Book Review: Daredevil Vol. 7 by M. Waid et al.

Daredevil Volume 7 written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Chris Samnee, Jason Copland, and Javier Rodriguez

See the previous volume here.

Matt Murdock continues to deal with Foggy's cancer and his ex-girlfriend being Foggy's replacement. Daredevil faces some problems too. He's fighting the Sons of the Serpent, a white supremacist group that's creating anarchy in Manhattan with fake media messages. The media problem is caused by the Jester, a third-level villain whose been trouble for Spider-man and Daredevil in the past. Dealing with the Jester isn't nearly so difficult as another issue Daredevil uncovers. The Sons of the Serpents have some sort of occult connection involving an ancient spellbook called "The Darkhold." Dr. Strange sets Daredevil on the right path, leading to a rural town where he has to fight with (and eventually team up with) a group of classic horror characters--a Frankenstein's monster, a werewolf, a mummy, and the daughter of the Devil. She's a bit mad about Daredevil being a poser for her dad. After he gets what he needs, he heads back to New York.

This story arc was the end of Waid's run on Daredevil. All the speechifying was over-the-top and led to some dramatically unbelievable moments, but Waid was able to keep his fun style going. The bit with the horror monsters was the best part though the connection to the bad guys was very slim. The art shifted in the last couple of issues, resulting in Dr. Strange looking like a different person! So that was a little distracting.

Slightly recommended--if you've made it to Volume 6, you might as well finish it off. You will be satisfied but not wowed.

Book Review: Daredevil Vol. 6 by M. Waid et al.

Daredevil Volume 6 written by Mark Waid and art by Javier Rodriguez, Chris Samnee, and Matteo Scalera

Matt Murdock gets a new law partner to help with the caseload while Foggy Nelson is in the hospital with cancer. He also gets a new client, a childhood bully who gave Daredevil his name by teasing the young, sighted Matt for being bookish and non-confrontational. The bully has had a less than legal lifestyle but his latest arrest was a false arrest. Matt still has lots of negative feelings about the bully but decides to defend him anyway because a false arrest is an injustice, regardless of how crummy the person is. Turns out there's a lot more going on when they get to the courtroom and Daredevil has to fight his way out.

The book also has a minor adventure with the Silver Surfer and then a longer adventure with the Hulk. Matt Murdock is Bruce Banner's lawyer. And also his failsafe since Bruce made a deal with S.H.I.E.L.D.--they provide him with a high-tech lab, he provides them with Hulk muscle on missions. One mission takes out a shipment of high-tech weapons headed to a villain in New York City. One of the bad guys slips out, forcing Hulk and Daredevil to work together to hunt down the one missing gun. The story was so-so. 

Mildly recommended. The series has only one more volume, so I'll finish it off.

Book Review: Daredevil Vol. 5 by M. Waid et al.

Daredevil Volume 5 written by Mark Waid and art by Chris Samnee

The foes from the last couple of volumes are being organized by some mysterious figure who is ready to start the next (and probably final) round. That problem takes a back seat when Matt Murdock's best friend, Foggy Nelson, reveals a big secret. Foggy's got cancer, or at least that's what the doctor's think. Matt needs to step up as a friend just as the mastermind enemy starts his final plan to eliminate Daredevil.

The story does a good job going between the action and the drama and ends mostly satisfactorily. The action works well and Daredevil's character develops some uncharacteristic fear. As with most heroes, his fear is for his friends' safety, not so much for himself.

Recommended.

Book Review: Daredevil Vol. 4 by M. Waid et al.

Daredevil Volume 4 written by Mark Waid and art by Chris Samnee and Michael Allred

The Avengers perform some invasive surgery on Matt Murdock's brain after Doctor Doom filled it full of nanobots trying to steal Daredevil's sonar power. The surgery is mostly successful. Matt still has some troubles, especially when he starts hallucinating. His law partner, Foggy Nelson, has had it with Matt's instability and breaks up the legal team. Daredevil goes off the deep end as he faces a new villain, the Coyote. Coyote has been knocking off a lot of drug lord in New York City in gruesome and unlikely ways. Their confrontation resolves some problems for Matt but makes others worse.

The story takes a dark swerve away from the light-hearted swashbuckling in previous volumes. Matt deals with more personal demons and more horrible happenings. The ending itself is a bit of a downer for the Man without Fear. Still, I want to find out what happens, so I will keep reading!

Recommended.

Book Review: Daredevil Vol. 3 by M. Waid et al.

Daredevil Volume 3 written by Mark Waid and Greg Rucka, art by Marco Checchetto, Chris Samnee, Khoi Pham, and Tom Palmer

Daredevil has the same problem as last volume--the Omega Drive. It's a piece of Fantastic Four tech that stores information on five different super criminal organizations. After defeating Black Spectre (one of the organizations), he's now on a mission to keep it out of any wrong hands. That includes Frank Castle's hands. Frank is The Punisher. He'd love to use the information to cause mayhem and destruction for organized crime. Daredevil thinks that will involve too much collateral damage, so he teams up with Spider-man to keep Castle in check as the three try to destroy the drive, hopefully in public where all the bad guys will realize it's gone and stop hounding Daredevil. Plans don't go according to plan. Other plots are tried, though they are interrupted when Doctor Doom abducts Daredevil for his own nefarious purposes.

This story continues to entertain and be creative. The plans to get rid of the drive are interesting. At first, the Doctor Doom stuff seems shoehorned in. As that story develops, it makes a little more sense. The art is a bit uneven since the story was spread over different comics. The volume includes issues of Avenging Spider-man and The Punisher. It was one of those crossover stories--the bonus materials in the back show how the three different issue covers are put together to make one big picture. The characters look a little different in the different issues, a fact I found distracting. Still, the story is solid and I am ready for more.

Recommended.

Book Review: Black Widow: No More Secrets by M. Waid et al.

Black Widow: No More Secrets written by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee, art by Chris Samnee, and color by Matthew Wilson

This is a sequel to Black Widow: S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Most Wanted, which I reviewed here. By this point, Black Widow has turned the tables on her enemy, The Weeping Lion. She's using him to go after The Dark Room, a rebirth of the Red Room project that created the Widow back in the day. Her old teacher, the Headmistress, is training a new set of young girls who are being robbed of a normal life, something Black Widow wants to stop. Even though the Widow tends to be a loner, she has the Winter Soldier and an old Russian friend living out in the middle of nowhere helping her. 

The plot is fun but goes a bit too far over the top when the Widow and the Soldier take a spaceship to visit a zombie-like Nick Fury on the moon for some intel. The rest of the plot was fine with a very satisfying ending. Like the previous volume, this book takes the Black Widow seriously (except for the moon bit) and not sexily. It's refreshing to read the story of a female hero who gets by with her wits, determination, and skill, not her scantily-clad body. The art is reminiscent of Mike Mignola's Hellboy style, which is a bonus in my eyes.

Recommended.

Book Review: Miles Morales: Spider-Man by B. M. Bendis et al.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Sara Pichelli, Chris Samnee, and David Marquez

Norman Osborne makes another spider like the one that bit Peter Parker. The new spider winds up biting Miles Morales through a bit of contrived circumstances. Miles develops Spider-powers just in time because Peter Parker is shot and killed. The city loses Spider-Man just in time to get a new one. But Miles has family problems. Uncle Aaron is estranged from Miles's dad because he's a criminal, though Miles doesn't know. Miles still goes to hang out with Aaron (where he's bit by the spider that Aaron brought home as he robbed Oscorp). Miles's dad hates superheroes which obviously becomes a problem for the new Spider-Man. Miles starts a new boarding school and has to deal with roommates and a new routine. And now he has to figure out his superpowers, hide his identity (especially from his father), and deal with people thinking he's a poser and not the real Spider-Man.

The story has enough new wrinkles and changes to make it entertaining. It is very intelligently written and also has lots of action, which is often a hard combination to pull off. The only big misstep (besides killing Peter Parker) is a reimagining of Scorpion as a Mexican crime boss with some limited superpowers--he's both one-dimensional and a negative stereotype. Otherwise the story is good and well worth reading.

Recommended.

Book Review: Black Widow: S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Most Wanted by M. Waid et al.

Black Widow: S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Most Wanted written by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee, art by Chris Samnee, color art by Matthew Wilson

As you might guess from the title, Natasha Romanoff (a.k.a. the Black Widow) is on the outs with S.H.I.E.L.D. She's being blackmailed by a mysterious figure who calls himself "The Weeping Lion." He uses very compromising information from her past to make her play along. In addition to stealing information from S.H.I.E.L.D., she needs to collect other intel from her former Soviet handlers back in the motherland. The direction of the conspiracy is not clear to readers or Black Widow, but that doesn't stop her from trying her best to get out from under the Weeping Lion's heel.

The twisty plot is fun and covers a great deal of Natasha's history, giving her a nice depth of character. She has just as many brains as brawn. Her conflicted history (villain turned into hero, or at least mostly a hero) makes her interesting. The action sequences are exciting if not always plausible. The art is serviceable--neither noticeably great or bad. Happily, Black Widow is drawn like a normal woman and isn't even remotely sexualized. She's a person with a difficult past and the wits to turn the tables if circumstances will let her.

Recommended.

Book Review: Serenity Vol. 3: The Shepherd's Tale by Joss Whedon et al.

Serenity Vol. 3: The Shepherd's Tale story by Joss and Zack Whedon, art by Chris Samnee

Joss and Zack Whedon pen this tale of Shepherd Book from the Serenity/Firefly storyline. His past has been very mysterious and this book reveals a great deal of his background. Why is he so violent? How did he become a Shepherd, a sort of preacher or wandering holy man? Why do so many people fear him? Unlike Clint Eastwood's character in Pale Rider, Shepherd Book is an authentic holy man seeking to spread a message of peace. Book doesn't ride into town just to avenge wrongs. He's a fascinating character who comes to use violence only sparingly and highly effectively. But that is the end of his story, not the beginning.

The story is told in reverse order, like the movie Memento, though the episodes are of varying time lengths (though each is told in six to eight pages). As a character study it is fascinating and the story is accessible as a stand-alone story (i.e., if you have no knowledge of the movie Serenity or the TV series Firefly, you will still be able to follow and enjoy the story).

Easily the best of the Serenity graphic novels.