Book Review: Daredevil: Back in Black Vol. 7 by C. Soule et al.

Daredevil: Back in Black Volume 7: Mayor Murdock written by Charles Soule, art by Mike Henderson, and color by Matt Milla

The Hand attacks New York City left and right, including shooting a million arrows into Mayor Wilson Fisk.Through a legal fluke Matt Murdock is now the mayor. At the time of the mayoral attack, Matt is fighting as Daredevil and has landed in police custody. He manages to get out of that and into City Hall. He starts directing the civic response as he also tries to participate in the street fighting. Matt calls on Foggy Nelson to be his chief of staff, freeing himself for more time on the street. The Hand's boss, The Beast, is in the city for a specific purpose. As a bonus, the chaos feeds its desire for fear and panic. The story makes a bunch of twists and turns, some very outlandish, as it makes its way to a happy-ish ending.

Unfortunately, some of the surprises are completely out of left field and come off like Deus Ex Machina stuff. I laughed at the more preposterous moments but I am not sure I was supposed to. After the dramatic build up, the creators had a hard time bringing things back down to the status quo. I was less impressed with this volume than the previous ones but will still go on.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: Daredevil: Back in Black Vol. 6 by C. Soule et al.

Daredevil: Back in Black Volume 6: Mayor Fisk written by Charles Soule, art by Stefano Landini and Ron Garney, and color by Matt Milla

Having returned to New York from an extended Asian adventure, Matt Murdock discovers that Wilson Fisk, the very villain named "Kingpin," has become the mayor of New York City. If that wasn't bad enough, Fisk asks Murdock to be his deputy mayor! Of course he buries Murdock in paperwork, having an aide read out all of the previous administration's policies and procedures (many volumes!). If that wasn't bad enough, the serial killer Muse escapes from prison and returns to Manhattan. Of course he starts doing his "art" again, often using human remains for his creations. He makes a lot of murals of New York superheroes (Spider-man, The Punisher, Iron Fist, Daredevil, etc.). These displays enrage Fisk who wants both to confirm his legitimacy and to suppress the vigilantes in the city. Blindspot has come back from China and has some dealings with Daredevil, though he really wants to kill Muse in revenge. Matt has a huge balancing act--is it beyond his capacities?

The developments in the plot are very interesting. Half the people wonder why Murdock doesn't just kill Fisk and become mayor. The succession doesn't work that way, and Daredevil does not work that way either. Murdock wants to shift Fisk's policies or at least have an inside ear (remember his superior hearing?) on Fisk's plans. The political intrigues do a good job setting up narrative tension and some fight scenes. Two big twists come at the end making me ready for the next volume.

Recommended, highly for Daredevil fans.

Book Review: Daredevil: Back in Black Vol. 3 by C. Soule et al.

Daredevil: Back in Black Volume 3: Dark Art written by Charles Soule, art by Ron Garney, and color art by Matt Milla

Daredevil and his new sidekick (of sorts) Blindspot face off against a new threat--a killer who has painted a huge mural in human blood. The blood comes from over a hundred different people, one of whom is the missing niece of a city councilwoman. She pulls strings to get lawyer Matt Murdock to shut down the profiteering owner of the building where the blood mural is located. He's selling ten-dollar tickets to a willing public. Daredevil and Blindspot (who has a day job with Matt at the DA's office) have to put in a lot of overtime to work both sides of the case.

The new artist villain is an interesting twist on the usual superhero bad guy. He spouts off a lot about his importance and his works (other items show up besides the blood mural). Some of the images are a bit grim but follow the generally darker tone of Daredevil. This isn't for kids but I liked it.

Recommended.

Book Review: She Hulk Vol. 1 by M. Tamaki et al.

She Hulk Volume 1: Deconstructed written by Mariko Tamaki, art by Nico Leon and Matt Milla with Dalibor Talajic and Andrew Crossey

Jennifer Walters is a brilliant lawyer and cousin to Dr. Bruce Banner, a.k.a. the Hulk. She got a blood transfusion from him once upon a time and now she can change into She-Hulk. Classically, Jen has control over when she changes and she retains her personality as She-Hulk. This story takes place after the Civil War II event in Marvel Comics, during which She-Hulk had a fight with Thanos that put her in a coma. Jen has recovered, gone back home, and started work at a new law firm. She hopes to leave the difficult past behind. The firm gives her all the freak clients, including a woman who has clearly been transformed physically by some accident. She's being evicted from her apartment wrongfully. Jen agrees to look into it without promising anything concrete (she is a lawyer, after all). Meanwhile, she blows off some superhero friends who come to check on her. She struggles to keep her alter-ego from emerging during stressful moments.

The story moves along at an even pace, delving into this new persona for Jennifer Walters. Previously, she was a fun-loving superhero who hung out with the Avengers, did a stint with the Fantastic Four when The Thing dropped out for a while, and was her own muscle during legal cases. Now she's very subdued. While in the coma, Bruce Banner was killed, adding to her hardships. So she's dealing with that as well as the other issues in her life. The story is interesting but very low on action and not the rollicking good time of earlier She-Hulk stories. I enjoyed it but found it very average.