Occupy My Mind: A Look at Scarlet #6
Title: Scarlet #6
Author: Brian Bendis
Artist: Alex Maleev
Publisher: Icon (Marvel)
Rating: 18+
Release date: February 6, 2013
Verdict: Top Marks!
It’s been almost 2 years since we’ve been lucky enough to get an issue of Scarlet, Brian Bendis’ and Alex Maleev’s creator-owned book from Marvel’s ICON imprint, but I’m not complaining. These are two creators that I’ve followed since they started working together on Sam & Twitch in the late 1990’s. I followed them through their amazing run on Daredevil; their stunted, but also awesome, Spider-Woman series; their work on the Avengers, and also their exploration of Moon Knight in a wonderful 12-issue storyarc. These are two guys who can write their own ticket in the comic book world, so when they launch a creator-owned book, people should take notice.
For those of you who never read the first 5 issues of the series, Scarlet follows a beautiful red headed revolutionary named Scarlet Rue. Scarlet’s boyfriend was murdered by corrupt police officers in Portland, and Scarlet fought back by hunting down and killing those corrupt cops. She filmed herself doing it and posted it on youtube, and she spelled out why she did it so others would know that people just aren’t going to take it anymore when it comes to police corruption. From here a massive manhunt ensues and a revolution begins. This is where we left off all those many months ago, and we are now finally getting the second arc of Scarlet’s story.
This series debuted before all of that “Occupy” movement stuff occurred, and ended up seeming quite prescient in terms of its revolutionary subject matter. According to Bendis, the reason the book took so long to get back on track was that all this stuff in the world like the Occupy Movement in the US as well as the Arab Spring in the Middle-East, all happened, and this stuff needed to be incorporated into Scarlet’s world. In fact…the final page of issue number six shows a massive glut of Portlandians flooding the local waterfront in protest/support of Scarlet. This scene was written just a little while before the actual Portland waterfront was flooded with Occupy-protestors. Prescient indeed.
This is a book with a social conscience…or at least it’s a book that depicts people with a social conscience, and should be tried out by anyone who is interested in more than just tights and spandex. There’s nothing wrong with super-hero books, and I love when these two guys get together and give us a great one…but this is the kind of book that gives comics and the graphic novel medium its real balls. This is where new stuff will be tried and unpopular opinions can be dispensed and surprising things can happen. Do yourself a favor and check out the first graphic novel and then jump right in with issue #6. You won’t be sorry.
Oh…and if you’re a dirty cop…this may not be the book for you 
Punishment Done Right: Punisher #1
Title: Punisher #1
Author: Greg Rucka
Artist: Marco Checchetto
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Rating: Parental Advisory
Release date: August 3, 2011
Verdict: 10/10!!!
DC is making waves with their big new initiative wherein they will relaunch their entire core-universe with 52 new #1 issues. Every character is getting a revamp and new story-lines are starting for them…except Batman and Green Lantern. I think. It’s kind of weird and I don’t really understand it fully. Meanwhile over at Marvel, there have also been some new #1’s, just not nearly as many, and not nearly as confusing. Daredevil and Moon Knight both recently received shiny new #1’s, without a whole re-imagining of the characters, and joining them this week was a new Punisher #1.
Punisher has been at his best over the last few years, mainly under the auspicious of writers like Garth Ennis and Jason Aaron, both of whom were tackling him under Marvel’s adult banner, Marvel MAX. In the MAX universe, Frank Castle isn’t dealing with superheroes or super-villains, and the characters can say whatever they want. The language is actually often quite shocking. But the real challenge when it comes to Frank, is writing him inside the Marvel universe as an active member. Personally, if I were running Marvel, there are very few writers that I would trust to be able to do this, but at the top of that list is Greg Rucka. It seems as though Marvel is getting smarter, because that’s exactly who they got to bring us this new series. Greg is joined by artist Marco Checchetto, who has been filling in on one of my favourite titles, Daken: Dark Wolverine; and he’s also joined by cover artist Bryan Hitch, who everyone knows from Ultimates and Fantastic Four.
This issue was pure brilliance! Greg Rucka doesn’t let the fact t that this book is in the regular Marvel Universe hamper his writing in any way. Just look at all the close ups of the copious amount of blood spilled and the brutal killing of several wedding guests. What I loved about it, is that this issue was really following Detective Walter Bolt, Frank’s new man on the inside, as he gets a new partner, and as he takes point on an investigation into the massacre at the aforementioned wedding of a former US Marine. That’s exactly how this book should be tackled. Just like a book starring Nick Fury…the main character isn’t very talkative so you don’t go from that character’s POV. You use someone else with ties to that character.
The art was the best of Marco’s career, and you can tell from this issue that he’s one of the next “Big” artists at Marvel. It was dark and moody and not spick & span clean. In fact, the issue was so light on the dialogue, that the art took point on telling most of the story. However, at no time did it speed up my reading of the issue. The art is so expressive, that I had to drink every last line and panel. Originally when I picked up this issue, it was just to give it a try, but after only one issue, I have committed. This issue’s perfection was a sight to behold.
Do yourself a solid and check this series out. With a writer/artist team like this, as well as the writer/artist duo’s on many of Marvel’s new #1’s, it seems like the real quality is hanging out at the house of ideas these days. Screw DC and their 52 #1’s! I’m betting none of them are as good as this! Sound off in our awesome and handy comments section below! I want to hear from all you Punisher fans and how you are living in the best time to be a Punisher follower!
Moon Knight(s) Assemble! – A Look at Moon Knight #1
Title: Moon Knight #1
Author: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Alex Maleev
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Rating: 13+
Release date: May 4, 2011
Verdict: 9/10
In 2000 I was all over the independent comic book world. I was in my period of disliking “The Man” and I wanted to read comic books that fit into this mold. It’s a good thing for me that the indy world was on a role. Guys like Ed Brubaker, Mike Allred, and Brian Bendis were the ones capturing my attention. Specifically Bendis is would seem. I picked up Jinx and Torso and Fortune and Glory and loved them all. And then I heard about Sam & Twitch. I knew of the characters from their role in that shitpile of a comic known as Spawn, but when I heard that there was this new writer writing pulp-style stories about these two, I needed to check it out. I really liked the first arc, “Udaku”, and was all set to enjoy this series for the long haul. The second arc was somewhat forgettable, but the third arc, starting with issue #15 was to feature a new artist. This guy was Alex Maleev…and thus started one of the modern era’s most acclaimed creator team-ups; that of Brian Bendis and Alex Maleev.
The two of them finished up their run on Sam & Twitch less than a year later with issue #24, but from there they really started to shine. The two of them teamed up for as a amazing run on Daredevil (issues #26-50 & #56-81), which in turn led to a few other small projects like Halo: Uprising #1-4, Mighty Avengers #12-13, Secret Invasion: Dark Reign, The Illuminati, and the seven issue run of Spider-Woman. Recently they launched their first creator-owned endeavour, Scarlet (which just hit issue #5)…but they haven’t really left superheroes behind. A few months ago it was announced that the two of them, on top of their monthly commitment to publish Scarlet, would be doing a relaunch of Moon Knight, and that they would be giving us a fresh take on the character unlike any we’ve read before. Well…the day has come and the first issue of their Moon Knight series is finally in my hands.
Brian Bendis promised us it would a fresh take unlike anything we’ve read before, and boy…did he ever mean it! Moon Knight is Marc Spector, but one of the main things Moon Knight is known for is the fact that he has multiple personalities lurking under the surface of his mind. But this Moon Knight, right from the first page, is somewhat different. Marc Spector seems like a well adjusted induvidual who is making his way in Hollywood as the producer of a television show about Khonshou. During a typical Hollywood party, Marc is interrupted by Captain America, Wolverine, and Spider-Man. They tell him that someone is trying to set themselves up in Los Angeles as the west Coast Kingpin of Crime, and that Moon Knight needs to be taking care of business.
From here Marc Spector/Moon Knight goes on patrol and starts to get into it with Mr. Hyde, a goon of a villain that seems to be working for this new west coast Kingpin. Marc then tells his Avengers buddies, who all seem to still be in town, that he is going to need their help with this one. At this point, the true situation reveals itself to the reader. You see…Cap, Wolverine and Spider-Man aren’t really there. They are new persona’s that Marc has taken on, but he also doesn’t realize this quite yet.
This opens the door for all kinds of questions. Were they ever there in the first place? Is that the reason Cap was Steve Rogers and he was in his old Captain America uniform? Is Marc really producing a television show? Is Marc’s D.I.D. actually getting worse…or is is it getting more useful? This twist was really cool, and I’m excited to see where Bendis and Maleev go from here. There in no official word on how long these two plan on staying on this series, but from what I’ve been able to gather, they should be doing at least 6-8 issues. A good graphic novel’s worth…but hopefully, based on the strength of this first issue, they will decide to stick around at little longer.
The Shadow Falls: Shadowland #5 & Daredevil #512
Title: Shadowland #5 & Daredevil #512
Author: Andy Diggle (Shadowland) / Andy Diggle & Antony Johnston (Daredevil)
Artist: Billy Tan (Shadowland) & Marco Checchetto (Daredevil)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Rating: 13+
Release date: December 1, 2010
Verdict: 8/10 & 8/10
When it comes to Daredevil and the writers who choose to take on his book, for some reason they’re always trying to destroy him. I’m not sure what it is about Matt Murdock that people find so fun to destroy. Perhaps it’s his Catholicism and the fact that his faith will always cause him to try his best to bounce back? Perhaps it’s because he’s a lawyer with a heart of gold who is always doing what he can to help his neighbours? Maybe his inner strength, which has allowed him to weather tragedy after tragedy? Either way, ever since Frank Miller almost destroyed Matt Murdock/Daredevil in the 1980’s with “Born Again”, every seminal run on DD has usually found him in a heap of trouble with his life in shambles.
Kevin Smith gave Daredevil’s girlfriend, Karen Page, AIDS and then had Bullseye kill her in front of him and his estranged mother (now a nun) in a church. Brian Bendis had Daredevil outed to the public as Matt Murdock, crucified in the press, tortured his new wife, and eventually sent him to prison. Ed Brubaker had Matt deal with the whole prison thing only to loose his wife to insanity, which he most likely caused, and then fought a war against most of his catalogue of rogues. Andy Diggle followed up Mr. Brubaker’s run with Daredevil taking the law into his own hands upon seeing the damage that Norman Osborn was causing in New York during the ‘Dark Reign’ and eventually taking over the criminal assassination society known as The Hand, a group that has sought Murdock’s destruction for some time, in order to take back Hell’s Kitchen and the safety of the everyday New Yorker. Mr. Diggle’s first big arc wraps up with this newest issue of Daredevil and with this final issue of Shadowland.
Shadowland has shown us that Matt Murdock has actually been taken over by a Japanese demon known as “The Beast”, which also acts as the ‘patron demon’ of The Hand. Murdock isn’t solely to blame for everything that this demon has done in his name, but he isn’t without blame either. It’s his fault that the demon was able to ‘get in’, due to his state of mind and willingness to kill Bullseye after Bullseye killed over 100 civilians on Norman Osborne’s orders. Shadowland has seen all the ‘street level’ heroes from New York join in the battle with the heavy hitters like Thor and Iron Man hanging out in their own books and the Avengers books. Guys like Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Moon Knight, Punisher, Shang-Chi, Misty Knight, Ghost Rider and Elektra have been the stars of this crossover.
Shadowland #5 gives the big final battle that we have been waiting for. The demon within Murdock has been excised thanks to the kick-ass powers of the Iron Fist (Danny Rand), the rioting has ceased in the Kitchen, and the hand was all but destroyed. Oh…and just as Matt was supposedly going to die, he slipped out under everyone’s noses. Now Matt is without a costume, but full of guilt over his role in this whole fiasco. The demon was excised and Matt ‘rose’ from the preverbal dead, but he still has to answer for what happened. This ending couldn’t have been more Catholic if it had tried. Even the final scene is Matt going into a church in the middle of the night in order to be absolved of his sins by a priest.
Overall, I thought it was kind of a telegraphed ending, but still quite true to his character. It was a decent mini-series. Meanwhile over in Daredevil #512, the post-event clean-up is under way. DD #512 opens with Detective Kurtz, the man who would have been Daredevil’s Jim Gordon, being tasked with bringing Matt Murdock to justice. The only problem is that Matt seems to be missing. There have been some reports since the Hand fell that Daredevil has been seen in Hell’s Kitchen, but no one has been able to confirm this. Even heroes like Luke Cage and Danny Rand have been unsuccessful in locating him. Foggy Nelson hasn’t heard from him. Not even the Night Nurse has seen Matt. He’s just disappeared.
Now the mystery, other than “Where is Matt?”, has gone to, “If Matt isn’t in Hell’s Kitchen, then who is kicking the crap out of all the criminals? With the Kingpin once again being in control of the Hand, Hell’s Kitchen still needs a protector, and someone has taken on that role. Within a few pages we find out that T’Challa, The Black Panther, has answered the call. Of course, if you’ve been paying attention to the upcoming Marvel Comics solicitations, then you already knew that the main Daredevil series would feature Black Panther as HK’s protector for the next few months. But where does Matt Murdock’s story go from here?
Writer Andy Diggle will continue his tenure on Daredevil with Daredevil: Reborn, but at this point, we don’t know much about the series. The final pages of Daredevil #512 answer one big mystery as they show Matt getting off a bus in what looks like Oklahoma (going to Asgard, maybe?), having grown a fully formed beard in no time (at first I thought I was looking at Conan O’Brien J ). What I expect to follow is a story where Matt ‘finds’ himself and then begins anew. If this is the case, then we will be the victims of a story that has been told time and time again. Hopefully Mr. Diggle is a bit more creative than this.
So overall, I’d say that this whole Shadowland storyarc was fun to read, but it didn’t seem very fresh. Daredevil has been a character that over the last decade plus has had some of the best writers in the game give us some of the best work of their career as they tried to one-up the writer that came before them. With Mr. Diggle, whom I don’t mean to offend, we’ve got someone who kept the quality high, but not higher that what came before. Of course, when you follow someone like Ed Brubaker, how is this even possible, right?
What did you all think of the grand Shadowland storyarc? How about the last 12 months of DD and Andy Diggle’s run? Are you excited for the upcoming Daredevil: Reborn story? Let’s hash it out in our handy comments section below J .
NYCC 2010 Round-Up
-Marvel announced the next character to get the “Astonishing” treatment, and that character is Captain America. Astonishing Captain America will be a five or six issue mini-series that will be written by Andy Diggle (Daredevil, Shadowland) and feature artwork by Adi Granov (Iron Man & Iron Man films). People have been wondering if this mini-series will take place in the film continuity, due to the similarities in the Captain America uniform, but Mr. Diggle has let everyone know that this is not the case. Look for in early 2011.
- Starting with issue #36, Astonishing X-Men will go back to a regular shipping schedule and also get a new regular creative team. That team will be writer Daniel Way (Deadpool, Wolverine: Origins) and artist Jason Pearson (covers for Deadpool). This series is not to be confused with the Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis mini-series by Warren Ellis and Kaare Andrews.
-The upcoming arc in Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four, entitled 3, will see the death of one of the team members. As a nod to another famous comic book death, Marvel has decided to release the first issue in a black bag with the number 3 on the outside. Sounds kind of cool…
-February will see the launch of Iron Man 2.0 as a new ongoing series. As opposed to having another monthly starring Tony Stark, this book will feature Colonel James Rhodes (Rhodey) aka War Machine, in a new suit of armour. The book is being planned as a stand alone series where you don’t have to read the regular Iron Man series in order to follow it, but also act as a companion piece to Invincible Iron Man which will pay off more if you read both. Writer Nick Spencer, new to Marvel, will write the book, while Barry Kitson will handle the art chores.
-Like Thor and Daredevil before it, the Iron Man series (Invincible Iron Man) will return to it’s classic numbering with the 600th issue. Look for this in early 2011.
-Marvel announced that we will finally get an Ultimate Captain America mini-series. The series will be brought to us by writer Jason Aaron (Scalped) and artist Ron Garney (Captain America in the 1990’s). The story will supposedly feature a Captain America from the Vietnam War era. The secret identity of this new Cap will be familiar to comics fans, according to the creators.
-Brian Bendis made a few cool announcements as well. First: Brian Bendis and regular collaborator Alex Maleev (they did Sam & Twitch, Daredevil, Spider-Woman, and Scarlet) have announced that they are currently working on a new interpretation of Moon Knight. Supposedly they were tasked with taking on the character in a whole new way, and they came up with a great angle. Bendis insists that work on their creator-owned series from ICON, Scarlet (which is bi-monthly), will not be affected by this new series. The creators plan on doing both. The second announcement was that Bendis, along with another long time collaborator, Mike Avon Oeming, will be launching a new creator-owned all ages series from Marvel’s ICON imprint called Takio. The series will feature two sisters with superpowers with a mild dislike of each other. The goal with this series is to release a graphic novel sized book once a year. Bendis and Oeming are taking a page from fellow ICON talent Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips book and will rotate between their creator-owned series. Bru and Philly cut time between Criminal and Incognito, both of which come out from ICON.
-Following the all the negative press of raising the prices on many of their books to $3.99 from $2.99, DC has announced that they will be rolling back several series to the original $2.99 price tag. This change should come into effect in the next few weeks. Marvel will be following suit starting in January 2011.
-Months ago DC announced that Jim Lee and Frank Miller, the creative team behind All-Star Batman & Robin, would be coming back to the All-Star universe with a new mini-series starring Robin. Well…we finally have a date. February 2001 will see the release of Dark Knight: Boy Wonder. No word on how long the series is set to run, but the delay until February may be so Jim Lee can have the series fully penciled before an issue is even on the stands. …but I’m not holding my breathe.
-Geoff Johns announced that the first issue of a new ongoing series starring one of the new “Corps” has already been completed. No word on which Corps is getting it’s own book, but my bets are on the Red Lantern Corps. If not the Red corps, could it be the “Pink Lanterns” of Zamaron as led by Carol Ferris?
-Rumour has it that writer James Robinson is currently working on a new ongoing Hawkman series. No artist was rumoured along with the Robinson news, but we’ll update y’all when we get the update.
-J.H. Williams new Batwoman series will launch in November with a #0 issue, with a new #1 following in February 2011. The #0 issue will coincide with the release of the various new Batman series.
-…and last but not least: Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly are supposedly working on a sequel to the graphic novel “New York 5″. As the line they launched the first OGN under no longer exists, we can expect to see this new OGN (and perhaps a re-print of the original) from DC’s adult division, Vertigo.
Secret Deadpool: Deadpool #27
Title: Deadpool #27
Author: Daniel Way
Artist: Carlo Barberi
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Rating: 13+
Release date: September 15, 2010
Verdict: 9/10
Month in and month out for the last two plus years, I’ve been lucky enough to be a reader of one of the funniest comic books ever, the monthly Deadpool series. I know that at this point that there are several Deadpool books on the shelves; Deadpool Team-Up, Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth, Deadpool Corps, Deadpool Noir, Deadpool Pulp, etc…etc…etc…and so on. Deadpool, who only a few short years ago, was having his series cancelled, is now the new Wolverine. I think he may actually get even more exposure than Wolvie…but I digress. The series I’m talking about is the original adjectiveless Deadpool. This week’s #27 was another winner in a long line of winners since writer Daniel Way kicked off this book during that whole Secret Invasion thing.
Deadpool has been on a kick recently trying to become a hero, usually to disastrous and hilarious results. There was the whole thing with him trying to become an X-Man; and then there was the time he tried to team-up with Spider-Man; and then last month he got his ass handed to him by the Ghost Rider. All the while, he’s having internal arguments with his own brain that are funnier than any dialogue in any other Marvel comic book. This month the book kicked it up a notch.
After getting his ass handed to him by the Ghost Rider, we come across Deadpool in a gas station convenience store in Littlefork, Wisconsin trying to buy a burrito with gold bouillon. It doesn’t work. The clerk says they only accept US dollars. As Deadpool is about to complain, he looks behind himself and there’s a whole squad of guys in masks with guns who just so happen to be able to regenerate just like Deadpool does. A hilarious fight ensues with Deadpool and the other guys killing each other over and over while they regenerate. Cut to a few minutes later and Steve Rogers and a couple of his Secret Avengers (Moon Knight & Black Widow) bust in and kick everyone’s asses. After Deadpool wakes up and saves Steve from an Arab terrorist (they mention how stereotypically racist and disappointing it is that an actual Arab terrorist was used, btw), Steve does the thing that Deadpool has been waiting his whole life for: Steve asks Deadpool if he wants to work for him. This would mean that Deadpool would finally be a hero…sort of. It looks like Steve Rogers and friends will be back next issue and I can’t wait. The hilarious potential for Deadpool interacting with the former Captain America and his new team is limitless. I foresee the best storyarc of this series as being upon us.
As I said at the beginning of this piece, the Deadpool monthly book has had me laughing for 27 straight issues, and is showing no signs of slowing down. Daniel Way is the funniest scripter that Marvel has in their bullpen right now, and I challenge everyone to prove me wrong. What did you guys think of this week’s Deadpool offering? Do you find it as funny as I do? Sound off in our comments section below J . Remember: start picking up Deadpool today!
The Hand of The Devil: Shadowland #3
Title: Shadowland #3
Author: Andy Diggle
Artist: Billy Tan
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Rating: 13+
Release date: September 1, 2010
Verdict: 8/10
Starting with Brian Bendis’ and Alex Maleev’s run on Daredevil (2001-2006), and continuing through Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark’s run (2006-2009), and finally into Andy Diggle and Roberto De La Torre’s run (2009-now), Daredevil (aka Matt Murdock) has gradually been broken down both physically and mentally. Bendis sent Murdock through the ringer by having him exposed by the press as Daredevil and by having his new wife, Milla, go crazy because of his ill informed actions. He was forced to surrender to the FBI and thus went to prison for his role as a vigilante. Brubaker had Daredevil in jail fighting for his life followed by Daredevil dealing heavily with the group of assassins known as “The Hand” and his mental breakdown following his forced divorce from a mentally suffering Milla. However, when Andy Diggle took over the writing reigns at issue #500, Daredevil really went over the edge.
When Andy Diggle came on Daredevil with issue #500, he really shook up the status quo. Daredevil, who had been suffering quietly on his own, as Murdock is want to do, needed to shake things up. The cabal of assassins known as The Hand approached him and convinced him to become their supreme leader. Daredevil originally refused, but then came to look on the role as a way to infiltrate the group and use them to his own advantage. Deep down Daredevil wanted to turn The Hand into a force for good as opposed to only a group of assassins, but The Hand knew better. Where Daredevil thought he would be able to control them, the true leaders of The Hand knew that they were really the ones calling the shots. They had Daredevil compromise one moral certainty after another, all for the greater good, and eventually, the good man that was Matt Murdock was lost in a cloud of good intentions mixed with slight moral ambiguities that made the man without fear almost unrecognizable as of last week’s Shadowland #3.
Shadowland has followed Daredevil’s seeming ascension to a suedo-thrown in his neighbourhood of Hell’s Kitchen. Daredevil, along with the resources of The Hand, has built himself a Japanese-styled castle of sorts, complete with dungeons, and has kicked out all the cops of Helll’s Kitchen due to the deep rooted corruption in the New York City justice system. The impetus for this was the destruction of an apartment building and the death of over 100 innocent civilians by the villainous assassin known as Bullseye. Bullseye had been secretly tasked by Norman Osborne to kill Daredevil because of his status as an un-registered super-hero, but Bullseye both failed and then went too far trying to make up for his failure. Daredevil knew that Osborne had ordered the hit, and by extension, the destruction of the building, and as Osborne was operating under the authority of the US government, Daredevil decided that he must break the “law” and take things into his own hands to protect his neighbourhood. This was the biggest turning point in Daredevil’s seeming transformation before he himself went too far by actually killing his nemesis Bullseye.
Now with the new Heroic Age upon us and the fall of Osborne, everyone was hoping that Murdock would end his crusade in Hell’s Kitchen, but due to the influence of The Hand, that’s not going to happen. Daredevil has been acting more and more out of character, and with issue #3 of Shadowland, we find out that Murdock is truly not himself. The Hand has been preparing Murdock to act as the host for an entity known only as “The Beast of The Hand”, and Daredevil may not survive the melding. All the Hand needed was to corrupt a truly good man like Matt to their side in order to call on their Beast. With all the shit that Daredevil has faced in the last few years, his whole career really, they saw their opportunity. Daredevil was already kind of on the path, they just nudged him the rest of the way. Now all of Matt’s friends like Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Spider-Man, Shang-Chi, Misty Night, and even The Punisher, are trying to rein him in, and it doesn’t seem to be working. He’s gone so far over the edge that they are even considering taking him out permanently.
One thing about this series that I love is that Billy Tan’s artwork is getting better and better. His style has really cleaned up and is likely the best work of his penciling career. The story on the other hand, is only OK at best. I’ve been following Daredevil religiously since his revitalization by Kevin Smith and Joe Quesada back in 1998, and this story feels like a real departure from the Daredevil that I know. The aforementioned run’s by the teams of Bendis/Maleev and Brubaker/Lark really showed Daredevil fighting for his life and by extension, the integrity of Hell’s Kitchen. This supernatural turn has been kind of fun, but it really takes the whole “street level hero” stuff and throws it out the window. With the revelation of this “Beast of the Hand”, I now half expect Doctor Strange to show up and save the day when that really shouldn’t happen in Daredevil’s arena.
With all that being said, I’ve actually been enjoying this whole storyarc. Having all the major street-level heroes take part in this big crossover is unprecedented. Having Daredevil, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Shang-Chi, Moon Knight, and even The Punisher all dealing with this instead of the really big time heroes like the Avengers or the Fantastic Four is great. Not everything needs to be solved by cosmic level heroes. Hopefully, when this story wraps up we get a chance to get the Daredevil we know and love back in control of himself. Just dealing with the over-whelming guilt of all that he’s done recently will make for a few years worth of stories. Is it just me, or do you guys want to see Greg Rucka jump on this series and bring DD back to where he belongs? I know I do. We’ll report back as the series wraps up in the next few months. Tell us what you thought by sounding off in our trusty comments section below J .