Daredevil Message Board
The Board Without Fear!
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

The Message Board is currently in read-only mode, as the software is now out of date. Several features and pages have been removed. If/When I get time I intend to re-launch the board with updated software.


DD Book Club - After Math

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Daredevil Message Board Forum Index -> The comics
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Mike Murdock
Golden Age


Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Posts: 1750

PostPosted: Sun Jun 30, 2019 3:29 am    Post subject: DD Book Club - After Math Reply with quote

Daredevil Vol. 1 #358 - After Math



Quote:

Daredevil stops Mysterio’s scam in its tracks!


In honor of Spider-Man: Far From Home. Available in Daredevil Epic Collection: Purgatory and Paradise and Marvel Unlimited.

Due 7/6
_________________
Matt Murdock's cooler twin brother

Not sure what to read next? Check out the Book Club for some ideas!

I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!
Thomas More - A Man for All Seasons
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Mike Murdock
Golden Age


Joined: 08 Sep 2014
Posts: 1750

PostPosted: Tue Jul 02, 2019 3:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This issue involves Joe Kelly as fill-in writer, not to be confused with Joe Kelly as regular series writer. The artist is a fill-in, though, which stands out. It's not too bad. Some of it is very 90s with lots of face shadows, but at least everyone is very expressive and easy to identify.

The plot involves superhero insurance. I'm a bit disappointed that Foggy is so much the bumbling fool here. I kind of felt that, once he realized who Matt was, he wouldn't be so short-sighted when it comes to superhero things, but he still blindly follows this because he's easily persuaded by class and a fancy show.

That being said, I don't know if the evil scheme is supposed to be obvious. Mysterio is on the cover, but that might not have been known when Kelly was writing. But it's a clear use of illusion and hallucinogen connected to the insurance scam. I like how easily Daredevil sees through it, which undercuts a lot of tension. But it's great foreshadowing for Guardian Devil (where I guess he fixes the bugs in his anti-Daredevil scheme) and also for Playing to the Camera (where superheroes causing property damage comes up in the context of civil lawsuits rather than insurance).

This is a fairly uneven issue with a lot of the suspense undercut. Some of the moments towards the end with Foggy and Liz and Matt and Karen feel very clunky. Still, it's a fine, unobjectionable ride throughout. Joe Kelly would go on to do much better and brighter things. If this was the audition for the character, I wonder what Marvel saw, though. Three Stars.
_________________
Matt Murdock's cooler twin brother

Not sure what to read next? Check out the Book Club for some ideas!

I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!
Thomas More - A Man for All Seasons
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Dimetre
Underboss


Joined: 16 Feb 2006
Posts: 1366
Location: Toronto

PostPosted: Wed Jul 03, 2019 11:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The main story here is adequate, involving a new business offering insurance coverage of super-powered attacks. I understood Foggy's reasoning for buying into it, since all New York has left for super-heroes is Daredevil, whose power set is hardly a match for Magneto or Galactus. I can understand how in a post-Onslaught Marvel Universe, someone could take advantage of a general fear running rampant.

But the main story didn't provide this issue's highlights for me. My favourite part was the story Jarvis tells Daredevil about the mother who kept the milk order as is while her son was off at war. I wonder if that is a true story Joe Kelly had heard somewhere. I'm so glad he invested more than a page to telling it. At this point Jarvis is at a particularly dark moment in his life, and the faith he has in the Avengers to make it back is inspirational.

Immediately following this scene is a great scene of Foggy on a dream date with Liz Osborne, but it's interrupted by Razor Sharpe. I loved the passive-aggressive banter between Liz and Razor, and the way Foggy just wanted to crawl into a hole. That was great comedic writing, but, of course, Kelly was known for that.

But there are a lot of weak points to nit-pick here.

First off, the whole issue is undercut by the cover which shows Mysterio. It's a great Steve Epting cover, but it gives away the ending. To me, the obvious choice for a cover for the November 1996 issue of Daredevil would switch out Mysterio with Onslaught.

Secondly, Quentin Beck (the real Mysterio) isn't really involved in this story. The perpertrator here is someone who used to work at Mysterio's old studio, and is appropriating his gear for an insurance scam. So it's a little alarming that a few years later Kevin Smith would pretend like Beck himself was at all aware of what happened here. If he should be pissed off at anyone it would be Garrison Peabody, not Daredevil.

Matt's sudden decision to seek out Black Widow was hard to figure out. In the previous panel he's discussing the insurance scam with Foggy, who storms away in anger. In four thought bubbles he goes from remarking about Foggy's nervousness to wondering how Black Widow's doing in the aftermath of the Onslaught event. I can't follow that train of thought. I couldn't figure out what triggered him to strip down to his Daredevil costume. It didn't seem like a genuine transition from one scene to the next. At the very least it eventually got us that great story Jarvis told, but I fully realize that anything involving Jarvis or the Widow contributed next to nothing to this issue's main narrative.

I liked how Matt allowed Foggy to come off as the hero, which got him that tender moment with Liz, but what came next was the final scene with Matt and Karen. Artist Pascual Ferry's pencils look very rushed here, as if he was asked to draw this at the last minute. The most puzzling part of this scene to me is the appearance of Daredevil on the monitor mentioning "a social call to the distraught Black Widow." I leafed through the earlier pages in the issue to see when he had spoken these words in front of a camera, and I couldn't find it. When was he in front of a camera saying this? The scene ends with Karen storming out, and there are no pages left. It's among the most incomplete-feeling Daredevil issues I've ever read.

This issue has some good moments, but the main plot isn't great. Even the reveal of the villain has a Scooby-Doo feeling to it, with Daredevil yanking off the bad guy's mask. (Honestly though, that's a trope that was in every other golden age comic book, and it likely predates those.) I give this a 2.5 out of 5.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Daredevil Message Board Forum Index -> The comics All times are GMT - 4 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group