Daredevil #21-25: Supreme

Ok, another break between the ramblings of those Trades I read while on holiday (which was a while back now I think about it.

Late last week I finally picked up Daredevil #25 and so, felt it was time to go through the entire arc and write down what I thought about it (given that it's been a while since I talked about new comics).

Therefore, over the course of this past weekend I read Daredevil #21-25 in it's entirety to remind myself what had been happening in this latest story arc; Supreme.

'Supreme' sees the Man without Fear Matt Murdock, fresh off of his confession about how he regained his secret identity, deciding to put his master plan into action. Roping in some of his friends and allies to help him take out and armed gang of thugs, Matt uses this as an excuse to approach his boss with a bold plan; to place Daredevil on the stand to give evidence and open the door for other heroes to do the same. However, not everyone is happy with this plan as the Kingpin of Crime, Wilson Fisk, takes steps to put a stop to this motion, either by killing Murdock's case or killing the man himself.

Now hopefully I haven't laid any spoilers out there, although it does occur to me about how complex this story actually is. That said, regardless of it's complexity, after coming off of the 'Running with the Devil' arc I was really excited to see what Charles Soule was going to offer here, given his prior career and how his run has really pulled me back in since I jumped back onto Daredevil.

And, thankfully, this plot doesn't disappoint as I really enjoyed the legal manoeuvring of seeing Matt try to change the law and allow his superheroic persona to have more influence on his day to day. I will admit though that I do feel a little let down by the story, as though I was expecting something greater and more epic with these issues. After Dark Art and Running with the Devil, Soule's run felt like it was leading up to something and I really thought that this would be the 'Magnum Opus' of his run, the best part that he had been leading up to.

Of course, that doesn't take away from how good it was as I enjoyed seeing Matt as the hero instead of Daredevil, making for a nice change of pace. What I really enjoyed though were some of the character appearances which occurred here as not only does She-Hulk show up (in a way that makes me tempted to check out her most recent run) but also the character known as Legal from Soule's own She-hulk run. This character in particular, who seemed one note in that She-Hulk run, was much more intriguing here, especially with his speech about the law being fiction. This speech along with a more optimistic one by Daredevil kinda has me wondering if this is why Soule is now a writer and not a Lawyer; due to a somewhat paradoxical view on his former occupational field.

The art meanwhile was also pretty solid.... to begin with. Goran Sudzuka's art in the issues 21 and 22 was gorgeous and really gave me a reminiscence of Paolo Rivera's work during the early Waid run. It was just so beautiful and stylish and I'd have happily gazed upon this style for the whole arc. Sadly, that wasn't to be as the final three issues were drawn by Alec Morgan and, most likely because of this, the arc went downhill.

Sadly, I just wasn't a fan of Morgan's work in these later issues, with issue 25 looking nowhere near the quality of issue 25 through my eyes. The characters in particular didn't look particularly great in these three issues, with them all looking rather rough in their faces. As a result of this, I found myself struggling to get into those final issues and only by reading them as a bulk read was I able to actually enjoy the story.

Despite that though, I did enjoy this arc very much (though maybe not as much as I had expected it to) and found the end of it (which could have stuck with the status Quo) a little inspiring and optimistic. This end also gave me a nice teaser for what is to come down the road, which excites me (while also bothers as I may not be able to afford it when it gets here) and does make me glad I gave Charles Soule's run a second chance.

Gotham Central Vol. 1: In the Line of Duty

So, after a slight gap to talk about something else, I'm now onto talking (earlier in the week, as I'm want to get these done before my trip becomes too much of a distant memory) about the fourth comic trade I read while on holiday and, with each subsequent day, these books have gotten increasingly better and more enjoyable from one to the next.

But number 4 could quite possibly the best of them all, even those which come after it!

So, fourth on my list is volume one of Gotham Central, the police procedural comic by Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka and Michael Lark which follows the hardworking cops of the G.C.P.D.'s Major Crimes Unit as they struggle to catch the bad guys (both super and regular) in a city which is home to the Batman. This trade contains three separate stories which sees the unit chase mr Freeze after the death of one their own, then attempt to catch an arsonist and a child killer at the same time before the great Renee Montoya finds herself outed and set up for a murder, before being kidnapped by a classic Bat rogue.

Now I say that this is the best book of the week while only being halfway through it, but I seriously doubt that I'm exaggerating. Brubaker and Rucka have produced three truly fantastic stories, all of which drew me in deep and kept me totally engrossed as to how they would conclude. The way they developed the characters was also something I really enjoyed as both men filled Gotham Central with a tremendous cast; from Sawyer, Montoya and Allen to Davies, Chandler and even Fields in his limited appearance.

I think what really loved about this book though was that, while it is a Bat book in theory, it almost completely disregards the need for Batman, making him feel tolerated instead of required and the Gotham's finest can do the job just as well (to a point). I like this because it contradicts the popular theory which Batman '66 sold us about them.

Then, of course, there is the art. I've seen Lark's work on both Daredevil (with Brubaker) and Lazarus (with Rucka) and both look fantastic. But Gotham Central, while maybe a little rougher than the others, still looks equally terrific and I can't believe how perfectly it encapsulates these characters and their lives.

I've heard so much great praise about this series over the years and it kinda almost put me off in fear that it wouldn't live up to the hype. But now I'm here and I've read it and, damn, I wish I'd read it sooner. This is up there as as perfect as a comic book can get in my opinion and kinda hope the rest of the series would be this good.

Fortunately (or maybe 'unfortunately') I will find out soon enough as writing this has convinced me to make volume two the fifth read of the week.

 

Scars

I've decided to take a quick break from dropping the posts about my recent holiday reading to talk about....well, my bank holiday reading.

This weekend just gone I was back down my in-laws when I came across Scars amongst a pile of comics I had left there to store (my own home, as I've mentioned prior, is quite full). Now finding this book was not an accidental thing as I had just previously spoken with my neighbour in my office about it while trying to gauge whether she'd be interested in reading comics.

However, upon finding Scars amongst this discarded selection of trades if occurred to me that, while I have had this title for nearly a decade (roughly since it's 2008 release), I had never actually sat down and read it.

Therefore, I decided to take advantage of the three day weekend and do just that.

Warren Ellis' Scars is essentially a horror/crime fusion of a comic series, containing 6 issues of a story which follows John Cain, a police detective who's seen it all as he returns to his job after a terrible loss. However, his rather tough, seemingly emotionless surface is broken down when investigating the brutal murder of a young girl, a case which takes Cain right to the edge in order to solve it and catch the killer.

Now, I've tried my best to describe the plot as simply as possible in order to prevent spoilers (I think I've done ok) but, while the basic beats are all there, the one thing I haven't mentioned is about how absolutely, gut-wrenchingly brutal this comic is. Pretty much straight from the foreword, we are told repeatedly that this comic is quite a nasty comic and I don't think that's an understatement as the story takes a seriously dark and disturbing path.

There is no better example of this than in the discovery of the victim's body, whereby Ellis offers a reaction to scare us before going all out and showing us it in all it's gruesome glory. This is the first part of the book that actually made me feel quite a bit uncomfortable (and I always thought I had a high tolerance for such things).

That said, this doesn't make Scars a bad book, as I enjoyed how Ellis has put together what feels like a quintessential crime story to the almost noir degree, with the broken cop going rogue in his pursuit of justice. What really made me love it though was Ellis' (and others), notes at the end of each issue, giving some insight into why Scars could be the most realistic crime story going.

However, what I really, truly loved about this book was the art. I've never heard of Jacen Burrows before (or admittedly after), but his work in this is fantastic and goes a long way to selling Ellis' gory vision. I think what I enjoy most is that it isn't regular monochrome, instead looking like it's practically white with some light shading, which I think helps give it a subtler look than most other black and white stories I've read.

The big draw for me though are the Gutters (seriously!!!), which here are all black and, when combined with the panels, gives each page and almost dark photo album vibe in my opinion. But also, what really makes me awe is how they change as the book progresses, looking straight and standard at the beginning but looking more warped and creepy towards the end. It's a small thing (if I've looked at it right), but I enjoyed it.

And I've got to say, that's got to be my answer for the book overall. Sure, it was creepy and dark and maybe a little too brutal, but I enjoyed it. It was a nice story which some killer art and some really cool insights into how the creators made this series. That said, I'm not entirely sure if Scars has any re-readability to it (maybe in another few years when I've forgotten) but it was still a good read and I'm glad to got to check it out.

Even if I do wish I'd gotten to it a bit sooner than I did.