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DD Book Club - The Murdock Papers
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macjr33
Flying Blind


Joined: 22 Nov 2017
Posts: 97
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2019 9:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry again for being a little behind, as a side note, my wife and I are expecting our first child here in a couple of weeks so things have been a bit hectic!

On to the reviews:

Issue #78

This issue starts off with the idea that Fisk has proof that Matt is Daredevil which the FBI director is eager to take. For me it felt like this is really personal for the FBI director in wanting to bring Matt in.

While I can see how the fight with Elektra could be perceived as a bit of an over reaction on Matt's part, I took it as Matt is finally in a place where things are starting to turn up (as we all commented on in previous issues) and Elektra all of a sudden showing up does can not be good for Matt.

The other thing that I enjoyed about this issue is how Bendis & Maleev handled Milla. I think we as the reader can sometimes for forget that she is actually blind. I think Bendis & Maleev did an excellent job displaying how terrified she by what is going on. Imagine not being able to see the fight between Matt and Elektra and then hearing the news report. As a reader, I really felt for her.

Full page with Matt and Elektra is awesome artwork by Maleev.

I enjoyed the interaction between Matt, Elektra, Natasha and Angela. I though there were some funny lines in there conversation which is something I think Bendis was able to do well during his run. Helps lighten the mood for what is dark run overall.

The last page is one of my favorites in all of Daredevil comics. Elektra revealing that one other person knows about the Murdock Papers, Matt asking who and then Matt grabbing the playing card right before it hits Elektra's throat is fantastic. Between the dialogue and the artwork it's just so well done.

Overall, for me, I give this issue 4.5 out of 5 stars.


Issue #79

This is starts off with a bang, the splash page with Bullseye attacking everyone continues the great artwork from Maleev. I agree though that I hate this look for Bullseye.

It continues with a fury of action that sees Elektra take on Bullseye while Matt disables Angela because she doesn't have the skill to take on Bullseye. I agree that Matt's actions are a bit much and that's part of the point as Natasha calls Matt out on it. I think the point is that Matt is on edge and it's only getting worse as Matt has resigned himself that things are over for him. I like that despite all of this, he is still concerned for Milla and asks Natasha to get her out.

The fight in the office building is stellar, love the panel of Matt coming through the skylight to attack Bullseye. Also love the depiction of Matt with a bunch of the glass shards in him and the scene with Matt holding the women gives me chills every time I read it. It demonstrates just how truly destructive and psychotic Bullseye can be.

The fight in the street where Matt and Elektra team up against Bullseye is also great. I can actually see Bullseye running away once he is overpowered by the two of and I actually thought him getting hit by a bus was funny.

As for Matt getting shot, he just finished fighting Bullseye so I can see him being a bit distracted. The helicopter seemed quite a long way off.

I really felt for Ben at the end given the position Fisk put him in, Fisk gave him no choice.

Most critics of Bendis often cite that he is too wordy and there is not enough action. I think this issue delivers a ton of action with stellar artwork from Maleev and (for a Bendis book) keeps the dialogue to a minimum.

This is one of my favorite issues in the entire Bendis/Maleev that still enjoy immensely with each read. Easy 5 stars for me.

Dimetre wrote:
I've often typed that I think Maleev creates his artwork based on photographs of models. Many people are impressed with his artwork, but I think this approach, if I'm right, limits him, and his fight scenes are a good example. Daredevil is one of the more graceful and agile fighters in the entire Marvel Universe, but during the Bendis and Maleev era, he was relegated to just some kicks and some punches. Where are the flips? Why isn't he balancing on a tight rope? There are so many possibilities when it comes to staging a fight between these two enemies, but I never thought Bendis and Maleev skimmed far past the surface. This fight consists of, as usual, kicks and jabs and not much more.


As someone who cites Maleev as his favorite DD artist, I guess I would say that it's just a different approach. I certainly get the sense that Matt is a graceful and agile fighter from his artwork, for example when he has the fight against the Yakuza and the fight against Jigsaw. However, I also get the sense from Maleev's artwork (more so than other artists) that Matt is also pretty brutal in his fighting style. There was probably a bit more emphasis on the later because of the gritty/noir style Bendis and Maleev were looking to create. Not saying one is better than the other, just different takes as I also love Samnee's art and that is definitely more of what you were describing.
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Mike Murdock
Golden Age


Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Posts: 1750

PostPosted: Sat Nov 23, 2019 3:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Getting this one in a bit early. Take your time: the final Bendis issue:

Daredevil Vol. 2 #80 - The Murdock Papers Part 5

Quote:

Overview The Bendis/Maleev era rockets towards its shocking conclusion as Matt Murdock makes one of the most important decision of his entire life.


Due 11/30
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Dimetre
Underboss


Joined: 16 Feb 2006
Posts: 1366
Location: Toronto

PostPosted: Sun Nov 24, 2019 3:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There are some things I think are fine with this issue. I like that Milla refuses to be taken to safety. I like that Elektra does what she can to save Matt's life. I like that Ben Urich, I'm assuming, refuses to help the FBI and the Kingpin. On that last point I'm not sure. Did he give them the Night Nurse's location off panel, and that's how the FBI arrive on the scene? It would have been truer to his character if he had allowed himself to be arrested, and had the Bugle (or Pulse) mount a defence citing Freedom of the Press. Yet, this issue doesn't make it clear what he did.

However, why would the FBI need him to divulge the Night Nurse's whereabouts if Urich had already published a Bugle story about her? Wouldn't that article have given out the location of her clinic? It's also not like Urich to publish an article like that, given how he burned his story about Daredevil all those years ago.

Also, I found the way the Hand healed Matt kind of weird. First, none of them dissolved, which is what happened in the past when they revived dead warriors. They gave their energy to Kirigi and they dissolved. Here, one of the Hand ninja pours potion out of a vial on Matt's wound. This doesn't seem true to how the Hand works. Secondly, Matt is not under their control. I suppose it's possible that Elektra instructed them to revive him without placing him under the Hand's control. Perhaps that's an act of love. But, again, Bendis doesn't make it clear.

And that's a big problem I have with Bendis. A lot of his narrative is unclear. Large details about whether Urich gave up Night Nurse's location or how the Hand's revival of Matt worked are left up to us to assume, and that's not good. Can the Hand revive people without them coming under the total control of the Hand? I don't know. I read this issue, and the answer I come away with is, "...I guess..."?

I don't think Luke Cage and Iron Fist served much of a purpose in this issue at all. Luke Cage stops Elektra from killing the FBI director, but I think it would have meant more if Black Widow had done that. Cage punches some Hand ninja while shouting "Yeah?" and I don't know why he says that other than to have this "No" "Yeah" "No" game happen over three panels.

What this issue does pretty well is set up this race against time. Matt is in a very vulnerable position, and this issue is about whether his life be saved before the FBI gets to him. The problem is that the Hand's arrival is a great big deus ex machina, and their involvement doesn't properly resemble their previous appearances. They serve their function, get knocked around a bit and then run away, just like Bullseye did.

Matt seems defeated in every way at the end of this issue, not trying at all to conceal his identity. He gives himself up to the authorities willingly. There doesn't seem to be any way out of this mess. Everything Bendis and Maleev have been doing since they arrived on the title has been leading Matt into this trap. I have not read the next issue, but I know how Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark's run begins, so I know what to expect.

I'll give this a three. It's not bad, but it has the big problems that I described.
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Mike Murdock
Golden Age


Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Posts: 1750

PostPosted: Mon Nov 25, 2019 6:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There's two ongoing moments of tension - will Ben Urich reveal where Night Nurse is and will Matt Murdock die from his injuries. There's a lot of stalling to build up suspense, but I don't necessarily think it's misplaced here. A lot of it has to do with relocating friends and family and Ben Urich's moral outrage. Interestingly, we don't see Ben Urich finally cave, which feels like an odd choice. It might be a deliberate attempt by Bendis to distance his favorite character from the consequences of his actions.

The Natasha/Elektra rivalry still feels very forced. I do like Elektra in charge of the Hand. It changes things quite dramatically and raises the possibility of violence against police on behalf of Matt. But it's weird the second they seem to be helping Natasha caves when she wasn't really acting based on reason before that.

That being said, I wrote that this was the final issue because it seemed like the final issue. There's enough stalling that it could have fit the next issue too (and 80 would have been a nice issue to go out on). Some of the stalling is good. It genuinely builds tension as time runs out, but there's enough odd moments that don't go anywhere to justify it all. Four Stars.
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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
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Mike Murdock
Golden Age


Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Posts: 1750

PostPosted: Sat Nov 30, 2019 9:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

OK, now it's the last Bendis issue. What next, Brubaker?

Daredevil Vol. 2 #81 - The Other Murdock Papers Part 6

Quote:
It’s the end of an era. The end of the Eisner-Award winning Bendis/Maleev run is here, and you’ll have to see it to believe it! The team that outed Matt Murdock will leave you awestruck with a major change in the life of the Man Without Fear. A major, major change. ’Nuff said! Guest-starring everyone!


Due 12/8
_________________
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
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Dimetre
Underboss


Joined: 16 Feb 2006
Posts: 1366
Location: Toronto

PostPosted: Sun Dec 01, 2019 2:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I honestly don't have a lot to say about this issue. It does what it does well. The court scenes are well-depicted. The sex scenes are sexy. Elektra is great.

I just find it weird that Matt fantasizes about Milla getting murdered by Bullseye. As I have long maintained, Elektra is his perfect love, so I can totally understand him fantasizing about ending up with her. But Milla getting killed? It's a weird choice. Perhaps it says something uncomfortably true about Matt -- Milla represents his need to protect someone, but not necessarily succeed in that protection.

Because I've read Brubaker and Lark's run, I knew that both Matt and the Kingpin end up in jail. I'm glad the FBI director found a way to arrest Fisk, although you'd think the Kingpin would have been more attentive to the wording in the deal. It seems out of character for him to have overlooked something like that, but it came as a relief that the FBI director wasn't so overtaken by his resentment of Matt that he was going to let Fisk off scot-free. I'm glad Fisk ended up in the same jail as Matt.

I was also relieved by Matt's not guilty plea. Ever since he was first outed on the front page of the Globe, Matt's ethical standards have taken a beating, and I didn't like it one bit. At least here we see him admit the truth, even if his back is against the wall.

However, I don't think it was very honourable of Bendis and Maleev to set up this whole mess of how everybody knows that Matt is Daredevil, and have no way of cleaning it up. I think they should have had to finish what they started. Bendis' letter to the fans at the end says that they told the story that they wanted to tell, except that it's not a complete story. This story didn't really get resolved until Charles Soule did his story with the Purple Children a few years ago.

The way I see it, Bendis and Maleev identified an issue that they wanted to deal with -- that Matt's duel identity caused an ethical dilemma. That's valid. But I don't feel that they ever had Matt confront that dilemma head on in all their years on the book. All he ever did was run from it. He denied that he was Daredevil. He sued the newspaper that published the story. He didn't confront that dilemma until this very issue, and that's the team's last one in the series.

I'm all for looking at Brubaker and Lark's issues. I'm a huge Brubaker fan, even though I don't think his Daredevil work is his best. I first picked up his work when he was announced as the new Daredevil writer, and I've been a fan ever since. (I just picked up the latest issue of Criminal this past Wednesday -- still great stuff.) I feel like much of Brubaker's Daredevil work was stifled by the tight boundaries left behind by Bendis' time on the book.

Anyway, even after everything I typed, I give this issue a four. It does what it does well. As for the entirety of "The Murdock Papers," I do have problems with it. There are too many leaps of logic, too many out-of-character moments and too many needless character cameos. It's one of Bendis and Maleev's better arcs, but I can't grade it better than a three out of five.
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Mike Murdock
Golden Age


Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Posts: 1750

PostPosted: Mon Dec 02, 2019 7:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm a fan of An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce. I think it's sometimes difficult to do a direct Apples to Apples comparison because one is a graphic literature, the other is prose, but I'd probably recommend it over this story. I bring that up, though, because they are basically the same story.

As a What-If fantasy, there are some interesting moments. That being said, I don't think it's paced great. I think it needs more moments of Matt living happy on the run, but we essentially turn the page and it's all over. Given the way it's set up, it's hard to accept Matt killing Bullseye - if for no other reason than that a real version of that would play it up more and show some inner-turmoil (as does in fact happen later). That being said, the colors are beautiful. The panel where the Yakuza draw their knives could have been better (I missed that they drew their knives at first), but it's creatively done. The idea that Matt would not run simply because he has no place to go is a bit sad. I think there could be more optimistic reasons Bendis could have gone with. That being said, this is a very broken Matt Murdock, so it does ring true to me. And it's a hell of a cliffhanger to end the run.

This is a tough issue to rate. I don't mind it mostly being in his head. But I think the dream sequence could have been paced better and either explored things more or found more to say. The rest of it isn't much to speak of, but the ending is strong. 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
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