This review contains spoilers and my going off on a little rant. Consider yourselves warned.
Cover to Shadowland #3
Here’s the thing; Andy Diggle is a really good writer. He’s done a good job with the Daredevil book, especially given the unusual predicament that Ed Brubaker left the main character in. Daredevil #508 was a masterpiece, one of the best issues I’ve read in years. Diggle also wrote the sensationally well-plotted The Losers, which was ripe with witty dialogue, intelligent plot twists, and great characterizations. Why am I telling you this? Well, what I guess I’m trying to say is that Diggle is a much better writer than this. With this issue, Shadowland took a complete nose dive.
There are no ifs and buts about it. To me, Shadowland #3 was a massive disappointment. But, to be clear, I’m getting a growing sense that I’m not the target audience for this kind of story. I love that the Daredevil book and Matt Murdock as a character speak to me as a mature reader who gets a kick out of character-heavy, grounded stories where the supernatural is kept to a minimum. I’ve always liked that Daredevil is not your typical superhero. He’s a modern take on a classic, a character that has changed with the times, and managed to shed many of the cliches which have prevented at least my enjoyment of certain other books in the genre.
While I felt that Shadowland #1 and #2 left much to be desired, I was still hopeful that Shadowland would develop in a direction that I’d be able to enjoy, especially considering the kind of work Diggle and Johnston had been doing on the Daredevil title. Very little of that hope remains, and I’m looking to Daredevil #510 to save what’s left of my interest in this event.
Shadowland #3 lacks everything that has made Daredevil such a great read for so many years, including the main character. This version of Daredevil has turned into a caricature of his evil self, and nothing remains of Matt Murdock. I realize this is part of the point (and I take no issue with the possession aspects per se, aside from the fact that I generally like less mysticism in my Daredevil comic), but it does kind of kill my interest.
Ghost Rider, panel from Shadowland #3, by Andy Diggle and Billy Tan
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Tagged as:
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One-shots and limited series,
Reviews,
Shadowland
This is a guest post by Matt Duarte whom you may know from The Weekly Crisis and elsewhere. Read his stuff there and, if you’re on Twitter, follow him here. Thanks for this post, Matt, and my apologies for not getting it up sooner!
Question time: Do you know what’s the difference between Ultimate Daredevil and his regular 616 Marvel version (the one that Christine regularly covers in this site)? Bonus points if you don’t look it up on Wikipedia.
The answer? Absolutely nothing, other than perhaps Ultimate Daredevil is currently dead. How did he get there? What was his life like before his untimely demise? And what does the future hold for him? That’s what I will attempt to cover in this article.
For those of you that don’t know, the Ultimate Universe was a wildly successful imprint created by Marvel during the early 2000’s. It’s main attraction was that it starred familiar versions of all the characters you love from Marvel, but all of them getting a fresh start without decades worth of continuity to weigh them down. Ultimate Spider-Man for example, was a teenage boy who attended high school, and readers got to experience his early years without having to dig 60 year old comics from longboxes. Along the way, origins were updated, characters reestablished, and back stories were refined.
The success story of Ultimate Spider-Man stemmed from the fact that it provided a fresh new experience: while in the Ultimate Universe, Peter Parker was a high schooler dealing with girl troubles and discovering the extent of his powers, the classic version of Peter Parker was married, a established hero with years of experience, and hanging out with the Avengers. This formula, of using the same characters in a different setting than what they were currently in the Marvel Universe, also worked wonders for the Avengers (called The Ultimates), Fantastic Four, and even the X-Men. All of their transfiguration into the Ultimate Universe were popular and successful for quite some time, sadly we cannot say the same for poor Ultimate Daredevil.
From Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #7 by Brian Bendis and Bill Sienkiewicz
More Ultimate Daredevil under the cut –>
Tagged as:
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Brian Michael Bendis,
Commentary,
Greg Rucka,
guest post,
Mark Bagley,
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Cover to Shadowland: Moon Knight #1
I have to admit I found this issue mildly confusing. I really loved Moon Knight’s scenes from Shadowland #2. In fact, I thought they were the best of the whole issue. While this first issue of Moon Knight’s own tie-in does take us right up his smashing up his own cab scene, it’s also about a lot of other things.
The elements that directly relate to what’s going on in Shadowland seem like they’re part of a subplot, like this series being a Shadowland tie-in is an alibi for the writer to tell a story that, at least thus far, seems to be primarily about something else. I must say that I found that a little disappointing. Having said that, it’s not at all a bad story and I must applaud Gregg Hurwitz’s skills at characterization and subtly introducing readers unfamiliar with Moon Knight to the character and his world.
The way Daredevil and his reign tie into the larger plot is unexpected, to say the least. We learn here that Matt summons a man, the central villain of the story, to bring him Moon Knight. We don’t quite get why Daredevil wants this, and this is not what ultimately causes Moonie to drive his cab into Hell’s Kitchen. Either way, the man that has come to take orders from DD appears to be an agent of Konshu and he decides to draw Moon Knight out by finding someone else to act as Konshu’s avatar. The man he finds to fill this role has a strange Cyclops-like power and is sufficiently mentally unstable to go for the job right away.
Panel from Shadowland: Moon Knight #1
This sets up the second threat against Moon Knight and his loved ones, aside from his being captured and jailed. I’m not sure where Hurwitz is going with these two seemingly parallel storylines. It might work out great, but for the moment, I’m a little puzzled by all this.
The art work by Bong Dazo is generally quite nice, but I’m no fan of the hyper-accentuated muscle definition he gives Moon Knight, making him look like one of those old He-Man action fictures I remember from my childhood. He also draws an absolutely horrid Daredevil. Matt in his black costume looks like a Chesterfield armchair covered in latex. These examples aside, I have no complaints though.
Let’s hope this comes together a little more next issue. This is a story with potential, but right now it feels like it’s trying to tell one story too many.
Tagged as:
Bong Dazo,
Gregg Hurwitz,
One-shots and limited series,
Other Marvel characters,
Reviews
As noted in my previous post – to the extent that it qualifies as such – I’ve been a little swamped lately. These reviews are a week late, but with this post and the review of Shadowland: Moon Knight #1 that I will most likely get to tomorrow, I should slowly be catching up. Thank you for you patience!
There were two Shadowland tie-in issues out last week. Shadowland: Power-Man #1 introduces a new character who’s looking to pick up Luke Cage’s old name and fight crime in what is now the most hostile corner of Manhattan. Shadowland: Daughters of the Shadow #1 shows us how Colleen Wing finds herself drawn back into the world of Shadowland in the aftermath of Shadowland #2. Yes, this issue takes place after Shadowland #2 and we don’t know what happens, except that we’re told there was a big fight.
There are differences as well as similarities between these issues. They both exist at the fringe of the Shadowland event, feature characters that are either C-listers or even a complete unknown and are personal stories that focus on the main character. They differ in that Daughters of the Shadow attempts to insert itself directly into the middle of the greater story (without necessarily setting itself up as required reading) while Power Man happily exists in Shadowland’s backyard.
This is my first time doing a double review like this so I thought I’d let these two issues duel it out, category by category. I won’t necessarily declare a winner of each, but rather contrast and compare. We’ll se if the format works.
Panel from Shadowland: Power Man #1 by Fred van Lente and Mahmud Asrar
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Whatever Happened to Ultimate Daredevil?
by Matt Duarte on August 31, 2010 in Commentary
This is a guest post by Matt Duarte whom you may know from The Weekly Crisis and elsewhere. Read his stuff there and, if you’re on Twitter, follow him here. Thanks for this post, Matt, and my apologies for not getting it up sooner!
Question time: Do you know what’s the difference between Ultimate Daredevil and his regular 616 Marvel version (the one that Christine regularly covers in this site)? Bonus points if you don’t look it up on Wikipedia.
The answer? Absolutely nothing, other than perhaps Ultimate Daredevil is currently dead. How did he get there? What was his life like before his untimely demise? And what does the future hold for him? That’s what I will attempt to cover in this article.
For those of you that don’t know, the Ultimate Universe was a wildly successful imprint created by Marvel during the early 2000’s. It’s main attraction was that it starred familiar versions of all the characters you love from Marvel, but all of them getting a fresh start without decades worth of continuity to weigh them down. Ultimate Spider-Man for example, was a teenage boy who attended high school, and readers got to experience his early years without having to dig 60 year old comics from longboxes. Along the way, origins were updated, characters reestablished, and back stories were refined.
The success story of Ultimate Spider-Man stemmed from the fact that it provided a fresh new experience: while in the Ultimate Universe, Peter Parker was a high schooler dealing with girl troubles and discovering the extent of his powers, the classic version of Peter Parker was married, a established hero with years of experience, and hanging out with the Avengers. This formula, of using the same characters in a different setting than what they were currently in the Marvel Universe, also worked wonders for the Avengers (called The Ultimates), Fantastic Four, and even the X-Men. All of their transfiguration into the Ultimate Universe were popular and successful for quite some time, sadly we cannot say the same for poor Ultimate Daredevil.
From Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #7 by Brian Bendis and Bill Sienkiewicz
More Ultimate Daredevil under the cut –>
Tagged as: Bill Sienkiewicz, Brian Michael Bendis, Commentary, Greg Rucka, guest post, Mark Bagley, One-shots and limited series, Salvador Larocca
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