Reviews by Harold Bloomfield (HB56@aol.com)

Daredevil #24

Part 5 of the Daredevil lawsuit arc is a very wordy issue. Daredevil's position in the case is very weak due to the security video which caught him trying to get the Matador to confess to be responsible for the whole thing by hypnotizing Griggs. Daredevil also receives a taunting note from Arnold Quaid the alias of the mastermind of this plot. However the crux of this issue is the question of how Matt Murdock and Daredevil will simultaneously appear in court.

The first day Daredevil solves this by only having Matt Murdock show up. The next day a Daredevil impostor comes to court and is quickly weeded out by Kate Vinokur, his attorney. She tries to call the real Daredevil using the special cell phone number he gave her and of course ends up making the phone in Matt Murdock's pocket ring. Later that night Kate phones Daredevil again and he tells her to hold out until he is cross examined the day after tomorrow because he has a plan. She makes no mention about the phone call in court which can only indicate Matt Murdock is Daredevil or at the very least they are involved in something unethical if not illegal.

As stated above this is an extremely verbose issue which in and of itself is no crime but only becomes on when you notice it. The page with the judge laying out the trial's ground rules is especially guilty. This is followed immediately by lengthy discussions with Matt and Foggy, Matt and Griggs and Kate and Matt. Perhaps having Kate and Matt in their underwear during their talk is a why to take the focus off of the wordage. I'm no prude but the cheesecake seems out of place and unnecessary here. Gale scores somewhat with a humorous conversation by two onlookers in court, one of whom suspiciously resembles Kevin Smith.

Early on Daredevil wonders about this plot against him. He's nagged by the thought that so far the only danger to him is being embarrassed and losing some money. Well this has bothered me at least since last issue and while it's OK for Daredevil to be baffled by the consequences to him the story would be stronger if Gale had clued the reader in on what the real threat is to Daredevil. Without it we have a mildly engaging mystery without any real drama to it.

The art here continues to disappoint. Last issue Griggs had yellow hair. Now it's brown. Kate is rendered unevenly and looks like a piece of anime on the final page. Considering the history of stunning artwork in Volume 2 of Daredevil just plain OK as we have here comes off badly.