with a shake-up occurring at the highest levels of the NY mob, the Kingpin is taken out (almost), the perpetrators ditto (for real), and Matt is about to be blindsided when his secret ID falls into the hands of those competent protectors of our domestic freedoms, the Federal Bureau of Investigation ...
"Out"v2, #32-37
Brian Michael Bendis/Alex Maleev
picture an FBI interrogation room. picture yourself as a citizen being investigated by FBI agents. still being investigated, mind you; they don't have anything on you yet. would you feel confident at all if they were making fun of you, knowing that its your word against theirs, and they could label you a terrorist or make you disappear for life?
now, you'd better be really innocent, because it would be worse if you were really guilty. so, there's a neat moral lesson from Brian, kids: if you can't do the time, then don't do the crime. take it from Sammy Silke. (formerly of the Chicago Ripa family, whose other prominent members include this one and this one).
Sammy, from the events of the "Underboss" storyline, has barely managed to survive the vengeance of Vanessa Fisk, whose husband, Wilson (affectionately known around these parts as "WTF"), was just whacked by Sammy and his boys. with nowhere to turn, Sammy runs to the nearest FBI office like a girl and starts crying. but of course those very honorable and competent FBI agents don't believe him at first, until Sammy is forced to drop the DD bombshell.
now, you'd better be really innocent, because it would be worse if you were really guilty. so, there's a neat moral lesson from Brian, kids: if you can't do the time, then don't do the crime. take it from Sammy Silke. (formerly of the Chicago Ripa family, whose other prominent members include this one and this one).
Sammy, from the events of the "Underboss" storyline, has barely managed to survive the vengeance of Vanessa Fisk, whose husband, Wilson (affectionately known around these parts as "WTF"), was just whacked by Sammy and his boys. with nowhere to turn, Sammy runs to the nearest FBI office like a girl and starts crying. but of course those very honorable and competent FBI agents don't believe him at first, until Sammy is forced to drop the DD bombshell.
"but i also killed JFK!"
"uh-huh."
just like "Underboss", Bendis takes different POVs to tell the story, and i don't mind that he lingers here and there. i find the whole FBI reaction to the investigation quite fascinating. you just hold your breath for what it all means for Matt.
"that narrows down our suspects to Paris, Britney, Lindsay or the Olsen twins."
this scene i find a bit amusing ... its like asking a 5-year old to identify an object.
"with the exception of the horns, they look quite the same, don't they?"
which compels his boss to doodle and do his best Alex Maleev impression. i could draw that same shit, if i exert myself. the agents' jaws drop in awe of their boss' artistic skillz.
hold up ... here it is ... the shot of foreshadowing.
those words never work.
you know what happens next. FBI agent has supposedly domestic problems, wants to cash in on the info, and so sells it to the Daily Globe (which is more like the Daily News, so the Daily Bugle is the New York Post). by sunrise, the reporters are camped in front of Matt's doorstep.
dude, listen ... they know what brand of underwear you're wearing.
as much as we enjoy seeing (pun intended) Daredevil use his senses cleverly to beat up people, it is as much a treat seeing him being put in situations that he's not used to.
speaking of joy, the most entertaining sequence for me, is the 10-page Daily Bugle scene in issue #34. i can easily picture J.K. Simmons chewing the scenery, the curtains, the chairs, everything in sight. you can easily feel Ben Urich's urge to punch Jonah in the nose. even Peter Parker drops by to pour salt on the wound. hilarious.
speaking of joy, the most entertaining sequence for me, is the 10-page Daily Bugle scene in issue #34. i can easily picture J.K. Simmons chewing the scenery, the curtains, the chairs, everything in sight. you can easily feel Ben Urich's urge to punch Jonah in the nose. even Peter Parker drops by to pour salt on the wound. hilarious.
Matt, ever the idealist, thinks the best way to deal with the situation is to go out and beat up some lowlife. Foggy thinks he's crazy and suggests maybe its a sign to stop putting on the tights. and maybe put in some Brokeback Mountain moves. ok, ok, just kidding!
"i wish I knew how to quit you! "
Matt, in fact, defies Foggy and common sense and goes out there, as if almost taunting the press. then he realizes how stupid he is and backtracks just in time. just in time to stop another robbery (and possible homicide) - really, do these things still happen in Hell's Kitchen? (the area, not the TV show) - and just in time for some joe wiseguy to pull this stunt:
i think that guy was Joe Quesada. really.
before the wiseguy is beaten to a pulp (i'm sure that's what Matt was thinking!), another distraction happens ... a huge 400 lb. distraction. and Bendis is unable to resist poking fun at the medium he's working in.
Mister Hyde, a popular DD ass-kickee, is knocking down Matt's apartment, after almost choking on his chili dog while reading the Daily Globe. his violent tendencies may have something to do with the fact that he was born in Trenton, NJ. anyway, Spiderman drops by to entertain Hyde, before DD arrives to deal some serious pimp-slapping.
is it World War Hulk yet?
during a lull in the action, we find out Daredevil's real secret identity ... its Matthew Manischevitz! that is some serious shit!!! call the Daily Bugle!!! call 911!!! call somebody!!!
there's a break here, where Bendis disassembles the Avengers, gets DD to help out during the Raft breakout, Bendis forms the New Avengers (actually Cap and Iron Man did, but heh), and generally making him unavailable for public viewing. when he comes back, he tells Ben Urich he can't be working with him anymore, because he's about to embark on a long-term solution to his current problem.
and the answer is ... (which Bendis made us wait another 30 days for) ...
that's it??
ok, he slams the Daily Globe (and along with its publisher Rosenthal) with a $400 million dollar lawsuit, and let the chips fall where they may. aside from that, he resists putting on the red suit for a while.
which does not sit well with certain ex-girlfriends, especially those who like living in the fast lane.
oh, so that's what they're calling a great ass nowadays? "tornado"?
here's one more reason why the costumed types still have a great life than you or me:
yep, they can easily get their hands on one of the rarest things in the world - a reservation at Nobu. damn, its hard out there to be a pimp.
Matt acquiesces to a dinner with Vanessa Fisk, who gives him valuable information, and tells him she has disbanded her husband's empire and is moving away for good.
the only problem with Maleev's art is sometimes i need a flashlight.
wait, here comes the token (?) Elektra appearance. Natasha, with her S.H.I.E.L.D. clout, finds the Greek assassin and hooks her up with Matt, in hopes that he can shake himself out of his guilt and take to the rooftops again.
it has quite an adverse effect, though, as Matt retrogresses to a teenager with a crush and a hard-on.
kinda reminds me of me.
after being arrogantly informed by Rosenthal's lawyer that they were willing to fight it out in court, Matt takes the affront personally and visits the FBI agent who didn't even have the sense to leave town. schmuck.
"ahhh ... you're not the tooth fairy, are you?"
as Matt expects, the Daily Globe now wants to settle out of court. i love watching tough negotiations - like a staring contest, where whoever blinks first, loses. luckily, Matt has the advantage of already having lost his sight.
they agree on $75M, with apology on lower right-hand corner. Matt presses on with his victory. Foggy is just amazed Rosenthal even caved in.
but wait ... (not so fast).
taking umbrage against Matt's smug and condescending attitude, Rosenthal takes the deal off the table and wants to continue the legal proceedings. he challenges Matt to deal with it, now that the knowledge, or perceived knowledge, of his identity, is out there in the worldwide web. the boards of directors for the National Endowment for the Blind and the Hell's Kitchen Restoration Society just threw themselves off a building.
well done, Matt. you call yourself a lawyer?! putz.
6 comments:
The Jameson scene is awesome: I just LOVED Parker's comeback to Jonah (tip: "my lousy salary, won't grant you a scoop"). I also loved the "War against paparazzis" issue: I just gloated about Nelson and Murdock beating the crap out of a lousy tabloid
Incidentally, there's an interesting review here:
http://www.gayleague.com/forums/display.php?id=387
Which brings the point of Murdock being outed as a Superhero, paralelling it with the situation of closeted gays being exposed... So maybe the "Brokeback Mountain" pun is not so out of place, LOL... In fact, Foggy seems to spend a lot of time with Matt (does he have a home of his own? or does he live at the firm's premises?)... and hasn't dated a girl for ages (tip to Marvel publishers: if you keep Foggy in confirmed-bachelor-sans- fiancée status, the gossip is going to skyrocket)
Re the Ipod and Walkman comment: Like the FBI boss, I must be a dinosaur too. I don't have an Ipod and have a record player... a VYNIL record player!!
Foggy has had his share of disasters (ex. Lydia(?) chick set up by Mysterio whose death put Foggy behind bars briefly, and caused his divorce), so he's a little gun-shy. he keeps hiring (and flirting with) pretty secretaries, but that may be a smokescreen LOL. i think he has his own digs, complete with chauffeured limo. he just has to live in the office because Matt keeps getting himself into hot water.
vinyl is a timeless thing, and they're even marrying the turntable with digital tech. but its great you have one - keep it playing!
Re the Lydia McKenzie disaster: it wasn't the cause of divorce as Fogs and Liz Allen weren't married as yet (Foggy had been previously married to Debbie Harris, and was divorced because she cuckolded him openly with a -hunky- jungle crime lord)
The relationshipwas intended to link the Spider-man and Daredevil secondary casts, but didn't take off, as Kesel was the one giving it an initial development in the DD series (with amusing sabotaging by Rosalynd Sharpe), But Kelly sort of forgot to go on with it. The relationship had not been worked much in the webcrabler titles (where one should expect the contrary!) and in fact it was used as a sort of two-pannel-filler stuff.
I suppose that Smith and Quesada thought it would be interesting to call the whole thing off, though I don't entirely agree with it: if you finish something, you should start something , I say. Also, I find that Liz drops Foggy all too easily: having been married to a Green Goblin should make her more accepting, and particularly as Foggy's cheating was enticed by Mysterio's plan... After all, if Matt can excuse himself with Natasha telling her he knocked her "because I was under the influence of Mysterio's drugs" , why didn't Foggy do the same? I suppose Matt has more Chutzpah, LOL. BTW, little is said about Foggy's stay at Rykers, but I bet he had a lousy time at the showers (while his buddy is fighting FX).
(incidentally: It's striking the lousy record that both Nelson and Murdock have with women)
One of the things why keep my old vynils is because I couldn't afford buying them again in CDs: the greatest setback is the ol' frying eggs sound some have gotten with age... And then you can get out-of-stock (never-to-be-reprinted) records in Ebay which you can't possibly get in CD or otherwise.
despite Matt's lousy record in the love department, i think most guys would wanna go blind if they can get the same quality of chicks like he did LOL.
ah, the age-old problem with comics continuity. only Kurt Busiek could tie all these little details together or make something up to make sense of disparate events. they should have some kind of department to keep track of all these things, what was written before, what was the intent, etc., so the next writer can put it in some kind of context (or at least initially view the scope of what went before) prior to reshaping a character according to his own artistic vision. i think we'd have a more fluid storyline and negates the need to blow up the universe to reboot (mind-control, time travel, cosmic event, etc). short of killing all the characters because everyone has grown up with them, and its time to reintroduce a new set for a new generation ...
CDs still have their use, and yeah that hiss will always be part and parcel of vinyl records. who knows someone, somewhere will re-release old vinyls (as close as possible in its original clarity) on some kind of media in the future that we can all enjoy.
Mmmh... While sure most guys would love to have Matt's attractive with the ladies, would the ladies -upon carefully considering the consequences- really like to? So far, the answer is yes... even Milla went after Matt being aware -at least- of part of the dangers. Only girl to ever get wiser about Matt's impossible lifestyle was Glorianna O'Breen, not that it helped her much ... in the end (sigh!)
Huh, I agree Kurt Busiek is more skilled at handling/bending past continuities... heck! if he can do it with the Avengers, he can really do it with everything!! However I must admit that at some points it gets a bit, well, mind-blowing (in the exploding sense). the other day I re-read "Avengers Forever" and I nearly had a migraine, with all the jumps and the diverse Kangs and Immortuses jumping around (not to mention the Hank Pyms! LOL). It wa sfun, though, but I prefer the Continuity virginal stories of "Astro City" in that sense.
Don't you find curious the killing sprees of characters whenever an alternate universe and/or future story is presented (i.e. Earth X, age of Apocalypse, etc...)? "Oh, we have an alternate future in our hands, so we can do whatever we want... Hence we'll do it... viciously!! haw, haw!!"
Continuity in DD is certainly a bit of trouble: I personally, don't agree with the way in which Kevin Smith and "Allen Smithee" decreed the fates of Karen Page and Glorianna O'Breen: it always seemed too gratuitous for me (and more in the case of "Smithee", who dealt with Ms. O'Breen's exit from continuity with a rather poor story). And sometimes, writers introduce new situations and then abandon them without much thought.
One example would be when Ann Nocenti had post-Born Again Matt working as in a Free Legal Clinic (though not legally LOL), and then confronted him with with Foggy, who was defending a callous Industrial corporation (which, unbeknownst to Nelson, belonged to Wilson Theodore). Then Matt gets Typhoid fever and ends wandering around places: when he comes back, Noccenti no longer mentions his free clinic chums (they don't seem worried at Matt's strange disappearance at all?!), and instead, we have Foggy spending hours in the Law library to get Matt's license back... In this case we haven't changed the writer at all.
yeah, Kurt Busiek is a throwback and i like his stuff - especially yes, the head-shrinking Avengers Forever and the Heroes Return-era. but you're right, life is better and simpler in a universe (Astro City) of your own making. Chris Claremont is a prime example of leaving plot threads all over the place (to be fair, he probably thought he was going to write the X-Men till he dies around 2027). thankfully, the next gen cleaned up his crumbs.
the "Alan Smithee" Daredevil was in fact D.G. Chichester, who as i learn had a lengthy run on the post-Nocenti era. i actually liked one arc, The Tree of Knowledge, although it may have garnered mixed reviews. have to revisit his work soon.
who knows? maybe House of M, Civil War and World War Hulk will be just be figments of some alien's imagination. aaaaaaaargh ....
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