the Devil's got a new disguise

"The King of Hell's Kitchen"
v2, #56-60
Brian Michael Bendis/Alex Maleev

is he or is he not? after beating the Kingpin up bloody and blue in front of a late night Hell's Kitchen crowd, the question remains whether he actually declared himself the new Kingpin. i mean, you need to some sort of signed and notarized documents, corroborative statements from witnesses, that sort of thing. not everything can stand up in a court of law, buddy.

if we look back and check the transcripts, he said and i quote: "if you people need some sort of Kingpin, someone to lord over you -- well, from now on, its me." yeah, he said the K word, but that's 'kingpin' in general and not the Kingpin. it's not as if he's out there checking the bookies and collecting his take from the hos.

he also said: "i am not protecting this city anymore. i am running it!!" (emphasis his). well, he really just meant Hell's Kitchen, right? 'cause you know, there's somebody sitting (or standing) at the City Hall bullpen, and wouldn't take too kindly to anybody declaring that someone other than him is 'running' the whole city.

but at least he makes good his word, and he cleans up the Kitchen for weeks (which must have resulted in an unexpected spike in hospital admittances). Matt leaves the day to day legal wrangling to his martyr friend Foggy to punch lowlifes 24/7. and at the end of the day, they're both victorious. a huge case wins them a lot of money, and Matt gives it back to the Kitchen (Foggy: "hey, where's my share??"). note: Matt's chick du jour, Milla Donovan, sits on the Hell's Kitchen Housing Commission, so do the math. wait, she's blind, so don't even think about it.

the standard 'good times' photo-op (R.IP. Karen Page)

Matt reappears just in time to soak up the good press and even get considered an invite to the political arena. would he be the first blind mayor if ever? somebody please look that up!

that's how you play the political backers and pundits - you say "huh."

not everyone is happy with Matt's decision to 'declare himself' as the Kingpin. although i would say that's mostly speculation and urban legend, Matt's brothers in arms (in a manner of speaking) mosey down over to the Kitchen for a sitdown. geez, what's with the Mafia lingo.

i like the interaction between the supertypes, especially when they're not (yet) beating the tar out of each other. here's what their respective PDAs/organizers would have noted that day.

time\who	luke	reed	peter	stephen
9:00 AM	McGriddles breakfast	coffee in Lab	Honey Nut Cheerios with MJ	tea and crumpets
12:00 PM	workout - lunch with Danny	tuna sub in Lab	kick Hydro-Man's ass	check on Dormammu
1:00 PM	play ball at West 4th	babysit Val in Lab	take new photos for Robbie	meditate
2:30 PM	meet Murdock	meet Murdock	meet Murdock	meet Murdock
5:00 PM	grocery shopping	visit Negative Zone	check quiz papers	chess match with Mephisto
6:00 PM	make out with Jessica	make out with Sue in Lab	make out with MJ	make out with Wong Clea

Matt gets chewed out by his so-called pals, which leads me to believe he was pissed off and kind of straddled the fence during all this Civil War nonsense (wait ... he was in jail! what an excuse to straddle the fence!) ... although if you notice, 3 out of the 4 would eventually resist the Superhero Registration Act while Reed was way deep in it. in Matt's capacity as a lawyer, he'd be wanting to defend civil rights, therefore it does make his stance to use the law for his own ends (which is what he's been doing since he got blindsided by that truck) a little contradictory. hence, Luke's rebuke.

its always a treat when capes talk, and not just shop, but with respect to the world around them. which for me, was one of the best things about Civil War, because it seemed to be the first time in a long time that all NYC-based superheroes finally got together to discuss something that threatened their existence and legitimacy. too bad it only lasted a few pages. oh well.

Matt deftly parries his pals' accusations ("Peter, Peter, Peter ... you're glib, Peter - you're so glib.") and manages to walk out of there without fists flying. even the esteemed Stephen Strange got pwnd and brushed off.

with the urban legend of this teflon shyster taking over the mantle of the Kingpin, its not surprising the Feds are also keeping tabs on him, specifically his frenemy Harold Driver.

and of course its not only the Feds. just when i thought Alex Maleev had impressed me enough ...

there's nothing that screams action movie! and testosterone! by having the good guy surrounded by dozens of weapon-wielding Yakuza goons, in a deserted street in the driving rain.

and a blind good guy at that. Zatoichi!!!

Matt once again sends Milla running for her life to confront threats to his life and sanity ("i just want a clean city, mommy! why can't i? why? why??"). Bendis again gives a nod to Frank Miller sans the ninja costumes. awesome!

but even a blind guy with hypersenses can't get through a brawl against overwhelming numbers without being unscathed. which brings us to the present, where his wife (yes, that was a bombshell/cliffhanger) Milla turns to an old ally, journalist Ben Urich, for help because Matt disappears right after the fight and she hasn't heard from him. i know why; cellphones ... can't live with them, can't live without them. bah.

like Ben, we also had that question in mind:

"and you had sex before marriage?! sacrilege!!!"

Bendis tries the tearjerker route on feeling the anguish of a blind person when they're missing their loved ones. and with Maleev's beautiful renderings, he succeeds. damn you, Bendis! (-sniff-)

let's leave that before i finish that box of tissues. flipping over to the FBI, we can only empathize (and laugh) with Agent Driver's frustrating interrogation session with the arrogance of the alleged gang leader that tried to beat up the blind dude.

the first US-Japan staredown since 1941. or Coney Island every 4th of July.

no less frustrating is the long-suffering Foggy, who's taken to sleeping and showering in his cramped office space ever since Bendis took over the book *lol* - i mean, since Matt couldn't keep himself out of the public eye, whether in costume or not. not to mention shouldering all the workload which puts food on the table. i won't be surprised one day if Foggy loses it and fakes his own death, embezzles all company funds and retires in the Caymans under an assumed name.

being the investigative hound that he is, Ben digs and pokes around ... and discovers that the tabloid blogs have already reported that Matt had been seen "canoodling with a nurse" ... the Night Nurse! (you naughty Daredevil, you)

nurse: "this is not the droid you're looking for."

the Night Nurse is a stroke-of-genius character - a discreet and convenient medical haven for injured superheroes who may have an aversion to hospitals and who may not have insurance. back in the 70s, there apparently was such a title that was a cross between Buffy, Nancy Drew and Florence Nightingale. in Bendis' (much better) version, she's been patching up superheroes for God knows when. up next: the Night Driver, the superheroes-only chauffeur (when they're too tired to swing from webs or drive their Quinjets) and the Night Butler, who arranges everything for them, from the dry cleaning to Chinese takeout to umm, other discreet needs. if you know what i mean (Hercules needed this most after a slew of paternity suits).

Ben, taking his cue from Foggy (who says things out of frustration understandably) poses the question to Matt if everything that happened in the last few issues, er, years ... would be due to a nervous breakdown caused by Karen Page's death. that he can't deal with it so he lives on the edge, and keeps filling up his life with things to do, and even puts the specter of transference on his current (secret) marriage to Milla. like any other boy you put the squeeze on, Matt screams at this line of questioning.

Matt tries to evade the truth, but some of it may have gotten through him. his solution? beat up more people. but first a call to Foggy, so the sap won't feel too taken for granted (and run to the Caymans). look, Matt makes a joke!

i like the fact that Bendis loves the Luke Cage character a lot, playing a supporting role in the Daredevil, which would eventually lead him to be one of the new Avengers. not sure why they can't redeploy the Power Man/Iron Fist series - Heroes For Hire is an ongoing, as is Matt Fraction's interesting Iron Fist revival.

yep. you put them by genre, sweetie.

Matt jumps in at a poor time and gets chewed out again by a (apparently) preggy Jessica Jones. be that as it may, it allows him to mend fences with Luke and have a boys' night out.

meanwhile, the Yakuza is emboldened, getting out on a technical and immediately gunning down FBI agents (fatally ending our boy Harold's Daredevil supporting role career). we all mourn for ye, Agent Driver; we hardly knew ye. this event has ramifications as we would be seeing down the road.

and just like when Matt nipped the Kingpin before he could totally regain control over the mob, he crashes the party along with a few friends. hoooo-haaaaaaaa! right off, we can see Spider-Man winning the best dialogue award - its as if Bendis brought in the Ultimate version.

trust me, Pete, bring your own hand sanitizer.

its an old school back alley scrap, and everyone circles around, make threats, throw insults and get on it.

the question is: whose orifice?

no question though, who's winning this fight. the Yakuza better throw a lot of money at The Hand at the least. wait, those Japs are Skrulls now. eh.

unfortunately the Yakuza boss is played to type, brash, arrogant and doped with drugs - MGH again, to be exact. not that it helps him against our blind hero. pussy.

there's nothing like parading a felon caught red-handed to the NYC cops and media. with his string of high-profile victories, Matt should really run for Mayor.

at this point, we get a foreshadowing - Agent Driver's partner, Angela Del Toro, survived the Yakuza attack and would play a huge role in the Marvel universe in the future.

but not all's well that ends well, as Foggy slips up and his rant about Matt's potential nervous breakdown impacts Milla the most. and just like that, we get the first major conflict of Matt's married life.

would Matt use his fists to also solve this problem? ahh, only the shadow knows ... (and all the legion of fans who read the succeeding story arcs).