Daredevil Message Board

luca82 · Flying Blind Joined: 06 Dec 2007 Posts: 3

can anyone explain to me what the hell the Decalogue story arc was all about ??

Francesco · Underboss Joined: 08 Jun 2006 Posts: 1307

It was about Daredevil, if I recall correctly...

luca82 · Flying Blind Joined: 06 Dec 2007 Posts: 3

ha very funny, but seriously what the **** is it about

jumonji · Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 8:34 pm Post subject:

luca82 · Flying Blind Joined: 06 Dec 2007 Posts: 3

yeah i agree the Decalogue was pretty poor, but the Murdock papers arc afterwards was one of the best ive ever reas

Solid Snake PAC · Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 12:04 am Post subject:

I can see poker cards flying at that comment.

Francesco · Underboss Joined: 08 Jun 2006 Posts: 1307

I don't know, I liked the Decalogue storyarc. The conclusion was kinda of rushed, though.

Neilan · Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 1:12 am Post subject:

I really liked Decalogue. It was certainly a departure from the usual rhythm of the book, but I liked how it showed DD's effect on other people's lives. I thought the group session was a nice device to have these strangers all share their stories of our hero. The succubus, or whatever it was, was weird and a bit more horror/sci-fi than I usually like my DD, but I felt it was a nice change of pace and was executed well. I definitely preferred it over the Murdock Papers.
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jumonji · Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 5:12 am Post subject:

fox_limbo · Humanity's Fathom Joined: 01 Aug 2004 Posts: 335

"Decalogue", in my opinion, was one of the more solid arcs in the Bendis / Maleev run on the title (now, granted, it's not as solid as "Underboss" or "Out", but I consider it in a second tier from those gems, right up there with "King of Hell's Kitchen".).

My interpretation of it was that it follows the spirit of a real conversation amongst a group of people. "Real" conversations are not power point presentations. The most human conversations follow along, hitting on specific subject topics. They can be as meandering and as organic as any story. They follow differing points of view as things are explored and discussed. And I felt "Decalogue" followed that spirit.

The strength of the arc, I feel, was the examination, to some extent or another, of the public view of the main character. The characters each discussed the impact, ramifications and perceptions of Daredevil in their lives.

The weakness of it was the whole demon-baby tangent that came off as a bit nonsensical. That and "Don the Bomb" (isn't that right rgj? ... yep, I can hear him sighing heavily from here).

I anticipated a confrontation Mephisto / Daredevil as the demon-baby thing began to develop. But alas...

There was also this, that was a spectacular piece of character insight and characterization: Matt's explanation of why he continues to be Daredevil (esspecially in the face of the public outting and Foggy's challenging of him to retire the tights).

Alex Maleev's art was dynamic in that arc and it really made Bendis's prose sing.

All-in-all, "Decalogue" wasn't mind-blowing, but it really wasn't bad, either. Like I said, I believe it was a second tier arc in the entirity of the Bendis / Maleev arc.

SouthernHero · Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 12:57 pm Post subject:

When Matt was suddenly in the room with them... (Suddenly for us, as he was in the room the whole time...) Wow, that was awesome.
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jumonji · Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 3:05 pm Post subject:

Okay, that's it. I'm rereading that whole arc this weekend to see if I like it better this time around, taking your various perspectives into consideration. It's always interesting when you can approach something from a new angle.
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The Other Murdock Papers

Jim B. · Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 2:45 pm Post subject:

I finally bought this trade recently but can't get myself to actually read it. I couldn't stop laughing when I looked inside and saw the demon baby or whatever it was. Shocked

WTF????

I'm going to try and read it sometime though. Wink

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Dimetre · Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 8:07 pm Post subject:

I read it. Didn't like it. (Surprise Surprise....)

Bunch of people sitting around talking about Daredevil's effect on their lives. A support group for people fortunate enough to have a superhero intervene in their lives? Again... a support group for the fortunate?

Then at various points in the story different people vomit up a baby. I managed to read the entire thing, yet I still don't know why this was happening, or how they survived it. I would have loved to have been in the meeting where Bendis pitched this. It just further convinces me that Bendis has long since reached a position in Marvel where he can do whatever he wants without question. I don't know how he earned this. ("So then he vomits up a demon baby." "That's great Brian! Go with it!"

One last complaint. Bendis is the guy who set the whole secret identity crisis into motion. Why then does he have Matt appearing to these people in civilian garb, talking to them about how he is Daredevil? I couldn't help but be bothered by that. Bendis sets it up as this big crisis, and then the protagonist doesn't seem to be taking the crisis seriously.

I never really enjoyed any of Bendis' work, except for some of his Ultimate Spider-Man, and Decalogue is the only arc of his that I read after Hardcore, and it is easily the worst thing he ever wrote featuring Daredevil.

Katerine · Flying Blind Joined: 05 Feb 2008 Posts: 45 Location: USA

The Message Board is currently in read-only mode, as the software is now out of date. Several features and pages have been removed. If/When I get time I intend to re-launch the board with updated software.