written by Charles Soule
drawn by Ron Garney
colored by Matt Milla
Daredevil reaches its landmark 600th issue as the multi-part story arc "Mayor Fisk" reaches its epic conclusion...sort of.
Matt Murdock enacts his plan to take down Wilson Fisk, which involves the intervention of the superhero community and a reliance on the legal doctrine he established a few story arcs ago. Unfortunately for him, Fisk's real plan unfolds, and the consequences are not pretty for Murdock or his confederates. Meanwhile, as Matt's protege Blindspot faces off against Muse, the Inhuman vandal/serial killer who took his eyes, he finds himself at a distinct disadvantage, until the otherworldly force who gave him his eyesight back offers to intervene...for a price. Sam seizes upon the opportunity, but the consequences end up much, much bigger than he may realize.
It's not entirely uncommon for big story arcs to end on a somewhat anticlimactic note; Brian Bendis' fabled run on Daredevil was filled with just such story arcs filled with non-endings and/or distinctly unsatisfying endings, and Soule, rather than adopt the route of his immediate predecessor Mark Waid, who generally tied up his arcs quite neatly even as he left the door open for new stories, turns back to the trope that Bendis leaned on, albeit with a pretty respectable twist that I dare not reveal. Though I liked Soule's story on the whole, it requires quite a few contrivances to make it work, and it doesn't feel nearly as well-conceived as his far more absorbing "Supreme" arc from a few months ago, or even the arc in which he introduced Muse, whose ultimate fate is revealed here as well.
Ron Garney turns in good work here, and I have to say he draws Spider-Man better here than he ever has before, though as I've said, he's really less at home with the whole four-color superheroics thing than he is with the scratchy, noir-inspired storytelling that Soule brought back to this book when he took over from Waid and Chris Samnee.
I expect this character, like just about every other superhero in Marvel's catalog, is due for this "fresh start" soon, though there's definitely at least one more story arc to go from the current team before than happens. I'll stick around for that long, at least.
8/10
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Time's Up for Someone in the Marvel Universe: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #797 (Mild spoilers)
written by Dan Slott
drawn by Stuart Immonen (p) Wade Von Grawbadger (i)
colored by Marte Gracia
"Going Down Swinging" begins!
Dan Slott's swansong begins in earnest as Norman Osborn grills a mysterious person he has kidnapped, while Peter Parker and his erstwhile lover Mary Jane Watson share a tender moment, only for things to go sour when she remembers what a hassle it was living with Spider-Man. One-time superhero and now full-time supervillain Phil Urich, who now goes by the name Goblin King and whose crew stole some valuable, and explosive metal last issue, makes a move on the Green Goblin's territory, and violence ensues.
This story sees the welcome return of series regular Stuart Immonen to illustrate Dan Slott's final arc on Spider-Man before moving on to write Iron Man, and to be honest his timing is impeccable as Slott was starting to lose me with his filler issues. The story pacing still isn't great considering how much time Slott's been wasting the last few issues, and I honestly wonder how Slott's going to fill the two issues between this and the landmark 800th issue. Truth be told, I feel that Slott could have squeezed in one multi-issue story arc before going full-bore on this last arc, rather than give us the annoying throwaway fill-ins that the last two issues turned out to be. Maybe the arc with Loki could have been expanded to three issues? Maybe.
What I feel pretty sure of is that with each passing issue (as well as the solicitations for future issues) it becomes clearer and clearer exactly WHO will be "going down swinging." Even though I know I'm just speculating here, it's been pretty clear, at least since Immonen came on board, that Slott had somewhat specific plans for the character I'm thinking of, so much so that a fake-out at this point would have zero narrative or emotional impact, sort of like Slott's awkward reveal at the end of "Superior Spider-Man" that this very character had been hiding in plain sight, disguised as someone else.
In any case, Slott's clearly trying to raise the stakes here, as a violent fate apparently befalls a long-standing character whom he's been developing since early on in his tenure. It feels a little anti-climactic considering what a nuisance this character has been, but assuming this to be a genuine death and not a fake-out I don't necessarily mind as I find the character kind of irritating.
I sincerely doubt Slott would "kill" Spider-Man, by mind-swapping him with a dying man or otherwise, so soon after the last time he did it, so given that Pete's already scheduled for a "fresh start" later this year, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out whose ticket is getting punched. Assuming I'm right, this would mean that following his "resurrection" from a seemingly final death years ago, the character who's about to kick the bucket has been alive for more than twenty years, or longer than he was around before he was killed the first time. Personally, I'd be glad to see him go; I think the character has long outlived his narrative usefulness. I just hope that Slott uses this as an opportunity to finally retcon "Sins Past" one of the most irritating Spider-Man storylines ever printed, out of existence. It could be his parting gift to us fans.
I'm just going to savor the last three-issues of Immonen-illustrated goodness before we get to the big eight zero zero.
7/10
drawn by Stuart Immonen (p) Wade Von Grawbadger (i)
colored by Marte Gracia
"Going Down Swinging" begins!
Dan Slott's swansong begins in earnest as Norman Osborn grills a mysterious person he has kidnapped, while Peter Parker and his erstwhile lover Mary Jane Watson share a tender moment, only for things to go sour when she remembers what a hassle it was living with Spider-Man. One-time superhero and now full-time supervillain Phil Urich, who now goes by the name Goblin King and whose crew stole some valuable, and explosive metal last issue, makes a move on the Green Goblin's territory, and violence ensues.
This story sees the welcome return of series regular Stuart Immonen to illustrate Dan Slott's final arc on Spider-Man before moving on to write Iron Man, and to be honest his timing is impeccable as Slott was starting to lose me with his filler issues. The story pacing still isn't great considering how much time Slott's been wasting the last few issues, and I honestly wonder how Slott's going to fill the two issues between this and the landmark 800th issue. Truth be told, I feel that Slott could have squeezed in one multi-issue story arc before going full-bore on this last arc, rather than give us the annoying throwaway fill-ins that the last two issues turned out to be. Maybe the arc with Loki could have been expanded to three issues? Maybe.
What I feel pretty sure of is that with each passing issue (as well as the solicitations for future issues) it becomes clearer and clearer exactly WHO will be "going down swinging." Even though I know I'm just speculating here, it's been pretty clear, at least since Immonen came on board, that Slott had somewhat specific plans for the character I'm thinking of, so much so that a fake-out at this point would have zero narrative or emotional impact, sort of like Slott's awkward reveal at the end of "Superior Spider-Man" that this very character had been hiding in plain sight, disguised as someone else.
In any case, Slott's clearly trying to raise the stakes here, as a violent fate apparently befalls a long-standing character whom he's been developing since early on in his tenure. It feels a little anti-climactic considering what a nuisance this character has been, but assuming this to be a genuine death and not a fake-out I don't necessarily mind as I find the character kind of irritating.
I sincerely doubt Slott would "kill" Spider-Man, by mind-swapping him with a dying man or otherwise, so soon after the last time he did it, so given that Pete's already scheduled for a "fresh start" later this year, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out whose ticket is getting punched. Assuming I'm right, this would mean that following his "resurrection" from a seemingly final death years ago, the character who's about to kick the bucket has been alive for more than twenty years, or longer than he was around before he was killed the first time. Personally, I'd be glad to see him go; I think the character has long outlived his narrative usefulness. I just hope that Slott uses this as an opportunity to finally retcon "Sins Past" one of the most irritating Spider-Man storylines ever printed, out of existence. It could be his parting gift to us fans.
I'm just going to savor the last three-issues of Immonen-illustrated goodness before we get to the big eight zero zero.
7/10
In Need of a Fresh Start: A Review of Captain America #699
written by Mark Waid
drawn by Chris Samnee
colored by Matt Wilson
Trapped in a dystopian future in which America is ruled by a despot, Captain America finds two old allies and, with his new team of Howling Commandos, makes a gallant push to unseat the tyrant King Babbington.
Okay, I'll just be very direct: this issue was very, very badly written. Quite honestly, for a writer of Waid's caliber, it's egregious.
As someone who actually works in Human Rights, I take strong exception to the way rednecks, "men's rights activists" and various other assholes on this planet have taken the term 'Social Justice Warriors' which aptly describes people who fight real world problems like racism, gender inequality and the yawning gap between the haves and the have-nots, and have turned it into something derisive or descriptive of someone easily offended. Of course it's the people of privilege, usually white males, who feel that way towards anyone trying to upset their precious status quo.
That said, it's ham-handed, clunky works of fiction like this that deservedly earn the derision that overprivileged fanboys are only too willing to heap on anyone challenging the way things are. Waid's writing, even in "activist" mode, is usually so much better than this, and this ridiculously clumsy allegory for what America has become under Donald Trump, complete with dialogue that is utterly on the nose, is really and truly beneath him.
I mean, how hard can it be to fold his meta-narrative into an engaging story? Even relative newbie Charles Soule is doing a halfway decent job of it on Waid's old haunt, Daredevil, which remains (for me anyway) a career highlight for Waid. Waid can do subtext, for crying out loud, and he's no greenhorn. This is the guy who wrote the fabled Kingdom Come, for heaven's sake, and who is a veteran of two previous runs on Captain America in particular. I cannot for the life of me understand why his writing here is so horribly heavy-handed. Even his writing on Daredevil, which tackled race issues sometimes, managed some degree of subtlety.
The only saving grace of this books is Chris Samnee's beautiful art, which we'll only be seeing for one more issue, on this title and in the pages of Marvel comic books in general, as he heads off for parts (as yet) unknown after Captain America #700.
I hold out some hope that, following the events in this issue, Waid has something up his sleeve for the landmark 700th issue, and for the few that follow it before Ta-Nehisi Coates and Leinil Yu take over. For that matter, I dearly hope Coates makes it a point to write compelling stories BEFORE he beats us over the head with his politics. The fact that his run on Black Panther started off pretty strong only to severely taper off in less than a year gives me cause for concern.
Writing this review really makes me sad, because to be honest the Waid/Samnee team-up on Daredevil was one of my favorite in comics history. For me their legacy survived their sometimes dodgy 12-issue run on Black Widow that started out strong but couldn't stick the landing, but after their work on this title, after a number of so-so issues, one genuinely good issue, and this utter embarrassment, I don't know that I'll ever view their collaboration in quite the same way again.
5/10
drawn by Chris Samnee
colored by Matt Wilson
Trapped in a dystopian future in which America is ruled by a despot, Captain America finds two old allies and, with his new team of Howling Commandos, makes a gallant push to unseat the tyrant King Babbington.
Okay, I'll just be very direct: this issue was very, very badly written. Quite honestly, for a writer of Waid's caliber, it's egregious.
As someone who actually works in Human Rights, I take strong exception to the way rednecks, "men's rights activists" and various other assholes on this planet have taken the term 'Social Justice Warriors' which aptly describes people who fight real world problems like racism, gender inequality and the yawning gap between the haves and the have-nots, and have turned it into something derisive or descriptive of someone easily offended. Of course it's the people of privilege, usually white males, who feel that way towards anyone trying to upset their precious status quo.
That said, it's ham-handed, clunky works of fiction like this that deservedly earn the derision that overprivileged fanboys are only too willing to heap on anyone challenging the way things are. Waid's writing, even in "activist" mode, is usually so much better than this, and this ridiculously clumsy allegory for what America has become under Donald Trump, complete with dialogue that is utterly on the nose, is really and truly beneath him.
I mean, how hard can it be to fold his meta-narrative into an engaging story? Even relative newbie Charles Soule is doing a halfway decent job of it on Waid's old haunt, Daredevil, which remains (for me anyway) a career highlight for Waid. Waid can do subtext, for crying out loud, and he's no greenhorn. This is the guy who wrote the fabled Kingdom Come, for heaven's sake, and who is a veteran of two previous runs on Captain America in particular. I cannot for the life of me understand why his writing here is so horribly heavy-handed. Even his writing on Daredevil, which tackled race issues sometimes, managed some degree of subtlety.
The only saving grace of this books is Chris Samnee's beautiful art, which we'll only be seeing for one more issue, on this title and in the pages of Marvel comic books in general, as he heads off for parts (as yet) unknown after Captain America #700.
I hold out some hope that, following the events in this issue, Waid has something up his sleeve for the landmark 700th issue, and for the few that follow it before Ta-Nehisi Coates and Leinil Yu take over. For that matter, I dearly hope Coates makes it a point to write compelling stories BEFORE he beats us over the head with his politics. The fact that his run on Black Panther started off pretty strong only to severely taper off in less than a year gives me cause for concern.
Writing this review really makes me sad, because to be honest the Waid/Samnee team-up on Daredevil was one of my favorite in comics history. For me their legacy survived their sometimes dodgy 12-issue run on Black Widow that started out strong but couldn't stick the landing, but after their work on this title, after a number of so-so issues, one genuinely good issue, and this utter embarrassment, I don't know that I'll ever view their collaboration in quite the same way again.
5/10
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Spinning Wheels: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #796
written by Dan Slott and Christos Gage
drawn by Mike Hawthorne (p) Terry Pallot and Cam Smith (i)
colored by Erick Arciniega
"Red Threat" concludes and sets the stage for Dan Slott's farewell arc "Go Down Swinging" as Norman Osborn grapples with the Carnage symbiote for control, while Hobgoblin (Phil Urich) makes a move on Alchemax's store of precious tritium. Fortunately, Peter Parker and his science team for the Daily Bugle happen to be covering the story, and in any case Alchemax boss Liz Osborn has already hired Flash Thompson as security, so Spider-Man and Anti-Venom get to tag team against the Hobgoblin and his gang. Meanwhile, things are looking very grim indeed for Spidey as Norman and the Carnage symbiote look to become something more powerful than anything he's seen before from either of them. Oh, and Peter and MJ hook up.
I get that we're basically just on the countdown to the historic 800th issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. I get that superstar artist Stuart Immonen, who will be back next issue, needed some time off. I get that Dan Slott wants to set up his big throw down.
For all of that, though, this lead up to that climactic story not only feels weak, but redundant as it follows a familiar, Spidey-just-happens-to-be-on-the-scene-when-a-crime-happens formula that Slott's been applying since he gave Peter his new job. I'll grant that if one were to review the over fifty years of Spider-Man comic books that have ever been printed one would probably find a degree of repetitiveness to much of the storytelling, but as a reader of this title for over 30 years I have to say that this story feels distinctly so. Mike Hawthorne's art is even plainer than it was last issue, which at least had Loki to liven things up, and the story just feels so by-the-numbers that part of me wonders if Slott and Gage didn't just dust off an old script and tweak it here or there.
I hope things get better with "Going Down Swinging."
5/10
drawn by Mike Hawthorne (p) Terry Pallot and Cam Smith (i)
colored by Erick Arciniega
"Red Threat" concludes and sets the stage for Dan Slott's farewell arc "Go Down Swinging" as Norman Osborn grapples with the Carnage symbiote for control, while Hobgoblin (Phil Urich) makes a move on Alchemax's store of precious tritium. Fortunately, Peter Parker and his science team for the Daily Bugle happen to be covering the story, and in any case Alchemax boss Liz Osborn has already hired Flash Thompson as security, so Spider-Man and Anti-Venom get to tag team against the Hobgoblin and his gang. Meanwhile, things are looking very grim indeed for Spidey as Norman and the Carnage symbiote look to become something more powerful than anything he's seen before from either of them. Oh, and Peter and MJ hook up.
I get that we're basically just on the countdown to the historic 800th issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. I get that superstar artist Stuart Immonen, who will be back next issue, needed some time off. I get that Dan Slott wants to set up his big throw down.
For all of that, though, this lead up to that climactic story not only feels weak, but redundant as it follows a familiar, Spidey-just-happens-to-be-on-the-scene-when-a-crime-happens formula that Slott's been applying since he gave Peter his new job. I'll grant that if one were to review the over fifty years of Spider-Man comic books that have ever been printed one would probably find a degree of repetitiveness to much of the storytelling, but as a reader of this title for over 30 years I have to say that this story feels distinctly so. Mike Hawthorne's art is even plainer than it was last issue, which at least had Loki to liven things up, and the story just feels so by-the-numbers that part of me wonders if Slott and Gage didn't just dust off an old script and tweak it here or there.
I hope things get better with "Going Down Swinging."
5/10
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
The (Relative) Calm Before the Storm: A Review of Daredevil #599
written by Charles Soule
drawn by Ron Garney
colored by Matt Milla
New York Mayor Wilson Fisk's decision to send policemen after the Inhuman vandal/serial killer Muse has predictably tragic results, but Fisk, using the magic of fake news, basically uses the tragedy to fuel his campaign against costumed vigilantes. Matt Murdock, who knows both what Muse is like and what Fisk's nefarious plans are for the city, starts putting his own plan in motion, while his one-time protege Blindspot has plans of his own for Muse. Things are just about to come to a head.
This arc, overall, has been a great follow-up to Soule's engaging courtroom drama "Supreme" and while I was a little jarred by the shift in artists, it's still been a pleasurable read. I quite appreciate how, as he did in "Supreme," Soule uses the multiple issues of the arc to build up terrific tension, and how parsimonious he is with the details of things like Matt's plan. I appreciate the way he patiently lays everything in place, setting everything up for the big throwdown next issue.
Garney does great work here, but I have to say, seeing Daredevil back in his black uniform before switching back to his classic red costume at the end, that part of me wishes Garney would stick to the black costume, which he renders much better than he does the red one. He also does a properly menacing Kingpin, something that wasn't quite highlighted upon his return last issue, and this is what he definitely has over Stefano Landini. I have to say I'm curious to see what kind of work cover artist Dan Mora would do if he were unleashed on the interiors of this book.
Clearly, with Marvel's "Fresh Start" initiative we'll be seeing a new #1 for this series not too long after the 600th issue, and quite possibly a new creative team as well, but whatever happens, for the most part I think Charles Soule's tenure has been good for this character.
On to #600!
8.5/10
drawn by Ron Garney
colored by Matt Milla
New York Mayor Wilson Fisk's decision to send policemen after the Inhuman vandal/serial killer Muse has predictably tragic results, but Fisk, using the magic of fake news, basically uses the tragedy to fuel his campaign against costumed vigilantes. Matt Murdock, who knows both what Muse is like and what Fisk's nefarious plans are for the city, starts putting his own plan in motion, while his one-time protege Blindspot has plans of his own for Muse. Things are just about to come to a head.
This arc, overall, has been a great follow-up to Soule's engaging courtroom drama "Supreme" and while I was a little jarred by the shift in artists, it's still been a pleasurable read. I quite appreciate how, as he did in "Supreme," Soule uses the multiple issues of the arc to build up terrific tension, and how parsimonious he is with the details of things like Matt's plan. I appreciate the way he patiently lays everything in place, setting everything up for the big throwdown next issue.
Garney does great work here, but I have to say, seeing Daredevil back in his black uniform before switching back to his classic red costume at the end, that part of me wishes Garney would stick to the black costume, which he renders much better than he does the red one. He also does a properly menacing Kingpin, something that wasn't quite highlighted upon his return last issue, and this is what he definitely has over Stefano Landini. I have to say I'm curious to see what kind of work cover artist Dan Mora would do if he were unleashed on the interiors of this book.
Clearly, with Marvel's "Fresh Start" initiative we'll be seeing a new #1 for this series not too long after the 600th issue, and quite possibly a new creative team as well, but whatever happens, for the most part I think Charles Soule's tenure has been good for this character.
On to #600!
8.5/10
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