DAREDEVIL #21

[ GET ME OUT OF THIS SALE ] 

Now who wants a punch in the face? Come on, who's ready for some mace? What do you mean 'No'? Let's all have a go. Or otherwise I'd have to start another race. On your marks, Writer: Mark Waid; plus Artist: Chris Samnee. And go-go-go all the way to the Publisher: Marvel Comics, in January 2013. BAAAANG! ZING! THUD!

So what’s the STORY morning glory?

Alright. I have a question for you. How does Daredevil force the Coyote to tell him the truth about what he has done to both himself, and Foggy Nelsons client, in this final part of 'NYsCene'? Is it:

1. By allowing the Coyote's manic hostages to claw at his face.
2. Giving the Spot free reign to scare him half-to-death.
3. Allowing him to reminisce about his own origins.
4. Something to do with lint.

Yes. That is correct dear reader. Nice answer. For that, you win an argument between Foggy Nelson and Matt Murdock later the same day, whilst having the opportunity of overhear D.A. Kirsten McDuffie asking a certain wall-crawler to 'get' a certain man without fear not so long thereafter.

To be continued after a Blind Lady doesn't read a letter...

What is the most memorable SENTENCE OR CONVERSATION spoken in this issue?

One of the things I was very happy to read in this issue, is what Matt said to Foggy after Foggy apologized to him...

'You Apologize? It's like you were ready to knife me! After all the... Good God, Foggy. You and I have had out lives turned upside down how many times by syndicates and crime bosses and psychos with axes to grind? We live in a world where Gods of myth walk the streets where magic spells can save the day... and you threw our friendship under a bus because someone fooled you with their slight of hand act?'.

Well, in my eyes, it had to be said.  

What was the BEST thing about this issue?

Honest to Kirby, the penultimate scene in this story was a joy for me to plough through. I just loved the poetic and almost lyrical tone of Matt's letter to Milla. Plus it did touch me deeply to see that he sent many of them, and she wasn't able to read any.

Sad that. Very-very sad.

What was the WORST thing about this issue?

Without wanting to sound like a complete and utter sap (oops! Too late!), I wasn't very keen on the main brunt of the story, because it just philandered too and throw between 'The Spot' popping backward and forward, whilst Daredevil and the Coyote avoided / confronted trouble.

I personally felt that it wasn't very clear what the hell was going on from one minute to the next; with hand's flapping and people running all over the place.

Sorry Chris Samnee. You're a great artist. But this time round it just wasn't for me.  

What was the most INNOVATIVE thing about this issue?

Although I wasn't too thrilled with 'The Spots' role within this adventure, in the same vein, I've never seen a super-villain drawn as if he were some sort of abstract work of art.

Honestly, at times, I thought he should be in a gallery or something. He was that surreal.

If you had to CAST TWO CHARACTERS in this comic book, who would they be and why?

THE SPOT: Continuing with this month's botanical-based casting-call theme, and feeling compelled to cast this surreal looking villain as a 'Daisy'. Mainly because the bloody things keep on popping up all over the place in my garden.

COYOTE: Just look at a 'Venus Flytrap' on show, and tell me that this spiky toothed plant doesn't look like this spiky-toothed villain. You can't. Can you?

What QUOTE could you use to sum-up this story?

'It is more shameful to distrust our friends than to be deceived by them' -- Confucius

If this issue were a MOVIE, an OBJECT, or a piece of MUSIC, what would that be and why? 

Conceptually speaking, this surreal tale is about a man who wins a battle but looses his friends. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Snap! Peter Fonda in Roger Corman's 1967 classic, 'The Trip'

FINAL thoughts...

OK, I have to admit, some of this months installment of 'Daredevil' really wasn't my cup of tea. Parts of it were too mumbles for my own liking. Whereas other parts of it really did show how good the creators on this book really are.

Still, you can't win them all, can you? Not every book you read will be the next 'Watchmen' or 'Dark Knight Returns'. However, what it will be; is an indefinable quantity you will finally digest once the last page is turned.

Take this particular issue for instance. It started off where the previous one left off. Then it segwayed into a conclusion and a prologue. And finally, it made you sit back, relax, and think about what you've just read.

That's all any good comic book can do, huh? Make you think. And nobody is better at doing this than writer extraordinaire, Mark Waid, who month after month, keeps on trying to produce something worthwhile.

Keep on trucking, Mark. Keep on trucking.

MARKS out of 10? 8.5