Nice, Slick Work: A Review of Daredevil #4

 written by Saladin Ahmed

drawn by German Peralta

colored by Jesus Aburtov

Saladin Ahmed wraps up his first story arc on Daredevil in fine style, and while it's unfortunate that he is not joined by Aaron Kuder, with whom he kicked off this new era for ol' Hornhead, the extremely capable German Peralta fills in on art chores instead. The result is an issue that is highly satisfying, even as it sets up the narrative that is yet to come.

Having discovered that his old friend Ben Urich is behind the libelous stories being spread about St. Nicholas Youth Home, Fr. Matt Murdock decides to get to the bottom of things and confronts Urich himself at his office at the Daily Bugle. Urich no longer recognizes Matt, who, we must recall, has literally been brought back not just from the dead but from Hell itself, and Matt barely recognizes his old friend upon hearing him speak, until he finally gets a glimpse of what's really going on with Ben.

Meanwhile, things appear to be coming to a head with the new gang, the Heat, about to make a move on the heir to Wilson Fisk himself, Butch Pharris. Matt intervenes as Daredevil, and not a moment to soon since Bullseye himself is on the scene, though he is apparently there to serve a bigger purpose. It all comes to a head as old foes clash.

We're still pretty much in the honeymoon period of Ahmed's writing, and he has managed to finish his first mini story arc quite strongly, and that was after he delivered a good, solid, done-in-one first issue that also managed to set up the larger narrative.  The book is off to the strongest start it's had in some time and I'm glad to see it. I know "Father Matt" is the kind of status quo that's destined to change, in much the same way that "Fry Cook Matt" was never going to be a long-term thing, but I want to see how long Ahmed can keep this up because quite frankly, this is the most interesting Matt has been in a while. 

The only shortcoming I perceive with this book is the art, and not because it's bad. Quite the contrary, Aaron Kuder and German Peralta are both extremely talented artists and I wouldn't mind having them rotate on art duties, but I hope each of them is able to finish off a story arc before handing off to the other. For all of my complaints about The Amazing Spider-Man, I dare say their artist rotation strategy is one thing they've gotten right.

Well, one thing I can say for sure is that I'm on board for the immediate future, at least. It's not the firmest decision in the world as comics have gotten notably more expensive of late, but if Ahmed and his art team can keep this level of storytelling up, my wallet can take the hit. 

9/10 

 

The Next "Big Thing:" A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #39 (Gang War)

written by Zeb Wells

penciled by John Romita Jr.

inked by Scott Hanna

colored by Marcio Menyz

When Zeb Wells relaunched this book in 2022 with John Romita Jr., he teased two major storylines, the first being the risible "What Did Peter Parker Do?" which went about as well as a wet fart.  The second storyline, however, one which has had much better build-up, is "Gang War" which is finally reaching its conclusion now.

The story kicked off elsewhere, in one of this book's numerous tie-ins, and thus Wells drops us right into the action, which features rival gangs moving in on one another's territory in New York, with Spider-Man and several of his allies including She Hulk, Miles Morales and Elektra doing everything they can to keep the city from coming apart at the seams. Treachery abounds, with all of the power players like Tombstone, his daughter Janice, aka the Beetle, Hammerhead, the Rose and Madame Masque all making big, bold moves.

My only question is: will any of this even really matter in the grand scheme of things?  

The problem with this "crime" and "gang war" related stories is that, after several decades of serialized storytelling, they all start to feel alike. Marvel only just did something like this not too long ago with "Devil's Reign" over in Daredevil.  Back when Gerry Conway was writing the book thirty years ago, he pitted the Kingpin and Hammerhead against gangster Mexican werewolves (yes, seriously, look it up).  What exactly does Wells bring to the table that hasn't been told in one fashion or another before? There isn't even any hamhanded allegory for American legislation like there was in the original "Civil War" series, it's just a bunch of criminals and supercriminals going at it, with our favorite hero caught in the middle.

Worse still, we're expected to follow all of the dozens of other books tied into this story, which is a turn-off for me even under the most ideal of circumstances. Given that comic books are now five dollars a pop, these are far from the most ideal of circumstances, and it is incumbent on Zeb Wells and JR Jr to give us a good reason to spend our hard-earned money on their book.

Honestly, so far, they haven't.

5/10

 

Foes New and Old: A (Super-Late) Review of Daredevil #3

written by Saladin Ahmed

penciled by Aaron Kuder and Farid Karami 

inked by Cam Smith and Karami

colored by Jesus Aburtov

Having discovered to his shock who has been spreading malicious falsehoods about St. Nicholas Youth Home, which he has been running together with his fellow priest Fr. Javi ever since his mysterious return from Hell, Father Matt Murdock now finds himself fighting on two fronts; by day, he has to engage with Child Protective Services and convince them that the horrible things being written about St. Nick's are not true, and by night, he has to take on the new gang the Heat, packing military-grade weaponry and who may be connected to an old foe of Matt's.

Saladin Ahmed's first mini-story arc nears its conclusion, and it's been a genuinely engaging ride so far. There are, of course, a lot of unanswered questions about Matt's new status quo, which I assume will be addressed over time, but for now I genuinely appreciate how Ahmed manages to put Matt, in his new guise as a Catholic priest, through the wringer without coming across as cruel or mean-spirited (I'm looking at YOU, Zeb Wells). 

It's not all good news, unfortunately. Aaron Kuder, who has done great work up until this point and who still contributes solid pencils to this issue, does not draw the whole issue. His co-artist Farid Karami turns in decent enough work but his style is so different front Kuder's that it's a rather jarring experience, which is a shame because given how well-paced Ahmed's script in the shift in art is the one thing that can derail it. Notably, there isn't even a clean break in the art, i.e. Kuder doesn't draw the first have and Karami the second, rather there is an overlap between the pages drawn by the artists and it is not the cleanest narrative experience.

 Still, so far, so good. 

 

7.5/10

Ed's BACK! A (Super-Late) Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #36 to 38

 written by Zeb Wells

penciled by Ed McGuinness

inked by Mark Farmer, McGuinness

colored by Marcio Menyz

After teasing readers yet again with the possibility of Norman Osborn returning to his evil ways as well as the distinct possibility of the death of the widely-despised character Paul, the Spidey brain-trust bring back another of their heavy-hitters, Ed McGuiness to help readers forget for another few issues how they've screwed Peter Parker yet again.  Together with Zeb Wells, McGuinness spins a tale woven from the events of last year's big Spider-Man crossover Dark Web, involving a character introduced in that story, the comedic character Rek-Rap, a comical but well-intentioned demon who idolizes Peter Parker to the point of assuming a twisted, Bizarro-like version of his Spider-Man identity.  

Rek-Rap's antics in the world outside of limbo get him into a fair amount of trouble, much to the annoyance of the Queen of Limbo, Madelyne Pryor, who dispatches Spider-Man to bring Rek-Rap in, and someone else as well. This time, however, Rek-Rap may be onto something as he finds himself investigating a series of mysterious kidnappings, which might actually have a connection to Peter Parker himself. Beware the wrath of Re-Po!

Yes, that's literally the name of this new villain whom Wells and McGuinness have introduced. It is as groan-inducing as much of this run has been, but fortunately McGuinness keeps the story afloat with his lively visuals as usual.  This story is meant to whet the reader's appetite for the upcoming "Gang War" event that follows it, but in truth I could have used less "Gang War" foreshadowing and much more McGuinness goodness.

7.5/10

Super Late, Part II: A Review of Daredevil #2

written by Saladin Ahmed

drawn by Aaron Kuder

colored by Jesus Aburtov

Daredevil's adventures as a man of the cloth continue as Father Matt Murdock encounters a problem he can't quite punch into submission: a corrupt police force out to shut down St. Nicholas, the orphanage he and a fellow priest are running in Hell's Kitchen, and a mysterious, unknown adversary spreading slander about St. Nicholas on social media. It doesn't help that a new gang, armed to the teeth, has arrived on the scene. As Daredevil, Matt uses his muscles and his wit to try to track down the ultimate source of the slander, and makes a shocking discovery.

Someone in the comments section of a review of issue #1 cleverly called out Saladin Ahmed on what his overarching plot was, and to avoid spoilers I won't reveal it here. In truth, Ahmed doesn't make it all that hard to figure out what's going on, and that's quite honestly one of the things I rather like about this new iteration of the book. It's nice, linear, character-driven storytelling. Ahmed shows that Matt isn't defined so much by his powers or even his life as a lawyer as he is by his determination and compassion, and in that sense, I think Ahmed really gets this character.

I also really, really enjoyed Aaron Kuder's art in this issue; I love how clean the book looks, how reminiscent of the likes of David Marquez.

One minor quibble I have, though, is Matt's throwaway line: much of a lawyer's training is useless outside of a courtroom. As an attorney myself, I must respectfully disagree.

8.5/10 

Super Late: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #35 (Spoiler Alert)

written by Zeb Wells

drawn by Patrick Gleason

colored by Marcio Menyz

So this story arc ended several issues ago, magnified by the fact that this title comes out twice a month, and I stayed away from comic books for a while to focus on work. With the Christmas holidays coming I find I have a little time to myself to write some long overdue blog posts. 

So black-suit clad Peter, infused with the sins of Norman Osborn thanks to a magical spear created by Kraven and his new lover, Ashley Kafka's clone aka the Queen Goblin, goes on a rampage against the person who hurt him most: Mary Jane Watson and Zeb We---err Paul Rabin. Things look set to end in tragedy, but Kraven and Norman team up to do the unthinkable: stop Spider-Man.

Of course Peter wouldn't kill MJ, or Paul, or anyone while under the influence of Norman Osborn's evil essence. For all of editorial's pretensions that they want to shake things up in Peter's life (i.e. keep him miserable), there are some lines even they won't cross. Most readers will know how this turns out; Norman and Kraven teamed up to extract Norman's evil from Peter, but not before Peter dropped MJ's beau Paul from a bridge (only to have her save him). Anyway, nothing happened here that would require another laborious retcon, but unfortunately Wells' jackass of a new character is still around.

Patrick Gleason's art is still great; next to Ed McGuinness this guy has provided a reason to keep coming back to this book no matter how annoying Wells' writing gets, but when Jonathan Hickman and Marco Chechetto finally unleash their version of Ultimate Spider-Man next year I wonder if I'll still have the patience to stick around.

8/10