CSBG Archive
Daredevil #87 Review
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Okay, I did not like the reveal of who the fake Daredevil was. I mean, it’s no big deal, just that I did not like it. I like Iron Fist well enough, and he certainly is QUALIFIED, but while I understand why writer Ed Brubaker couldn’t reveal who the fake Daredevil was (because it would eliminate the possibility that the fake Daredevil was not there to HELP Matt Murdock, but to HURT him), I still would have preferred something a bit more surprising.
In addition, the letter pages? “Did you really think I would kill Foggy?” Seriously? Seriously? Seriously? We are in the age of characters dying in every other issue. Brubaker himself just killed off Banshee in Deadly Genesis for not even a tenth of the same story importance as Foggy’s death was in Daredevil (as in, Matt needed a reason to NEED to get out of prison), and that question was aksed? It just seemed absurd. While, of course everyone posited that Foggy might NOT have died (I know Burgas was pushing for it at the time, and I made sure to say that it was very possible that Brubaker DIDN’T kill off Foggy, especially with the bit in part two), it was nowhere NEAR unlikely enough to get a response like that in the letter column.
I open this bit up with all my whinery because it puts it into greater perspective just how awesome this run on Daredevil is, because even though I didn’t like the reveal and was annoyed by the “Did you really think I would kill Foggy?” bit, I still absolutely loved this issue.
My favorite part, by far, was the very clever way that Matt managed to escape without blowing his identity. That was so well done on Brubaker’s part. I also liked how quickly he was in costume after landing in Manhattan. That was pretty darn impressive storytelling there. Really amping up the drama.
Everyone love’s honorable wardens, right? Like Stacy Keach on Prison Break, the Warden in Daredevil showed how cool he could be, by totally throwing the bad guy feds under the bus to help Matt’s case. That was brilliant.
Meanwhile, the art trio supreme – Michael Lark – Stefano Gaudiano – Frank D’Armata – continue to reign supreme. How cool was seeing the iron fist? It was awesome. Meanwhile, the way that Iron Fist was tricked into helping the bad guys was also quite clever, and the positioning for the next arc, while giving this arc a real “closure” was handled masterfully.
This series never ceases to amazed.
Recommended without reservation!
8 Comments
Jordan D. White
July 27, 2006 at 4:17 am
But now that the fake DD is revealed, I can’t help but be confused by his inclusion in Civil War. Why would he continue being Daredevil when on the run? He’s not Daredevil. He was hired to impersonate him, sure, but if he’s on the run from the Government, is he still going to be receiving checks? Kind of goofy, if you ask me. I mean, it may be that Brubaker will have Matt ask him to continue being Daredevil… we’ll see, I guess.
John Seavey
July 27, 2006 at 6:36 am
Don’t even get me started on character continuity in ‘Civil War’, Jordan. Cable in his own series? “I’m not going to help you, Captain America, but I offer you a place of refuge.” Cable in Civil War? “Hey, I’m just going to stand right behind Cap, shooting people and not talking very much.”
moose n squirrel
July 27, 2006 at 7:31 am
Jesus, Cronin. Every time I read something like this from you I wonder if you’re borderline autistic. That letter column heading was fantastic, the icing on the cake of this story arc. We get to the end and Matt’s out of prison, the schmuck at the FBI who wanted to get him killed is about to get his ass handed to him, the public is starting to doubt whether Daredevil was Matt Murdock in the first place, and to top it off Foggy’s still alive. “Did You Really Think I’d Kill Foggy?” is a winking acknowledgement of the fact that you can’t keep stepping on these characters forever, that the approach of just tearing them down and leaving them in ruins leads nowhere, and that on Brubaker’s Daredevil at least, those days are over. Brubaker is going to slowly start building Matt Murdock up again after years and years of him getting torn down. That’s the signal that letter column was giving, and it was awesome.
markus
July 27, 2006 at 12:19 pm
@moose
from a distance it strikes me that you appear to have a far stronger attachment to the character Daredevil than Brian.
Me, I don’t care for the character, I want a good story. If that takes stepping down on the character, so be it. I get no joy out of Brubaker signalling he’ll do right by the character or somesuch.
Then again, that’s why I read next to no superbooks and I’ll grant that within their microcosm character over story might be the default and even the better choice.
Bryan
July 27, 2006 at 1:38 pm
I don’t know, I just started reading DD again with this arc (I stopped during the Nocenti/JR jr run), and was loving everything up to the new issue. Everything just fell apart, from the revelation of Iron Fist as DD (Brubaker to readers “Check out my forthcoming Iron Fist series!”), to the whole prison set story (get him on a helicopter and off Rykers, that solves everything), to Foggy reappearing at the conclusion. This issue struck me as a textbook example of how not to end a multi-issue story.
Bill Reed
July 27, 2006 at 5:35 pm
Sadly, I have been meaning to buy Daredevil since Bendis started, and I still haven’t gotten around to it.
One day… I’ll go mad with the trades. But till then… *sob*
Paul O'Brien
July 28, 2006 at 5:44 am
“Why would he continue being Daredevil when on the run?”
Presumably to keep up the idea that Daredevil and Matt Murdock are in two different places at the same time, and comprehensively squash any prospect of Matt being re-arrested when he finally returns to America.
Mic Moore
September 6, 2006 at 8:44 am
Dan Rand running around as DD makes sense because he has another alias now and can help create the confusion of Who Is Daredevil. Makes good sense to me. Kinda neat to have two alternate hero identities. Also saves him in implicating Iron F.
But on to the interesting stuff. Did anyone notice that Lennox’s door could say Murtaugh and Lennox on it? Murtaugh could be pronounced Murdock…