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DAREDEVIL #27
"Underboss Part Two"
Highly Recommended (10/10)
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Marvel Comics/Marvel Knights imprint
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Alex Maleev
Colors: Matt Hollingsworth
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Stuart Moore
Price: $2.99 US/$4.50 CAN |
Mathematically, it doesn't seem possible that Bendis could be writing
this many books and have them all be so damn good. But here it is, another new
project, another grand slam home run. Bendis and Maleev are painting a gritty
vision of Daredevil, one that is less like the recent Marvel Knights series and
more like Frank Miller's run. And while I enjoyed the Marvel Knights run
immensely, you can't do much better than to follow in the tradition of Frank
Miller, especially if you can avoid the trap of simply aping what he did.
This issue jumps around a bit
in time, reintroducing us to the catastrophic event that befell Kingpin last
issue and acquainting us with the new boss, Sammy Silke. We also get to see a
bit of how the cops feel about Daredevil, a lot more of how Daredevil's senses
work and a terrific confrontation between Kingpin and Daredevil. There's humor,
in the form of Foggy's overbearing mother or the conversation between the two
cops, there's action in the form of a tense standoff between a rookie cop and
Daredevil and another between Daredevil and the Kingpin's goons, and there's an
incredible atmosphere that permeates the book.
Alex Maleev is someone who
impressed me when I first saw his work on Batman, and who has continued to grow
in my estimation since. He captures the dark urban environment needed for the
story quite well, and there's a surreal quality to some of his staging that
works exceptionally well for depicting the nature of Daredevil's enhanced
senses. I also love the way he depicts fights and danger, with real consequences
and a physical sense of pain. When the billy club strikes Silke, it looks
painful. Ditto for the poor goon who gets launched into a car. Despite drawing a
world with human bombs and men in spandex, he makes everything feel pretty real
and grounded.
Ever since Miller took on the
title, Daredevil and Kingpin have been arch-nemeses, and so it makes sense to
tie them so tightly together. I love that Daredevil knows his foe well enough to
go and confront him in a garage, or that the two of them can speak as
antagonists, but civilized antagonists. They know each other better than they
know some of their loved ones and friends, and Bendis shows that off with his
dialogue.
We're two issues in and the
big shoe really hasn't dropped yet, the reaction to Kingpin's death. Instead
we're getting slowly eased into it, with development of the main players and a
side plot that will no doubt tie in as the story comes to a close. Bendis and
Maleev are writing this as a gritty crime drama, not a spandex book, and it's a
terrific choice on their parts.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board. |
