What I Bought 6/29/2013 - Part 9

It's the last day of reviews. Yes finally. Don't worry, come fall I expect these are going to be a lot fewer parts, given the direction my pull list is going.

Daredevil #26 & 27, by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee (storytellers), Javier Rodriguez (color art), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I like that they moved the title down to the bottom so it didn't interfere with the overall picture, and that Rodriguez colored the same as the clouds. I love it when the clouds are that rosy pink color. It's one of the nice things about being up early.

What we've got is Matt completely spooked after the beating Ikari gave him. He tries to put a calm face on, but it cracks quickly and once that happens, he spends several pages running liked a panicked rabbit, until Foggy settles him down. Samnee and Rodriguez do real well there. During the interview with Foggy's replacement, they draw Matt as very composed, rigid, expressionless, with shadows obscuring much of his face. But once he loses control, the shadows vanish (and the room brightens considerably), and Matt's fear comes pouring out. The part in the subway tunnel, where Matt is once again surrounded by darkness, but now is not shrouded from it is a nice bit. Even though his radar sense tells him there's nothing there, he's still so spooked that the darkness is actually ominous to him, the way it can be for the rest of us who can only imagine what terrors lurk inside.

Anyway, Foggy helps Matt sort through the evidence to find the mastermind, and just as they've come to a conclusion, Pym calls to let Matt know he traced a shipment of radioactive chemicals to Matt. I do question how Matt can read texts. I thought he couldn't read something that was flat, so he can he pick up pixels on a screen? Do they alter the temperature on the screen, so he tracks it by that? I think D.G. Chichester and Lee Weeks had him use that in their "Fall of the Kingpin" story. Matt, certain that Ikari is somewhere nearby, alters his pulse with three shots of adrenaline and takes off to the address. Where he finds Bullseye, living inside a metal coffin that keeps him alive. Because only his brain came back from the dead after Matt killed him in Shadowland.

Matt, having found Bullseye, demands answers, which he gets because Bullseye figures with Ikari and Lady Bullseye there, Matt's toast anyway. Plus, Bullseye has agents ready to strike at Matt's loved ones. Too bad, Matt anticipated that and called in favors. Which won't help him survive his current situation, so he better get smart, which he does. I love the smile Samnee give DD when he surprises Ikari with the billy club. This seems like the perfect situation for Matt to be gritting his teeth and snarling, but he has a plan, has confidence in his friends, and so he's fine. Even when things start to go south, he's still relaxed, adjusting and adapting, and smiling through a lot of it. He has the experience advantage, he uses it. Ikari has all Matt's powers plus sight? Fine, turn the sight against him. The contrast between his smile, and Ikari and Lady Bullseye's dual looks of shock and horror as the ceiling collapses was excellent.

I am not entirely happy with the idea Matt stood by and let the toxic waste blind Bullseye before saving him. It isn't that I feel bad for Bullseye. He's an unrepentant mass murderer with a body count in the triple digits, who was also dumb enough to store a ton of toxic waste near the giant metal sarcophagus he calls home. At the same time, I don't like the idea of Murdock standing aside and letting it happen. You want to say he was buried under rubble and couldn't dig himself free in time? Fine. That is exactly what I would have assumed and it's how it's presented in the comics (see page 17). But once Waid and Samnee have Foggy raise the question, and once they show stand silently for two panels, then issue a non-denial ('I did what was right.'), I have to think I'm wrong. That Matt got free sooner, then stood and watched as Bullseye was scarred by toxic waste. Which is something I could possibly see myself doing in Murdock's place, but I like to think the heroes are less vindictive assholes than I fear I am. It's frustrating because when Foggy asked the question, it jolted me out of the story, because I was disappointed that Waid/Samnee had opted to go that way.

That long, complaining paragraph aside, I still love Daredevil. The creative team is doing a great job, and now that they've completed this long, initial arc, I'm curious to see what's next. This has been a trial of Matt's ability to remain positive in the face of severe difficulties, but he made it through. He may have learned the importance of not trying to do it all himself, of not trying to always respond to threats immediately, so what's next?