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Underground > Comic Books >

The Writings of Ed Brubaker

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21:30 / 28.07.06

Yeah, actually, this issue just pulled the rug out under every supposition I had about the arc - great mystery writer's trick, really.

One thing I noticed is this mysterious Lennox shares an office with Murtaugh, and because of the similarity of each name (Lennox->Nelxon->Nelson) I'm really not sure he exists at all, except as a cover name. Alton? Yeah, pretty sure.

And Foggy's not being dead? Yeah, I thought he was dead, Irn Bru, I really did. I also thought the Red Skull was, and look where that got me; I'm just an incredibly credulous reader, clearly. (How fucking awesome did Epting draw that robot in Cap, btw? I never used to like his stuff at all.) Anyway, Foggy... what the hell is going on there? We've got this Engels senator who seems (possibly) invested in Murdock buying the farm, and Foggy in witness protection - is he there to rat Matt? Really cannot wait for upcoming 'The Secret Life of..' ish; I'm completely disoriented and enjoying it immensely.

Regrettable Juvenilia

22:06 / 28.07.06

There's an interview with Brubaker at Newsarama that sheds a bit more light on Alton Lennox, Senator Engels, and a few other things...

22:39 / 28.07.06

From that, which I had skimmed already, but not picked up some of the minutia:

“Lennox is no one we've yet to meet, but there are clues. There are always clues. I don't think there's been one single stray line of dialog or narration in this book so far that doesn't do something. Even Dakota had a line at the end of the second issue about Foggy's stabbing that a few people are now remembering.”

...

“Oh, come on - the clues were all right there, though. Matt's last narrative in #82 was, ‘His heart is still beating,’ and Dakota said he was stable in the ambulance. Danny even tells Matt this issue that he saw Lennox talking to a Fed at some point."

It's good that he's keeping shit self-contained, anyway, I think that's what a modern comics pro should do always. But I'm still kinda thrown for a loop - Lennox has already appeared? I'm only centring on that Ivan Murphy guy as a possible connection, given it has to be someone outside the prison, and what does his talking to a Fed have to do with Foggy's place in the WPP? Proper intrigue though, all these tendrils of plot.

00:06 / 29.07.06

But Foggy has to be dead, doesn't he?

I haven't read this so far, but next you'll all be saying that Karen Page wasn't on smack ...

00:20 / 29.07.06

No, no, she was (just like Pete Doherty, apologies and all,) and also the game. She may be a bit of a Frank Miller archetype, actually.

03:08 / 03.08.06

Love CAP & DD. Am bored silly with the two X-MEN issues and have quit the run (not that I normally read the book anyway).

Looked at BOOK OF DOOM today and it seemed cool. Anybody have any commentary about this series?

21:49 / 06.08.06

I enjoyed it, but in the face of the mighty Dr Doom my critical functions shut down, so I might not be the most objective reviewer.

Essential Dazzler

22:40 / 06.08.06

3 issues of uncanny in only 6 weeks. I'm enjoying it, but I'm sure that's only because of the frequency of the issues.
I wonder how much Brubaker knew about the book's release schedule, because monthly, this would really REALLY suck.

23:20 / 06.08.06

Doom, despite being Marvel's greatest ever character (TM,) doesn't really float my boat particularly and I found the mini pretty so-so as singles. They're self-contained enough to deal each with a period of young Victor's life, but I failed to see any particular thematic binding in each. The artist (Pablo Raimondi) is also a bit slick for my tastes, a bit like Billy Tan actually but less Image/Finch-y. It reads quite well as a unit, though, and I'd imagine as a trade therefore. The characterisation of Latveria's favourite son is really decent,too, frequently yawing toward sympathetic and then pulling you back with some repulsive counteraction.

Lovely painted Essad Ribic covers, also, and probably a must if you do like Doom. For me, it goes close to the bottom of Bru's pile, along with Authority: Revolution and Deadly Genesis - like these, it's flawed, but there are elements of real quality about it.

00:23 / 07.08.06

Mmm. Sounds like I may wait for the trade, unless somebody pipes in with some hyperbolic praise that validates my impulse-buy instinct.

15:28 / 25.08.06

So Elektra is still running The Hand, and looking out for our boy Foggy. Nice. Bru & Lark (and even the guest-artist on the new issue) continue to deliver on DD. I really have no idea where the story is going with Lennox and all this stuff - who would have the motivation to want to mess with Matt this much? (and I think we all know it's not the Kingpin)

21:56 / 25.08.06

and, it seems, an Iron Fist series is spinning out of this story arch.

23:47 / 25.08.06

Yeah, it is; I'm actually quite jazzed about this, because

i) this little beauty

containing some genius Claremont/Byrne work was one of the first comics I ever owned

ii) David Aja seems able to turn his hand to 'most any style, and adeptly; looks like he's going for somewhere between Gaydos and Sienkewicz presently, and I'm really, really excited about him

and

iii) Brubaker = the best thing Marvel has going for them presently, and Fraction is tearing it up on Casanova; it's not a combination I'd've imagined, really, but it'll be interesting to see it at work. I'm kinda hoping Fraction plots, Bru scripts, but we'll see.

23:53 / 25.08.06

And, fuck!

iv) Matt Hollingsworth, aka the best colourist in the game, is doing his thing on it.

I cannot actually conceive Marvel making a better comic, in terms of applying a team to a current property.

06:35 / 26.08.06

I do worry that Fraction, while full of fun ideas, might not be so hot at producing drama. Cassanova appears to contain very little in the way of real dramatic tension.

Admittedly I haven't read much of his stuff tho'.

20:29 / 07.10.06

Link to Newsarama and Iron Fist pics

Now, I know what you're thinking, but no, you can't have sex with that comic before I do. I got there first, my trousers are around my ankles.

22:43 / 07.10.06

Teh sex. Upsettingly, Criminal was sold out at my shoppie today, and I must wait til next week for it.

07:00 / 08.10.06

Is gud, although I think that kind of thing works better in trades. Yes, yes, I know the monthly will feature stuff that won't make it into the trades, but this stuff works best when you can immerse yourself in the fictional world.

Maybe I'll by tthe comic monthly and try to hold off reading it.

23:01 / 09.11.06

David Aja = yr new fave artist.

The comic looks like being so utterly freaking awesome that I will cry salty tears of unparalleled joy merely to behold it.

Fortunately they kept the ballet slippers, which are the central tenet of Iron Fist's genius.

13:57 / 11.11.06

I'm wondering if those that don't like eating their batdinner might find that this fills a hole.

I too am expecting to weep.

17:53 / 15.01.07

So it looks like Brubaker is going to 'put the genie back in the bottle' and restore some semblance of normalcy to Matt Murdock's life after all this time....I think he did it as deftly as anyone could, not sure if I'm happy about this potential return to status quo or disappointed. I mean, they couldn't keep going on with Murdock's ID and life and on-the-run-from-the-law status for another 3 years, could they...?

15:14 / 05.02.07

Bru manages to press the 'reset button' but not really wipe out what's gone before in the new issue. And it seems his marriage to Milla is on the rocks in some ways; I'm not really sure if the Bendis-created Milla will stick around. The next issue features a John Romita Sr.-drawn romance cover, looking very 60s.

But Bru does manage to make it as believable as it could be, an elegantly-done reset button, even if it does happen all quite fast. And with the Kingpin out of the picture for the time being, Bendis has talked about making the Brian K. Vaughn-created villain/anti-hero The Hood (from the miniseries of a few years ago) the new guy to take the Kingpin's place (which will be seen in upcoming months in New Avengers). I do like that Bendis takes obscure characters no one is using and tries to make something interesting out of them -- Spider-Woman, the Sentry, Ms. Marvel, and now The Hood.

17:02 / 05.02.07

The Hood was a really nice little character from a good mini-series. In theat he was an anti-hero at worst. It'll be interesting to see how they turn him into a big bad, I just hope it's done well.

Regrettable Juvenilia

10:48 / 06.02.07

I thought the latest Daredevil was one of Brubaker's best so far ('The Devil Takes A Ride' has been gripping me considerably less than 'The Devil In Motherfucking Oz'). He does three remarkable things therein, by my count: he makes it feel like more or less the closing chapter of a story the vast majority of which was written by another writer, in an emotionally satisfying way; he re-establishes Matt Murdock's life whilst still keeping a sense of uncertainty and progress (and moral ambiguity, 'cos Foggy is totally right about the future consequences of Fisk being out of jail even if he's out of the US); most amazingly, he makes you feel sympathy for the fucking Kingpin! Seriously, those panels of Fisk with his hands on his big bald head: I had something in my eye, *sniff*...

11:11 / 06.02.07

Looking forward to Bru making the book his own. Devil takes ride has been rather boring, if you ask me, but the Rykers stuff was fucking ace.

Haus of Mystery

11:12 / 06.02.07

I've dropped Daredevil. The last arc bored the pants off me, and felt like a mediocre mid-80's Marvel comic. I find Daredevil to be an incredibly boring character now. As with Batman, Miller's definitive 80's vision of the character has hamstrung any further development of the character. He's like John Constantine in red spandex - need to add some emotional punch to your tepid crime fiction? Kill off another of Matt's friends/lovers! It's easy!!
I loved the first arc, but the titles swiftly deteriorated into Brubaker-lite. Don't get me wrong - I love 'Criminal', and 'Sleeper' is one of the best series of the last 10 years, but DD is way below par IMHO.
I think part of the problem is my desire for comics to be more in touch with their inner weirdness. That McCarthy issue of 'Solo' really reminded me of what I love about comics in general, and I can't be arsed with all the grim'n'gritty 'real world' comics of the moment.

11:35 / 06.02.07

I think the comic could do with being far more action oriented. We've had CRIME and GRIM NHHH! GRITTY for years now, and that kind of story tends to have a slower more dirgey dynamic. Good for a while, and, yeah, that's probably the core of the character, but it would be nice to have a change every so often.

Regrettable Juvenilia

12:01 / 06.02.07

But Brubaker hasn't killed off another of Matt's lovers/friends - sure, he made him and for a while the readers think he had, but in the end 'The Devil Takes A Ride', like some of Bendis' run, was about exploring how Matt hasn't really ever 'got over' Karen Page's death - and thus adding some substance and resonance to what was, at the time, a shitty, gimmicky killing off of a character.

I see Daredevil more as Nate Fisher in spandex than Constantine...

13:06 / 06.02.07

I loathed Smith's run. It was so weird: he killed Karen, but didn't stick around to pick up the pieces or indeed add any resonance, which, call me mad, you'd think as a creator he'd be desperate to do, and he capped his story by revealing that it was all just an excuse to shoot Mysterio (a character he clearly has some rather weird issues with) in the head.

Utterly, utterly bizarre and very, very stupid.

Maybe there was editorial interference or, I dunno, a minor bout of insanity, or maybe he's just a complete dickhead.

Regrettable Juvenilia

13:27 / 06.02.07

Are you familiar with the vast majority of his work in cinema, and the entirity of his published comics and 'journalism'?

14:04 / 06.02.07

I'm trying to be generous here

14:56 / 06.02.07

>> he re-establishes Matt Murdock's life whilst still keeping a sense of uncertainty and progress

Plus, most people still think he's Daredevil, or at least have that idea/possibility firmly in their heads.

15:13 / 06.02.07

Agreed that a change of pace in 'Daredevil' would be a good idea - the character's taken a pretty much relentless beating for what it is it now, about the last five years, so it might be interesting to see him engage a bit more with the post Civil War mainstream, train-wreck though I dare say that's probably going to be.

Regrettable Juvenilia

15:20 / 06.02.07

It would be great to see him take Nick Fury up on the recent offer to become an Agent of SHIELD, if only for a little while: Daredevil as sexy superspy, going on missions with the Black Widow, shaking loose some of that Catholic guilt and baggage, and turning the character's established eye for the ladies into something fun, not angsty...

16:10 / 06.02.07

Those are roughly the lines I was thinking along, yes.

Matt'd still be allowed to get all mardy in the rain, of course, but remember how much fun it was when Wolverine joined SHIELD? Well it could be a bit like that.

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