World Famous Comics: Daredevil: The Devil, Inside and Out, Vol. 2
Daredevil: The Devil, Inside and Out, Vol. 2
By: Ed Brubaker Publisher: Marvel Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Marvel Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 144 Publication Date: May 16, 2007
Product Description: Daredevil's search for the truth leads him out of the country, on a swashbuckling noir adventure that hasn't been seen in the pages of DD for years! But is this the other DD, or the original? Only time will tell, as the hit new DD creative team of Brubaker and Lark dive straight into their second story. Plus: a special episode focusing on Daredevil's recently deceased best friend, Foggy Nelson. Did we really know all there is to know about Foggy? What remains hidden in the life of this man, that could still affect Matt Murdock's fate to this day? Collects Daredevil #88-93.
Brubaker's DD heads off to Europe and gets a little goofy. I liked this. Really. I did. But sitting here thinking back to what I read seeing the Matador and Tombstone (In Europe for some reason) was kind of off-putting. It seemed goofy. Having Matt whine about long-dead Karen was also a little over the top. The art is exactly what you expect from a DD book but the sketchiness takes away from the reveals at times. But I liked it. Seriously. I guess.
This guy is really good! Yes, yes. Daredevil is is really good, but that's not who I was referring to. I was talking about Ed Brubaker the writer of Daredevil since Bendis left. Unfortunately I missed most of Bendis' DD, but Brubaker has run with the ball admirably.
Brubaker loves crime fiction which is how Daredevil has been best written ever since Frank Miller. Brubaker's version is very gritty and realistic. You don't even see Matt Murdoch in costume for the whole first arc of Volume 1. Also Brubaker has brought in some of the classic villains in believable form in this volume. But this is definitely an ongoing mystery punctuated by some swashbuckling heroics. And the personnal life of Matt is just as intriguing and heart-wrenching as his vigilante life.
Brubaker continues his run, still going strong In this second installment of Ed Brubaker's run on "Daredevil" (issues #88-93) the story settles into a more conventional mode. Free from prison, Matt Murdoch tours Europe, ninja-style, to find the identity of his recent tormentor, and runs afoul of a trio of baddies before finally piecing together whodunnit. At the end of the book, he has his life back and looks set for more-or-less business-as-usual superhero stories (although I'm sure Brubaker's future plotlines will be appropriately grim and dark...)
The return to normal may seem like a bit of a letdown, but considering how far back DD's legal problems stretch -- a couple of years, real-world time -- even though it's over, the recent story arc was quite an accomplishment. The "out" part of "Inside And Out" felt anticlimactic, but it's still a darn good read. Plus, what a great scene when DD decks a seemingly unstoppable tough guy (Tombstone) by smacking him across the jaw with a sledgehammer! Nice touch of realism there, Ed! (ReadThatAgain!)
Running with the Devil As Ed Brubaker's (Captain America, Uncanny X-Men, Sleeper) run on Daredevil continues, we find fugitive Matt Murdock, AKA Daredevil, on the run after making his daring escape from prison in the first volume of The Devil, Inside and Out. Daredevil's trek takes him out of the country and across the globe as he searches for the truth behind what seems to be an ever-growing conspiracy that hangs over his head. For Matt Murdock though, things are never as they seem to be, and soon enough, it looks as if things are starting to fall into place. What makes Brubaker's run on Daredevil so good so far is the intricate plotting and scripting he puts into every storyarc. He's crafted an action packed and enjoyable modern super hero romp that can make readers think Brian Michael Bendis never left the title, and that in itself is saying something. Michael Lark's artwork is still a noir-ish and well drawn style in the vein of former Daredevil artist Alex Maleev, and it still suits the title quite well. All in all, Ed Brubaker is slowly proving himself to be a worthy successor to Bendis, and the stage is set for the title to even go to a newer level.
Not much of a hero... While I really enjoyed most of the book and its swashbuckling take on the hero, the ending spoiled it with an illogical and immoral decision made by the title character, that conveniently returned the book to its status quo while making Daredevil into little more than a selfish opportunist.
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