What I Bought 1/26/2015 - Part 4

Not that I'm a fan of most commercials, but that one for the Wendy's bacon mushroom melt thing, where everyone sings about what they did to earn it, I really hate that one. They end up saying they did nothing, but it's more than that. Outside of the first guy, who actually washed and folded his underwear, every other person was either an incompetent dolt (the kid that can't parallel park), or an actual jerk (the lady bragging because she slipped an extra item into the 10 or less line, and of course, the redhead that's "helping" a friend move. By carrying a pillow). Basically, it's a sandwich for stupid assholes.

Daredevil #10-12, by Chris Samnee and Mark Waid (storytellers), Matthew Wilson (colorist), and Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I can understand Matt turning his head away. A motorcycle has to be a hell of a thing for a guy with enhanced hearing. Also, he probably doesn't want his face ground off by the tires.

Issue 10 wraps things up with Killgrave and his kids. Purple Man actually helps Matt get going again by demanding he show some fear, which is something Matt knows how to work against, as opposed to the overwhelming feeling of isolation the kids hit him with. So Matt fends off his shambling foe and staggers back to his law office, where Kirsten is still putting off her dad about the offer to publish Matt's memoirs. She helps patch him up, and gives him the clue where kids who can do whatever they want would go: One of those funland/Chuck E. Cheese type places. But once they've scattered among the rides and games, they're easy prey for Killgrave. Matt shows up and takes him down with the police, but still isn't entirely himself afterward. Fortunately, he has Kirsten to help him through it.

Samnee went heavy on the blacks in this issue, especially in the moments when Matt's struggling the most with what the kids did. The scene in the office, the panel where Kirsten slams the door open, ready to take a swing at whoever is there, there's very little black in it, because she's the only one in the panel. For the rest of the page, and the one after that, as she and Matt converse and she patches him up, there are a lot of shadows, mostly around Matt, but also her, because she's concerned about him. And something about the colors, the light in the room is muted. It makes it feel like a quiet scene, where they're keeping their voices low even though there's no need. The shadows tend to fade when Matt's active, doing something, or has something he can focus on to distract him from the emotions the kids unleashed, but it's kind of a temporary thing.

After that, Matt and Kirsten take on the case of George Smith, the former Stunt-Master, who is angry the company he sold the rights to his name to have given it to a new kid who is an Internet sensation. Before Matt and Kirsten can make a lot of headway, Smith kills himself, and Matt decides to confront the new Stunt-Master personally, only to learn Smith isn't dead, and the new guy hasn't actually been pulling off these crazy stunts. All those times it looked like he died, someone actually did die, and he came out the other side OK. The drug company that's sponsoring him had been pumping homeless people full of drugs and tossing them out there. And the final reveal is that it was actually Smith who was masterminding the whole thing, as a way to go out on top. Even took a bunch of drugs so he could fool Matt's senses, with the side effect that he cut his life expectancy down to about a year.

Then at the end Matt lets it slip he loves Kirsten, which probably doesn't bode well for her.

When the story started, and we hear George's tale, I thought Waid and Samnee were deliberately referencing the plight of a lot of comics creators. Smith, through his efforts, creates this larger than life character, but now the character is continuing on beyond him, and he's not receiving any recognition or financial compensation for it. It seemed like Jack Kirby's story, or Gary Friedrich's, or the Siegels struggles with DC. Which made the reveal that Smith was behind everything a little curious. I have no idea how that would fit in with the "creators getting shafted" idea, so maybe it wasn't intentional on their part. I mean, Smith was killing people to elevate his star, which would suggest each creator is really only in it for himself, and would screw all the others over if the opportunity presented itself to make a little scratch. Maybe they're making the point that some creators are like this, and they're terrible and awful, but what's the endgame of that? Only support creator rights if they aren't ruthless, amoral jerks?

OK, that somewhat confusing and depressing  thematic discussion aside, I liked Matt and Foggy's differing versions of Matt's first encounter with Hawkeye, especially with Kirsten on the sidelines offering commentary. Foggy's point that Matt needs to be truthful because Hawkeye is going to want to read about his first meeting with Daredevil, the recognition that Matt tends to overact when he needs to sell being able to see. I mentioned it in the Year in Review posts, but Kirsten and Foggy's steady lampooning of Matt's ego is one of the most enjoyable parts of this book. It's great that Matt has largely abandoned the gloom n' doom outlook and embraced a more upbeat approach, but his cockiness could absolutely get insufferable if there wasn't someone there to jab at him. With Kirsten and Foggy, he has two. Kirsten has a but quicker wit, and is more willing to use it, but Foggy has years of being Matt's best friend under his belt, which gives him an inside track to block Matt's attempts at self-aggrandizement.