Daredevil Reviews - Page 2

Daredevil: Guardian Devil 2003 (SC TPB) 190 pages

Written by Kevin Smith. Pencils by Joe Quesada. Inks by Jimmy Palmiotti.
Colour/letters: various. Editor: Nanci Dakesian.

Reprinting: Daredevil (vol. 2) #1-8 (1998-1999)

Rating: * * * (out of five)

Number of readings: 2

Additional notes: intro by Ben Affleck; afterword by Smith; covers

A young woman leaves her baby with Daredevil's alter ego of Matthew Murdock -- claiming demonic agents seek to kill it because it's the Messiah. Yet then another man tells him the baby is actually the anti-Christ. And as troubles plague DD and his friends, seeming a result of the baby's "curse", he isn't sure who to trust...or if he can kill the child even if it is evil. Along the way, a significant supporting character is killed off.

This was part of Marvel's attempt to reignite some of its moribund titles by restarting the series (though it isn't a "re-boot" per se -- it's the same on-going Daredevil continuity, just with a new numbering system) and landing a "hot" creative team headed by Kevin Smith -- the cult fav indie filmmaker and comics fan marking his first mainstream comics work.

At first glance, the premise seems a bit odd for the normally realist, "mean streets" of Hell's Kitchen Daredevil. Not that Daredevil hasn't tackled supernatural themes before -- but still, demons and anti-Christs? But that's part of the appeal. By inserting Daredevil in a story that has overtones of occult thrillers, it stays true to the character while providing a slightly novel plot.

Though the story is talky, it moves along well, the thriller aspects intriguing, promising a provocative story of good and evil, morality and responsibility. Smith, better known for writing comedies, crafts some funny lines and moments, while maintaining the serious tone of the series.

The art by Joe Quesada is vibrant and robust, detailed without being cluttered, and full of brooding shadows that suit the spooky tone of the story. Quesada's style reflects the slightly caricaturish style of modern artists, but not too much so to lose the humanity of the characters. I'm not always a big fan of "cartoony" comic art in super hero comics, but I've begun to acclimatize to it, accepting it as the new "norm" -- yet then I read some reviews of this which criticized Quesada's art as too caricaturish. Man -- I'm never going to figure out what's "in", am I? The art is further enhanced by moody and vibrant colouring. Though the art is beautiful, I suppose it is true that it lacks some of the urban realism other Daredevil tales have had over the years.

Interestingly, Quesada is one of the few Daredevil artists (at least, so that I've noticed) who draws Daredevil as really blind, with his pupils kind of rolling up into his head.

Anyway, with its intriguing premise, rich with provocative themes, nicely written scenes, and sumptuous art, I was turning pages eagerly, thinking I had stumbled upon one of the greats -- a compelling, thinking man's "graphic novel". And though it clearly builds upon Daredevil's reality and past adventures, Smith seemed to be keeping a better rein on his fanboy instincts than he did later in Green Arrow: Quiver. The story here seemed relatively self-contained, with only the occasionally cryptic reference liable to throw a newcomer. I was loving this book!

And then it all went to Hell (pun intended).

It was partly when arch foe Bullseye showed up, and suddenly this unusual occult thriller veered back into run-of-the-mill super hero stuff. And Smith started pulling the story in a fanboy direction, working in cameos for the sake of cameos; Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, etc. The Black Widow had earlier appeared, of course, but she's a familiar part of DD's world.

Like a train hitting rough spots, the story started to rattle and shake -- and eventually it went off the rails entirely.

I don't want to give to much away, but it retreats from the intriguing, spooky premise it started as and becomes just a simple super hero story -- and a not very good one. As the explanations are given and the mystery explained, you can't help thinking: this is sooooo stupid. And Smith knows it's stupid, and the climax entails Daredevil and the villain trading barbs about who behaved the most idiotically, and how "trite" it all is. Smith also betrays his film background as the story starts to seem like a cinematic in-joke. The cynic in me would almost wonder if it's meant as a mean spirited raspberry spat at the readership -- except Smith, a comics fan, seems an unlikely person to want to thumb his nose at comics fans.

But in a sense, Smith becomes like his own villain in the denouement, a character who convinced himself he had crafted some grand, intricate master plan...but it's really pretty lame and cliched and simplistic.

I can't claim expert knowledge of the villain, but he seems out-of-character. That's because the plan is so "savage", resulting in so many innocent victims, it doesn't simply require a criminal mind, but a completely psychotic sociopath. There have been a few comic book "mysteries" -- such as Batman: Hush and Identity Crisis, even dating back to Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? -- where writers seem to feel the best way to surprise the reader with the identity of the villain is to simply have the villain be soooo out of character there's no way you could deduce it logically! Smith even goes so far as to have the villain not even be a regular Daredevil foe (something we learn part way through, so I'm not giving too much away -- though I did guess his identity thanks to a reference the Kingpin makes).

A good mystery is one that builds upon what we know -- not one that can only surprise us by defying what we know.

And this shaggy dog of an ending ultimate undermines, or exacerbates, earlier problems. The story is supposed to be a character study of a man torn between logic and faith, but it's hard to see it as a character study when Daredevil's clearly not in control of himself. Likewise, conversations between Daredevil and others, including a nun, about faith and God (presumably close to Smith's heart) are undermined by a story that doesn't support them. And that's not even touching on other character inconsistencies, such as Foggy Nelson cheating on his girlfriend.

Still, maybe I let my expectations get too high, expecting a literary epic, and instead Smith just delivers of fun super hero romp. Fine. I love those, too. And after a second reading, knowing where it's all headed, I can sort of enjoy it on that (lower) level.

But it's hard to take it as just a fun romp because of the "savagery". Though not graphic, by the end there's tremendous body count, as if Smith belongs to the modern school of comics writers who feel a crime is barely a misdemeanour if it involves less than a dozen corpses. Which then brings us to the death of a major supporting character (I'm being vague but, doubtless by now, anyone reading this knows who). In a complex tale of good and evil, spiritualism and redemption, it could maybe be justified. But it ends up being one of the most pointless deaths in the history of comics, and smacks of house cleaning, or, as so often happens, Smith (or his editor) wanted to "make their mark" by doing something shocking. But it ain't edgy if everyone's doing it!

And ultimately, Smith has so pushed me out of the story that by the final chapter, dealing with the ramifications of this character's death, including the obligatory funeral scene where other super heroes show up, I just couldn't buy into it emotionally. The death itself was so mercenary and contrived and artificial.

The saga starts out as a relatively self-contained epic (though the resolution requires referencing a bunch of other comics that'll leave a casual fan's head spinning). At the same time, Smith leaves one mystery unanswered. Comic writers seem to have trouble with closure, or maybe they feel that that "makes their mark" as well, forcing other writers to continue their story. But whether anyone did follow up on it, I don't know. Back in the mid-1980s, in Daredevil: Born Again, Frank Miller awkwardly inserted a nun who may or may not have been DD's mother. But I'm not sure anyone followed up on it, given that Smith throws in that same nun and, from the dialogue, it sounds as though nothing more had been explained about her in the intervening decade and a half of DD stories!

Ultimately, I'm having trouble assessing this. I loved the first part -- and, honestly, almost actually hated the second half. But, as usual, after a second reading my passions have cooled. No longer expecting a "great" story, but just reading it for the pacing and art, it's more enjoyable. At the same time, if a second reading means I disliked the resolution less than I had...it also means I'm less excited by the first half, too. Knowing what a mundane story it evolves into, you can't read the opening scenes with the same enthusiasm.

Cover price: $31.95 CDN./ $19.95 USA.

Daredevil in Love and War 1986 (SC GN), 64 pgs.

Written by Frank Miller. Painted by Bill Sienkiewicz.
Letters: Jim Novak. Editor: Al Milgrom.

Rating : * * * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: a few times over the years

Marvel Graphic Novel #9 - oversized, tabloid format

This multi-character story has the crime boss, the Kingpin, soliciting the help of a famed psychiatrist, Paul Mondat, in the treatment of his beloved, semi-comatose wife. Not content to just hire the man, Kingpin wants to guarantee his commitment by having Mondat's blind wife, Cheryl, kidnapped. The kidnapper is Victor, a completely unstable junkie-schizophrenic who becomes fixated on Cheryl. Daredevil becomes involved, and also becomes infatuated with the blind woman.

Daredevil: Love and War is an atmospheric, fully painted, tabloid-sized graphic novel. And if it isn't perhaps the best thing Frank Miller ever wrote, it's still pretty good. The interweaving of the various characters, most well-delineated, and how their different actions have unforeseen effects on the other characters is well done. Frank Miller's ear for dialogue is, perhaps, the finest in the history of comic books, and his ability to turn phrases, to repeat lines but with different significance (like the opening and closing monologue), and to juxtapose words and images is almost unsurpassed. The story veers between urban grittiness and violence, to humour, to being lyrical, poetic, almost dreamlike, and ultimately kind of poignant.

Perhaps the chief weaknesses are that it is an ensemble piece -- Daredevil is still a prominent character, but only one of three or four -- and, of course, comic relief goon, Turk, who can be amusing...but also strikes me uncomfortably like a racist caricature. And there's a strange sense of disappointment by the end, a feeling that something is missing. I'm not quite sure what, but it keeps Daredevil: Love and War from being truly great.

Thinking about this some time after having first written this review (and just reading an old Daredevil comic), I almost wonder if what's missing is...Foggy! No, really. I mean, not so much that Foggy Nelson makes or breaks a D.D. story per se, but supporting characters often add humanity to the otherwise grandiose heroics, and dimension to the star. As noted above, even Daredevil/Matt Murdock is shunted a bit to the side in Love and War, and maybe that robs all the artiness, all the lyricism, of Daredevil: Love and War of its grounding.

Bill Siekienwicz's art (this isn't pencil ink drawings with painted colour; this is fully painted -- perhaps one of the first mainstream graphic novels to be done that way) is very effective, but stylistically far removed from his early work as a Neal Adams disciple. It's weird and stylized, but hauntingly evokes the varying moods of the various scenes and characters.

Mature readers. Original cover price: $7.95 CDN./$6.95 USA.

Daredevil in Marked for Death 1990 (SC TPB) 96 pgs. 

Written by Roger McKenzie. Drawn by Frank Miller. Inked by Klaus Janson (and Josef Rubinstein).
Colours: Glynis Wein. Letters: various. Editors: Al Millgrom, Mary Jo Duffy, Denny O'Neil.

Reprinting: Daredevil #159-161, 163, 164 (1979, 1980) (with covers)

Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5)

Number of readings: 2

Reprinting five Daredevil issues, more or less in a row (it skips #162), Marked for Death includes a three part story in which Bullseye plots to kill Daredevil, using D.D.'s on again/off again girl friend, the Black Widow, as bait. It's followed by a tale of D.D. tussling with the Hulk, then rounds out with a reprise of Daredevil's origin. There's even a one-pager (from #159, I believe) giving the technical low-down on D.D.'s billy club.

The Bullseye trilogy was fine. Oh, it was mainly a breezy action-thriller, but it was an entertaining breezy action-thriller. Roger McKenzie is a solid, if largely neglected, comic writer and the Frank Miller/Klaus Janson art is energetic and moody, superbly complemented by Glynis Oliver Wein's sombre, night time colouring. It was also refreshing to see Bullseye portrayed as, frankly, a pathetic figure. Too often bad guys, particularly the more twisted and sleazy ones, are portrayed as though they're kind of cool (from Anthony Hopkins in "Silence of the Lambs" to Bullseye himself). Boosting my interest in the Bullseye story even more was an unexpected sub-plot involving reporter Ben Urich unravelling the secret of Daredevil's identity.

The problem comes with the Hulk story. It's not a bad story, but pretty generic. There isn't a plot that involves D.D. and the Hulk -- D.D. and the Hulk is the plot. As well, I'd begun to think of Daredevil as comicdoms most urban, most down-to-earth superhero, playing out his adventures against mob-infested mean streets. Going up against the Hulk seemed just a little too comic booky. It's also illogical: D.D. wants the Hulk to calm down...so he starts hitting him (yeah, that'll work). Joe Rubinstein's guest inks also took a bit of getting used to (though he and Miller later teamed up to good effect on Wolverine).

Added Feb. 2003: Here's a situation where re-reading a story gives one a different perspective. I now realize that when I say there isn't so much a plot as D.D. and the Hulk is the plot...is exactly the point. In a sense, McKenzie isn't trying to write an action team-up piece, but rather a character study of both characters (three actually, counting the Hulk's alter ego of Bruce Banner). Here the Hulk is less a nominal super hero, than a tragic monster, and Banner his tormented alter ego. And this is contrasted with Daredevil's compassion and determination. The whole point of the story is that DD is completely out of his league confronting the Hulk...but does so anyway. Confronting him with his fists, yes, but also with his compassion, evidenced in a parallel scene near the story's beginning and end. I still have mixed feelings about the story's success, but I believe I was underselling what it was trying to be.

The final story, the climax (anti-climax, frankly) of the Ben Urich sub-plot, was also a problem because it leads into a rehash of Daredevil's origin...and I'd recently read the real thing (in Son of Origins).

Obviously, that makes my review problematic. If you've never read D.D.'s origin, then the final story will be fresher (though I'd argue the original Lee-Everett take is the better one) and maybe a Hulk/Daredevil story strikes your fancy. Heck, I'm pretty sure I'll like it better after a second reading, once I've acclimatized to its inclusion. How's that for prophetic, eh? -- see my addition above.

The point of this collection is vague. The back cover implies the Bullseye plot is the reason for the collection...except it only accounts for three/fifths of the issues. It might have been intended as a collection of Frank Miller's earliest Daredevil work...except he started on issue #158 (and his first work on the character was in a couple of issues of Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man). So you think, ah hah, the Ben Urich story line was the real impetus for this collection...except we come in in the middle. The pay off is a bit weak, and I'm more curious about how it began. After all, concluding that Daredevil is really a blind man is a pretty hefty leap of logic for Urich to have made. What made him suspect?

Reviewing TPB "collections" is an interesting dilemma, in that are you reviewing it overall...or according to the "best" in that collection. In other words, if one story (or stories) makes it worth the purchase, does it matter if there are lesser tales in it? In the end, Daredevil: Marked for Death may be an unspectacular collection...but that three-part Bullseye tale is, just in and of itself, and enjoyable, well told tale.

Original Cover price: $11.95 CDN./$9.95 USA.

Daredevil: Ninja  2003 (SC TPB) 80 pages

Written by Brian Michael Bendis. Illustrated by Rob Haynes.
Colours: David Self. Letters: Comicraft. Editor: Joe Quesada, Nanci Dakesian.

Reprinting: the three issue mini-series

Rating: * 1/2 (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

Brian Michael Bendis accrued mountains of accolades for his tenure writing Daredevil's monthly comic, and has become, essentially, Marvel's "IT" boy of the moment -- you know, the writer who seems almost to have been handed the keys to the Kingdom by the editorial regime to initiate all sorts of massive, company impacting scenarios (the same way Geoff Johns is basically DC's "IT" boy of the moment). While in the midst of his DD run, Bendis also penned this DD mini-series -- which seemed an odd publishing decision. I mean, if you're going to do a mini-series about a character already with a monthly series, surely it should be because it is somehow removed from the regular series and/or to give an opportunity to a writer not writing the monthly. Anyway, based on some of the reviews I came across of Daredevil: Ninja, it didn't really seem to get that positive a reception, with even people identifying themselves as Bendis' fans declaring it a lesser work.

Now since what little I'd read of Bendis' more acclaimed stuff had left me unimpressed I thought, hmmm, if Bendis fans didn't like this...then maybe I, as a non fan, would.

No such luck.

It would be unfair to say Ninja is the worst Daredevil story I've read...I've probably read things equally as bad. But I'm not sure I can think of too many that were worse.

The problem with Ninja is that it's got a plot thinner than one of the pages it's printed on -- and even calling it a plot is being generous. Daredevil is reluctantly recruited by the remnants of the Disciples of the Seven, the good ninja group of his dead mentor, the irascible Stick. The good guys are once more at war with the evil ninja group, The Hand, and need Daredevil's help. There's lots of fighting -- whole issue consuming fighting -- and then it just kind of ends.

This actually did remind me of Bendis' other DD stuff that I'd read -- a very thin plot stretched over multiple issues, poorly structured, with weak logic, and an anti-climactic resolution. The chief difference is that the story has a light-hearted feel to it, as if Bendis intended it as a fun romp in contrast to his grittier, regular Daredevil stories. So there are a few cute quips, but sometimes the delivery itself undermines them. See, one of Bendis' stock-in-trades is his dialogue, which he has modelled after scriptwriters like David Mamet and Aaron Sorkin, so there's a lot of verbiage, a lot of people repeating things over and over again for rhythmic effect, a lot of excess dialogue that is there just to take a one panel moment and turn it into a two page scene. The result is that exchanges that might make cute throwaways get belaboured. The other problem with humour is that it can sometimes work against the established character, rather than stem from him. So Daredevil is frequently saying and doing things -- mainly being snarky or sarcastic ("sucks to be you") -- that doesn't always suit him (at least at this point in his evolution). And makes him a wee bit obnoxious.

Bendis also sends curiously mixed signals about his own topic. DD dismissively remarks that he "hates this ninja crap" and there's another sequence explaining how ninjas aren't the uber-cool cats pop culture has made them out to be, as if Bendis is deconstructing and satirizing the whole ninja mystique in comics. Yet...um...he's the one who's written a whole min-series around them. It reminds me a bit of Underboss where he has the villain belittle the Kingpin as just a "super villain" as if Bendis is mocking the very conventions of the genre...even as his "realistic" villain is then revealed as a goofball by the end of that story himself.

Part of the gimmick here may have been to try and present this as a kind of big screen action movie -- the credits are even cheekily done like screen credits (billed as a Marvel "Films" Production, and the colourist as "cinematographer") and artist Rob Haynes breaks each page up into horizontal panels as if to evoke a widescreen movie. So maybe the thin plot and the emphasis on action was supposed to be a homage to a Hollywood action movie. But even a Hollywood action movie would have more plot, and more structure, than this. As well, there's Haynes' art itself, which is a kind of mixed affair. It's energetic and kind of appealing -- but it is very much of a cartoony, caricature bent. The visuals less evoke a Daredevil motion picture and more a Daredevil animated movie.

In fact, given that this came out around the time of the Daredevil movie, that could also explain why it was released as a mini-series -- Marvel just wanted as many DD projects on the shelves as possible to tie into the movie.

I was going to say the story in no way warranted being serialized over three months...but that might seem like a moot criticism when looking at a TPB collection. But the problem isn't just that very little happens...but very. little. happens.

Going back to an earlier point about why was this a mini-series as opposed to just part of the regular DD monthly, I was initially going to say because it's deliberately isolated from continuity -- with little sense of when it takes place (other than sometime after Stick's death). But it is rather mired in continuity, in that it's built upon DD's history with Stick and his sect, though it's generally explained for the uninitiated. Bendis even offers an explanation for the centuries old feud between the Disciples and the Hand -- and it's kind of astounding if this really is the first time someone thought to explain their rivalry (given I thought there needed to be an explanation back when Frank Miller first introduced the groups in DD comics in the 1980s!) The story seems to build to a complete non-event, where even DD is left bewildered by what was going on. Then Bendis provides an epilogue where a lot is left for the reader to interpret...but only if you know your DD history.

So what've you got? Some decent visuals -- if rather cartoony. Some cute quips -- even if Bendis' writing isn't half as clever as he seems to think. And a story that feels like the opening act...to a plot that never materializes.

(This is a review of the version originally serialized in the comics)

Cover price: $__ CDN. / $__ USA 

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