DAREDEVIL No. 14, May 2015 |
Whilst it would certainly be fair to say storyteller Mark
Waid has implemented a number of changes to both the look and feel of
“Daredevil” since he took over the title as writer in 2011, with Matt Murdock becoming
“a public figure” and relocating to San Francisco being the biggest of the
bunch. This particular instalment disappointingly introduces another of the
Eisner Award-winner’s “huge paradigm shift[s] for the character and his world
and his entire method of operation” in arguably the most stunningly contrived
and clumsy manner conceivable. For having kept his secret identity such a
closely guarded secret for so very many years, the Alabama-born author would
have this issue’s 29,575 buyers believe that the blind lawyer would suddenly
replace his iconic mask and outfit, a costume which undoubtedly imbued the
crime-fighter with “an air of mystery” and “presence”, with a gaudy-looking,
scarlet three-piece suit and short smart haircut simply in order to
appease his girlfriend’s father and endorse the eight million dollar book deal
the blind lawyer has “landed”; “Daredevil for the defense!”
Sadly this rather tawdry and flamboyant attire, complete
with red designer gloves, shoes, and an uncomfortably corny ‘DD’ belt-buckle, makes the acrobatic
vigilante appear rather garishly incongruous both within the courtroom as well
as upon the city’s rooftops and frankly rivals that of the infamous 1993
“armoured black” outfit, worn by ‘The Man Without Fear’ in order “to allow the
character to convincingly battle stronger supervillains”, as practical regalia.
Indeed it is hard to take such a ‘new-look’ cheerful ‘Hornhead’ seriously, even
when Waid does tip his narrative hat back to the superhero’s earliest days by
having ‘The Man Without Fear’ briefly battle Wally Wood’s Sixties co-creation
the Matador.
Arguably even more poorly designed however has to be the futuristic ‘Manga-like’ costume of Jubula Pride, “the Owl’s daughter”; a
cold-blooded anti-hero who appears to wear one of the worst-looking armoured suits
imagined since “Marvel Comics” licensed the giant toy robots, the “Shogun
Warriors”, from “Mattel” in 1979. Potentially resplendent and “sleek” in a
metallic dark blue and gold outfit, the lithe-looking killer’s assemble is then
ruined by artist Chris Samnee with the addition of a short white cape, predatory mask and a bizarre calf-length burgundy dress, complete with fluorescent disc-shaped
adornments. Just how the American penciller expects Leyland
Owlsey’s offspring to be taken even remotely seriously whilst wearing such a brash ‘mish-mash’
is incomprehensible, especially when the character’s colourful presence during
a supposedly tense darkly-drawn expedition into a supervillain’s secret base beneath
Alcatraz Prison ruins any sense of suspense the script was presumably trying to
create.
Storytellers: Mark Waid & Chris Samnee, and Colorist: Matthew Wilson |
Please tell me this is the April Fool's Day edition! What have they done to Daredevil? This has to be a joke... surely? I am at a loss for words. All concerned should hang their heads in shame.
ReplyDeleteSadly not Bryan. You're looking at the new-look "Daredevil"; at least until his title is rebooted post "Secret Wars" in a couple of months time...
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