How to Kill Foggy Nelson: A Review of Daredevil #5

(writer) Mark Waid
(artist) Chris Samnee
(colorist) Javier Rodriguez

I can happily assure anyone who reads the title of this review that it spoils nothing at all.

I can also assure anyone who has been enjoyed the new Daredevil ongoing series by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee that this issue is easily the best one that the team have churned out so far. As wonderful as the inaugural issue was, this one still manages to top it for the sheer brilliance of its execution.

The first four issues of this series featured Matt Murdock, a.k.a. Daredevil, in his new environment, the city of San Francisco as a direct result of his having outed himself in the last few issues of the series' previous incarnation. Reference has been made to the fact that the Foggy Nelson is believed by the general public to be dead, with only a handful of people, namely Matt, his new law partner Kirsten, and Hank Pym, a.k.a. Ant Man, knowing the truth.

This issue explains how that status quo came about, in a story that is equal parts exhilarating and heart-warming.

What really astonishes me about this team's work, when they're firing on all cylinders, is how the quiet, character oriented moments balance perfectly against the bombastic action scenes, and this issue is a sterling example. Although the action kicks in pretty early on, Waid makes it clear that at heart, this issue isn't about yet another supervillain takedown; it's basically about Matt's friendship with Foggy, who is, at this point, Daredevil's oldest living supporting character, and basically Matt's version of Aunt May.  The lengths to which Matt will go to protect his ailing friend, who was diagnosed with cancer late in the last volume of this series, illustrate just how important Foggy is to Matt, which is no surprise considering that he's basically the closest thing Matt has to a family.

Now, Foggy Nelson is no stranger to mortal peril. In the 50 years that he's been a part of this title he has been shot, stabbed, hit with crockery, drugged and even sent into witness protection on account of one peril or another. Heck, it could practically be a running joke by now. What spells the difference here is how this creative team depicts Matt's journey with Foggy on this latest tribulation.

Now, the good news for fans of Chris Samnee is that he absolutely shines here. This is the first issue of the new series that is set in New York City as opposed to Daredevil's new "digs," San Francisco, and Samnee draws the heck out of the Big Apple, almost as though he was starved for its skyscrapers and for the lovely exteriors of Central Park. That he would give the action sequences his all is a given at this stage, but his design for the bad guy Matt faces off against this issue, an unnamed villain piloting what is essentially a robotic frog suit, basically jumps off the page, no pun intended. This is Samnee at his very best, and considering that his every single issue of this new iteration of Daredevil has been exceptional, even when the script was not up to par, that says quite a lot.

This one comes highly recommended.

10/10

A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #3

(writer) Dan Slott
(artists) Humberto Ramos and Victor Olazaba
(colorist) Edgar Delgado

Three issues into Peter Parker's new lease on life, he finds himself tracking down Electro, who was a victim of Spider-Ock's experiments back in the days when he was roaming around town in Peter's body as the "superior" Spider-Man, and whose power is now beyond even his own ability to control. Peter and his team from Parker Industries actually find themselves at a fire that Electro inadvertently started. More importantly, though, Felicia Hardy, a.k.a. the Black Cat, who was imprisoned by Spider-Ock and who managed to break out of jail (courtesy, also, of Electro), finally finds confronts her one-time lover and now mortal enemy, and it ain't pretty.

This, quite frankly is the issue I'd been hoping to see since the relaunch. It's several weeks old as of writing, but an extended trip out of town for work kept me from reading and reviewing comics for quite some time. Still, for me it's worth taking the time to write this review considering that all of those months of seeing Spider-Ock treat people like utter garbage are finally starting to pay off.

The interesting thing about Felicia's lust for vengeance is that putting her away is, ironically enough, one of the few things that Doc Ock did right as Spider-Man; she was a felon, after all. Of course, her shared past with him understandably made Ock's actions feel like a deep form of betrayal by Peter, even though, to Ock, they meant next to nothing. It was utterly gratifying seeing Peter come face-to-face with someone who brushed his now-standard "it was Ock, not me" explanation aside, and even more amusing to see how he dealt with the situation. Truth be told, that was a bit of inspired writing by Slott even as it poked fun at the whole notion of Doctor Octopus being Spider-Man for fifteen whole months. I realize that Slott has a lot lined up for Peter and doesn't intend to give him a moment's rest, but it was nice to finally see some real fallout from Spider-Ock's tenure bite Peter on the butt in a big way. That is truly the embodiment of Parker luck.

Humberto Ramos' art, again, hold steady in this issue, and if nothing else he actually manages to make Ms. Hardy look attractive this time. He tells the story pretty well, even when things start to get frenetic, but his distorted Spidey anatomy is still rather distracting to look at. Considering that my favorite artist working these days, Chris Samnee, can tell stories and depict more or less accurate anatomy, it's a little hard to swallow Ramos' stylized art, but I am willing to cut him some slack.

To my mind, this has been the best issue of the series since Peter's return.

8.5/10