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based-bobcat · 8 months ago

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Remember when Batman used to solve regular murders? Remember when Batman was fallible and could be beaten by a gunshot?

DC's writers don't.

I don't know if it's because writers only really write for trades more, but ever since new 52 every writer wants to be the O'Neil/Morrison and make it more epic than the last. I've lost count how many fucking times Gotham has been taken over and/or destroyed these last 5 years, but the fact that I lost count says something. There have been no civilian characters introduced since Tamaki's promising, but kind of mediocre, go at TEC.

They take his money away 'to go back to his roots' (laughable as Bruce has never been without his fortune), and sure you finally get him interacting with regular joes again, only for it not even mattering since he's gotten gear stashed everywhere anyway, not to mention that the next writer to throw it all into the garbage like a meal they don't like.

They reveal Batman's identity as if they're handing out pamphlets for a local political party; Including to Gordon, to Penguin, to Harvey Dent, to fucking Joker, but there is no consequence to that since Bruce's out-of-mask life isn't even a thing that exists anymore. When was the last time he interacted with someone who didn't end up clashing with/meeting with Batman? I sure as fuck can't remember it.

I had hope for Zdarsky's run, since his Daredevil run was a nice street-level romp. (At the beginning anyway, christ did he lose the plot in the end) but he writes stuff like;

That's just sad. Joker and Batman are not Gods or powerful beings like Clark or J'onn.

Th-they're just normal men.

And at the same time you have more and more influences that come from Wayne Family Adventures, which I like don't get me wrong, but these watered down fanficified versions of the Batfam is not what I want to read about when I open up a comic book. Just try reading Taylor's Nightwing without falling asleep and you'll get me.

I like these kinds of things as fan-art or fun covers, but not in my mainline comics.

The Batfamily used to be made up of people with the same goals, but with different approaches, ideals and moral boundaries. Which caused a lot of friction. (Barb and Bruce really, REALLY did not like each other during the early 2000s and that's putting it mildly. And they were co-parenting a suicidal gremlin at that time) They all respected each other, sure, but I can't see any of the family even slightly considering moving in with Bruce. Especially Dick, Barbara and Steph.

All this to say that I'm a boomer and miss the old days.

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daresplaining · 8 months ago

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Daredevil vol. 6 #24 by Chip Zdarsky, Mike Hawthorne, Mattia Iacono, JP Mayer, and Clayton Cowles

I've had a lot of fun with the "I ain't gonna seduce my brother's ex again"/"Again?" panel (possibly my favorite panel in this run outside of the 2020 Annual), but I've been meaning to dig into the rest of this scene because I find it really impactful, and because it adds a new layer to Mike's relationship to Matt's life and to the Daredevil continuity as a whole.

To start, for the record, I don't think Mike is being entirely honest here about not intending to seduce Kirsten, because he was definitely flirting with her, at least to some extent, in the previous scene. Just sayin'. You're not that slick, Mike.

Mike has been entwined in Matt's dating life for a very long time; after all, one of the main uses Matt initially found for the Mike persona was hitting on Karen Page. Against all odds, Karen and Mike grew quite close, to the point where she considered dating him instead of Matt, but also to the degree that they would banter together in a way that was, frankly, much more casual and comfortable than their interactions with anyone else. Karen and Mike were buddies, and she was a key reason why Matt kept his "twin" around for so long. It was then very touching when Mike's close ties to her were carried over into his new life as a real person via this heartbreaking moment in Daredevil volume 5 #608:

Daredevil vol. 5 #608 by Charles Soule, Phil Noto, and Clayton Cowles

(This scene was then, of course, followed up a few issues later by Matt having a vivid dream of Mike murdering Bullseye to avenge Karen.)

When Mike returned in the following run, Chip Zdarsky mentioned in an interview that in the new reality Mike had created with the Norn Stone, he wasn't around for those classic Karen interactions--it was still Matt in a funny hat, now impersonating his actual twin brother-- and then vaguely semi-confirmed it on-panel in Daredevil volume 7 #1. I'm not entirely convinced one way or the other, and Mike's Karen connection still means a lot to me. But instead, we have the scene at the top of this post, which possibly replaces it by tying Mike more broadly to Matt's past partners.

We as fans can continue to speculate about which ex(es) Mike "seduced", and what kind of relationship he had with any or all of them in this new version of the timeline. But his startling, fierce anger in this scene suggests a genuine connection and a deep loss. Regardless of what his intentions toward Kirsten may be, he seems affronted by Daredevil's suggestion that he would be a danger to her when Matt is the one who has caused so much harm, and he seems moved by what he knows of Kirsten's pain in a way that suggests he has directly witnessed at least one of the other tragic chapters in Matt's love life. Maybe he did still know Karen in this new reality. Or maybe he spent time with Glori. I'm personally drawn to the idea that he was close with Heather. Whatever the details, we have ended up with a Mike who is carrying real grief and resentment regarding Matt's body-strewn dating history, who is quick to speak up against Matt and in defense of Kirsten, and I could never have predicted that but I love it dearly, not least because of the added terrible poetry of Mike also dying due to proximity to Matt-- tying Mike, in a way, even more closely to that legacy of Matt's dead girlfriends.

There's an extra layer to this scene that I find curious, which is that Mike is yelling at Daredevil. While Matt's civilian identity was linked to some of his exes' suffering (his abuse of Heather, Elektra dying in his arms while he was in civvies, his laundry list of bad behavior after Milla's hospitalization), more of their deaths were caused by Daredevil's enemies. Yet Mike doesn't acknowledge this; he places the blame firmly on his "dear brother in rehab", and acts as though he thinks Daredevil might not be aware of Matt's bloody dating history. This might provide some clues about which of Matt's exes Mike knew (Did he only know one of the women whose death was Matt-centered rather than Daredevil-centered?). We're also prompted, again, to ask the question of Matt's secret identity in regards to Mike, both now and prior to the Purple Children's mind-wipe (which, thanks to the Norn Stone re-write, Mike was now around for). I have been haunted for years now by a specific bit of wording from the mind-wipe. The Purple Children told the world in volume 5 #20: "Daredevil does good things. Forget anything else." It was one hell of a thing for them to say, and its consequences have never really been addressed. Is there a chance that Mike's mind no longer connects those deaths to Daredevil because they were not "good things"? Food for thought...

#Mike and the Dead Exes would make a great band name.#Daredevil vol. 6 #Daredevil #Mike Murdock #Matt Murdock #Kirsten McDuffie #Mike Murdockalypse #Commentary #Adventures in Continuity #ID in alt text

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pastafossa · 20 days ago

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Pasta! Pasta! Pasta! I think you mentioned that you were currently reading through Daredevil comics. Is there any you recommend as a must read?

I DID! I've gone through a decent amount of runs now, working my way through the Big Rec'd arcs, and it is wild to see all these bits and pieces that I recognize as contributing to the show that really got my love for Matt started, there's some really good shit here.

I'd say Frank Miller's classic The Man Without Fear, and Born Again runs are the biggest Must Read! Having read through some of the arcs that came out before Miller's runs, I get now why people say Miller changed the game with Daredevil. These runs are foundational to all of our modern depictions of Matt, and a huge part of Daredevil's history and development. Miller's arcs aren't necessarily my favorites in terms of pure enjoyment, but they're top of the list because you just get so much of who modern Matt and Daredevil is, distilled down into its purest form.

The Brian Michael Bendis + Alex Maleev run is so gut-wrenching (and somewhat heartbreaking, but what else is new with Matt) in a stunning way, and fleshes out the world around Matt so gd well. The tonal darkness Netflix pulled a lot of its vibe from is on full display, and I loved the importance of characters like Ben Urich. I can see how this run inspired writers that came after, this was another foundational run for Matt. (I'd continue with Brubaker's run immediately after this since it continues the story!)

I know Matt's whole thing is depression, but I feel like Mark Waid's run was a really solid amalgamation of Matt's lighter tone earlier on and the more serious vibe he gets later. This is both a fun read and a solid one, allowing us to kind of see a bit more of what Matt's like when his life's not spiraling from tragedy to tragedy even if he's still taking things seriously when necessary. And damn was this a breath of fresh air. It's on my Must Read list because what's the point of following Matt if we never get to see him happy? This might be my personal enjoyment favorite.

Kevin Smith's Guardian Devil run, not necessarily because I think it's the best but because we really dig into Matt's catholicism here in a way that ends up influencing a lot of what comes later. Must Read for this take alone, since Matt's faith has become a big part of who he is as a character, even if parts of this run are a bit rough (there is sometimes waaay too much text on the page, which from what I understand Smith has acknowledged).

That's what I've got so far! I still have a TON on my list I want to get to (Soule's the next one I'm eyeing) before fully diving into Chip Zdarsky's current run (which I am very excited about), but these are the Big Reads that I think give an excellent sense of who Matt is as we understand him, his history, and how he's developed over the decades. ❤️

#daredevil #waid might be my favorite run so far for personal enjoyment #but these were all excellent runs tbh for understanding our Matt on a fundamental level #and understanding where it is he COMES from. all these important pieces writers have added that are built on later.#my reading order is a bit chaotic because i didn't follow the reading order guide someone had directed me to BUT #the frank miller runs are def first to read i think #then probably Smith's run and then Bendis's run #i have no idea where this all stands on comic!matt discourse cause I'm not plugged into that but those are my personal recs!

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co-mixed · 8 months ago

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Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky Pt.1

It's not easy to sum up a run like this. Nah, it's actually pretty impossible. It's a long road with so much going on with so many faces, you have to record every single one of your thoughts. So I’m gonna go character by character, taking every arc and dissecting it.

I have, in fact done it a while ago, right after I finished the run, but it took me some time to post it. And I wanted to make it feel more like a review but that didn't quite work out, so here it is, my essay or analysis of some of the character arcs in this run. Spoilers ahead too!

Zdarsky’s run finds Matt right after the short rehab series. And I have to talk about that a little: the truck that kicked Daredevil out of the game, poetically replaying his childhood accident, left him dealing with all the old injuries. In DD’s line of work, those tend to pile up. So the few issues were a short detour into Matt’s identity crisis as he was about to give up and had to seek help from his fellow Defenders. It was a very recovery-focused story with flashbacks and the fears that haunted him. For a man without fear, he sure has plenty of nightmare scenarios so questioning and reevaluating this status is a constant process for him. This idea circles philosophy but to me, it just reminds again and again of how much Matt Murdock depends on the way people see him.

When Zdarsky’s run starts, Matt is already going out at night and throwing his clubs around. But he’s not exactly living his previous life anymore. Here, the status quo is fully restored after Waid’s detour and the brooding hero on the roofs in the rain is back. Well, almost back. He can’t fully heal his body or his mind so he ends up accidentally killing a man. And then Zdarsky finally pushes Daredevil into the trap that's been sprung for him ever since he killed Bullseye. At the time, I was a bit disappointed that Waid allowed Matt to walk away into a new life, never having to deal with emotional repercussions. It felt to me like he was repressing that event so hard, his entire personality had changed. While the run was good, it felt like a bizarrely loud cry for help. I felt like that was not Matt, at least not the ever-guilty martyr we all know.

But now, here, he gets a chance to live through this hell. The beautiful part, in terms of narrative, is that Daredevil right away becomes erratic and paranoid: he goes digging through his enemy list, convinced that someone had set him up. And he fools you easily. Despite him being off his game I truly thought there was a Fisk handprint or just The Hand behind it. But you know what? No. It was just an accident. Probably caused by Matt's lack of trust in Daredevil or his not being at 100%.

DD gets so bad, he actually ends up getting a talking to from none other than Spider-Man. Aside from the usual suspects that is. Which, think about it, all heroes have gone through trauma at one point. But compared to a spiraling Daredevil they still seem very together. Granted it's his book so the main drama has to come from him.

There’s a moment when he’s in a room with Jessica, Luke, and Danny, and he calls them all murderers, quickly correcting the ‘you’ to ‘we’. It’s like a new light in which he sees the whole superhero game: like he thought they were truly above the law because they made no mistakes. So yeah, after all these years he saw for the first time how flawed each one of them truly is.

What he refuses to see is that they are all working through that, not dividing the world into the good and bad. Meanwhile, Matt has Daredevil on a pedestal as someone who must never allow the line to become blurry.

Matt's disturbing as hell. And yeah, have to admit I like him more when everything is awful, simply because he always knows how to make things worse.

For a brief time, Matt hides the costume in his closet and works as a parole officer. But it turns out he is actually terrible at compartmentalizing and he's even worse at self-inflicted penance.

I believe the culmination of his incompetence in life is an affair with a married woman. Married to a mob boss’s son. It's truly classic Matt Murdock at this point - got no one to cheat on, well, at least she does. He is Exupery’s drunkard and he's brilliant at that. He wakes up next to Mindy thinking about the terrible sin he’s committing. Gotta give her credit though, she gave him a piece of hell for making it about himself.

And then his circle of violence as he calls it (courtesy of late Vanessa Fisk), pulls him back in again.

He has doubts and fears about putting on the costume again and we'll, it's hard to blame him. But he still lives in Fisk’s city and the city is getting worse every day.

When Matt came face to face with The Purple Man, he said that the thing he fears the most is hearing all the tragedy and doing nothing. Zdarsky just puts him in this reality and Matt's got no other choice than to put on the mask. Before he fully embraces it, he trains with Elektra. Did he break up with Mindy? No, of course not. He just ghosted her until she needed help. The good ol' Matt.

But with Elektra, this time it's different (not really - she has her own plan as she always does.) I have to admit, the more they get together the more I realize one thing - Matt really can't break up with women. They have to die, otherwise he’ll be hung up on them for years. Elektra is the love of his life no less than Karen was. She just came back from the dead, unlike Karen, and I’m pretty sure deep inside Matt thinks it's for him. Plus, she knows his identity which makes it so much easier. And she's deadly which makes her so less killable.

But most importantly Matt’s obsessed with Elektra because she's from his past and he’s notoriously bad at moving on from his past (see Exupery's drunkard again). Here’s why I kind of root for them: I do like the adversary/lover connection they have and they exist in the same world. Can they make it work? I doubt it.

Before I get too deep into more of Matt's disastrous relationships (and believe me you, there is more) I should refocus on the arc.

We got Matt running from the law while making adjustments so he could represent that same law. And he has an interesting new addition to the cast in the form of detective Cole North. I’m gonna talk about him later since he's one of the narrators in the run. But North is hell-bent on holding vigilantes accountable and Daredevil is his idée fixe just as he is for Fisk.

Daredevil manages to sway North by saving his life as corrupted cops attempt to kill him and that leads to three interesting events.

One - his parolee learns that he is Daredevil. And his parolee is none other than the brother of the man he accidentally killed.

Two - North starts seeing him as a protector rather than a criminal. But he still wants to hold him accountable.

Three - it sets the tone for the rest of the run, showing the cracks and imperfections of the US criminal justice system.

Either way, that day Matt goes free. And when he puts on a costume again, he is convinced that now he's gonna act smart (because Elektra told him to gather information before leaping into action, duh. All that education and you couldn't figure it out on your own…) It's also a different costume and Matt even convinces everyone who’d listen and a couple people who won't, that he is now a new and improved hero who is not Daredevil at all. Yes, he actually believes it and I think it's still his desire to wash his hands off of everything connected to the accident. He thinks he sees things clearly now but it feels like he's never been more blind. Yet somehow, he will be.

This repetitiveness becomes very noticeable when you read through run after run. It’s a very clear pattern that Matt goes through: every time something changes he makes the decision. This time… this time… this time… and it always comes back to the same conclusion.

He immediately gets duped by Elektra into stealing money from the bad guys, of which she pocketed some. And then the bad guys rain Inferno upon Hell’s Kitchen.

That's a fun little event during which another one of Matt's exes, Typhoid Mary, reappears: prior to that she's been therapied into a nice nun who's been helping Matt whenever he ended up in church. The first time I saw her I thought “Oh no, he's not gonna sleep with a nun…” but then, he already had. Uhm, anyway, the nice uplifting moment was the people of the neighborhood dressing up as Daredevil, turning him into a symbol. They'd been doing it for a while and some had been moderately successful too. But when the battle was won, one of them died in Matt's arms, so he turned himself in as Daredevil.

Now that's the thing, that's where the main idea of this run starts really growing. And not because Daredevil goes to prison or refuses to fight for his freedom, but because of what's awaiting him there. It's not the superpowered villains, it's all the people he’s been sending there for years. It's such a simple thing - to take these “street level” bad guys, put them face to face with Daredevil, and tell their stories.

Daredevil in jail is a stupid idea. Smart from the narrative point of view yet stupid for him as a person on many levels. First of all, he is doing it out of misguided loyalty to the law. He's still a lawyer after all. He's also religious but he kind of sorted that out for himself already. He says he wants to show everyone how even superheroes have to be held accountable if they step out of line.

He wants to feel good about himself and again, a part of me thinks he wants to feel like he's better than the others: he loves that moral high ground, and whenever it shakes underneath his feet, everything around him falls apart. Mostly because he destroys it, but he doesn't focus on that.

Cole, Kirsten (yeah, she's back too), and Foggy, they all tell him he's wrong. And they are absolutely correct too. He wants to be an example, sure, but he really needs people to see him the way they did before. It's not about his guilt, he's been forgiven in fact.

The one big regret I have is that this run and this prison time didn't give him more therapy. Because the therapist calling him out on his usual BS was incredible. And she, along with another inmate reminded him that he's fooling himself and trying to fool others. All that makes more sense considering he still hides his identity, so whenever he chooses to leave, his crime and his time won't affect anything. None of that will ruin his life.

The way the story leads to this social or rather political issue, it's very organic. It's something he’s been dealing with for years as both his personas: the revolving door between a police station and the streets, the poverty and desire for a better life that lead to crime, the mean streets. He's the perfect hero for this story and his flaws are most vivid here. He had both put people in jail and kept them out of it, he'd been a mayor, and he’d been accused and stood trial. But all of that he had been doing from his high horse.

The truth in that story is grim and realistic - prison isn't helping reform anyone and only serves billionaires in their quest for more wealth.

As Daredevil discovers that and makes a deal with the FBI, he gets released. And once again, he wants to go for that one big win. He always falls into that same trap, he always attempts to stand alone or with friends and win everything, save everyone at once. He’ll keep trying to, all the way to The Fist saga.

But to get there, he needs to step over one considerable obstacle.

Wilson Fisk

Like I said, Daredevil and the rest live in Fisk’s city. He is still the mayor and he is going after all vigilantes and I mean all, including the Avengers. But that’s just a part of it. Fisk has an interesting story as he decides to move from the underworld politics to the real thing. He makes a decision, he retires the title of Kingpin of crime, but he forgets the one crucial part – he can’t retire his persona. He will go on to the next level with his hands still soaked in blood. And that’s something he shares with Matt: where Matt needs to be absolved, all Fisk needs is to just turn around and pretend he’s done nothing wrong.

The ironic detail is, he’s so used to doing his dirty work himself, he finds it impossible to fit in with polished high-class criminals. Politics seems like a natural next step for him but somehow the shadow games turn out to be more than he can chew. Thus the Big Bads of this run are Stromwyns - the richest people in New York. They pull the strings and even Fisk struggles with that idea.

In all this, he has a few defining moments:

He wages war on superheroes, including mutants, which leads to X-Men Devil’s Reign

He goes to fight on the ground during Inferno (which was organized as you might have guessed or known already, by the Stromyns).

He kills Mike Murdock thinking he’s Matt Murdock.

Oh, right I forgot to mention that Mike’s back. And he is seemingly real now, has his own arc, although still can’t escape the title of a spare Matt Murdock.

Anyway, back to Fisk. Of course, when the time comes for reelection, Fisk wants not just to run but to guarantee his victory, which is not surprising at all. I mean take a criminal who gets a fraction of power, would they ever let go of it? In this regard, Fisk is your classic villain. And just like every other villain, he decides to cheat and use The Purple Man’s power to sway the voters. All of that leads to his ruin and retirement.

But not before he marries Typhoid Mary. Can’t call the ceremony lovely really because they both creep me out and I’d like them or at least Fisk to pay for his crimes. It’s not just the fact that he never does or it never sticks, it’s that later he’s received diplomatic immunity from Krakoa, and sure, he helped them during Fall of X and the drama with Orchis. But it’s still the same damn Kingpin. That hasn’t changed and he will return to make everybody’s life hell again.

Why? He’s absolutely evil and we see that in a panel during Devil’s Reign. There’s no non-evil or non self-serving for him.

Yeah, Fisk and Mary rowed off into the sunset but not before Fisk killed Mike. And really, that’s another opportunity missed by Matt. Could’ve played around scaring him in both his personas instead of going after him right away and revealing his existence. But I get it, he had other engagements including his actual engagement to a woman we all know all too well.

I ran out of the images limit, so there is a Part Two.

#marvel #marvel comics #comics #comic books #long reads #comics reviews #marvel universe #daredevil #matt murdock #wilson fisk #kingpin #typhoid mary

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expensivemistake · 7 months ago

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Daredevil ask: What do you think of the current run? I stopped reading Zdarsky about halfway through, but just started catching up on Ahmed's run and I think it's a definite improvement (only read the first five issues though).

OOOH good question!!! It’s a tricky one, to be honest. I like it more than Zdarsky’s for sure, and I’m keen on giving Ahmed the benefit of the doubt because he’s having to clean up Zdarsky’s messes (while dealing with detractors who really liked Zdarsky’s run) and it’s nice to get a Muslim writer on what is the most overtly Catholic Daredevil run to date.

He’s handling Matt as a priest better than I hoped, though I loathe the idea of it. It doesn’t feel like Matt chose this but he was reborn in a new life. I’ve liked a lot of the reunions, I thought the She-Hulk and Wolverine issues were exceptional, and I like what he’s doing with Elektra (though Erica Schultz is her main writer right now).

I also think anyone who says Elektra should’ve been Daredevil for a while is kidding themselves. There’s no way Marvel was going to let Matt sit out of his own book for however long ahead of his 60th anniversary year. Elektra is so much better off as a character when she’s far away from him, Gang War was refreshing.

But this run scares me. It needs to be a detour before someone comes in with the same mindset as Mark Waid and take Matt back to his roots. Hopefully Marvel’s need for comic-mcu synergy will do me a favour for once and we’ll get Matt as a lawyer again in March.

It’s also telling that my favourite story of the era so far was the Elsa Sjunneson penned one for the anniversary issue. I need Daredevil to once again focus on disability more than religion, and I thought her story was such a great return to what I love about Matt as a character.

So y’know? This current run is fine. It’d be great to move away from the same old villains and I miss Matt as a lawyer so much, but it’s for sure better than Zdarsky’s last volume.

#ask box #daredevil #thank you for this!!!#I wanna talk about the comics more on here #also I hope this doesn’t give anything away #I know you said you’re only on issue 5

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xycuro-illuminati · 10 months ago

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See with Zdarsky's run it was so unbearable and awful and sucked ass but there were other dd runs going on like Daredevil & Echo. Not only that, Ahmed is trying his best to work with this shit with the fault legit being having to continue off of zdarsky, boring, and the cane depiction. I was v close to just dropping dd but I'm willing to give the new run a chance. I have a stronger attachment to dd and it's characters other than matt so maybe that's why but I was close to going full dc and dmc. Plus Zdarsky's run (at least on tumblr) had a majority poor reception anyway. I'm down to ignore it and move on.

Mckay with Moon Knight?? Absolutely not. The mk system is DEAD (as far as we know) and now it's just continuing off while also grabbing niche hero characters and writing them in xenophobic and ableist ways. Reading a few panels alone has me so uninterested esp when I mostly enjoyed the original mk comics. MK was a second fav but now I'm just dropping it completely and not looking forward to read another run again nor engage in any mk media. It's just a headache to think about at this point.

#tfw talking #moon knight #marvel comics #marc spector #jake lockley #steven grant #wednesday spoilers #I know I just recently drew mk but I'll let yall know thats probably the last time youre gonna see him from here #same goes with frank bc hes just boring and idk whats going on with him #is that hand shit over yet or what #but anyway thats just me #seeing people praise mckay's writing is so funny to me #again badr and reese are great additions to the mk series I just wish they were in a better run #I miss gena frenchie and crawley sm too #and if I see any of you mk fans coming into my inbox misreading the damn post and saying some other shit youre getting blocked idc anymore #dont even get me started on m/cu mk thats already just ass

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theblogwithoutfear · 1 year ago

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Thoughts on the Ahmed run (spoilers)

I know we're only three issues in, but I thought I'd ramble about the current state of the union

My main complaint is the memory loss story--it's a little disappointing. I was hoping that arc would go further and have a lasting impact on Matt; but he remembers everything so fast. Within the first issue he was back in the suit, and it feels like he moved on so easily from the trauma of everything.

Idk, I think it makes his sacrifice from Zdarsky's run feel a bit meaningless.

However, I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, and wait for a while to see how it goes.

I'm loving Matt as a priest at the group home. It feels a little bit like a nod to the Netflix show, with Sister Maggie and the orphanage. Maybe I'm just reading into that, idk. I realize a lot of people hate when the comics start taking things from the show--but I don't mind in this case. Plus, seeing Matt interact with kids is always a win for me

And the religious overtones/dark imagery? The moral complexity of his head vs. his heart? The duality of what he does in the day vs. the night? Love it. give me more.

I do miss lawyer Matt, though. It's been a hot minute since we've seen that, and I'm really hoping Ahmed will take Matt back to his roots at some point.

I'm torn on the artwork. There are some BEAUTIFUL panels (this one is one of my favorites) and the coloring is so vivid and dynamic. And Matt is hella attractive in this run so far, so that's a big plus

but also, there's something a little too... like... shiny? About everything? Things look polished almost, in a way that's a little weird. Sometimes the faces don't feel very defined.

I also think there's less weight in the artwork. The movement is a lot less dynamic and fluid than the last run. Everything feels a little like it's floating, the punches don't carry much weight, and it just makes everything feel... lower stakes, I guess.

I don't know, I'm a big Checchetto fan, and his artwork felt really solid and grounded. So maybe I'm just still adjusting--I'll give Kuder some time before I really make a judgement call.

Because again, there's still some really beautiful and dynamic things here. He's doing neat things with panel placement/shape, which breaks up the page nicely and has cool effects on the pacing

I've also got mixed feelings about the tonal change thus far. Maybe this is a hot take, but I'm not into quippy Daredevil. I think he functions best as a character when he's really serious. He's usually got a gravitas that really informs the way he conducts himself. The quips in the latest issue take away from that, at least in my opinion.

Then again, Mark Waid made it work really well. Ahmed could very well be trying to do something similar. Again, it's something I'll reserve judgement on. I'm not against a lighthearted Matt, per se. I just think the darkness makes the storytelling so much more compelling and grounded (which is the reason I think people are also tired of the quippy humor in the MCU lately).

I hope the goofiness isn't going to be a long-term thing, but I feel okay about it for the time being. Especially since it's only every so often (at least so far). The run overall still feels fairly gritty and grounded.

I'm intrigued to see where he's going to take Elektra as the Woman Without Fear. I was pleasantly surprised by that arc in the Zdarsky run (wasn't much of an Elektra fan until recently, tbh) and I'm curious to see what's next for her. We haven't seen as much of her as I'd like so far, but hopefully that will change.

All that being said, I'm actually really enjoying this run so far. I'm not enjoying it quite as much as Zdarsky, but I still think it's really excellent. Ahmed's doing some interesting things with the character, and I'm really excited to see where he takes it.

Anyway, I'm curious to know if anyone else has thoughts on the run thus far. Opinions? Thoughts? Vehement disagreements?

(bonus picture because I'm obsessed with the priest vigilante look)

#and I didn't even mention Ben Urich!! Crazy plot twist #also im begging you Ahmed bring back Foggy Nelson #when will Franklin return from the war 😔#daredevil #comics #daredevil comics #Saladin Ahmed #Aaron Kuder #matt murdock

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ad-astra-per-asparagus · 1 year ago

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Ok dumping my thoughts right here now that I’ve collected them since reading Batman 138. It’s a doozy, so bear with me.

Honestly, the premise of Gotham War is intriguing and could’ve been good if not for the sloppy execution. It’s interesting to see Bruce’s psyche rapidly declining, but how Zdarsky is going about it is ham-fisted and forced. First off, Selina’s method is outlandish and riddled with plot holes. There’s no skirting around that. Now logically I could see the batfamily members not declaring an allegiance to either side because both Bruce and Selina are in the wrong here; Bruce is losing his mind because Zur is hijacking it while Selina thinks training criminals will magically solve all violent crime in Gotham and everything will be sunshine and rainbows. But having the kids blindly fall into line with Selina because they agree with her plan is dogwater writing that I’m surprised Zdarsky cooked up after his spectacular Daredevil run. Have them form their own faction and let them actually act like they have agency and purpose instead of shoving them into roles that don’t fit.

Now I’m a little skeptical on the whole Jason/failsafe stuff. On one end, it’s a daring concept to play with. It shows how Bruce is going off the deep end and raises the stakes of the plot. On the other end, it’s going to drive an enormous wedge between Jason and Bruce for the foreseeable future. Like, there is no forgiving Bruce for this easily. Maybe that’s a good thing though, considering Jason for the past few years has been cycling through the same character arc over and over again like a washing machine that spits out clothes that are more worn-out after every load. Taking him out of the batfamily fold and inserting him into his own corner of DC sequestered away from Batman might actually force DC to write him organically, depending on whether or not Jason doesn’t go insane himself because what Bruce did to him was quite literally torture that will now be perpetual. Wowza.

My next gripe is the timing between comics. Batman and Robin’s timeframe is vague, but after reading 138 it makes zero sense why Damian would steadfastly stick by Bruce’s side—unless of course B&R happens way later, and somehow Bruce regains minor control of his mental state. Or the most realistic explanation being that the writers didn’t communicate the timelines, leaving their stories to contradict each other. But what are comics if not zany contradictions of stories? So I guess this gripe can slide…for now. Benefit of the doubt to Williamson at least because he planned B&R way in advance, meanwhile Gotham War was strung together as a myopic copy of Marvel’s Civil War in order to—I’m spitballing here—have Bruce be alone for a while in his own comics because he’s “a loner”…despite his character being, at his core, a family man, and whose character revolved around family for decades. Family rift stories can be good. Packed with drama. Exciting. This is none of the above.

Finally, arguably my biggest complaint about this dumpster fire, is Tim. Writers tend to be biased toward characters, I understand that, but when favoritism bleeds into the writing it sours the story altogether. Having Tim assume this role of “Bruce’s savior” is incredibly cheap and a little laughable at times. I see that they’re trying to establish him as important again, reliving his glory days as the Robin who helped guide Bruce back onto the right path after Jason’s death, but throwing other characters under the bus to lift him up is crazy. Especially Damian, because Damian saved his dad’s life twice in the last few months. Seriously, I’d brush it off if Tim hadn’t told Damian he was the one who helped Bruce out of the darkness while Damian only pushed Bruce further into it. Paraphrasing, but that’s the general idea: Tim is a saint and the rest of his siblings (Cassandra? Who?) are a cut below him when it comes to helping dear old dad out of his bad place. That hug was cute, but it was sugar spread on a pile of shit.

#rant #batman 138 #batman #batman comics #i have a lot on my mind at 1am and i need to wake up early for classes oops #spoilers for batman 138 / Gotham war

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rowlev · 1 year ago

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Do you have any Daredevil fic/ reading recs? 👀

I’m gonna be honest I don’t read that much fanfiction. However there is one fic that I swear is what I will imagine mcu canon as post-snap no matter what the new born again series gives us. I spent several hours trying to find it again so you better read it lol.

Premise is post-NWH Spider-Man trying to tough out life and Matt trying to establish a presence in Hell’s Kitchen again after being snapped. Lots of found family tropes, and really hits the spot for my interpretation of Matt ngl. I haven’t checked in on it in a year and now ao3 is requiring an account to read it so idk how it is now, but highly recommend.

As for reading recs on comics, I think my favorite runs are bendis/brubaker, waid, and zdarsky if I had to pick some, but honestly they’re all good. Like objectively speaking daredevil has some of the most consistent quality writing compared to other comics.

Especially in bendis there is some really fantastic art by David Mack and storytelling, best used to describe the origin story of echo, who currently is getting a show produced about her in the mcu. Apparently the trailer just dropped so I’m pretty hype about that. Overall I think bendis is the bread and butter of daredevil. It accumulates the early history of daredevil into what forms his core character.

Zdarsky is really good if you’re a fan of the Netflix show. It leans more heavily into the religious side of daredevil if you’re into that, and honestly the characterizations feel like they could be ripped out of the tv show. I especially enjoy the first half (pre devil’s reign), but the second half is also pretty good.

Waid I think is my all time favorite run, mostly because it builds onto everything else that makes daredevil’s character and creates a sort of meta analysis of it. Plus it feels the most emotional - at this point he’s trying to go public with his secret identity and it’s a genuinely painful process for him to allow himself to be vulnerable. Yet it’s also a time where you get to be happy for him that he’s finally reaching happiness. I genuinely start tearing up whenever I reach the end of this run. I appreciate the soule run very much (blindspot is awesome!) but I can’t ever forgive him for robbing Matt of the ending of waid.

New run of daredevil is also currently in the works with Saladin Ahmed if you want to start out with a totally fresh story for daredevil. There’s only like 2 issues out so I can’t impose any judgment on it yet but it’s certainly an interesting new position they’re putting daredevil in.

Hope this helps!

#matt murdock #daredevil #comics #rowlerants

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daresplaining · 11 months ago

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opinions on the red fist saga? :0

Resoundingly negative, unfortunately. I actually only just read it, because I was having a rough time with it while the issues were coming out and so decided to put it off until I was in a better headspace for it (or until I saw a preview for an issue that excited me and gave me the motivation to catch up, which is what happened with next week's anthology issue).

As I said, I disliked this story very much, so if you aren't interested in hearing me rant (perfectly fine! I wouldn't blame you!), read no further. I really hope you liked it. I really don't want to get you down if you did. This whole run was just the epitome of Not For Me.

Ahem.

The "Red Fist Saga" is, in my opinion, a flimsy "Shadowland" knock-off, centered around the abrasive, moralizing religious zealot who has been inhabiting Matt Murdock's body for the past few years. Elektra Natchios, an incredibly complex character whom I love dearly, had her backstory savaged to remove its autonomy and complexity (that's a rant for another post...) and exists in this story as an accessory to this Matt look-alike and as a handy target of his moralizing (at one point he comes to the revelation that this recent journey she has been on has been worthwhile because it was all about God saving her from her wicked ways!!, at which point I may have blacked out from rage for a few seconds). Matt and Elektra GET MARRIED, and the implications of this massive shift in their relationship are not explored at all. And phew...the less said about Sam Chung's single scene, the better. As was true throughout Zdarsky's entire run, Matt speaks and thinks in this story like he is reading a prepared speech at all times, making grand-yet-hollow pronouncements about the nature of good and evil. He doesn't sound like a real person, but rather like a robot that has been fed a steady diet of religious texts, along with a few surface-level social/systemic reform concepts. His personality consists of being alternately sad, angry, and making lofty proclamations about "fighting evil in the service of God's plan", and I just have no emotional investment in that. I'm not Catholic (and neither, until recently, was Matt Murdock, making this whole thing profoundly weird).

There were some cool elements to this story. I'm a huge Stick fan and I'm thrilled that he is finally back from the dead after all these years. I love Stilt-Man. I love Speed Demon (for some real Speed Demon goodness, go read Superior Foes of Spider-Man, one of my favorite comics of all time). Foggy had a few good panels. I got to read Milla's name; always a treat. Kirsten didn't actually die. Mike was...mentioned (I've already griped about his death; I won't do it again here). The twist that Foggy and Stick were actually already dead was effective and very cool and I didn't see it coming at all, so I will give full credit for that. And I'm someone who genuinely does enjoy Hand shenanigans. I love that stuff when it's done well. But the degree to which I could not stand this new Matt and did not care what happened to him or what he was doing, plus the fact that I had seen all of these plot points executed already, and better, by previous Daredevil teams, meant that this story was just a protracted slog through painful writing, past scene after scene that could have been so much better in the hands of a different creative team or centered around a version of Matt Murdock who was actually a compelling protagonist.

#Thank you for asking! I hope this isn't...too terrible an answer.#I hate being negative like this but it also feels good to get this off my chest because this run was a miserable experience for me.#Daredevil vol. 7 #Daredevil #Matt Murdock #Elektra Natchios #The Hand #Asks #Commentary

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piratekenway · 1 year ago

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if it were up to me to write the Daredevil: Born Again scripts and to direct at least some of it, my vision is this—it isn’t based on the Frank Miller story arc at all. we’ve already done that in s3, it’s finished, we got the iconic shots in. what we’re going to do is to start with Matt as an amnesiac priest like the end of the Zdarsky run: he seems happy, but he’s clearly missing something, and how did he even end up here?

I’d set it in a confession stall, and then reveal that the person on the other side is Elektra—and she’s taken up the Daredevil mantle in the meantime. hey, what gives?

and then the next few episodes are mostly flashbacks explaining what happened, with some scenes in the present day checking in on Karen and Foggy (can’t find Matt, worried out of their MINDS), Elektra (has found Matt, is not quite the most stable just yet but she’s getting there), Jennifer Walters (can’t find Matt, obligatory lampshade-hanging comic relief of the season) and Jessica, Luke and Danny (chilling in their corners of New York).

#daredevil #feige? i will eat you alive.

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co-mixed · 8 months ago

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Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky Pt.2

This doesn't work without Part One

If you have read it, let's get back to the characters... and there are still serious spoilers

Daredevil/ Elektra

This lady is working towards her redemption. After she showed up to help Matt and recruit him for The Fist to (be the king!), she gave him a chance to go to prison. It sounds bad but in their world, I guess, it was a good thing. She gives him the opportunity to decide whether he wants to pay for his crime by taking it upon herself to protect Hell’s Kitchen. I was legitimately audibly surprised when she showed up at the hearing and let Matt know that she both knew his identity and bought 90% of the neighborhood.

She had ulterior motives, of course, but it still felt genuine. It’s something she would never have done before and something that shows us and Matt that she’s ready for change. Speaking of, this run is full of wow moments. The next one actually comes right after, when Elektra becomes the new Daredevil. She wanted to earn Matt’s trust so she not only took care of his neighborhood but stuck around to do his job while he was resting in a cell block. With the costume and everything.

The detail I loved most was how she modified her sai to be blunt. It’s a small thing that I hadn’t noticed right away but it just proves the point – she wants to step away from being an assassin and do something good for a change.

She goes full Bruce Wayne too, she gives away jewelry and adopts a kid. That doesn’t last because, unlike Bats, she realizes quickly that all the violence and “channeling your anger” don’t do any good for a kid.

Elektra makes a pretty great Daredevil. She feels like a more solid fighter, more likely to win. “Without fear” applies to her more because she’s done it all: died, killed, came back, succumbed to darkness, fought it. She has nothing to fear but her own limitations. Which she does, it’s quite a change for her to limit the violence and refrain from killing. But she is wearing the DD logo and she is representing him. She shows the people of Hell’s Kitchen that even without him on the streets, they are protected. That’s a hell of a thing.

Elektra is new at that and is looking for her own take on Daredevil. She isn’t like Matt at all.

Cole North

Now he’s a new character and one of the best ones in a while. Plus, he’s also a narrator in the run. He arrives as a cop from Chicago who has to catch and arrest Daredevil. He’s a very by-the-book detective, he believes in the procedure and well, he’s in for a ride. Right away he encounters crooked police on one side, a criminal mayor on another, the whole criminal underground, and vigilantes to top it off.

He sees Daredevil as someone who positions himself above the law, which comes at a time when Matt is starting to doubt said law. And they make for an interesting dynamic. Daredevil saves North from a bunch of his colleagues and kickstarts North’s downfall as a cop. Which is hey, also his rise as a decent person. Cole North is a fantastic addition, truly. He’s something that Daredevil’s been needing for a while since he never listens to Foggy or his girlfriends. He even, and again I’m jumping ahead, appoints Cole as his moral compass. A pretty decent idea, although Matt will probably mess that up too.

Back to Cole North though. He goes through a transformation that’s masterfully shown through his thoughts (and let me tell you again, how much I appreciate different perspectives) and actions. It’s not his book but he’s one of the most memorable characters there. And despite never learning Daredevil’s true identity, he stands by his side, believing it’s possible to change the world.

The next step is actually leading towards what seems to be a massive event. But I’ll be ready to talk about that after I finish it.

This, Zdarsky’s run and Devil’s Reign - an event dedicated to heroes battling Fisk, are some of the best Daredevil comics out there. They don’t play around with Matt’s lighter side anymore and I, personally, like it. There’s something incredibly stylish and dramatic about Daredevil’s life going all the way off the rails.

It leads to darker art and atmosphere, to more mature stories - I like that and that, to me fits the character.

Zdarsky carefully navigates his way through further character development steps to lead to a relevant discussion of social/political issues. It feels well-paced and allows the narrative to flow freely.

The fact that he introduces multiple narrators makes the story richer. We don’t just get one perspective and thus, one point of view, we are forced to at least attempt to sympathize with everyone. This pushes readers out of their comfort zone and gives additional depth to the villains.

Meanwhile, Daredevil himself gets something new, something he hasn’t done or tried before. And even then, he still can’t escape his patterns. It’s as beautiful and entertaining as it is frustrating. But this is the kind of frustration you’d experience towards a friend who keeps making mistakes. That feels familiar and in a way, nice.

The main artist on this run is Marco Chechetto. His work feels heavily inspired by manga but at the same time, it utilizes the best elements of Western comic book art. This symbiosis works well for this specific run. Chechetto’s ability to brighten up the color palette and darken the image when needed is something that allows the stories to play out both in text bubbles and in frames. It adds emotions and even adjusts them. Splash pages and dynamic battle scenes feel like real action. Throw in some street views and pretty epic full-height shots and you get a truly epic book.

There are temporary artists, who take over for one or more issues like Mike Hawthorne. In his case, the change was hardly noticeable because the main color scheme was still followed. I believe in terms of style, there were just a couple issues by another artist that felt off to me.

All in all, like I said, one of the best Daredevil runs.

#marvel #marvel comics #comics #comic books #marvel universe #long reads #comics reviews #daredevil #elektra #elektra natchios #woman without fear #Cole North

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