Dex's Comic Awareness

Daredevil #76
written by Brian Michael Bendis
pencils and cover by Alex Maleev

Bendis said he would close his run with a huge bang only if he could find someone to handle the aftermath correctly. He found that person in Ed Brubaker and so we get our bang. It's quite the surprise so far as Kingpin makes deal to oust Daredevil in exchange for his freedom. He'll also admit to all his crimes and will be deported. He tells all to Ben Urich as insurance that he gets set free.

This is a huge betrayal from Ben if he did in fact release the story himself like the issue implies. Milla is also back as Bendis is going to probably tie up her loose end. The whole issue is a slow build like all of the Daredevil stories under Bendis. But its fantastic crime noir and I love it.

We get a small fight scene of DD beating up some bank robbers. It's nice to get some action but the real point of the scene to show that the people are beginning to like DD. They clap for him after he's done and he wins a poll of the most popular hero in NY. That’s quite a feat with the Fantastic Four in town.

The painting behind Milla when she enters the office of Murdock is beautiful and really shows off Maleev's skill in being able to draw a beautiful painting inside an office building. Maybe I'm just getting used to Maleev but it really seems like he is getting better at making his action scenes feel less static. I did have some problems with the printing of the actual issue as some panels had their colors messed up. A color overlay would cover half the panel.

This is the beginning of the end of the Bendis era as we know it. Oh he'll still be around but he's moving on to other projects, except Ultimate Spider-Man of course. So enjoy this while it lasts.

Rating - Great

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Daredevil #75
written by Brian Michael Bendis
pencils and cover by Alex Maleev

This is the final chapter in the Decalogue story arc. If you couldn't guess by the minimalist covers, Decalogue means the Ten Commandments. This arc has been a veritable brick wall in the pacing of this comic. But it was a needed slow down as the story had almost become frantic in it's depiction of the chaos that was Matt Murdock's life. This story arc has been made up of various tales by normal citizens of Hell's Kitchen. They are all sitting in a church serving as a self help group for those who were affected by Daredevil.

The stories begin to have similarities and some even tie fairly directly to one another. This evil creature is found to be at the heart of the matter but no more than that was revealed before this issue. If this issue seems a little thicker than normal in your hands, that is because it is. It is 36 pages of story rather than the normal 22 and it finishes up this story arc rather nicely.

We discover the evil creature was brought/created/summoned by a dark sorcerer who is actually so incompetent or evil that the Hand kicked him out. He sold this creature to the Jester for cash, but the creature, which lives inside the person it is infecting, left the Jester and sought out its creator. We discover that that creator is in fact one of the people in the room. The sorcerer points out that Matt Murdock has been in the room the whole time. For once, Matt doesn't try to lie to the people there. He doesn't come out and say he's Daredevil; the lawyer in him would never let him. Instead he says why he puts on the mask and fights crime. It turns out that the dark sorcerer happened upon this self help group and Matt just followed him there.

Matt doesn't really do battle with the man or the dark creature but he does chase him back to an office where the man grabs a gun. But rather than shoot Matt, the man shoots himself while the creature is exiting him. He kills himself and the evil creature.

Matt is honest with the people who have been affected by him in some way and they respond with, if not forgiveness, at least acceptance. This little group has seemed to serve as an unintended self help for Matt. He has explained his actions truthfully to the people he is fighting for. He has found closure on some subjects and been invigorated to continue his fight with the rest. This will hopefully spell a turn for the sunny side for a little bit as the past twenty issues or so have been nothing but a roll coaster ride to hell for Matt.

Rating - Great