rolling to the edge

drive-by readings

Daredevil #509 (Marvel) Andy Diggle Antony Johnston Roberto De La Torre Matt Hollingsworth Joe Caramagna John Cassaday/Laura Martin (cover)

what we learned: Master Izo and Elektra infiltrate the Snakeroot HQ and find out who's pulling the strings. apparently, they have no teleporting device and Matt's not exactly answering his Droid X. so they need to get back to the States by foot. meanwhile, Typhoid Mary shows up at Matt's door, ostensibly to work for him and work him, if you know what i mean.
oh shit moment: anybody seen the new-look scruffy Iron Fist? awesome!!
what's next: something exploded in Shadowland, and i doubt if it was the ninjas who had polished off the burritos for lunch.


then there was that time Master Izo joined Takeshi's Castle (Wipeout for you Americans)

only the shadow knows

this summer, the pages of Daredevil explode as his very own event, Shadowland commences. that's good news for Foggy because he's kinda missed being the collateral damage in his pal Matt's everyday adventures with the Hand and the Kingpin and your everyday street crime.

Marvel has been releasing teaser images in recent weeks, and we would be remiss (oh, you can't imagine how much we've been remissing) not to take a look at them. and praise them. and make smart-ass comments. minus the 'smart' part.

right off the bat, we're suspicious of this cover (let's assume it is). how many times have we been scammed, bait-and-switch tricks pulled on us, with such fantastic-looking covers depicting events that never really happens in the actual book? i mean seriously. if you're making a cover, we expect it to be a snapshot of what's going on inside. for all we know, the story's about Spidey and the Punisher holding hands, hopping along Ninth Avenue while eating Italian ices. WTF, dude.

speaking of the Punisher ... does this mean some magical event is going to restore Frank back to his original human dick self, completely eradicating Frankencastle from our memories? definitely, this isn't the Punisher MAX version. maybe he makes a deal with Mephisto too? or maybe kill off the useless Parker (Robbins, The Hood) and comes back to life. i want a rematch with Daken!!!

one more thing about that cover: hope Pete had Reed and Tony make him some bulletproof duds (passphrase is "unstable molecules"). that's easier than Spider Armor eh?

how much you wanna bet there isn't much of a throwdown here? unless Cage and Fist are still thinking "you're a goddamn Skrull, lady, and we're taking your head off!", this is one of those scenes where they preen and posture, and then decide to work together. The Heroic Age: Back to Status Quo.

Clayton Crain's bombastic covers doesn't always translate well to interiors, and there are days that the black ink threatens to cover everything just like that Gulf Coast oil spill. see Necrosha.

Ghost Rider's hasn't been back to the Big Apple since World War Hulk by my reckoning, so not sure what he's doing here. maybe its to test the mettle of the newest Secret Avenger, Reverend Syung Mun Moon ... i mean Moon Knight. after all, its a battle for the soul of Khonshu. what? its a battle for the soul of New York?! bummer.

i immediately recognized the cover, and it should have been re-done by somebody else - Clint Langley, Alex Maleev, Marko Djurdjevic, even Clayton Crain. if you're going to ape someone else's cover that previously signified heartbreak and loss, i don't think anime style is going to cut it. not Niimura's style anyway. maybe he could have done it in black and white?

so what is the point here? Elektra's mourning the loss of Matt's soul, right when he took the leadership of the Hand, promptly joining the Dark Side? doesn't look like she's mourning though. maybe she's pissed because she was supposed to be the Hand boss. then that whole Skrull thing happened ...

now these are the coolest teasers of them all: Wolverine holding up two trophies - one's Bullseye and the other a Hand mask (or maybe that represents Daredevil - who hasn't had a good night's sleep since Bendis started writing him). the ace of spades in his neck is a nice touch, though it shouldn't appear on the second image. not unless Bullseye got his mask ripped off (first image), takes a fallen Hand ninja's mask and tosses another card at Logan's neck, and ending with the same disastrous results (second image).

should be a very interesting summer for DD and his fans (of course i'm in!).

like, who hasn't boinked a Skrull?

we got Hank Pym, Clint Barton, Johnny Storm (waaaay back), Tigra (preggy!!) ... maybe the Skrull Kill Krew ... and as the evidence above shows, even the ol' Canucklehead himself.


geez. at least y'all coulda used protection! well, didja??



by the way, this issue left me confused. is Elektra just a cold-blooded killing machine, not breaking cover even if she had to whack a lot of S.H.I.E.L.D. guys? this was like poking a ghastly bullet wound.

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Dark Reign: Elektra #5

drive-by readings: Dark Reign - Elektra #4

Dark Reign: Elektra #4 (Marvel) Zeb Wells Clay Mann Mark Pennington Matt Hollingsworth Cory Petit Lee Bermejo (cover)

it had to happen eventually right? Elektra vs Bullseye in the World Series of Hurt - so far, its still Bullseye 1, Elektra 0. well, make that 0.5, because an injured Elektra manages to stab Bullseye with his own arrow, and the jerk threw in the towel and ran away from the ring.

say with all the crap the Hawkeye costume got (skirt?), it's a kind of weird to have Bullseye wearing it in perverse honor in combat. Clint Barton, you better take back that costume when this is all finished. also, can anybody tell me what comic shows anyone firing a bullet manually - i should think the Punisher or Quentin Tarantino would've done it by now, because it looks so cool.

why is there an issue remaining in this series? because there's still that matter of the 82 million dollar bounty on Elektra's head and who put in that order. i reckon Wolverine should be able to help in that regard.

Paladin is a loser

i mean, ever since i first saw him trying to score points with the late Janet Van Dyne in the pages of the Avengers, its been downhill ever since.

i don't care how many people he helped in the course of his career - he's a goddamned mercenary and will only be motivated by whoever has the bigger wallet. has Daredevil gotten even yet for being shot by Paladin with a sniper rifle? i need to find that issue where Paladin gets his legs broken by U.S. Agent.

the turning point was infiltrating the Heroes for Hire and capturing Captain America for S.H.I.E.L.D. thank goodness for the topless martial artist for saving the day (you know i meant Shang Chi, not Colleen Wing, you dirty schmucks).

and now, for 82 million bucks, he goes behind his current Thunderbolt boss, Wormin' Norman Osborn, to kill the real Elektra (a rehab patient during the regime change). of course, she uses some Tooth Fu (main practitioners being Bullseye and the Ultimate version of Hawkeye) and gains the upper hand, as well as enjoying her first skewering (one she once endured) in a long, long while.

Zeb Wells loves Paladin so much, he keeps getting screen roles

and thus, we are in for a treat next issue as she gets to kill lots of H.A.M.M.E.R. fodder (who needed the jobs in this recession and now may not enjoy the benefits).

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Dark Reign: Elektra #1

you hit like a girl! #10

if you are fit, you must acquit!

as Elektra does, in her final battle trying to prevent the Skrull takeover.

too bad, she can't handle brute force. she gets taken down, replaced and now the Marvel Universe is in deep doo-doo. thanks a lot, Elektra.

by the way, one of the Elektras up there is a Skrull. but you knew that already.

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Mighty Avengers #16