Daredevil: End of Days #6 – Review

By: Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), David Mack (Writer/Artist) Klaus Janson, Bill Sienkiewicz, Alex Maleev (Artists), Matt Hollingsworth (Colorist)

The Story: Ben Urich gets saved by the new Daredevil and continues his investigation, this time trying to talk with some of the villains in Matt Murdock’ life.

The Review: It seems that Brian Michael Bendis is on fire right now. With his All-New X-Men being great, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man being still the best part of the whole Ultimate universe and set to debut Guardians of the Galaxy this month (for real, I mean, with a #1 issue), he seems to be on top of his game. He seems fully reinvigorated, with his writing skills just like when he started writing Ultimate Spider-Man and Daredevil.

How fitting it is then that one of his strongest inputs in years is his ode to the death of Matt Murdock. Having killed him right in the very beginning of the series, we have followed Ben Urich (probably one of the characters that Bendis handles the best) as he tried to solve the mystery of his death and of Daredevil uttering of the word ‘’Mapone’’. What started as a homage to Citizen Kane as Urich started to question the entourage and loved ones of Matt Murdock has quickly evolved into something else thanks to this issue, as it adds some new elements to the game that are handled quite well.

Daredevil #7 – Review

By: Mark Waid (writer), Paolo Rivera (penciller), Joe Rivera (inker), Javier Rodriguez (color artist)

The Story: It’s Christmas and Matt is struggling to turn a corner in his life, away from the tortured, guilt-ridden man he has been for so long. A group of kids he is mentoring gives him a kick in the pants. Before you stop reading, this issue was totally cheese-free!

The Review: This was a little gem of an issue, containing a complete disaster story. Waid starts us in media res, with Matt (as a blind adult, and arguably uncertain about himself) taking a bunch of low-confidence blind kids on a Christmas field trip, when an accident occurs. The bus driver is dead, and DD’s radar sense is pretty much useless in a snowstorm in the forest. So, it’s back to basics and character. It’s a beautiful dramatic set-up that carries honest peril, and forces different people to draw on what makes them heroes in the first place, powers or not. DD, while super-heroic, is shown some common heroism, which is a pretty strong kick in the pants to his own personal problems. Although Waid doesn’t show if Matt changes his life outlook, there is no doubt that what happens in this issue can be a platform for helping him get back on an even keel. Waid does this all with an economy of honest dialogue and monologue narrative, although the key elements of the character change can not be said to be hidden.

Deadpool: Suicide Kings #3

By Mike Benson & Adam Glass (Writers), Carlo Barberi (Pencils), Sandu Florea (Inks), and Marte Gracia (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: So far, Suicide Kings has been generic, dumb, immature, and gratuitous (in terms of both violence and sexuality). That said, it’s also been funny, enjoyably crazy, and sure of its target audience.

The Story: Thanks to some mad videogame skills, Deadpool is able to find out information regarding who exactly placed the ad in Black Ops Magazine. Daredevil and Deadpool plan to investigate, but first they must deal with the misinformed Punisher…

What’s Good: My guess is that, by now you’ve already formed some sort of opinion about the Suicide Kings mini-series. Chapter three isn’t going to change any minds. The nonstop humor hits more than it misses, the colorful, lively (surprisingly violent) artwork is a nice fit, and the storyline proves a decent enough excuse to throw a number of Marvel characters into Deadpool’s twisted world.

What’s Not So Good: Interestingly enough, each negative I need to mention is directly related to a positive. Very noticeably so. While the humor often hits, Deadpool is so chatty throughout the book that it borders on annoying (I feel for the characters of the Marvel U. now). The solid artwork occasionally looks either completely awkward or oddly static (though Daredevil’s one fight offers the best (worst?!) of both worlds).  And the storyline?  Though completely acceptable, it is utterly forgettable.

Conclusion: In ways both good and bad, Deadpool: Suicide Kings #3 pretty much maintains the status quo for the mini-series. As a result, there isn’t a whole lot I need to say about it. The series isn’t getting any better, but, thankfully, it also isn’t getting significantly worse…

Grade: C

-Kyle Posluszny