Daredevil #10 – Review

by Mark Waid (writer), Paolo Rivera (pencils), Joe Rivera (inks), Javier Rodriguez (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: Daredevil cuts Mole Man’s twisted romance short.

The Review:  This issue is a key example of why I enjoy Mark Waid’s take on Daredevil and why it’s been so critically beloved in general.  It features Matt battling a gigantic subterranean monster and dueling Mole Man in a diamond mine.  It so happens that I’m currently re-reading Brian Bendis’ celebrated run and it’s amazing just how different Waid’s story is.  Quite simply, Mark Waid is turning pre-conceived notions of what constitutes a “Daredevil story” on its head and continues to challenge limits and expand the kinds of stories that can be told about old horn-head while still staying true to the character.

Fighting Mole Man and giant monsters in subterranean monsters seems totally contrary to the “street-level” Daredevil comic, and yet it works here simply because Waid imbues it with enough pure fun and daring-do to still make for an enjoyable read.  Morever, despite the crazy circumstances, Waid accompanies it with narration by Matt that keeps it tied to the character.  Even in these wild situations, the story remains tied to Matt’s psyche and character so, in this sense, this still feels like a “Daredevil comic” despite monsters and moloids subbing for thugs and hoods and giant caves standing in for the mean streets of Hell’s Kitchen.  While it’s refreshing and fun, it’s still the life of a superhero very much through Matt’s eyes and THAT is ultimately what makes it feel truly “Daredevil” above all else.

Waid also does a great job in his writing of Mole Man, who is perhaps surprisingly competent in physical combat, giving his fight with Daredevil a vaguely slapstick feel that fits Paolo Rivera’s style perfectly.  Waid’s depiction of Mole Man is very engaging as well – he’s pathetic and disturbed, but not “evil”.  Basically, Waid makes it much more nuanced than he’d necessarily have to.  He gives us a peak into a disturbed mind, which leads to a fully realized, three-dimensional villain.

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.

Daredevil #2 – Review

by Mark Waid (writer), Paolo Rivera (pencils), Joe Rivera (inks), Javier Rodriguez (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: Matt discovers that there’s a lot more weirdness behind Ahmed Jobrani’s case than expected, but first he has to dodge the big, red, white, and blue shield aimed squarely at his head.

What’s Good:  After last issue’s extra-sized big splash, this issue sees Waid and the Riveras settle into a nice groove, giving us a better idea of what we can expect month in and month out from this series.

As we really get into the meat of the story of Jobrani’s case, Waid really delivers a massive twist that hammers home the fact that this is going to be a Daredevil series very different from those we’ve been getting for the last ten years.  In so doing, he also made me realize how strongly my narrative expectations have been shaped by Bendis, Brubaker, and Diggle when it comes to this series.  Sure, we get the superhero legal drama: Daredevil needs to find out why Jobrani won’t press charges in his case, but as Matt gets closer to the bottom of things, they take a distinctly weirder direction.

Leading up to the big reveal, the story has all the hallmarks of a cut and dry street-level story.  You expect that the pressure on Jobrani will come from mobsters, crooks, or something along those lines, but Waid ends up going in a direction so opposite to this, that it feels almost surreal.  Instead, we get a Daredevil comic that takes an abrupt left turn from street level grit to retro sci-fi kookiness and boy is it awesome.  It’s so different, so refreshing, and completely shatters the mold that Daredevil had settled into as a comic.  Waid’s story ends up feeling both nostalgic and unique.

More than that, Waid also continues to make great use of Matt’s powers in his storytelling.  Of course, those wire-frame illustrations by Paolo Rivera are still amazing, but Waid serves up another old-school, forgotten villain that is absolutely perfect for DD.  I mean…a man made of sound?  There is no way that that isn’t awesome in a Daredevil comic.

Daredevil #1 – Review

by Mark Waid (writer), Paolo Rivera (pencils), Marcos Martin (art), Joe Rivera (inks), Javier Rodriguez and Muntsa Vicente (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story:  Daredevil crashes a wedding to stop a kidnapping but finds that returning to his job as a lawyer isn’t quite as easy as he’d hoped.

What’s Good:  After Shadowland, Andy Diggle’s run, and Daredevil: Reborn, it’s hard to imagine a Daredevil ongoing that feels fresh.  Yet, that’s exactly what Mark Waid, Paolo Rivera, and Marcos Martin give us here; this is a Daredevil book that is completely revitalized and new, one the manages to both acknowledge previous continuity while offering a ground floor entrance for even the newest reader.

But despite the major tonal shift and the accessibility of the series, make no mistake: this is a book for Daredevil fans, if not an outright love song.  Waid manages to touch the core of everything component that makes Daredevil a compelling comic and Matt  Murdock an equally compelling character.  Most interestingly, he emphasizes the depth and diversity of the character and property through dividing this extra-sized issue into three features, each one focused on a particular aspect of what makes for a good Daredevil comic.  In the first, we have a story that sees Daredevil in dynamic action, fighting a very creepy villain, and it’s all swashbuckling fun and adventure.  There’s a constant sense of old-school daring-do.  It’s uplifting, high-paced action of a sort that’s uniquely Daredevil.

Meanwhile, the second feature sees Matt entirely out of costume, and delivers something of a legal drama.  It’s a major shift from the first feature, and yet inextricably related in tone, despite the difference in subject matter.  Quite frankly, it felt like watching a superhero-related primetime legal show, and it was just as much fun as the first feature, albeit in a completely different way.

Amazing Spider-Man #641 – Review

By: Joe Quesada (writer), Paolo Rivera, Quesada, Danny Miki & Richard Isanove (art) & Joe Caramanga (letters)

The Story: One Moment In Time lurches toward the finish line.  Will the ending make any sense?  Will Dan Slott punch his boss in the face for messing up this series’ momentum?

What’s Good: I’m going to go ahead and give a SPOILER warning because there is really no way to discuss what I liked about this issue without getting into spoilers.

I am generally a comics optimist.  I enjoy the hobby and have enough passion to spend my free time writing reviews, so I (mostly) just roll with the punches and don’t get too worked up about the stupid stuff that happens from time to time.

And you really need to have that attitude to pull anything good out of OMIT.  Just deal with it and accept that for whatever reason, Joe Quesada wanted to put Spider-Man into a different place with a new status quo.  He’s the editor and he gets to make that decision and for all the people who bitch about stuff like this, just remember that no one is perfect and that Quesada has mostly made okay decisions during his tenure as EIC at Marvel.

Amazing Spider-Man #640 – Review

By: Joe Quesada (writer), Paolo Rivera (primary artist), Quesada, Danny Miki & Richard Isanove (pgs 1 & 24) & Joe Caramanga (letters) and Spidey Sundays by Stan Lee & Marcos Martin

The Story: So, you thought that Peter saved Aunt May with his superpowered CPR technique, huh?

What’s Good: Paolo Rivera’s art is very nice and he handles the bulk of the art in the troublesome issue.  It’s a shame about the story, because the art is quite good.  It is very clean and efficient and never tries to be inappropriately flashy.

The story has a few moments.  I did think the moment where Peter pulls up his shirt to show the hospital orderly his costume to get his cooperation was pretty cool.  (BTW…the fat orderly was pretty clearly Spidey-editor Tom Brevort)  I also thought that the overall pacing of the story was pretty good and I enjoyed the chase/fight between MJ and the luchador-masked hit man.  And the final reveal [SPOILER] of Peter asking Dr. Strange to give him his secret identity back has me mildly intrigued about how the next issue will wrap up.

Too bad the plot for this issue was screwing things up.

Amazing Spider-Man #639 – Review

By: Joe Quesada (writer), Paolo Rivera, Quesada, Danny Miki & Richard Isanove (art), Joe Caramanga (letters)
The Story: In the second chapter of One Moment In Time, Joe Quesada goes to greater lengths to explain what happened on the day of Peter and MJ’s failed wedding and ties this failure to One More Day.

What’s Good: If you wanted to pick at the scab of One More Day, this is an interesting way to do it that actually has me slightly curious about what will happen in the next couple of issues of this One Moment In Time story arc.

Going back to last issue, we had a couple of revelations: One, that Peter Parker missed his own wedding because a fat guy was lying on top of him.  Two, during the deal with Mephisto in One More Day, MJ also made Mephisto promise to leave Peter/Spidey alone for all time as her condition for giving up their marriage.  Both of those tidbits come into play in a slightly interesting way here.

What I think happened in this issue is that Quesada is telling us that no wedding means no marriage, and no marriage means Mephisto doesn’t show up as Aunt May is dying because there is nothing that he wants to take away.  Thus, I think Quesada has just ret conned One More Day out of existence.  If you’re doubtful about what this means, you’re not alone.  Go read any internet message board on the issue and you’ll find a lively discussion.

Amazing Spider-Man #638 – Review

By: Joe Quesada (writer), Paolo Rivera, Joe Q., Danny Miki & Richard Isanove (art) & Joe Caramanga (letters)  Spidey-Sundays by Stan Lee & Marcos Martin

The Story: Marvel wants to do more Peter Parker and Mary Jane stories in the future and that means they think they need to reconcile some inconsistencies in the continuity that occurred during One More Day.

What’s Good: This issue is very strong from an editorial art standpoint.  We are given a mix of new pages that happen “now”, old pages from ASM Annual #21 (from the late 1980’s) and new pages that are adding additional information to ASM Annual #21.  So, it is impressive that editorial managed to get this all to come off from a technical standpoint.  It reminded me of watching the re-released Star Wars movies in the late 1990’s and trying to guess what elements were new CGI stuff and what was old.

The art teams also do a nice job throughout.  I like how they’ve made MJ look like the girl next door and not some super-model like some artists.  I also think they did a pretty good job of aping the art style of ASM Annual #21 with some of the newly added interstitial pages.

I also think it’s nice that they clearly have some interest in doing some Peter-MJ stories.  As a kid who grew up in the 1980’s, I’m too young to really remember Gwen Stacey as an active girlfriend.  And, I was out of comics in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, so seeing MJ & Peter together just feels “right” and has been missing of late.