some Devil

"The Universe"
v2, #65
Brian Michael Bendis/Alex Maleev/
Michael Golden/Greg Horn/P. Craig
Russell/Phil Hester/Ande Parks/
Chris Bachalo/Tim Townsend/
Jae Lee/David Finch/Frank Quitely

yeah, so that's another 2 months off the books ... geez. if this was a paying job, i'd been fired oh-so-long-ago. so i'm grateful it isn't.

but what about my minuscule audience, who have been starving on my take on DD for the longest time? i apologize, but i probably will get to issue #100 when in real time, they'll be putting out issue #200.

for now let us subsist on the 40th anniversary of the man in red tights, issue #65, an all-star extravaganza, which doesn't advance the current storyline, but adds layers to the mythos and makes Daredevil the treat that it is.

back to where we left off ... Daredevil's been outed to the press, his personal life is a mess ... what else is there to say? well, apparently, the ageless Mr. High and Mighty Nick Fury has a few words.

"i'm THE SPY. it's what i do." that made me chortle.

very few people would not shit in their pants when Fury starts talking tough. Matt is one of those (uhm, on account of being blind, perhaps ...?).

Fury offers Matt a way out, to be a full-fledged S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. he would have an easier time rehabbing A.I.M. and make them all Red Cross volunteers.

ok, how much does anybody want to bet that the reason why Fury has been missing all these years is that he went underground to prepare against the upcoming Skrull invasion (the future crossover i call World War Skrull, but commonly known as Secret Invasion)?

this special issue is an all star jam showcasing Matt's relationship with certain characters in the Marvel Universe at this particular juncture, and is led off by the highly esteemed Michael Golden. next up is a splash page special by one of my favorite cover artists, Greg Horn, whose brilliant visuals on Spiderman's reflections on Matt keep fueling my dream that he'd be doing interiors one day. wait, that's not Mary Jane! that's Tila Nguyen, a.k.a. Tila Tequila!!

then we have Mr. Killraven himself, P. Craig Russell, contributing a quiet scene with Captain America in Central Park (?). i guess if Nick Fury can't convince Matt to cut and cut cleanly, neither can the figurehead of freedom.

a couple of nice bits was Matt being paranoid about being seen with Cap - he senses "fourteen people within shouting distance" and "a couple making out under that bush". which means whenever i'm in Central Park, i never look at the right places!!!

then there's the Punisher sequence, courtesy of the Irredeemable Ant-Man team of Phil Hester and Ande Parks. it turns out the Punisher was present in that Hell's Kitchen bar when Matt uttered his "I am the Kingpin" soundbyte. i'm sure he's more than a little pissed that Daredevil beat him to the Fat Man (hello, Frank, you've racked up a high body count, but very few majors).

running into each other 2 months later, Matt and Frank get into it, and there's no doubt who's gonna win in this book. this is payback for that humiliating scene over in Punisher #3, where he hogties DD enough to equip him with a gun, and makes him choose between letting Frank assassinate a bad guy, or stop the whole thing by taking Frank's life.

the inimitable Chris Bachalo/Tim Townsend duo seems to be in the wrong book (i thought i walked in the Joe Kelly X-Men set), but this is fine ... its the Dr. Strange sequence. Matt pays the good doctor a visit after pwning him when the guys met in Central Park.

well, whaddayaknow ... the Devil knows how to apologize.

Matt allows the Doc to complete his sentence about the proverb this time, although Strange senses that Matt "may not be the proverb type." but advice is what Matt came there for, thus Doc gives sage wisdom as befits his stature. however, it must be the tea sometimes ...

ouch. for such a sorcerer supreme, you don't watch TV, don't you? i almost sense a billy club striking you on the head.

Matt tries to know if there's an easy way out of his problems. but as we all know, whether you're a fictional hero or a real one ... there really isn't a magic pill for life (ok, the Scarlet Witch's reality-altering powers not included!).

Messrs. Jae Lee, David Finch and Frank Quitely all contribute splash pages, and i like the latter because fighting ninjas over the edge of a building is not the usual Quitely fare.



to end, we learn that the kingpin before the Kingpin is getting out of jail. of course, there will be a connection.


addenda (12/10/2007):
i should have thought of this sooner, but my friend (and sole regular reader - hahaha) Gloria pointed this out to me. Brian Michael Bendis, bless his cranium, had a rare brain freeze and ...


well, okay, if anyone can tell me that wasn't Doc Stephen in Daredevil #8, then i'll give you a free chai latte. just go to your local Starbucks and tell 'em i sent you.