tell that Jameson typed "Fisk, Wilson" into his computer. I suppose Daredevil could have made an assumption about what Jameson typed based on the number of keystrokes made, but that's a little shaky. Then Daredevil takes over at the computer and says "Uh-uh. That's not the name which deserves the credit for trying to remake this city in his greedy and bloated image. Let's call him for what he is..." Then you turn the page, and Daredevil is holding the front page of the Bugle which sports the headline "Kingpin to Face Grand Jury," with the same shadows from the venetion blinds, and ending his thought with, "Let's give the devil his due." It's cheesy, because we could have the same effect if we saw the headline on the computer screen. The size of the page looks like an actual newspaper front page, so it's too large to come out of a conventional printer. It's as if the paper would have had to go to press before Daredevil completed his sentence. The choice to have Daredevil holding the paper at the end of this opening scene sends my head spinning trying to make sense of the passage of time. It's dumb.

The next scene was well done. I love the use of the industrial plastic sheet that has replaced the glass window in Fisk's office after the Hydra attack from the previous issue. By now, Fisk is approaching his wit's end. Malper's entrance was great, and I like how Maltese angrily points out to her their arrangements made with the city and state, and how she slightly grins when she points out they're federal.

This issue has flashbacks to Fisk's first crime woven throughout, and it seems to agree with what David Mack would write several years later in "Parts of a Hole." Chichester does a very good job with them, especially after we see the destruction young Wilson causes, as the adult Wilson thinks, "A little blood on a man's hands. A mark of success. I make 15 dollars that day." Chilling. That last sentence is accompanied by a small shadowy figure walking away from us, surrounded by white space. It's a gorgeous marriage of text and image.

Fisk's standing in society continues to unravel, and it's nicely shown by Chichester and Weeks at an appropriate pace. This issues increased page count was put to great use.

The climax takes place at Port Authority, and what a climax. It begins with Fisk enduring disrespect from a snippy clerk at the parcel check desk. Upon seeing the parcel, we get another flashback scene. This scene ties directly in to "Born Again" by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli. This is such a key scene, that I think if one weren't familiar with "Born Again," it would highly impede one's ability to enjoy this scene. But I find that a lot of Chichester's Daredevil work was built upon Miller's work, probably more so than any other Daredevil writer to follow Miller. It's something he leaned upon heavily, and I'm not so sure that's a good thing.

When we come back to Port Authority, that's when things kick into high gear. Daredevil catches up to Kingpin, and he wants the parcel. He knows what's in it, and how it could affect him. Kingpin by now is desperate, and he turns violent. He shows his true colours. He tries to get away with the parcel, and the chase through Port Authority is on. It's a long action sequence, but I think it's easily one of the best in the Daredevil's 50 year history. Advantage shifts back and forth, but the first person narration from Daredevil's point of view is beautifully written. At one point Daredevil gets Kingpin to a place where small balls are all over the floor, and Kingpin has to step carefully so he doesn't fall. "While the Kingpin lurches among the debris, staggering -- I dance." And we see Daredevil gracefully flip over the debris. Chichester and Weeks were perfectly paired on this issue. The only problem is that when we turn the page, Daredevil hasn't caught up to Fisk.

The hand to hand fight that follows is classic -- Matt's skill against Fisk's monstrous strength and bulk. When Matt puts the fight to an end, it culminates in a wonderful splash page where Matt voices his forgiveness of Fisk for all that he's done to him. Chichester does a wonderful job showing why this is important. "Leave it unsaid, risk dwelling on the evil this man's done -- the injuries he's brought down on my life, onto others' -- and the road travelled is one of bitterness, of revenge. But let go of the hate, rise above it, and maybe there's something worthwhile that can provide the inner drive. Maybe then there's hope for something noble." That's a perfect example of what I love about Daredevil, and what makes him such a great hero. There are so many reasons for him to abandon his principles and simply pursue revenge with no thought towards justice. But his sense of nobility and his grasp on his principles is just too strong. He's better than the rest of us. He's the best.

The scene that follows is one I completely forgot about. Kingpin escapes justice. I forgot about that. And the final scene with Matt's lengthy internal monologue was okay. I'm kind of surprised that there was no scene with Karen, considering the two earlier scenes that took place in previous issues.

However, I find this issue astoundingly good, given the quality of the previous issues. If the first scene wasn't so clumsily rendered, I would probably rank this issue higher, but I give it a four out of five.

As for the entire story, the first three issues contain a lot of silliness and clumsy storytelling, but the pay-off in the last issue is more than worth it. I think every Daredevil fan needs to read Last Rites.

[Mike Murdock]

With the Kingpin injured, vultures start to flock. In this case, it's the Federal government coming in to prosecute. There's a quick scene talking about Nuke and the events in Hell's Kitchen in Born Again. This is something that I do think is necessary, although I wish Daredevil inflicted the blow setting it up. Kathy Malper is back in action. Chichester does a good job getting the Grand Jury right. I still can't fathom how he got her title so wrong. Malper is concerned the Grand Jury might have reasonable doubt. OK, I take back everything I said about getting Grand Juries right. Come on, Chichester, that's for trial, not an indictment. Still, Daredevil promises to do something to get him caught in the act.

While Fisk is being grilled, we cut back to his childhood. Is this the first flashback for him in Marvel history? I certainly don't remember one in Daredevil before. Chichester continues to show that he knows this character very well. And doesn't pull punches for a very grusome act to make $15.

The parallels to Born Again are obvious. First, they mentioned Nuke. Then it's the cabbie who was murdered for Matt to drown in his cab. But there are also subtle things. The loss of Fisk's assets places him similarly to Matt in issue two of Born Again (although still considerably more well-off). Likewise is the decline of his mind. As he snaps, the two confront each other, but it's mostly the Kingpin running like a crazy person. The setup, that Kingpin has a bit of evidence to incriminate Matt from when the cabbie was bludgened to death might be a bit of a stretch. However, it works well. Matt's taking the right kind of chance to bring him down. Finally, he's broken and his empire destroyed.

The ending is a touch weird. It touches on the idea of Matt crossing lines to bring him down and brings up the (legitimate) points that it wasn't really him that did it. But it doesn't really dwell on the negatives. It almost sounds like false humility. Overall, though, I enjoy this issue. I wish they had done more rather than cram everything into a double-sized issue, but the issue itself works good. It's a good 300th issue and it's a fitting issue for bringing down the Kingpin. I don't know if that forgives the flaws that came before, but I'll give this one Four 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

[The Overlord]

I am going to agree with everyone else's thoughts on this issue, it was definitely the best of the bunch, but it doesn't make up the sloppy first 3 issues and I still think Matt was a creep in that first issue.

This issue was about the downfall of the Kingpin and it was interesting, with Federal prosecutors going after Wilson Fisk, linking Fisk to some of the criminal actions that occurred during Born Again.

It seems weird that Hydra just left after all this chaos they created, you would think they might want to hand pick Kingpin's replacement (that seemed to happen in the Spider-Man titles later in the 90s), but that does make this a more personal DD vs. Kingpin issue, which does make for a better conclusion.

Kingpin losing a lot of influence was interesting to see, he can't get free dinners at restaurants anymore and his credit cards have been declined. When Matt confronts him, he acts more like a wild animal then the cunning mastermind we are used to.

I do like that we get see into Kingpin's screwed up childhood (if this is where this trend started, that's interesting, considering it has been adapted to Kingpin in other places, like the Netflix show).

This was a good conclusion to a lackluster story, frankly if you ditched the Hydra stuff and had Matt be the main architect of Kingpin's fall, then it would have been stronger.

Though I have admit, its starting to strain credibility how often Kingpin loses his top position, only to gain it back a little while later.

I will give this issue 4 stars, but the arc as a whole gets 2 and a half stars.

[Mike Murdock]

While I'll defend the flawed first issue, it's hard to argue against parts two and three being bad. I wonder why they poor pacing issues. I assume they knew issue 300 was going to be double-sized from the beginning. I suppose he always knew the bulk of the story progression could happen there.
_________________
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

[Darkdevil]

Yes, this was definitely the strongest of the four issues, displaying for all to see the decline and fall of Kingpin.

About this arc referencing Born Again (especially so heavily here in connection to Kingpin's purported crimes), I have to wonder how familiar readers were with it at that time. This was around '92, Born Again occurred nearly, what, 70 issues ago? I'm not sure if the story had been collected in trade by then.

My point is, as Dimitre alluded to, readers unfamiliar with Born Again or had forgotten certain elements, may not get the full dramatic impact of the events here. Because we recently re-read Born Again ourselves, I feel these events do have a stronger impact. What's stranger, there are no footnotes whatsoever to even point out to readers in which previous issues these events occurred. During my childhood, loooong before the Interweb, footnotes were a major lifeline towards discerning/obtaining/reading important arcs and stories. It's very curious the lack of information here, considering the importance of Born Again to this story.

As for Kingpin's evidence, the tainted billy club, at first glance this would seem to undermine Miller's intention about the shock and surprise felt by Fisk upon learning of Matt's survival. Why bother with this action if you believe your target will be dead? However, Fisk's stated goal here by doing this, the further decimation of Matt's reputation even after his death, makes some amount of sense. If nothing else, it's a further sign of the obsession felt between this pair.

Malper was much better here than last issue. Her entrance into Fisk's office was priceless (as was her line to Fisk of "Welcome to the big leagues.") The focus on the grand jury side of things, dealing with the legalities of prosecuting Fisk was nice.

The action scenes at the bus station was brutal and intense, Weeks did some terrific work in displaying this fight (really love the panel where the bus slams into the railing, tossing DD through the front window). As the fight progresses, we see more and more of Kingpin's slide into madness, which is harrowing to see. The repeated mantras of 'the deal', 'heinous crime', 'honest citizen', all of which Kingping mumbles throughout, were great too.

The final shot though, of DD reluctantly forgiving Fisk, was amazing. Just those figures, the burnt remnants of Fisk's dashed hopes, all against a white-out background, very well done.

The peek into Fisk's childhood was interesting. The fire he starts and it's results are reminiscent of an actual factory fire that claimed a lot of workers' lives due to improper escape venues. (This later lead to the adoption of fire escape ladders outside of buildings if I remember correctly).

My only caveat is the lack of resolution with Fury and Hydra. As Overlord mentioned, despite their connections and actions last issue, Hydra just up and disappears here. Same with Fury, who was so intent on following Matt's actions previously. Unless this particular plot thread was followed up on later in another title, this just felt lacking.

But overall, I'd give this issue four and a half stars. While the beginning held some promise, the intervening issues stumbled some but the ending finished very strong.