Daredevil 2, Elektra 1

Daredevil 2
Waid (w) and Samnee (a) and J. Rodriguez (c) and Caramagna (l)

Matt Murdock's arrival in San Francisco, particularly an arrival that brought him out as Daredevil, has gained some attention from the wrong people, including San Francisco's own vigilante, the Shroud. Though the Shroud has often worked on the side of the law in his own way, he's certainly gone crazy on more than one occasion and seeing a new and well-liked superhero on his turf doesn't really thrill him. Just as Matt and Kirsten are meeting with deputy mayor Charlotte Hastert (from the first issue!) about the problems facing San Francisco, including the emergence of old Daredevil foe the Owl, Shroud turns up on the roof to threaten Daredevil off. When Daredevil overpowers him, Shroud offers to take DD to the newest crime boss in town, only to bring him directly to his own hideout where he has four men from the different crime families tied up and beaten.

Story
Matt's transition to San Francisco continues to be an interesting one and one fraught with its own perils and problems. Shroud dreams up a news report that conflates Daredevil's and his own origins in order to make it seem like he's jealous or annoyed by the amount of attention and respect Daredevil's already getting, which is all probably true but adds weight to the idea that Matt's facing an all-new sort of scrutiny when it comes to his superheroing (I'm surprised this book isn't called ALL-NEW DAREDEVIL). On top of that, we have seeds about the Owl and a new story with the Shroud that will prove interesting. 5/5

Character
All the characters come across excellently here as we get a good sense of Matt finding his bearings here (and really seemingly to enjoy himself in his new and more open life) and Kirsten's strength as she deals with Matt and Charlotte and everything else but, as we see through Samnee's extraordinary art, worries about the state of everything. The Shroud too gets instant characterization with the aforementioned dream sequence and with the way he interacts with Matt, who fights energetically with quips abound. Plenty to like here and plenty to do with these guys going forward. 5/5

Writing
Matt's new life is fun and exciting and the writing is matching that. There are a lot of light moments and moments that actually made me laugh out loud (GUYS, I'm not bragging but I don't laugh out loud TERRIBLY often, I tend to think things are funny and KEEP IT TO MYSELF, like a GENTLEMAN), though it's balanced nicely by more tense moments and a powerful story. This is never going to be a funny book in the same sort of way that something like SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN is; it's more akin to the humor of HAWKEYE but the humor isn't usually at the expense of our protagonist so it's not as dark as HAWKEYE can sometimes get. Still, it's carved out a great tone for itself and MAN, I THOUGHT THIS LITTLE SECTION WAS GOING TO BE SMALLER TODAY. 5/5

Art
Samnee's art and Rodriguez's colors continue to be absolutely amazing and to work so fluidly together that it remains one of the most easy-to-read books out on the market. Everything is so well-covered from emotion to action to tone to scenery to atmosphere. Just everything, you guys. I also particularly love a nice large panel where Daredevil and Shroud are leaping forward together in a dark blue and a vibrant red team-up. It's stunning, you guys. 5/5

Miscellaneous
What are you gonna do, not give this a 5/5?

Total score: 5/5


Elektra 1
Blackman (w) and Del Mundo (a) and Del Mundo w/D'Alfonso (c) and Cowles (l)

Elektra, tired of being defined by her past and by those who would seek to define her, returns to her roots as an assassin, visiting the Matchmaker, a woman who gives her and other assassins contracts when they want them. The Matchmaker has a special contract for Elektra, putting her on the trail of another assassin, a phantom-like hitman named Cape Crow who had turned from killing high-profile targets to killing other assassins to take their contracts. There's a big enough reward that many other assassins have gotten in on the game, apparently including a rather crazy one named Bloody Lips (who we get some rather crazy narrative from in this issue as well as he hunts down Bullseye to steal a piece of him, as per directions from a voice in his head called the Serpent), but Elektra has been tasked by the Matchmaker to bring Cape Crow in alive for an enormous bounty. Elektra takes the job, simply wanting to get out of New York, and is quickly transported to Monster Island, home of a safe house of Cape Crow's.

Story
Certainly a compelling enough story to kick things off here for Elektra's solo title as Elektra gets back to her roots as an assassin and instantly gets embroiled in something of an assassin-off (is that something that happens in the world of assassins? I sure hope so) which, as my parenthetical's just showcased, is a really engaging story. 5/5

Character
Elektra is, I would assume, a fairly easy character to write on a short term basis (she's cold and she's brutal; it means a lack of colorful language and an efficiency to her that makes her a worthy adversary and a hard-to-trust ally) but a very difficult character to write long term. Her book, then, sort of mirrors BLACK WIDOW in the "not too hard to write for a one-shot or with a team but hard to write as a driving vehicle." Still, Blackman does a phenomenal job here matching the character we know with a bit more personality, though clearly still held pretty tight to the chest, and a story that fits her well. Del Mundo does an equally great job characterizing her through the art with her movement and her expressions but we'll talk about that LATER guys. 5/5

Writing
The character and story all come together well in this first issue, one of the stronger first issues we've seen lately, and it's thanks in large part to the writing of this book, including the dark/grey tone of the book so far. I have a feeling I'll be comparing this one to BLACK WIDOW somewhat often but that's not a bad comparison to make. These two characters are more alike than they are different and their struggles in finding a rhythm in a solo title are also not so different. If this book keeps up like this, though, and if BLACK WIDOW keeps up like it's kicked off, it's hard to imagine that either of these books won't enjoy a long run. 5/5

Art
The art in this book is outstanding and it's hard to ignore that. There are times where art like this, free-flowing art with numerous double-page spreads and ink and color running from page to page, can feel like it's distinctly trying too hard. You can often see when an artist isn't particularly comfortable with that sort of style but knows how well it would match the book so they give it their all. Here, Del Mundo knocks it out of the park so that it doesn't look at all forced, it just looks spectacular. The style isn't that far from Phil Noto's (I'M SORRY, I really like BLACK WIDOW and I think these books are similar and, frankly, should be) and it's working out really well. 5/5

Miscellaneous
Really solid opening for ELEKTRA. Great cover too. Like I kind of danced around before, she's a great character to write for a one-shot but it's far harder to write her for an extended time and particularly for an extended time when she's the sole protagonist. I have high hopes for this series but we are just one issue in. We'll have to see how it plays out.

Total score: 5/5

Superior Spider-Man 29, Superior Foes of Spider-Man 9

Superior Spider-Man 29
Slott and Gage (w) and Camuncoli and Dell (a) and Fabela (c)

The Goblins are out in full force and it's up to Spider-Man to try to solve the crisis while simultaneously finding a cure for the goblin serum and protecting the city and his loved ones (or, as the case may be, the loved ones of Peter Parker). He's called away from Parker Industries, where he and Sajani are trying to cure Carlie, when Goblin contacts him and says he's captured someone very important and that they should meet at Empire State University. Believing it to be Anna Maria, Spider-man leaves Sajani in control, which she's not happy about, and takes off for ESU where he finds Goblin holding Professor Lamaze captive. Goblin had seen Spider-Man save both Anna Maria and Lamaze earlier in the series and knew Lamaze to have some connection to Doc Ock and so had guessed wrong about their relationship but still gains the upper hand in the fight as Spider-Man pops the metal arms, which have been hacked by Goblin and immediately begin attacking their owner. As Goblin escapes, Lamaze dives in the way of one of the arms to prevent it from stabbing Spider-Man. A dying Lamaze reveals that he's felt like a worthless coward ever since Spider-Man saved them and he wanted a way for his life to mean something. As Spidey leaves, he's attacked by Jameson's newly launched Spider-Slayers, which prove more of a challenge than he assumed. Before it gets too far, they're disabled by Spider-Man 2099, who of course has been working at Alchemax while living in his past. They quickly reboot though to reveal that they've also been hacked by Green Goblin.

Plenty going on in this one. Just like any good Spider-Man massive event, particularly one with, say, Green Goblin, the story spreads across many civilians, many locations, and many adversaries. Slott made the interesting decision here to place Doc Ock against someone who is, potentially, smarter than him, at least in the way he's planned the attack, and forces Ock onto his heels while he reacts to a foe he didn't even see coming, let alone prepare for. This goes in stark contrast to the differences we saw earlier in this new series; where Peter Parker's Spider-Man tended to be a more reactionary, status quo kind of superhero, fighting against threats when they appeared, the Superior Spider-Man made sure that he and his city were prepared for any sort of foe, keeping situations in check before they even appeared. Now, thanks to Goblin's evasion of the Spider-Bots, Doc Ock is forced into a situation where he has to come when he's called and has to work on the fly, something Peter was far more used to than Doc Ock. Very interesting and subtle flip here and I think so far it's working. The stakes are still high, the problems still often seem insurmountable, and Doc Ock is getting more and more frustrated and irrational. This is just part three of Goblin Nation so expect things to get worse before they get better.

Superior Foes of Spider-Man 9
Spencer (w) and Lieber w/ R. Ellis (a) and Rosenberg w/ Redmond and Ellis (c)

Boomerang successfully deflects Bullseye's shots and he and his sort-of girlfriend start to flee but are followed closely by Bullseye while Boomerang's inner monologue talks about how much he hates competing for jobs against someone like Bullseye, someone seen as more of an A-list villain than a C-list villain. Being a C-list villain, though, has its advantages as no one expects much out of Boomerang. When eventually Bullseye corners the two of them and brings them to his boss Owl, Fred pulls out one of those "no one expects much of me" moments as he manages to talk Owl into the idea that it's possible Chameleon stole the painting disguised as Boomerang. Owl doesn't really believe him but Boomerang convinces him to give him a chance, sending him into Chameleon's home with a camera to see if there's something to see. When Boomerang goes into Chameleon's home, he promptly finds and turns the camera, sound off, on the painting, then convinces Chameleon, egotistical as he is, to change into Boomerang as icing on the cake for Owl to see. He's tossed out of Chameleon's house and given the nod from Bullseye, who turns out to be a robot programmed with Bullseye's skills by the Tinkerer, that he's free to go. Everything's coming up Boomerang except that his old team has finally tracked him down.

One of the things that has certainly been hard for Spencer and Lieber in developing this series is the need to create a character who is simultaneously very clearly not a good guy but is also someone who, when all is said and done, the audience can still, for one reason or another, get behind. It's hard to say, then, that we're particularly rooting for him in this situation; I'm not sure how fazed I'd've been if Owl or Bullseye chose to kill him, but you do still somewhat feel his triumph as he succeeds in convincing the higher ranking criminals of what he wanted to convince them. It's a fun book to read, one that moves pretty quickly even with Boomerang's inner monologue constantly going, and with a very-nearly compelling B-story about Hydro-Man discovering that Shocker has the head of Silvermane. Very-nearly. Still a fun book overall.

Superior Foes of Spider-Man 8, Marvel Knights Spider-Man 5, Superior Carnage Annual 1

Superior Foes of Spider-Man 8
Spencer (w) and Lieber (a) and Rosenberg (c)

Boomerang isn't having the best day. Between two dream sequences caused by concussions, we learn that Chameleon has come calling for the head of Silvio Silvermane, hearing that Boomerang successfully pulled off a heist. Of course, he doesn't know that Boomerang doesn't have the head of Silvermane but he vows to rip Boomerang's apartment to pieces to find whatever he's hiding. With Fred unconscious a second time, Chameleon finds the priceless work of art he'd stolen (and cleverly hid behind a movie poster) and leaves a note for Boomerang saying that that will suffice. Things only get worse for Fred as his old crew makes it out of the Owl's hideout and vows to find Boomerang and whatever it is he's stolen and as the head of Silvermane (which does exist) begins to cause trouble for Shocker. Boomerang, though, is blissfully ignorant of all this, believing his entire team to be dead and the head of Silvermane to be non-existent, and decides to come clean to his kind-of girlfriend about who he really is. She hears him out and isn't entirely disgusted with him by the end of their little date but is unimpressed by the fact that he had something he was trying so hard to get and simply allowed it to be taken. She inspires him to fight for the painting, though he may have limited time to do so considering the whole exchange is viewed by Bullseye through the scope of a sniper rifle.

Another fun issue with pretty tight writing and a compelling story gives way to a neat little twist in the form of Bullseye (or someone claiming to be Bullseye). Bullseye's a favorite villain of mine and I will, admittedly, be a little excited if he's back. However, the last time we saw him was in Waid's DAREDEVIL as the mastermind behind Ikari and the paranoia enveloping Daredevil at the time, a time when Bullseye was barely alive and incapable of any sort of life outside of his iron holding. Then a roof collapsed on him. Tricky situation to come back from BUT Boomerang certainly has made a few enemies in high places capable of, if they wished it, reviving Bullseye to work for them (in comics, severe injuries like Bullseye's have a dollar amount tied to their recovery). It could, of course, also always be a fake Bullseye. Regardless, the story continues to move well enough and the humor and sharpness of the writing, tied to the emotiveness of the art, really carry this book well.

Marvel Knights Spider-Man 5
Kindt (w) and Rudy (a) and Staples (c)

An exhausted and now non-fatally shot Spider-Man fights his way through Malta to try to survive and to find his way to the man he knows to be behind this, the only person who hates him enough and who has the resources to pull this all together, Kingpin. While he fights, he remembers his Uncle Ben talking about how much he had hated his job when he was young and how he made sure just to go and do it every day and he saved up all his money and eventually was able to use that money to buy May a ring, immediately forgetting everything bad about the job and replacing it with the happiness on May's face. With this in mind, Spider-Man keeps fighting, hoping to have some sort of similar light at the end of this tunnel. He finally reaches Kingpin at the top of Fisk Tower with his son Richard and Spider-Man unloads on Kingpin, beating him savagely. As Kingpin finds his footing and starts to get back into the fight, Richard calls for it all to cease, reminding his father that he had promised to let Spider-Man walk free if he survived this far. Richard reveals that he was behind all of this, behind hiring all the villains and organizing them, but claims he did it for Spider-Man, knowing that Spidey would be able to win and knowing that this battle would create a paper trail leading back to all of these villains and that it's enough to put them all back in prison. Spider-Man is angry and leaves where MJ greets him and he remembers Ben's story again and the two kiss and head home.

This is a bit of a tricky one to really get into. The art remains gorgeous and wholly worth checking out. The story has the trademark Peter Parker beat of remembering a story and a moral that his uncle instilled in him and using that moral to overcome his adversity. It's just, you know, kind of a weak ending. There are a lot of inexplicables here, like the new Fisk Tower in Malta (more believable, considering his wealth) and MJ's sudden appearance in Malta (I'm pretty sure it never mentions Peter hopping on a plane and heading home amidst all this; if it does, it's strange he doesn't change first), and Richard's line of "all of these guys had gotten out of jail time" inferring that somehow every single one of these villains is out at the same time based on some sort of massive court failure or something. There's plenty to pick at but it's also hard because you either enjoy a series or you don't. I did enjoy this one and it's hard for me to say what it was I was expecting. If I'm being honest, I wasn't expecting anything; I put it out of my head that there would be an interesting solution because how could there be? We just saw Spider-Man fight an absurd amount of his villains, did we need a story to justify this little limited series? Probably not, and particularly not given how great the art was. I'm not sure there even had to be words at all. Ultimately not a great series if you're looking for story or canon or anything but definitely worth peeking at if the lack of a story doesn't bother you and you want to see some solid and very interesting art.

Superior Carnage Annual 1
Bunn (w) and Jacinto and M. Henderson (a) and J.D. Ramos (c)

The Carnage symbiote has been taken by Spider-Man for further examination after the events of SUPERIOR CARNAGE but Cletus Kasady's appearance at the end of that series awoke both of them a little bit. One of the psychologists at the prison talks to Kasady, hoping to separate him emotionally from the symbiote. Later, Kasady is stabbed by one of the other inmates and brought to the infirmary. Carnage, feeling the pain of its other, begins to lash out but ultimately cannot break its restraints and appears to die. However, Spider-Man had taken pieces of the symbiote and chemically neutered them to send to other facilities as a show of good will and one of those thought-safer symbiote pieces awakens and infects the scientist working on it, prompting her to kill her abusive husband. The symbiote jumps from person to person leaving a trail of bodies in its wake until finally it arrives at the prison housing Kasady, only to find Kasady dead on the table. The psychologist opens his arms to Carnage, wanting to become as powerful as Carnage is but Carnage spurns him, instead opting for the seemingly dead Kasady and managing to revive him. Together, they kill the psychologist and kill most of the inmates in the prison before heading out to the world.

It's not often that a character who doesn't actually have an ongoing series gets an annual but here we are. Of course, it's easy to argue that Carnage more or less has an ongoing considering how many limited series he gets but this seems really to serve more as a prelude to the upcoming CARNAGE VS. DEADPOOL limited series, even instilling Cullen Bunn, not a typical Carnage books writer but certainly the typical Deadpool limited series writer, as writer on this annual. It's an okay book. There are a lot of strange questions that kind of get glossed over (why would Spider-Man ever deign to build good will by sending a piece of the Carnage symbiote out? How did he even attempt to chemically neuter it and why did he think it had worked? These questions can KIND of be waved away by saying "oh, his ego" but I also firmly believe his ego would make him think he's the only one who can possibly try to tamper with the symbiote) but in terms of serving as a way to team Carnage and Kasady again, it works well enough. Always a scary character, though you do start to wonder if maybe seeing him so often might make him a little less legitimate as a terrifying threat.

Wolverine 4, Savage Wolverine 6

Wolverine 4
Cornell (w) and Davis and Farmer (a) and Hollingsworth (c)

The mind-controlling, sinister entity that Wolverine and Fury are trying to take down has escaped with a couple of air force pilots in a jet with an incubator and Wolverine and Fury are aiming to take it down. When Wolverine manages to board it from the outside, he finds that the pilots are planning to take the ship down already and have no recollection of what they've been doing. The incubator, though, is gone. Wolverine tells Fury not to report this to SHIELD because SHIELD will just send a wave of people in and that wave of people would be dangerous for the entity to take control of. Wolverine, instead, goes to the manufacturer of the incubator and discovers that they had put a tracking device into it, giving Wolverine a way to find wherever it's being brought. It leads him to another plane taking off from New Jersey. Wolverine leaps out of his plane, brought down by a missile shot by one of the mind-controlled scientists, and uses some newfound powers to catch the plane as it's taking off. His newfound power is explained at the very start of the issue; it's his healing factor working overtime against his bones and adamantium scraping together, giving him bursts of great speed followed by near collapse amidst a whole world of pain. He does it here to catch the plane taking off and manages to board it, finding the mind-controlling gun within, as well as soldiers being mind-controlled and aiming the incubator and the entity at Yankee Stadium. The entity sends the crew jumping from the plane and leaves Wolverine to crash the plane into the water so it doesn't infect everyone attending a Yankees game. Then there's a lot of confusing stuff about how the future changed when Wolverine decided to go with Fury after the mission for a debriefing and it doesn't make a whole ton of sense yet but should going forward, maybe.

I find this series somewhat slow. There's a kind of neat angle on Wolverine that features Wolverine doing more detective work and more research going in. Perhaps Marvel knew that would be true, so they wanted one Wolverine book to focus on the busywork of being a superhero and one Wolverine book to focus on the hack-and-slash version of Wolverine. It's clear that Cornell wants to update Wolverine a little bit, considering the idea of him rinsing his palette when his smell gets overloaded and this new discovery that he can get a burst of speed at the cost of some added pain and possible added recovery time. There are pretty interesting things here and I don't want to have Wolverine reduced to angst and violence, but the book does still move a little slow for my taste.

Savage Wolverine 6
Wells (w) and Madureira (a) and Steigerwald (c)

The Hand is attempting to raise Bullseye from the dead (this takes place at least pre-Superior Spider-Man, for a sense of time) in order to overthrow Kingpin as leader of the Hand, as some factions of the Hand are not thrilled with the way Kingpin has handled his business. Kingpin, then, has hired his own outside help to try to keep Bullseye out of their hands or to at least keep the Hand from resurrecting Bullseye. To this end, he's enlisted Elektra, who, in turn comes to Wolverine for assistance. Wolverine has an interesting relationship with Elektra as they don't necessarily team-up too often but they respect each other when they do. She shows up after Wolverine has a particularly bad day with the Avengers in which he threatened a surrendered prisoner. Spider-Man (Peter Parker) is offering a friendly ear to Wolverine as Elektra shows up, which leads to a rather delightful scene between the three of them. Wolverine goes with Elektra, not knowing the job. He's then surprised when Lady Bullseye turns up and when Elektra doesn't immediately attack her, nor the suddenly revealed Kingpin. Wolverine isn't happy with the team-up but will presumably accept it to keep Bullseye out of the Hand's hands. It seems they'll be matched up against the Arbiters, a group of supervillains affiliated with the Hand and transitions of powers.

This is, by large, my favorite issue of Savage Wolverine so far. First off, there are far fewer gratuitous female body shots (though there are, of course, still a handful), which still makes a difference. Secondly, it's so refreshing to see Peter Parker Spider-Man again after so long. I don't dislike what's happening over in Superior Spider-Man but it's still sad to not be reading a more lighthearted Spider-Man anywhere. I've also always like the Spidey-Wolverine relationship, as two almost diametrically opposed but still equally heroic characters. How diametrically opposed they are is further illustrated by Wolverine's inclusion in this job, which is an interesting story all by itself. Good start to an arc. I'd be surprised if Spider-Man doesn't return for at least a bit here but it wouldn't be unheard of. I'm a fan of Zeb Wells and I'm glad to see that this book will have a way to succeed. Reassuring here.

This week's picks

There are five or six books I'm trying to narrow down to three for this week's picks and it seems like, at any moment, any three books could take the spots. It can be frustrating trying to whittle that many books down to three, but the upside, of course, is that I got to read a bunch of really good comics this week. Never going to be upset about that.

Daredevil 26

Daredevil has long been billed "the man without fear" and he almost always lives up to that title. Even if he's losing a fight, he tends to appear unafraid, just angry or depressed. His lack of fear often pushes him to keep fighting. However, here, in Daredevil 26, he is flat out terrified of what's going to happen next. After being soundly defeated by Ikari last issue and told that he'll be killed at some point, Daredevil is seeing threats everywhere. The really great thing, though, is that he's not necessarily wrong. Yes the people he's accusing could be completely innocent and appear to be after he attacks them, but each time something additional happens to show that he wasn't wrong. The issue culminates in a nice Matt/Foggy scene and in the reveal that Bullseye is behind everything. Daredevil gets back on track and finds Bullseye, taking out Lady Bullseye in the process. It's a great examination of everything Matt tries to be and what it takes to make him break. Great issue for comic fans and extra great for Daredevil fans.

X-Men Legacy 11

Like seeing Matt's resolve weaken under all his pressure and strengthen again after Foggy's pep talk, we get a chance to watch David tested over and over, by his own father's brain, by his own feelings about himself, and by the Red Skull. Instead of Matt, whose strength makes him aim to take down the villains he's facing, David's strength means giving up against Red Skull and sacrificing himself to save the world from the future he causes. The writing continues to be tight and David continues to be a perfectly broken protagonist. One of the great things about this issue is that it turns the expectations about comics on its head. As David keeps getting opportunities to turn tail or to discover that the facility he wants to use is, in fact, evil, his resolve continues not to break and he continues to want the chance to take his powers out. In every other comic that Marvel puts out, the hero MIGHT have made it this far, but then would have fought Red Skull and tried to think of another way or something. In this case, everything that piles up makes David say "I don't care, someone will deal with you eventually, the pill works, I want it." It's really brilliant and such a twist if simply because it's what he had wanted all along and he stuck to it. It's a twist without a twist. Fantastic.

Young Avengers 5

I like everything that happened in this issue. There's a lot of really fun stuff and anything that could be construed as cheesy is pointed out to be cheesy right away, before the reader can do it himself. What really boosts this book over other books this week like Avengers or Fantastic Four or Journey into Mystery or Superior Spider-Man is the Loki discussion that it generates. Loki finally reveals himself to the audience to be the original Loki posing as the much more lovable and kind of trustworthy kid Loki but there's a twist; kid Loki is still there as Loki's conscience of sorts (he points out that he's not real, of course, but he's still in there). For anyone who loved Gillen's run on Journey into Mystery (if you didn't, maybe go read all of it this instant), there's tons to be excited about going forward. There are lots of directions to go with this series and with these kids and with Loki. The book jumped right in and clearly intends to keep at this level even as the first arc winds down. This is a near perfect book for anyone. I would recommend this title to any comic reader and to a whole lot of non-comic readers.


Best Cover

Again, a lot of good ones out there. Superior Spider-Man had a weirdly haunting cover, Daredevil's cover is more beautiful Samnee art and Young Avengers is a really neat concept well executed by McKelvie. However, this run of X-Men Legacy covers have kind of blown me away one after another and manages to continue to do so here. It's a great image of David sliding on a bunch of pills, a bit out of control, as the pills form up to make the Red Skull. It highlights everything that needs to be highlighted that will come in the story and that the character is going through without giving the whole book away. Also, the art is solid on it and the very basic color scheme makes the image stand out even more.

Daredevil 26, Fantastic Four 8

Daredevil 26
Waid (w) and Samnee (a) and Rodriguez (c)

This plot has seemingly reached its climax as Matt escapes Ikari and goes to try to fix himself up a bit before the next encounter, whenever that may come. He's unsettled and freaked out and extremely paranoid about Ikari's attack and the threat that a new one could come at any time. He snaps during an interview with a possible replacement for Foggy's workload, lashing out at a man reaching for antacids to soothe his nerves during the interview. As the man rushes out of the office with Matt apologizing behind him, the man mentions Ikari and escapes. The same thing happens as Matt gets to the hospital to help Foggy through his chemo and attacks a nurse who's about to inject Foggy with something. Though the nurse seems to be legit, the syringe has braille on it that says "got you." Matt confesses to Foggy everything that's happening and Foggy tries to help him figure things out. As they try to piece together the related events, Foggy's notes start to form a bullseye. BULLSEYE (though, to cover my bases, I find it important to note that they never officially confirm it's Bullseye). Admittedly, it's a little weird the way they get to the end result, but the end result is super exciting as one of Daredevil's biggest foes seems back on the scene. DD evades Ikari, who is still following him, and heads to Bullseye's hideout (thanks to a tip from Hank Pym about where the radioactive waste came from). There he finds Lady Bullseye, who he takes out efficiently, before advancing on Bullseye. The issue ends as Ikari sneaks up behind Daredevil.

I really like Daredevil as a character and as a series right now and one of the reasons I've found him so compelling are his key villains. Elektra was always cool as a villain because she's so brutal and has such a past with Daredevil. Kingpin is a great villain because he's the exact kind of mastermind you want a criminal to be, always a few steps ahead and very cunning and ruthless. But Bullseye is the key villain to Daredevil. He's the same sort of build as Daredevil, with beatable skills but definitely very real skills. He's also got the Joker sort of mentality of never knowing what his real motivation is. He's sometimes in it for the money, he's often in it because he hates Daredevil so much at this point. He's very interesting to me and I can't help but be a little excited at the prospect that Bullseye is back finally, long after his "death" in Shadowland. This is my problem as a comic reader: I want death to mean something in comics and not to be cheapened by the fact everyone eventually comes back, but I also don't want anyone to be gone forever. Comics fans: we're exceedingly hard to please. The very end of this issue also features a second story (by the same creative team) about Foggy's time in the hospital. It focuses on Foggy going to entertain some cancer patient children as they wait for Iron Man to come see them. It's a very touching little mini-issue that isn't preachy but still comes with a great lesson while also giving us a good look at Foggy, one of the best support characters in comics.

Fantastic Four 8
Fraction (w) and Bagley and Farmer and Rubinstein (a) and Mounts (c)

It's Ben's one day in his human form a year and he has a full plan for the day. The F4 bring him back to Yancy Street of the past and he goes to pick a fight with the Yancy Street Gang. This isn't the YSG from FF, this is a group of gangsters with guns and a penchant for shakedowns. Ben steps in to protect a shop-owner from the gangsters and promises the shop-owner and his wife that he'll protect them. He relates his troubles, in short, with the Yancy Street Gang and tells them that he's seeking a bit of retribution, even if it means getting his hands dirty. The shop-owner's wife doesn't like the sound of that and asks Ben to leave. Ben has to admit to himself that he's come an awful long way just to beat someone up but ultimately decides it's still worth it. He sends the YSG running again but the shop-owner points out that they'll just come back with more guys and more guns. Ben checks the time and promises that they're going to get some backup by then. Of course, when the YSG shows up again, the Thing is back and fights them all off, swearing to always protect Yancy Street. The YSG runs off and Ben returns to the F4, who have questions of their own for him. While he was gone, the kids relate a dream they each had about the adults going away and leaving holographic messages for them (as related in their AU tie-in; pretty cool that these kids dream in alternate realities) and reveal that Ben had said something in the dream about a fateful run in with Doc Doom back in college. The F4 are about to set off for COLLEGE.

I found myself really liking this episode, though I've never been a Thing fan. It's very sweet and gives a really good sense of his character. We already know that Thing doesn't like the YSG and that he loves Yancy Street but we get a really good look at it here as he goes to try to shape the way his home evolves over time. It's genuinely touching and it helps to ground him on Earth and illustrates some of why he's so homesick when they're gone. It's also a good story on its own that stands alone while also fitting into the rest of the series. Add to that the intrigue of the children remembering the events of the AU tie-in issue (despite the fact they remember it as a dream and that it's part of a universe that will never have happened by the end of all that business) and where the team is going next to potentially correct errors in Ben's past and we have ourselves some story and some major character building.