Daredevil Reviews - Page 3

Daredevil / Spider-Man 2001 (SC TPB) 96 pages.

Written by Paul Jenkins. Pencils by Phil Winslade. Inks by Tom Palmer.
Colours: Avalon Studios, Matt Milla. Letters: Richard Starkings, Troy Peteri, Jason Levine. Editor: Nancy Dakesian, Stuart Moore.

Reprinting: Daredevil / Spider-Man #1-4 (plus covers) - 2001

Rating: * * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 2

Mini-series originally told stories that wouldn't fit into any regular title, or were try-outs for characters without their own, monthly magazine. Although that still occurs, modern mini-series often seem to exist simply to increase the number of titles a character appears in. Both DD and Spidey have their own, monthly comics, and could easily have teamed up together in either of those (such as the storyline collected in the TPB Spider-Man: The Death of Jean De Wolff).

Presumably the intent is to present a relatively stand alone story for the new reader, one that doesn't stretch out for a dozen issues, or is filled with innumerable unresolved sub-plots. Or maybe it's just a way to allow writers and artists not assigned to the regular series to have a crack at the characters (which, if you weren't enjoying a current run, for instance, would be a plus).

The story -- "Unusual Suspects" -- has crime lord, the Kingpin, under attack by some costumed foes like the Stilt Man and others, forcing DD and Spider-Man to intercede before a bloody gang war erupts. Though starting out seeming a mix of urban mobsters with a few costumed villains, things take a supernatural turn later in the story.

As an interesting aside, I believe I read that either the original mini-series, or this TPB collection, was held back post-Sept. 11th, 2001. There isn't any real connection to that real life tragedy, but there is an attack on an office building. The Powers That Be at Marvel clearly felt, and perhaps wisely, the story would be better off being postponed by a few months.

This is largely Daredevil's story. Spidey fans shouldn't be disappointed -- the web-slingers' on a lot of pages, and drops a few quips. But it's DD who narrates, whose foes are involved, whose supporting cast and private life as Matt Murdock is utilized (Spidey never appears out of costume). There's some interesting attempts to contrast DD's more sombre style with Spidey's wisecracking, though given that DD has gone through wisecracking phases, it doesn't always ring true.

Although employing the Kingpin, this story seems a (small) step back from the overt urban grittiness that one often associates with DD, perhaps harkening back to an earlier stage in the character. It's not entirely unwelcome. There's something pleasantly old fashioned, in a sense, about this, like coming upon a few issues of Marvel Team-Up (a 1970s-1980s series featuring Spider-Man team ups). The art by Phil Winslade is solid (aided by Palmer's inks) with a lot of sinewy figures and semi-realist faces, vaguely evoking someone like Brent Anderson, although Winslade maybe leans a little toward caricature at times (hence why he drew the recent Howard the Duck mini-series). Though his Spidey is too skinny and knobbly for my tastes, presumably intended as a contrast to DD's more archetypal physique. Jenkins, meanwhile, scripts well enough, with decent dialogue, and the story is well paced. Though Jenkins' tired use of "lawyer" jokes doesn't really suit the characters. This may strike Jenkins as a novel concept, but a lot of lawyers -- probably including DD's alter ego of Matt Murdock -- actually consider theirs a noble profession.

However, as modestly enjoyable as the story is, that's all it is. Perhaps it's my higher expectations for a "mini-series" (let alone a TPB collection), but nothing really screams "special" here. Jenkins plots with a certain looseness that nicely gets you from scene to scene, but maybe doesn't hold up to any great analysis. Things take a supernatural turn...but there's little foreshadowing of where the story is headed. Meanwhile, DD sends partner Foggy Nelson (along with recurring DD guest star, super heroine the Black Widow) off on a mission that is crucial to resolving one of the plot threads...but within the story it doesn't make a lot of sense. And the Black Widow's presence is largely extraneous. There's also a scene where DD gets crucial information from a dying priest (how the blind Daredevil recognizes him as a priest is not explained) but since the priest hadn't appeared anywhere else in the story, it seems arbitrary. Jenkins doesn't present a complex, interwoven saga, but rather seems a little like he's working from a basic outline, but is otherwise writing as he goes.

There's also an ethical problem -- strange in a saga that thinks it's dealing with ultimate concepts of good and evil. I can't give too much away, but at one point DD finds evidence of a public health hazard...and, to achieve his goals, hushes it up. Writer Jenkins doesn't seem to have any problems with that, clearly viewing it as a legal question, rather than an ethical one.

It's also worth noting that there're some technical goofs in this collection (blame reprint editor Ben Abernathy?). Artist Winslade indulges in a few two page spreads that would require a bit of tricky juggling to present properly -- maybe by inserting some of the cover illustrations in the middle of an issue, rather than between the issues, in order to alter the page count. This isn't done, though, and the result is a few scenes where you have to turn the page to see the full picture. It doesn't affect the narrative flow too much, but if Marvel's going to indulge in TPBs, they should deal better with things like that.

I mentioned earlier that I wonder if part of the point of a mini-series like this might be to present a self-contained story, a friendly welcome to new readers. But the villains are recurring foes, and there are occasional references that seem to demand prior knowledge. A character tells DD: "You helped me, and I became lost..." But it's a line that has no meaning in this story. If Marvel really wants these sort of mini-series to tell a finite story, better they should feature original characters and situations...or, if they intend them as a handy primer on their heroes for new readers, at least provide better explanations for the characters and their past relationships. That last theory -- that it's intended to introduce readers to DD and his world -- could explain the Black Widow's presence. She's there simply to be there, not because she advances the plot.

Ultimately, this is reasonably fun, though the beginning and the end seem like they belong to different stories, and the plotting is too loose to make this the thinking man thriller dealing with big issues that Jenkins, maybe, wants it to be. It's certainly enjoyable, but a touch breezy.

Cover price: $19.50 CDN./ $12.95 USA

Daredevil: Typhoid Mary  2003 (SC TPB) 210 pages

Written by Ann Nocenti. Pencils by John Romita, Jr. Inks by Al Williamson.
Colours: Max Scheele, Janet Jackson, Greg Wright. Letters: Joe Rosen. Editor: Ralph Macchio.

Reprinting: Daredevil (1st Marvel series) #254-257, 259-263 (1988-1989)

Rating: * * * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 2

Daredevil: Typhoid Mary, introduces "Typhoid Mary" -- who suffers from Disassociative Personallity Disorder (split personality to you and me). As "Typhoid", she's a psychopath with low-level psychokinetic abilities, but as "Mary", she's a sweet innocent. Which makes her the perfect instrument for the Kingpin to employ to destroy Daredevil: Mary can seduce him, Typhoid can shatter him. While all this is unfolding, there are other plots, like a three-issue story as Daredevil, in alter ego of Matt Murdock, fights a civil court case against a corporate polluter (owned by the Kingpin), as well as a story where DD tackles the Punisher and kiddie pornographers, and more. Plus superheroes like the Black Widow and the Human Torch guest star.

This collection is somewhat unsatisfying...but also impressively ambitious. The bottom line is: I liked it. I say that up front because someone looked over an initial draft of this review and said that, though they found it interesting, they weren't quite sure where I stood. So I'll say it again: Typhoid Mary, though flawed, emerges as a surprisingly ambitious, intoxicating read.

Writer Ann Nocenti presents a saga whose themes and emotional complexity rivals another Daredevil saga, the classic Born Again. What works is that crime-action scenes share equal time with the human drama. Many modern comics writers, while thinking they're "sophisticated", are too wrapped up in the iconism of their costumed crusaders -- treating those crusaders as superheroes, rather than people. But Nocenti's saga, written back in the 1980s, avoids that (for the most part). Although the romantic entanglements originate in the superhero-villain conflicts, they are still rooted in a kitchen sink reality. At another point, Daredevil contemplates marching in an anti-Nuclear march. What does that have to do with being a super hero, you ask? Not much -- that's the point! Not everything he says and does is motivated by the fact that he's a superhero. (Although, admittedly, I think there's a thematic connection at play).

There's a strong human drama/soap opera-y feel to the proceedings, reminding us that Daredevil is, fundamentally, a human being in a suit.

And a flawed human.

Daredevil, intentionally, isn't always portrayed as the most sympathetic of characters -- brooding and self-absorbed, and overly self-righteous, one character charges that he "wields his 'morality' like a club". However, this story hinges on him cheating on his girl friend, Karen Page, with the seemingly innocent Mary -- which is the Kingpin's plan: to corrupt Daredevil.

Nocenti works in the various characters, crafting a complex romantic conflict involving, not just Daredevil, Karen, and Mary (who is Typhoid) but even the Kingpin gets entangled as he becomes infatuated with Typhoid.

Admittedly, Nocenti's dialogue can be clunkily heavy-handed as characters think lines like "The entanglements and waste of America's legal system just contribute to the inertia of lies..." It may not be the most realistic dialogue, but that can actually work in its favour, creating its own, meta-reality, as if characters have stepped out of an Arthur Miller play, rather than off of the streets. When Daredevil broods about "moral criminals" as opposed to legal ones, you know we're getting into heady areas. The book is full of digressions and passages that are so thick with implied meaning and sub-text that you can reach a point where you're unsure what Nocenti's point is...but you're pretty sure she has a point. The term "bully" echoes again and again in the comic, applied to heroes and villains and even society itself as a recurring motif.

But there are technical lapses and confusing bits. Mary is supposed to be an innocent dupe, genuinely falling for Matt Murdock, but sometimes she seems directed by Typhoid's personality. And people fall for each other a mite easily (though, to be fair, Typhoid is supposed to have an almost preternatural allure for men). At another point, Daredevil suspects Typhoid will do some jury tampering for the Kingpin...when he shouldn't know there's any connection between the two! And a sidekick of Typhoid's disappears from the story part way through.

This collection builds to a sequence where Hell itself erupts on the streets of New York. It's one of those awkward "company crossovers" where a comics writer is required to connect their story to something happening in all the other comics (in this case, an X-Men storyline that was collected in the TPB X-Men: Inferno). Yet Nocenti almost makes it work, as if the eruption of Hell really is the culmination of her saga's themes -- the inevitable end result of a city mired in corruption and cruelty, where people are already being betrayed by, essentially, their inner demons. The implicit becomes explicit as the collection reaches a thematic climax.

Yet for all its ambition, on a more literal level this collection resolves unsurely. Though this story line does have a resolution of sorts, the whole Typhoid Mary thing seems to dangle a bit and the book ends with New York still in the grip of the Inferno plot.

I'm often critical when TPB collections don't really resolve satisfactorily. Yet I'm more forgiving here. Maybe it's because this journey has its own rewards, however unsatisfying the end. Because there are stories within the overall arc that resolve, one can enjoy them for themselves. And maybe it's because I knew the Inferno stuff, at least, wouldn't be resolved in -- or even involve -- Daredevil anyway (it was an X-Men plotline). Even if they had collected the next few issues of Daredevil, it would've ended just as unsatisfactorily. Besides, we all know everything will get back to normal, right?

The saga is dark and almost overly downbeat at times -- as mentioned, New York becoming Hell on earth actually seems like a logical expression of Nocenti's themes. This is a Daredevil saga so, as has become almost tradition, you know sooner or later he's going to be put through the physical wringer. But, at other times, Nocenti goes for a lighter touch. After many issues of DD seemingly smothered in an almost Nietszchean fatalism, suddenly there's a sequence where he reverts to his old, wisecracking self. And an issue featuring Johnny Storm (of the Fantastic Four) is also amusing...though a touch long for what it is.

A sequence where a disoriented DD's hyper-senses start misfiring is superbly effective, reminding the reader of how thin the barrier is between Daredevil, superhero, and Daredevil, blind man. In fact, the concept of the sightless DD being fooled by a split personality is intriguing in its own right since it wouldn't have worked for, say, Spider-Man, or Captain America, because they'd instantly recognize her as the same person. The use of supporting characters is also interesting -- like DD employing street ragamuffins as informants, evoking Sherlock Holmes' Baker Street Irregulars. And Nocenti utilizes the lawyer aspect better than many Daredevil scribes. This isn't about a superhero who moonlights as a lawyer simply to give him an alter ego...the civil trial really is the most important thing in Matt Murdock's life while it transpires.

Artist John Romita Jr. has become a genuine fan favourite, though I've had mixed feelings about him. Son of Silver Age Marvel Comics legend, John Romita, junior started out with a fairly clunky, unremarkable style, and in recent years has moved toward a loose, sketchy style. But this middle period work is actually pretty good, with some nicely realized figure work and action scenes, and a nice eye for telling the story through the panel composition. Yet his facial work can be inexpressive. Ironically, he seems more comfortable with exaggerated faces, milking more emotional nuance from the overweight Kingpin's impossibly broad features than he does from Daredevil. He also has a tendency to draw Mary in a way that, frankly, makes her appear even more sinister than Typhoid, which kind of hurts the point of the saga.

Admittedly a flawed work that seems to juggle more themes than it can comfortably handle (not unlike Daredevil: Born Again), Daredevil: Typhoid Mary remains an intriguing, ambitious, frequently absorbing read. Balancing pluses and minuses...the pluses come out on top.

Cover price: $32.00 CDN./ $19.99 USA
 

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