Daredevil Message Board

[Mike Murdock]

It's been entirely too long since we did part of Ed Brubaker's story. This is a one-shot, but it continues the story along.

Daredevil Vol. 2 #106 - Sympathy for the Devil

[Dimetre]

This issue is fine for a fill-in. Three members of Daredevil's supporting cast soliliquize about their concerns over Matt's state of mind. Ed Brubaker writes these concerns eloquently. But, like most fill-ins, the issue does nothing to move the narrative forward. Worse, I came away from this issue feeling like I got no insight into any of the characters that I didn't already have. I simply learned that Ben, Foggy and Dakota are worried about their friend.

Paul Azaceta provided the art for this issue, and while he's serviceable for indie comics, I don't think he's suitable for modern superhero tales. The story got told, and there's nothing wrong with the layout, but there certainly wasn't anything spectacular.

It's fine as a placeholder, and it maybe tied us over for another month. It's an adequate comic. I give it a 3 out of 5.

[macjr33]

Overall, I liked this issue even for it being a fill-in.

While it certainly doesn't do much to move the narrative forward there are a few things that are appreciated in hindsight. While it is no surprise that Ben and Foggy are concerned for Matt, we do see more from Dakota with Matt. This helps to add more context to the evolution of their relationship, and eventual affair. Not to say that there wasn't plenty of other foreshadowing to it, there certainly was; however, I thought this certainly helped.

The other thing that Brubaker did that I appreciate, albeit quite small, is that when Matt is talking about the women in his life he mentions Heather and Glorianna among those he wasn't able to save in addition to Karen and Elektra. I feel that of all the women in his life that has died, he should feel a bit more guilty about Heather. Not to say that she wasn't on a self-destructive path, she certainly was; however, Matt could have done more and I've talked at length before about his horrible treatment of her during the Miller run. I feel like his relationship with Heather is often overlooked and appreciated Brubaker making a callback to it with Matt feeling some guilt over it along with Glorianna.

I agree with Dimetre, the art isn't great in this issue so that certainly doesn't help either.

Given a couple of the things that I think make this slightly better than your typical fill-in issue, I will give this a 3.5 out of 5.

[Mike Murdock]

^ I agree about mentioning the others. It seems it's always Elektra and Karen and, imo, Elektra no longer makes any sense to bring up (besides Matt's tendency to feel guilty anyway).

It's weird to think as recently as this story, they were doing recap stories. Now things seem much more sink or swim. These days, there's Marvel Unlimited to help people, though. That being said, there are a little bits of follow-up from the last arc. Matt continues to spiral and get more violent. It's a logical extension, but it feels like Brubaker's entire run has been repeating that theme. Jail was making him more violent. Having to clear his name was making him more on edge. The perfume that made him smell like Karen was doing it. Obviously, with Mr. Fear, he was crossing lines he never crossed. Now it's worse? It feels a bit much. I think the story even lampshades this, by referencing the times in the past.

There's greater interaction between Matt and Dakota North. They feel like a good combo and it's good to see their interactions - to the extent it's in this issue.

I'm giving this Three Stars. To be honest, I probably should have skipped this story. That being said, I needed a one-shot fill-in and this certainly qualifies.
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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

[fubarthepanda]

Less of a stand-alone story and more of an epilogue to the Mr. Fear saga (or a prologue to the following Dakota North arc as it was originally collected with), this is a quiet interlude that adds some character development, while putting the final nail in the Milla Donovan coffin.

On art, Paul Azaceta gets the chance to draw DD in his own style instead of aping Michael Lark, and it looks great with the Matt Hollingsworth colors (love the eyes!).

You can also almost cut the romantic tension between Matt and Dakota with a knife (foreshadowing events to come), and the Ben Urich framing sequence is effective.

I also appreciated the acknowledgment of Heather Glenn and Glorianna, who seem to get the short straw way too often.

A decent issue when taken with the rest of the run, but not enough meat to stand on its own.