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So, check this confluence of events.
The other day I realized that the Daredevil movie is now in HBO On Demand so I can now see it, pretty much, for free. I do, wading through its barely better (but, yes, better) than X2 suckiness, and remember how outrageously good Bendis and Maleev's run on DD is/was. I cull together all of my back issues in the first hardcover collection and prepare for a luscious re-read. The next day I go to the comics store and GUESS WHAT'S THERE. A brand spanking new Hardcover Collection of the NEXT volume of Bendis & Malcatraz's run. And guess who just reached their $20 credit at Midtown Comics? You guessed it! So, ten bucks later, I've got the two biggest chunks of the Bendeev run in glorious Marvel Hardcover.
So, now, I'm in full re-read mode and it is occurring to me. This is just a staggeringly fantastic acheivement. The only, ONLY, fault I've got with it is Bendis' propensity for, for some reason, littering dialogue and internal monologue with extra (as in more than one) exclamation points, question marks, or a combination of the two.
Why would you possibly have to do that in a medium that allows you to
a) Increase the size of your words at will
b) Italicize your words at will
c) Embolden your words at will
???!!!??!?
Also, I vote for black bars to replace those hackneyed &*%$ versions of swear words. So weak.
Anyway. On to the good stuff.
Holy Jesus Of The Multiplex is Maleev fantastic. I love the way his lines become a bit slimmer in the second volume (starting with Lowlife, after the Trial Of The Century hiatus) and the detail explodes off the page. He just so nails the varying looks on faces that is so critical to making Bendis' writing work to its fullest potential. Speaking of which.
Bendis wins the Best Rendition Of Living With A Disability In The Marvel Universe with the awesomely touching moment when DD saves Milla (the first time), pitching her through a plate glass window in the process. After removing a shard of glass from her shoulder, he says, "Again, sorry for the jarring interruption of your day."
On 23rd street, between a great Mac store I frequent and the best Belgian Hot Dogs in America, is a Center For The Blind, thus, you see blind people walking between that Center and the subway all the time. One quickly realizes that the key to them making it through any day in Manhattan is the routine of it, knowing how far it is from the station to the Center, the intersections, et al. Matt apologizing for that to Milla, for something that he so inherently understands (Radar or not he still can not, as one brilliant scene in the book attests to, tell what color your shirt is), is just a fucking masterstroke of dialogue and situational construction. As dar as Matt goes through the course of these volumes, as many teeth he kicks in and cars he overturns, that one moment illustrates just what a genuinely good-hearted guy he is. And that's why it's no wonder that Milla falls so helplessly (and a bit recklessly) for him.
That's also another thing Bendis handles so well, Matt, but most especially Milla's blindness. Maleev, naturally, seals the deal, by expressing just how freaked out sitting in a cop car while this guy she really likes is being arrested, is for Milla. While Matt knows exactly where she is and what's going on, there's this fantastic panel of Milla, hand pressed against the back window of the cop car, just completely lost and heartbroken.
Plot-wise, its also immaculately constructed, and it would really have to be to make all of Bendis' temporal shifting work at all.
It kind of makes me feel like I have to give The Sopranos a bit more of a fair shake, as I've never watched too much of it. But damn this book gives me severe hunger for well crafted and executed crime narratives.
As far as those go, this is one of the best. |
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Sure, Bendis & Maleev's DD is not always perfect and has its occasional weak points, but overall, it's fantastic, unique, and tries to do some daring things with the character.