Monday, January 4, 2010

Reviews for Daredevil #503 & Green Lantern #49.

As I stated in my previous post, I was going to post more in depth reviews for the two comics I enjoyed reading the most over the course of the past two nights. So, without further adieu, I present to you, Daredevil #503 and Green Lantern #49!

Daredevil #503: This issue picks up from last month, with Daredevil and his legion of Hand ninjas attacking some crooked, drug dealing cops at a cargo dock in Manhattan. DD and his ninjas make quick work of the dirty cops, and the Hand ninjas are eager to kill the dirty cops, which leaves DD with a heavy decision to make. Before we learn what DD does, we head over to the law offices of Nelson, Murdock and Blake. After his outburst in court last issue, Foggy Nelson finds himself in the midst of a disbarment procedure... Ouch. On top of that, Dakota North's private investigator's licence is being revoked by the state, which causes Dakota and Foggy to conclude that some outside force is conspiring against them. Back at the cargo docks the following day, we learn that all of the dirty cops vanished without a trace, leaving the NYPD investigators confounded as to what happened to them. Black Tarantula and White Tiger talk about what happened to the cops, but speak in vague terms, leaving it unclear as to whether DD ordered the deaths of the cops or not. DD meets with Master Izo, and the two have a disagreement over DD's actions as the leader of the Hand, which leads to the two making veiled threats at one another before Izo flies the coop. The Kingpin continues to play the Hood against the Owl as he attempts to quietly reclaim the spot of NYC's crime boss. This issue ends with DD deciding to take the streets of Hell's Kitchen back from Norman Osborn's dirty cops.

I've got to say, this series hasn't lost any steam since Andy Diggle took over the writing duties from the masterful Ed Brubaker. I honestly thought this series was going to fall by the wayside when Ed left, but instead, Andy has continued many of Ed's storylines and has kept things rolling along smoothly. So this issue leaves us wondering if DD ordered the deaths of the dirty cops or not. Since I refuse to believe DD has crossed the line, I'm going to say that he sent the cops out of town or something along those lines. DD wouldn't order his ninjas to kill the dirty cops, right??? That uncertainty is one of the reasons I enjoyed reading this issue so much. I also love the way the Kingpin is being slowly reestablished as a big time player in New York's crime scene again. Kingpin isn't a dumb crook like the Hood, and he proves that point by the way he pits the Hood's men against the Owl's, as well as the fact that he has figured out the fact that the Hood and Norman Osborn are in cahoots. The fact that Kingpin knows Osborn and the Hood are working together could potentially lead to some really interesting things depending on the direction Andy decides to go. Besides all of that stuff, there's also the matter of DD's friends being targeted through their professions. There are so many great things happening in this series right now I could easily keep on going, but since I have another review to do, I'm going to have to leave things at that. Score: 9 out of 10.

Green Lantern #49: This issue is a spotlight on John Stewart and his ordeal on the planet Xanshi. John was kind of/sort of responsible for the destruction of Xanshi, and Nekron uses that guilt against John by resurrecting the entire destroyed world, as well as John's dead wife Katma Tui. John tries to fight off his dead wife and the entire populace of Xanshi, but ultimately realizes that Katma was trying to get an emotional response from him. Once he figures out what Katma and the Black Lanterns were up to, John flies off of Xanshi, and comes to the horrifying conclusion that Xanshi is headed straight towards the earth! This issue also contains a back-up feature where Black Lantern Jean Loring takes the Atom and Mera on a journey through one of the Black Lantern rings. While travelling, Jean decides to reveal Nekron's origin story to Atom and Mera for some reason... The back up story ends with Deadman secretly tracking Jean down.

I absolutely loved the John Stewart feature, but was kind of lost as to the purpose of the back-up story. Before I delve into the main feature, a few words on the back-up. I don't get why it was included... At all. Nekron pretty much tells us his origin during the main Blackest Night mini-series(the natural state of the universe is blackness, living beings are against the natural order of things, Nekron wants to return the universe to its blissful state of peace, etc...), so I'm not really sure what Jean's reasoning for telling Mera and Atom this story is. I mean, aren't the Black Lanterns supposed to be killing everybody and tearing out their hearts, NOT regaling the heroes with stories? Maybe Jean was trying to bore Atom and Mera to death, I don't know. While I wasn't able to get into the back-up story, I definitely got into John Stewart's tale. John is pretty much the OTHER Green Lantern, and he pretty much says as much himself. Hal is the star, Guy is the tough Guy(Ha!), and Kyle is the sensitive one. While Hal's story is told monthly in the Green Lantern comic, and Guy and Kyle are featured prominently in the Green Lantern Corps title, John doesn't really appear anywhere. Yeah, I know John was in the Justice League comic not that long ago, but he was more or less a background character. Geoff Johns did a fantastic job of showing people who aren't very aware of who John is(myself included)that he is a whole lot more then just another Green Lantern. Throughout this comic, we get to relive some of John's past as a US Marine, while gleaning a lot about John's personality through his actions against the Black Lanterns. I'll say this much, this one issue told me more about who John Stewart is then the entirety of his recent Justice League run. Hell, after reading this, I'd be all for a John Stewart mini-series! Score: 9 out of 10.

17 comments:

  1. I agree with you, I also wondered what the point was of having Jean tell Atom and Mera that story, it seemed so random and out of place. But I loved John's story, everything about Katma Tui confronting him, the war flash backs, the awesome sight of him making a whole damn army with his power ring.

    John definitely got respect in that issue from me, he hasn't been very prominent since the JLA/JLU Cartoons so it was cool to see him get the spotlight again.

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  2. Yeah man, the back-up story just made no sense, especially since Nekron went over all of that stuff in one of the BN issues. I thought the Black Lanterns only spoke to elicit an emotional response from someone, not to tell origin stories!

    I'm telling you, reading John's story has me hoping for a John Stewart mini. Maybe after BN ends he'll at least get placed in the Green Lantern Corps series.

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  3. Maybe that was to bring out the Boring emotion then take their hearts AND Brains...thus powering Nekron and um...Braniac?

    After that I wouldn't mind if John was in the new JLA but you know Hal and Ollie HAVE to be together.

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  4. Hmm, I wonder what color the Boring Lanterns would be...

    Oh, come on, you just know Ollie and Hal HAVE to be together! Nothing gets in the way of their bromance!

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  5. What's the most boring color I asked art Major Falisha and she said gray and I agree. Boring Lanterns would be gray and have like a seven page put you to sleep oath to recharge their rings.

    Yeah that's true, is it safe to say they have the biggest Bromance of all comics?

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  6. Gray? Yeah, I def agree with that as well, and who would know better then Falisha, right?

    Ha, the Gray Lanterns oath would be at least ten pages long, and they'd all speak real slow, and sound like the most boring math teacher you ever had.

    Oh dude, no question! There ain't nobody out there that can possibly compete with that bromance! It's legenadary!

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  7. Right? I asked what's the most boring color and she said gray without hesitation...made me feel kinda slow lol.

    I picture Ben Stein being the Guardian of the Gray Lanterns. Gray lantern Bueller? Bueller.....Bueller?
    (If you've never seen Ferris Bueller's day out you may now get that.)

    The world's most legendary Bromance, move over Homer and Barney, HBK and Triple H, Ben And Jerry, because Ollie and Hal are taking over. I've never noticed how similar they are too.

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  8. HA!!! Ben Stein was the EXACT guy I had in mind when I made my statement about the boring math teacher! I couldn't remember his name though! Man, your telepathy is strong today!

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  9. See great minds think alike. Yeah my Telepathy is like a mixture of The Force from Star Wars and that big ass helmet thingy that Prof. X wears sometimes.

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  10. Cerebro! That big ass helmet thingy is called Cerebro... Although "big ass helmet thingy" does have a pretty good ring to it...

    Prof. X: "Cyclops, we'll have to use that big ass helmet thingy to find the missing mutants!"

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  11. See. I honestly was gonna call it Cerebro but I thought I was wrong and I knew you'd be like..."what the hell is that?" if I was wrong, whereas big ass helmet thingy is the perfect description for it.

    Lmao...genuine laughter just because imagining Prof. X SAYING Big ass helmet thingy is just great, I mean can you imagine going to a school where the head um...Professor refers to a device as the big ass helmet thingy?

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  12. Man, that would be awesome... I'd love to hear Patrick Stewart say that just one time in an X-Men movie. Just hearing him say the words "Big ass helmet thingy" with his refined accent would be laugh out loud hysterical!

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  13. Lol yeah I'd love to hear him say big ass thingy! Speaking of which, he plays the boss on American Dad and they always have him say outrageous stuff, one episode he literally said "Step on my junk and choke me, I've been a bad little boy!" And hearing him say that is funnier than hell.

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  14. Ha, yeah, there's nothing funnier then hearing a guy with that refined British accent saying something completely off the wall!

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  15. Yeah, that makes me wish I had a funny refined British friend. My one buddy is Irish and he says the most outlandish things which is even funnier with his accent.

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  16. You would love me sounding posh then ;)

    I've been told I sound posh, though I don't have the real refined RSC accent that Patrick Stewart has

    On the Jean telling the story thing, well, there doesn't seem to be many things that Ray feels emotion wise, save compassion it seems (you know, except emo-ism ;), though in this case is actually justified)

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  17. Strangely I've been told by friends that it sounds like I have a British accent, and I grew up in New York City, so go figure!

    Back to the Jean/story thing, I just don't get why it was included here. We pretty much know all of that stuff from the main BN mini, so to me it just seemed like pointless filler. Between Black Hand, Scar and Nekron himself, they basically spelt out exactly what Jean said here, making that entire story really redundant.

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