Matt Murdock: Daredevil Appreciation 2019

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

On the subject of the strange case of how Elektra should be portrayed in comics, I found it ever so bizarre when she replaced Phil Coulson in SHIELD and took charge of his team during Civil War II. It just seemed awfully off. This was right after Coulson saved Daredevil (a couple of issues earlier).

[macjr33]

Echo was really interesting and I always expected more to be done with her. I think Milla only really served as an outlet for Matt's breakdown, but I do like Natasha's relationship with Matt. That's another that seems like it has potential that could've been revisited in more modern books.

Agree with what others have said, I really liked Echo a lot and was disappointed that she really wasn't used much after Parts of a Hole. She seemed like she would have been a really good compliment to Matt. Soule teased her briefly during his run and did nothing with it, which was a bit disappointing.

Also, agree that I really like Matt's relationship with Natasha. I've said it before; however, outside of Foggy, I would argue that she is the most important relationship in Matt's life. There is clearly still an attraction there; however, its more than that as there is a deep friendship and respect they have for one another. And while I would have liked to have seen her appear more in the book, I think the modern take on it has been quite good (Guardian Devil aside). I felt Bendis in particular did a great job depicting their relationship. I would agree though that she has been absent for awhile so it would be nice for her to make an appearance sooner than later.

[gohei_]

Just read the latest issue, and first off I gotta say the art is Really not my cup of tea. It's not bad though, but it's not particulary good either. However I do not like how Fisk is drawn, he looks like Shrek.
The writing is still good though so that's a plus.
spoilers:

I completely rolled my eyes at The fact that someone working in/owning a bookstore has the last name of Libris. And also, Matt was disappoint ed at The fact she did not fibd him attractive?

end of spoilers

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Daredevil #266 May 1989
"A Beer with the Devil"
DD spends Christmas drinking beer in a bar with Mephisto.



Script by John Romita, Jr. (Co-Plot) and Ann Nocenti, pencils by John Romita, Jr., inks by Al Williamson

[Nanashi]

on twitter Zdarsky confirmed that the ending of this issue isn't what it's proposing. My goodness I do hope that bears out to be true. That was probably the worst part of an otherwise okay issue other than the scene with that kid on the street going on about prisons.

[Mike_Murdock]

I thought everything in the issue was intriguing and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.

[phantom1592]

T
I have two complaints about the mental illness angle. First, it undermines the themes of the character. Elektra was the anti-Matt. They both lost their fathers, but they reacted differently. Matt continued to believe in the importance of the law despite his willingness to break it from time to time. Elektra no longer believed in the law and became completely selfish instead. She has a bloodlust and always had a bloodlust undermines that original story (and it makes Matt look bad for ever loving her). Second, I've heard people complain that Typhoid Mary is an Elektra ripoff. I didn't get it at first, but I eventually realized that they have to be comparing Typhoid to the Man Without Fear Elektra. Those characters have a lot of similarities, although Typhoid came first.

YES, YES, YES!!

She was never intended to be Matt's 'one true love' or any such nonsense... She was a woman he loved once, long ago... but now she was everything he hated. She was a cold blooded killer for hire. There was and is no way that they should ever be together for... anything. She was the BAD guy.

And that's pretty much how she died. She ALMOST killed Foggy for the Kingpin before a slight conscience kicked in... and died just a few pages later.

Here's my problem though, if Elektra is just motivated by blood lust, what makes her different from any other psychopath assassin DD fights? It seems like DD makes little attempt to bring her to justice, heck it seems like the entire hero community just gives her pass, despite the fact she has been willing to kill innocent people in the past (she killed that information that tried to rat out the Kingpin and tried to kill Urich as well).

What purpose does the character serve after her original death? It seems like the writers tried to turn her into another ''hot badass anti-hero girl'' in the 90s, but again, it does not work because she tried to kill innocent people in the past and no one seems interested in bringing her for that.

Again, at least mental illness could mitigate her actions, without, she seems like a villain that the writers are trying to sell as an anti-hero and it doesn't work, both DD and the rest of the heroes seem like total hypocrites just letting her run around unchecked.

If Elektra had stayed dead, none of this would an issue, she would have paid the ultimate price for misdeeds and her last act being heroic would have made the character tragic, bringing her back undoes that and defeats the character's original purpose.

Really I think some Miller characters, like Elektra and the Hand, need a revamp to be compelling beyond the stories Miller used them in.

The answer is... nothing makes her any difference. "Hot anti-hero girl' was all she had going for her... and the reason she isn't dragged off to some prison or asylum... is that Fans like her. Therefore all heroes everywhere take an extra dose of Stupid pills every time someone wants to bring her into a story. See also Deadpool, Wolverine, Venom and a few other 'fan favorites'


There is not... and never will be a logical 'in character' reason for Matt to condone her actions. It's just not who he is. He really should be looking at her as 'the girl that got away'... but she isn't coming back. She's basically the punisher... except she still seems to merc out for bad guys occasionally. And at least the Punisher stories usually end up with a fight with the heroes and Punisher escaping justice...


Honestly that's kind of my problem with Natasha too. She's not... 'good' enough for Matt. She plays too much in the shadows and has no problem killing enemies when it's convenient. She's an ex-Russian spy who went to work for Fury doing whatever needed to be done... NOT a great hook up for someone with a strict no-kill code and someone who routinely displays compassion even to his enemies...

But the 'Bad Girl' trope is popular...

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

“Alternate cover” based off of Wally wood's Cover to Daredevil #7 by Brian Marshall Zompi:

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

Daredevil by Paul J. Holden:

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

YES, YES, YES!!

She was never intended to be Matt's 'one true love' or any such nonsense... She was a woman he loved once, long ago... but now she was everything he hated. She was a cold blooded killer for hire. There was and is no way that they should ever be together for... anything. She was the BAD guy.

And that's pretty much how she died. She ALMOST killed Foggy for the Kingpin before a slight conscience kicked in... and died just a few pages later.



The answer is... nothing makes her any difference. "Hot anti-hero girl' was all she had going for her... and the reason she isn't dragged off to some prison or asylum... is that Fans like her. Therefore all heroes everywhere take an extra dose of Stupid pills every time someone wants to bring her into a story. See also Deadpool, Wolverine, Venom and a few other 'fan favorites'


There is not... and never will be a logical 'in character' reason for Matt to condone her actions. It's just not who he is. He really should be looking at her as 'the girl that got away'... but she isn't coming back. She's basically the punisher... except she still seems to merc out for bad guys occasionally. And at least the Punisher stories usually end up with a fight with the heroes and Punisher escaping justice...


Honestly that's kind of my problem with Natasha too. She's not... 'good' enough for Matt. She plays too much in the shadows and has no problem killing enemies when it's convenient. She's an ex-Russian spy who went to work for Fury doing whatever needed to be done... NOT a great hook up for someone with a strict no-kill code and someone who routinely displays compassion even to his enemies...

But the 'Bad Girl' trope is popular...

Absolutely. Someone who has read and understood Daredevil from the very beginning will not choose Elektra as his "greatest" love. I never really understand how people single her out. It really always comes down to Karen Page. That was his greatest love.

Elektra has changed but it all depends on who's writing her and what the agenda is. There was one issue in Waid's run when Matt and Elektra met and sparred and she encouraged and "advised" him. She was a good friend, nothing more. A very good issue.

I also see Natasha as a close friend and confidant. They had a nice team-up but there was never really anything deeply romantic between them. I do, however, like seeing her team-up with Matt.

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

Just read the latest issue, and first off I gotta say the art is Really not my cup of tea. It's not bad though, but it's not particulary good either. However I do not like how Fisk is drawn, he looks like Shrek.
The writing is still good though so that's a plus.
spoilers:

I completely rolled my eyes at The fact that someone working in/owning a bookstore has the last name of Libris. And also, Matt was disappoint ed at The fact she did not fibd him attractive?

end of spoilers

The art wasn't bad but it just felt below the standard and feel of the current run. I can see the Shrek similarity to Fisk - in a couple of panels he seems to have pointy ears. Too comical for the tone of this comic.

on twitter Zdarsky confirmed that the ending of this issue isn't what it's proposing. My goodness I do hope that bears out to be true. That was probably the worst part of an otherwise okay issue other than the scene with that kid on the street going on about prisons.

spoilers:

I also thought the prison dialogue was a bit off and I hope Zdarsky isn't going to push for a pro-liberal agenda as Waid was inclined to do at times. Maybe it's an element that will be followed through later. I thought it was strange that Cole mentioned going after the Punisher instead of Spidey when Daredevil had turned him in a couple of issues earlier. Maybe he broke out in the meantime. I'm not sure I like how Zdarsky is making Matt behave like an adolescent teenager wanting every female to be interested in him. This also seems a bit off. The Daredevil suit may be a red herring but I though it was good. If she dons the costume and gets beat up badly then it may prove interesting and have serious repercussions, but if she succeeds it'll be a bit meh. As Zdarsky wrote, it's not what it's proposing.

end of spoilers

Other than that, I found it a very interesting read and a very solid issue.

[Prof. Warren]

I thought everything in the issue was intriguing and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Same here. As pretty much everyone agrees, the art was a step down (although I will say I found it to be decent, just not up to the book's usual standards) but the writing was as solid as ever. Looking forward to seeing where this arc goes.

[Bozack]

Hated the art in this issue, but the writing was strong as usual. Interested to see how everything unfolds.

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

I recently finished reading Jessica Jones (2018) and the follow-up Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter both by Kelly Thompson and Mattia de Iulis. Matt Murdock appears in several panels in the former where he helps get Jessica out of prison and appears on 2 pages as Daredevil in the latter due to Jessica calling him for advice in combating the "purple". I understand they take place at the very end of Soule's run just before the road accident. Both not bad reads with some very nice art.

[phonogram12]

DAREDEVIL #9
CHIP ZDARSKY (W)
LALIT KUMAR SHARMA (A)
Cover by JULIAN TOTINO TEDESCO
Bring on the Bad Guys Variant Cover by TBA
• There’s a new DAREDEVIL in town, and Matt Murdock has no idea who it is!
• Neither does Cole North, the tough-as-nails detective who’s been hot on the Guardian Devil’s trail for weeks.
• Can Matt Murdock truly live a life without Daredevil? Can Cole?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

DAREDEVIL #10
CHIP ZDARSKY (W)
LALIT KUMAR SHARMA (A)
Cover by JULIAN TOTINO TEDESCO
Bring on the Bad Guys Variant
Cover by JUNG-GEUN YOON
“NO DEVILS, ONLY GOD” CONCLUDES!
• Matt Murdock comes face-to-face with the choices he’s made.
• Hell’s Kitchen rises up to fill the void!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

God, this is am AMAZING cover.