DAREDEVIL #5

[ COUPON CRAZY ] 

Do you know what the difference is between Daredevil and Jason Statham? Well, Daredevil is called the 'Man Without Fear', where as Jason Statham is called 'That Actor Who Drinks Beer'. Which reminds me, please check out the following comic book created by Charles Soule, Ron Garney, and published by Marvel, in March, 2016.

TO QUOTE My Mum: 'A slap from your own mother is much better than a kiss from a stranger'.

THE REVIEW:

In time honored tradition this issue of Daredevil continues from where the last one left off. Now after unveiling his true identity to his bad-ass mother, Moon-splodge (or whatever his name is) is captured by her boss, Tenfingers, and forced to witness an up and coming battle he'll be having with a mutated-beast called The Fist. Turns out, the Fist was created by the Hand (don't groan), and they're using him to attack Tenfingers until he gives them back the power he stole from them.

But of course, as every good super-villain knows, you can't give something back that you've stolen. After all, it's been diligently written down in the super-villains guide to being a pun-based super-villain. So, what he does instead is allow Blindspot (Yes. I did know his name) to contact Daredevil via Twitter so he can come over and save the day (who says social media doesn't have its uses?).

And does he? Does old horn-head save the day? Despite currently talking legal speak with Ellen and the rest of her crew over at the New York District County Law Office! Well, for arguments sake, let's just say that he does manage to sneak away and lend Blindspot a hand (Ouch), regardless of Tenfingers own machinations towards The Fist, his own home-guard, and, well, stuff like that.

You see, as you might have guessed, by this point in the story I can't really divulge too much or else I might spoil its abrupt ending. Saying that, though, what you will discover once you get to this stage is that things flow in a very unusual way. One part of the story is focused on Tenfingers and his men fighting the Fist.  Another part of it is then centered on Daredevil fighting The Fist whilst Blindspot saves Tenfingers henchmen. And as for the rest of it, basically, things are wrapped up in a fairly brisk manner, and that, my friends, was my only real gripe with this tale.

It was as though this whole story-arc had to be brashly brushed to one side because of next months Electra story-line. Now please don't misunderstand me, certain aspects did come to some sort of satisfactory conclusion (you know who you are), where as some others were rushed, forced, put in place, especially when it came to Tenfingers final fate as well as Blindspot's confrontation with his mother.  

Yet thankfully, on the flip side of things, I did enjoy the artwork provided by Ron Garney and the muted color pallet provided by Matt Milla, making some scenes feel more timely in tone and vibrant on the page. I also liked the way Daredevil came across in this issue too, almost as if he was a paternal figure looking over Blindspot, helping him steer his own path, so to speak.

As for everything else, though, well, fights are fights, mutated beasts are mutated beasts, ninjas are ninjas, and resolutions are too quick to come by. Maybe it's just me but on the whole I'd say this first story arc by Ron and Charles is a pretty hit and miss affair. The artwork was good. The story was fleeting. And all in all, not bad, but not brilliant either.

THE MUSIC:

Last month I musically matched up issue 4 of Daredevil to the John Lennon classic, 'Mother', simply because of the plot involving Blindspot and his despondent Mum. So this month I thought to myself, hey, why don't I do the same thing again for a similar reason using the same musician? So here it is, John Lennon and a song about his mother, 'Julia'.

It's a sad song, isn't it? Just like John's relationship with his Mum, and Blindspot's relationship with his.

THE COMPARISON:

At the center of this issue was a mutated beast that wanted to kill his opposition, dispose of the hero, and get back what was originally in his boss's possession. You know, just like a mindless minion, a henchman, a stooge, a zombie, a follower, a goomba.

Comparison made. Thanks Super Mario Bros.

THE CONCLUSION:

I don't think I'm giving anything away when I say that at the very end of this issue Tenfingers gets killed off by coff-coff-coff, at-cho. Yep. Simple as that! Old greedy mitt's gets his toe-nails clipped and finally meets his maker. So, just for fun, how do you think he eventually pegs it? Could his killers have...

• Gotten him involved with an accountant.
• Goaded him into buying cheep gloves so he'd contract severe arthritis, and I do mean severe!
• Forced him to listen to Miley Cyrus making love to a seal until his head explodes.
• Slapped him in the face with a potato.
• Told him about the higher rate of tax the government are now imposing on people who have extra extremities.
• Sold him cheap life insurance.
• Crumpled his body and pinned it to the wall in the shape of a hand.
• Changed his socks.

Nuff said.