Book Review: Batman: One Bad Day: Mr. Freeze by G. Duggan et al.

Batman: One Bad Day: Mr. Freeze written by Gerry Duggan and art by Matteo Scalera

Robin has a Christmas present for Victor Fries, better known as the villain Mr. Freeze. When the dynamic duo take down Freeze, instead of carting him off to jail, they take him to a secret lab. Victor was a brilliant scientist who froze his wife when she contracted an incurable disease. He hoped to find a cure while she was "preserved." Robin convinced Batman to set up the lab so Freeze could work on the thawing process for his wife. Can Victor keep himself together and find what he really wants? 

The story is okay. The plot is set up to show Victor's warped relationship to his wife. Victor has suffered a lot concerning his wife, as if he didn't have just "One Bad Day" but a bad lifetime. She is shown as the mentally-healthier member of the couple. She doesn't have enough influence on her husband to pull him back from going bad, which in his case is going selfish. The ending of this story is surprisingly upbeat and happy, not at all what I was expecting.

Mildly recommended.

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.