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The Assassination of Matt Murdock

 
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Dimetre
Underboss


Joined: 16 Feb 2006
Posts: 1366
Location: Toronto

PostPosted: Sun Feb 24, 2019 3:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The cover is forcing a comment from me. When I was a kid Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends was my favourite Saturday morning cartoon. This is the cartoon that saw Spidey teaming up every week with Iceman and Firestar. I loved its intensity, its brightness, and I loved that Stan Lee narrated it. This cartoon truly sparked my interest in the Marvel Universe. Matt Murdock even acted as Pete's attorney in one episode. Here's a clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aak1QdAWAeE

Otherwise, the cover is truly bizarre. Daredevil doesn't usually deal with scary monsters, but scary monsters have been a proven presence in comics since the beginning. The story inside is truly strange, so maybe this does live up to Marvel's claim as its "most offbeat story" of 1981.

In many ways this issue feels like an interlude within Miller's larger narrative. Mayoral candidate Randolph Winston Cherryh is introduced as a new chess piece. Kingpin finds out about Elektra and orders her to be brought to him. Matt's storyline in this issue deals with him confronting an internal demon to get his radar back. I never found that to be that riveting.

The first page shows Miller committing a massive exposition dump. It's really clunky. I can kind of picture him throwing up his hands and shouting "F*** it! I don't know how else to get all this information across!"

I wonder why Miller chose to portray Stick as an abusive and crude old man? Is it just to reject the old cliche of the wise old mentor? Is it to emphasize the horror Matt must have endured after he went blind and had to learn how to use his senses? Did Miller already have the Hand and the Chaste all figured out, and he wanted to show that the Chaste weren't a picnic either?

I like Miller's idea that "we all got radar." It kind of reminds me of the Force in Star Wars before Lucas ruined it by introducing midichlorians. It's the idea of a powerful energy that we are all capable of wielding, if only we opened ourselves up to it. I realize that's not how Stick explains it, but I like to think of it that way.

As for Matt's "hallucinations," they are very strange. I feel Miller felt free to go a little kooky this issue. Jack chaining his son to some books is a bizarre idea. It seems to be here for weirdness's sake, because we already know that this isn't real. Same thing with Matt getting ready to punch the old blind man he saved from the truck. It's a bizarre shift from events we already know like the back of our hand. I don't think it's bad, but it feels like Miller being self-indulgent.

The demon Matt has to fight is a little confusing as well. It introduces itself by saying, "I'm every part of you that hates." I asked myself, "Is Matt a hateful person?" I really don't think he is. But is Matt's radar not working because he's been particularly hateful? No. His radar isn't working because of the explosion. Prior to the explosion he was being very good to Melvin. His radar was working very well against the Hand in his brownstone. Did he hate the Hand anymore than that Mikey guy who looked like Melvin?

The demon gets bigger and stronger every time Matt feels the way the kids who bullied him made him feel, or the way he felt when his father died. The demon is fueled by Matt's anger. So Matt is able to use his radar when he lets go of his anger, and I like that. Daredevil isn't an angry hero. He's not fueled by revenge. He thirsts for justice. That is the character's core.

But does that work? Was he too angry to get his radar back? Was it really that he was too angry, or did he need Stick to keep him awake for three days and abuse him to get his radar back? Is Elektra's sudden reappearance in his life bringing back past anger issues, and that's why he couldn't get his radar back?

I like the message about letting go of anger, but I don't know how that message fits into the larger narrative Miller has constructed.

As for the other plots, I really like the way Miller portrays J. Jonah Jameson. Here and in "Born Again" Miller shows him as being a very good newspaper publisher. He has very good instincts about what the duties of a free press are, and he stands up for his reporters. Having said that, Foggy is both hilarious and awesome in this issue. Having Foggy tell Jonah "I'm a Times reader myself," is probably Miller's funniest moment. I also enjoy that even among all his professional hardships, Foggy truly believes in his and Matt's legal skills and talents. "Mr. Jameson, you need the best attorneys money can buy. And that's what we are. You've heard our terms." Foggy, you rock.

Heather's plot is fine I guess. She gets frustrated during Matt's absence, so she goes out and enjoys the company of other men, but won't take one of them bad-mouthing Matt. She can't be untrue to Matt. It's fine I guess.

As for the cliffhanger, Miller knew exactly what he was doing. Promising a meeting between the Kingpin and Elektra was the perfect way to keep readers coming back.

It's certainly an "offbeat story," but this doesn't feel as essential as Miller's other issues. Yes, Matt gets his radar back, but it's kind of confusing how it happens. It's still an enjoyable read, so I'll give it a 3.5 out of 5.
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Mike Murdock
Golden Age


Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Posts: 1750

PostPosted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 8:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm a bit late on this one. I'll start off by pointing out that, usually, when Marvel calls an issue "offbeat," it's not a good sign. But this is a Frank Miller run that's been going strong.

This issue is probably notable for the biggest retcons to Daredevil's origin. I'm counting Stick as part of that, although he technically started beforehand. But right away, Stick drops another bombshell. Matt's radar sense isn't even unique to him, although people with sight generally let it decay. It's interesting in the context of the story, although I think it's a bit insulting to real blind people.

The story is framed around scenes of Matt trying to shoot an arrow. When he misses, Stick hits him. He's three days in and sleep deprived. Given that, maybe it's understandable that he's hallucinating. I think the way this is done works best on the floppies where the inkwork is very light on the other characters, almost as if it's not there and just pencils. They're in black and white with Matt in color. In a way, it reminds me of what they did for the Bullseye flashbacks in Season 3 that almost feel more like a stage play.

Honestly, I feel a lot of the flashbacks go over well-worn ground and they do so with absolutely no subtlety. That being said, there's a warm sense of nostalgia with the quotes that I've seen over and over again. The "pug like me" speech, the "most heroic act I've ever seen." I enjoy each of these and I'm sure there's a new reader who would appreciate them, even if we're only talking about 13 issues since the last time they did this story. It's worth pointing out that this issue adds that Matt swore never to fight over his mother's grave - something that's surely been retconned since. That being said, despite my complaints about it, the ending where he makes the shot over and over is a great one. I think the story is trying to say that Matt has now finally moved past his inner demons. I'm just not sure he was so burried by them before or I buy that this solved the problem.

The issue is a transition for another character, though. Heather, in this issue, is continuing her trend to be less flighty and more likely to stick with Matt. Unlike other people, she knows his identity and knows what he's doing when he's not with her. Given that, it's good to see her as ultimately choosing to be more supportive when people badmouth him.

This issue is interesting for starting a new subplot - the Kingpin's candidate for mayor. I like how Jameson is in this story. He knows the risk of publishing a story connecting Cherryh (what a difficult name) to organized crime, but he lets Ben do it anyway. He comes off as the kind of publisher you can be proud of rather than the egotistical blowhard the character started as. I also love that the stories all start to intersect as the Kingpin decides to hire Elektra.

I'm very torn on this issue. On the one hand, I think something big was needed before Matt regained his senses, considering how much they had built it up. I also like that it's an internal struggle. I'm just not a huge fan of the flashbacks themselves or the decision to include them in this issue. It's still a good story, but I'm giving it Four Stars.
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