by Christine on September 28, 2009 in Humor
Silver Age Daredevil was something of a blind MacGyver in tights. He made his own stuff, whether it was sewing his own costume (by hand, no less) or inserting micro-circuitry into his billy club. However, the panel below, from Daredevil #19, by Stan Lee and John Romita, makes me worry for his safety. If he’s got sharp pieces of metal wire in his glove, what other pieces of random paraphernalia does he carry around on his body? Sand paper in his underwear? Note also his usual Silver Age habit of bragging to the readers about his expertise in whatever happened to be the requisite skill of the issue. Picking locks? I’m not so sure I’d be bragging about that one.
Panels from Daredevil #19, volume 1, by Stan Lee and John Romita
Description: Sitting outside a locked door, Daredevil pulls out a small metal wire, and explains to the reader: “No sounds from behind the door… Not even a heartbeat! The store is empty! But, a locked door can’t keep Daredevil out… Not while I carry a flexible metal prong in my glove! Between my super-sensitive touch, and my hyper-keen hearing, picking a lock is child’s play for me! The sounds of falling tumblers seem as sharp as thunderclaps!”
Tagged as:
Daredevil vol 1 #1-50,
Humor,
John Romita,
Stan Lee
Matt Murdock is nothing if not dedicated to his craft. Low-powered and forced to rely mostly on hard-earned fighting skills, he can’t afford not to learn from past battles and strive to constantly improve himself. In this panel below on the left, from Daredevil #18, decades before the ninja training with Stick and all the other martial arts voodoo, we learn that Matt practices yoga. After his close brush with death against Namor in Daredevil #7, he realized that not being able to breathe under water is a bit of a hassle. Most of us would just give up at this point. But that’s not Matt Murdock’s style. He practices oxygen-preservation techniques instead. And may I add that this was long before yoga was even popular. Heck, it even predates the Beatles going to India. Kudos to you, Mr. Murdock.
Description: Daredevil has just been apparently defeated by new villain The Gladiator. He emerges from the water near a dock and notices the Gladiator walk away. The Gladiator says “The girl has fled, but no matter! She was merely a pawn! There are other, better means of proclaiming myself to the world!” Daredevil thinks “I can thank Namor for my survival! After he defeated me, I realized how helpless I was under water! For months, I’ve practiced yoga breathing techniques! And tonight, what I’ve learned about conserving oxygen paid off!” Daredevil grabs a hold of the wooden deck in front of him and pushes himself up, kicking the Gladiator in the back. Daredevil says “Okay, Gladiator! It’s time for round two!”
Tagged as:
Daredevil vol 1 #1-50,
John Romita,
Stan Lee
Lots of news around these parts, obviously, but lets start with a less myopic perspective and look at what’s happening in the world of Daredevil.
News
With Dark Reign – The List: Daredevil out just last week, it’s too soon for any new previews to start to surface, and I suspect that we will have to make do with the preview pages from Daredevil #501 that were featured in the one-shot. That leaves the solicits for the December issue as the only noteworthy piece of news. Well, not counting the second Bendis/Maleev omnibus which is also due in stores right in time for Christmas.
Blog Updates
Hmm, yes. Things do look a little different around here, and if you haven’t been by the site in the last few days, you might have missed my dramatic site update. I talk about scrambling to get everything ready for the upgrade, as well as what’s in the works down the line, on a separate page. Just click About the new site!
This week, and the next, will be busy for me with my professional life callously interrupting my blogging life, but I will update as soon as is humanly possible, hopefully as early as tomorrow night. Until then, have a look around the new place (yes, the content is still the same, as is the feed, and all your comments are still there), and let me know what you think. Good, bad, indifferent? I want to know. Suggestions for improvements are always welcome!
This is a strong and promising first outing by Andy Diggle, but not without its faults. The pacing feels a little quick (probably due to the one-shot packaging), and there are a couple of rough spots in the story that stand out to me.
The issue does manage to do what it’s supposed to do though, and that is give us a better sense of the new status quo, and provide proper motivation for Osborn to want to put Daredevil on his infamous list. It also reveals several new plot points that will provide plenty of creative fodder for upcoming stories.
Bullseye, on an Osborn-approved mission to kill Daredevil, is expertly written throughout, and you can tell that Diggle has a lot of experience with the character, who manages to provide humorous relief while seeming appropriately menacing. After Bullseye has managed to breach the Hand’s inner sanctum and saved Daredevil the mental agony of having to kill an opponent as part of his Hand initiation, Bullseye puts words to a thought that’s probably on many readers’ minds: “So lemme get this straight — you wanna be the leader of a ninja assassin death cult, but you won’t kill? What were you going to do, send out a memo?”
Wanting to do more to Daredevil than just kill him, Bullseye decides to take their fight to a larger stage where their actions are guaranteed to affect more than just the two of them, and these events. which I won’t go into here, have a profound effect on the title character.
The art, by Billy Tan, is quite competent (not counting the panel where Matt looks like Beavis – or is it Butthead? – from Beavis and Butthead), but doesn’t quite suit a Daredevil comic, and probably adds to this particular issue feeling just a little too much like standard superhero fare.
The preview pages from Daredevil #501, however, look absolutely stunning and just right for the book. Great choice picking Roberto de la Torre for the job, and it’s great to see Matt Hollingsworth still providing the colors for the ongoing series. But it’s not just the art that looks more appropriate, it’s also a joy to see that Diggle’s writing feels more solid too. While Dark Reign – The List: Daredevil was a good enough issue, Daredevil #501 looks vastly more promising. I can’t wait to check it out!
Tagged as:
Andy Diggle,
Billy Tan,
Reviews,
Roberto de la Torre
I’ll keep this brief, but there’s definitely some news to report so let’s cut right to it, shall we?
NEWS
LINKS
Earlier in the week, writer and former Marvel editor Scott Edelman sent me a link to a very sensual panel of Karen Paige with art by Alan Weiss and words by Gerry Conway. It’s cute, so check it out!
That’s it peeps! I will be back tomorrow with a post that’s a little different, but just might present a learning opportunity. Sounds boring, I know, but I’ll do my best to make it fun. I’ll see you then!
Tagged as:
alan weiss,
Karen Page,
Links,
Random information,
scott edelman
I was quite delighted to see which issue was next in line to get the Random Reviews treatment as this is one of my favorites from the Bendis/Maleev run. It’s exciting, funny, and even sensual.
Background
This arc starts in issue #61 when the Black Widow comes back to town after being called in when out on assignment. Madam Hydra has been apprehended in Bulgaria and their government is refusing to turn her over to the Americans unless Natasha is turned over to them. Natasha returns to New York and decides to hide more or less out in the open and crashing the place of friend and former lover Matt Murdock. He, meanwhile, has his own set of problems in the wake of having his secret revealed to the world, and being separated from Milla who has filed for an annulment. In the previous issue, Matt has received a tip from Ben Urich that regular Punisher foe Jigsaw is involved in some shady business and that the police have decided to lay low, giving Matt and Natasha the chance to go out and play…
Description: Matt and Natasha are at the docks, both in costume. They are hiding from Jigsaw who is spraying them with bullets, but neither one seems worried by this. Jigsaw hysterically calls out “I saw you!” to which Natasha jokingly responds by asking Matt “Do you think he saw us?”
Read more under the cut –>
Tagged as:
Alex Maleev,
Black Widow,
Brian Michael Bendis,
Daredevil vol 2 #1- 100,
Reviews
Rarely do I find myself actually laughing out loud when reading a Daredevil comic, and that includes most of the Silver Age goofiness. But Daredevil #9 really is that funny. And it knows it’s funny. Daredevil himself is written in that self-aware way where he’s found commenting on some of the more absurd parts of the plot. This kind of tactic doesn’t always work, but it works fine here. It is more the absurdity of the plot than the villain’s failed plans at murder that that made me include it in this series, but it’s just so funny, I couldn’t resist.
So, what do we need to know? Well, Matt has agreed to have eye surgery after Karen went behind his back(!) and contacted the appropriately named Dr. Van Eyck, a Boston eye surgeon who has recently moved to the “tiny principality” of Lichtenbad. Karen’s meddling goes even further and she sets up a meeting between Matt and his old law school acquaintance Klaus Kruger, former exchange student and current ruler of Lichtenbad, hoping that he can unite Matt and the famous Dr. Van Eyck. When Matt and Klaus meet in his office, we are treated to some interesting tidbits: 1) Why is Klaus Kruger twice the size of everybody else?, 2) Why was Klaus playing around with test tubes as a law student and 3) Why would Klaus seem surprised to hear that Matt had lost his sight when he was already blind by the time he started college? Then again, continuity gets confusing a full nine issues into a new series, doesn’t it?
Read more about Matt’s trip to Lichtenbad –>
Tagged as:
Daredevil vol 1 #1-50,
Humor,
Stan Lee,
Wally Wood
Sorry about the lack of new posts around these parts lately. I plan to make up for it this week, but lets start by kicking things off with a (light-weight) news update…
News
-
The first news item today is sort of a non-item. As most of you probably know, “Dark Reign: The List, Daredevil” which was originally due out on Thursday has been pushed back a week. The good news is that the issue will include a preview of Daredevil #501, which I’m really looking forward to getting a look at. So far, we haven’t seen any finished art from the new art team (though Matt Hollingsworth still being attached to this book should help make the transition a smooth one in the color department). Here’s the solicit, for those who haven’t seen it.
-
Another happy piece of news was that Daredevil #500 has sold out and will be going back to press with a second printing variant hitting the stores October 7, as reported by Major Spoilers.
Blog updates
While I haven’t updated much so far this month, I’ve been busy working on the new site. Yes, that’s right, I’m building a new site for this blog. It will be self-hosted, it will be more flexible, and it’s going to kick ass. Don’t worry though, all the old content will still be there, along with every single one of your old comments. And the address will still be www.theothermurdockpapers.com. Look for the new site in about a month or so, and feel free to let me know about any features you’d like to see so I can work them in.
That’s it for now, but I have many more posts planned this week, so do check in again tomorrow!
Tagged as:
Blog updates,
Random information
Christine is a thirty something Daredevil fan from Sweden who spends way too much of her free time writing posts for this blog. Check the
Assistive technology in Daredevil
by Christine on September 16, 2009 in Blindness & Disability, Character Basics, Commentary
We all know that Matt Murdock has an arsenal of abilities and tricks up his sleeve which make it possible for him to do things us mere mortals cannot. Because of his heightened senses, he not only functions believably (well, sort of) as a superhero, but manages to compensate for his lack of sight in many ways. However, in the absence of normal vision – which the colorless and generally enigmatic radar sense does not provide – there are certain tasks which Matt would approach in about the same way as a non-powered blind person. If you’ve read this far and find yourself thinking “Wait just a minute now, Daredevil can see better than all of us!” you need to go read my old post “My other senses more than compensate” where you will be proven wrong.
At the end of the day, most fans would probably agree that Matt would (and should) have problems with all kinds of screens, displays or exclusively visual indicators. In fact, any and all information rendered exclusively visually and in two-dimensions (with the exception of print, provided he is close enough to touch it) lie beyond what his senses can decipher. In the real world, the blind use a wide range of assistive technology to access information or accomplish tasks for which eyesight is otherwise necessary. Many of these tools and gadgets would probably just gather dust in Matt Murdock’s closet since he gets by without them. However, there are many devices that should have a place in the Daredevil comic, if only as background elements to create a better sense of realism in the book.
In this post, I will be looking at the few instances of any kind of assistive device being featured in the Daredevil comic, and use them as examples of how to do it right. Most of these examples are from volume two, hopefully a sign that including pieces of technology that most readers would probably think of as being pretty cool, is increasingly being viewed a positive addition to how Daredevil stories are told rather than the sign of weakness many writers seemed to have feared in decades past.
Read more under the cut –>
Tagged as: Alex Maleev, Blindness/disability, Bob Gale, Brian Michael Bendis, D. G. Chichester, Dave Ross, Ed Brubaker, Frank Miller, Joe Quesada, Kevin Smith, Mark Pennington, Michael Lark, Scott McDaniel
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