Daredevil #2, by Chris Samnee and Mark Waid (storytellers), Javier Rodriguez (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Matt's quoting Princess Bride in this issue. Was not expecting that.Turns out Matt isn't the only blind vigilante in San Francisco. It's also the home of the Shroud, who has seen better days. He's drinking coffee made with pouring bottled water over a filter he pulled from his garbage can. Oh, and he's keeping four men chained up in his charming domicile. He's also resentful of how San Francisco has taken to Murdock, and resolves to interrupt his dinner with Kirsten McDuffie and the Deputy Mayor, who is friendly, but also wanted to warn Matt about a dangerous new crime boss in town. The Owl. I guess he's going to fail in his attempt to recover that painting from the Chameleon. Or he's going to succeed, but Doom's going to hear about it and set the Owl running for his life.
Anyway, during this conversation, which has also lead to mention of the Shroud as a less friendly local vigilante, Matt hears him on the roof. So he goes up, they fight a bit, Matt has the upper hand, then the Shroud tells him about the 4 capos he has, and tells Matt if he's arrested, they die. Or Daredevil can come with him to the home of the new big boss in town. Except they wind up at the Shroud's place. Which means Matt's fighting on the other guy's turf now, and the end of the issue provides a hint that Shroud's powers might present a problem even to Matt's senses.
I'm pretty curious at the Shroud's current state. I haven't seen him since the tail end of the Abnett/Lanning Heroes for Hire, but he seemed to have his act together quite a bit better then. Waid's kind of leaning on the twisted reflection bit with him here. He's Matt if Matt didn't pull out of his descent into anger and depression. Alone, brutal, unfriendly. A little like Matt during his bleaker moments in Nocenti's run. Or maybe that's just the stubble. Matt certainly enjoyed the fight, though. Having a grand old time. I especially like the way he's posing on top of the chimney when he surprises Shroud. Such a ham.
I like how Rodriguez colors him. The black he uses is so dark, it makes the body like a literal void, which gives the impression he wrapped the shadows around himself. The black gives a lot of weight to the cape.
She-Hulk #3, by Charles Soule (writer), Javier Pulido (artist), Muntsa Vicente (colorist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - OK, Doom is hovering, or else he wears lifts. Cause there is no way he's taller than Jennifer Walters.Jen's new client is Kristoff, ward and possible future heir to the Latverian throne. But he doesn't want the throne. He wants to wear shoes with no socks and visit trendy night clubs. Which, if I had oodles of money (and didn't despise crowded, noisy clubs) is what I would do. Regardless, Doom is not about to have him be a lazy butt kid in his country, so Kristoff wants to apply for asylum and Jen is the first lawyer willing to take the case. There is the slight issue that the application must be made that day, and that Kristoff's chauffeur is actually a Doombot, and that Doom would ring the courthouse with lots of Doombots. None of which stopped them, and Kristoff was all set to be saved, when Doom smashes through the ceiling and flies off with his ward, as Jen vows not to let it end here. If I have to get a lawyer, I want it to be one who'll smash robots for me.
One thing I notice about how Pulido draws Jen. Her musculature is very understated when she's doing her lawyer stuff in regular clothes, and then gets much more pronounced when she's smashing things. Is she able to control how much she hulks out now? I read Jeff Parker's Red She-Hulk stuff and Betty had a much more massive Hulk form when she was about to die. Jen's had this condition a lot longer, so it makes sense she'd have more control. Like, I know Jen enjoys being 6-7 and green, so she stays in that form for everyday stuff, but then she can ramp up the strength when she needs to. Or maybe she just wears clothes that are slimming? I do really like the trench coat and huge sunglasses look for her. Maybe because it's the sort of thing you see people wear as a disguise in movies, but there's no way it works for someone who is, again, 6-foot-7 and bright green.
One thing that threw me was Pulido's layouts. Sometimes he starts a page by spreading a panel across two pages, then switches to one panel on each page below that. He tries to make a noticeable white gutter when he switches to two panels, but you know, it's on the fold of the page so I don't always notice it and just fly on over to the next page instead of working down, and get really confused. Have to be more careful, I guess.
So that's two good books.
1 comment:
Two VERY good books!
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