Daredevil: Parts of a Hole

Daredevil: Parts of a Hole 

By David Mack, Joe Quesada & David Ross (Marvel Knights)
ISBN 0-7851-0808-4

The second collection (reprinting Daredevil issues #9-15) of the revisionist Marvel Knights ‘Man Without Fear’ has fan favourite David Mack join artists Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti to recount a muddled thrill-chase introducing Echo, yet another variation of the hallowed and much used “Player on the Other Side” plot.

For the uninitiated, DD is blind but his other senses have been amplified to (over)compensate, and the young sexy villainess is deaf but is also hyper-enabled. Deceived by the Kingpin, who is a titular godfather to her, she hunts Daredevil, who she thinks murdered her father, whilst simultaneously falling in love with the hero’s secret identity. It’s all very pretty, and even the abrupt switch to David Ross as penciller doesn’t hurt the flow much, but it’s still just too like every thing we’ve seen before. And just what kind of sod is Matt Murdock that he always ends up trading punches with his girlfriends? I fully accept that there are only so many plots for action-characters, and subplots even less so, but for Pete’s sake, don’t you think he’d try for just one chick that took Home Economics at school rather than Karate?

This is quite a disappointing effort when you consider the standard of the creative people involved although the fill-in episode is an unexpected treat. Between issues #11 and 13 a slight scheduling hiccup necessitated a quick fill-in and Quesada and Palmiotti wrote a sharp, edgy human interest portmanteau tale starring bystanders who were in the vicinity of the fight that concluded the previous episode. Artist Rob Haynes turned in a visually understated and remarkably efficient job that just plain steals the show. Well done to all concerned for including it in the volume and especially for sticking it in the back of the book so as not to disrupt the narrative flow.

© 2002, 2005 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Daredevil Visionaries

Daredevil Visionaries 

By Kevin Smith, Joe Quesada & Jimmy Palmiotti (Marvel Comics)
ISBN 0-7851-0737-1

Kevin Smith generated a lot of excitement when he was announced as the writer of the new Daredevil comic in 1998, and that transferred to high sales when the comics finally appeared. Unlike Frank Miller’s legendary tenures, Smith’s run (Volume 2, #1-8 “Guardian Devil”) wasn’t about tearing down and rebuilding as much as shining a light on dusty forgotten corners, reminding fans why they liked the character whilst presenting him to new readers.

The plot itself revolved around a young girl who believes she has given birth to a new Messiah, entrusting him, and possibly the fate of the world to the emotionally scarred and battle-weary Matt Murdock to protect them from eerie foes and the temptations of a seemingly insurmountable and pervasive evil. Despite living day to day among monsters and magicians can the Man Without Fear, a coldly logical lawyer, rationalise these events with the superhero’s deeply held Catholic beliefs? Is a different kind of evil at work here?

As a stand alone book Visionaries is a great example of an inspired idea competently delivered. Smith chooses to embrace all of the hero’s long history rather than re-tailor the hero to fit his vision, and the highly design-oriented style of art from Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti is garish but oddly appropriate to this moody tale. Seldom out of print since the first collection in 2001, this book remains a sadly rare high point in Marvel’s output of recent years.

© 2001, 2005 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

Shadowland

ShadowlandBy Kim Deitch

(Fantagraphics Books)  ISBN 1-56097-771-X

Kim Deitch has been one of the leading lights of America’s Comix Underground since its earliest days, although as with Harvey Pekar and American Splendor, it is only in recent years that he has won wider acclaim: in his case for 2002’s Boulevard of Broken Dreams. For the past two decades he has been producing occasional short stories about a down-at-heel carnival and the shabby, eccentric no-hopers that have populated it through-out the 150 years. Shadowland is the first complete collection, and also features a splendid colour gallery of supplemental artwork.

Combining science-fiction, conspiracy theory, urban history and legend, show-biz razzmatazz, Film Noir and a highly developed sense of the absurd, he weaves an irresistible spell that charms, thrills and disturbs whilst his meticulous black and white drawing holds the reader in a deceptively fluffy grip.

Follow the story of clown and Carny Al Ledicker Jr. as he shambles his way through the sleaziest parts of the 20th century in this wonderful compendium and critique of the “Americana Way”.

Text, art & characters © 2006 Kim Deitch. All Rights Reserved