Thursday, August 5, 2010

Shadowland: Bullseye #1

Shadowland: Bullseye #1: Writer: John Layman. Pencils: Sean Chen.

Review: This comic tells the tale of a biker gang that believed that Bullseye had saved them from a rival gang(although in all actuality, Bullseye pretty much flipped a coin and decided to help the one gang over the other), and decide to hold a funeral for him. The gang kidnaps Ben Urich, so he can write a fluff piece about what a great man Bullseye was, a priest, to speak at the funeral, several tourists, to serve as mourners, and finally, Bullseye's corpse itself. On top of that, one of the people present at the “funeral” claims that he can see the ghost of Bullseye, and that it occasionally talks to him. Eventually Daredevil and his Hand ninjas get wind of what the biker gang was doing, and they crash the funeral and easily take down the inept gang members. This issue ends with the man who believed he could hear the ghost of Bullseye deciding to take on a full battalion of heavily armed cops at the behest of a smiling Bullseye.

What I Thought: Meh, this comic wasn't great, but it wasn't awful either. It was a prime example of a perfectly acceptable comic. A fine way to spend a couple of minutes, but not something you'd be thinking back on often. It also isn't key to the Shadowland story, but for a completest like myself, I was happy to read it.

Score: 7 out of 10.Am I the only one hoping for a Deadpool/Bullseye's Ghost team-up?

29 comments:

  1. The main thing I loved about this is the fact that we still don't know if he's dead. I mean say what you want but there's no way he'd say he can stop his heart so he seems dead, then dies in the same issue. Plus since that kid is crazy, we don't know if that's his real ghost or if he's just crazy.

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  2. You know, I've been thinking about the whole Bullseye's death thing a lot, and I think I figured it all out. Officially, he's dead, and I do believe that DD DID kill him in Shadowland #1, but remember, the Hand can return people to life and them have them serve under the Hand. Remember the Wolverine: Enemy of the State storyline? Who's to say that DD(or one of those evil old Hand guys from the first issue)won't use the Hand's black magic to return Bullseye to life. Maybe that was DD's plan all along, to kill Bullseye and then return him to life under DD's control. That be a great way to take care of your arch-enemy...

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  3. I like that idea, I forgot about that but you're right, they did have o kill people to bring them back as Hand members. Man, imagine those two fighting side-by-side...

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  4. Yeah, I really like that idea, because it kind of gives DD an out for killing Bullseye, since he always planned on bringing him back to life anyway. Of course it's still not exactly a very heroic thing to do, but I kind of like the fact that Marvel is allowing DD to walk a VERY thin line between good and evil. Bringing Bullseye back as his slave would continue that.

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  5. I'm just curious as to how this is going to end as well, because has Daredevil really gone power mad? Is this all a big plan he's made in advance? What's gonna happen is so well shrouded in mystery that it's got me super excited.

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  6. You know, I was pretty quick to write off this one-shot...but then I saw it has art by Sean Chen, and oh man how I love him!! Now I'll have to check out whatever Shadowland trade this inevitably gets reprinted in. :)

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  7. Yeah JT, I'll be interested to see how/IF Marvel tries to turn DD back to a hero towards the end of this. He's already done so much, I can't really see him getting out of this unscathed, even if in the end this is all some super-heroic plan of his. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, which is what this mini seems to be about. DD kept trying to do the right thing(locking up street thugs, taking in corrupt cops)during the Shadowland run-up in DD's series, but he just keeps going further and further down that path of no return.

    Yeah, story wise this comic was middle of the road, but thinking back on it, the art was pretty well done, Marc. Especially Bullseye's ghost.

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  8. That's probably the best way to describe this storyline too. I'm wondering who it'll be to bring Daredevil out of his Man on a Mission type persona, or who it'll be to stop him permanently if they have to.

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  9. Well, it looks like the heroes who visited him ALMOST got through to him, until GR attacked, so that shows he CAN still be reached. DD still doesn't know about the car accident that happened to his friends Foggy and Dakota, so that knowledge(especially if he discovers that it was White Tiger behind it)might just be the thing to pull him out of his madness.

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  10. Very good points X, I gotta wonder if thinking they were trying to plot on him will make him even more guarded now, because he should be even harder to reach. I love that this cast is so close to Daredevil and there aren't people being thrown in just for the sake of it.

    Do you think they'll try to hide that car accident from DD or do you think they'll try to use it as ammo to keep him hotheaded?

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  11. That's a good question... White Tiger could really go either way with the car accident. She could tell him and insinuate that somebody like Kingpin was involved, or maybe she'll keep it from him and one of the heroes(let's say Elektra)could reveal to Matt what Tiger had been up to behind his back. Honestly, I can see the second thing happening more then the first.

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  12. So, since I came in late, could you fill me in on why White Tiger is doing that? Is he secretly plotting on DD or something or are they just collateral in case DD comes to his senses?

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  13. Well, White Tiger is being controlled by the evil Hand mystics back in Japan. I think she had to take Foggy and Dakota out of the picture because they're Matt's closest friends, and if ANYBODY could convince him he was in the wrong, it would have been them. Keeping Matt isolated from his friends and only hearing White Tiger's point of view is probably the best way to keep him under her thumb.

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  14. Just saw I typed he by mistake and not she, typo! That's pretty smart to take DD's closest friends out of the equation, but it seems weird they wouldn't try to keep the other guys like Cage and Iron Fist away from Matt.

    Also, do you think he'll be able to recruit any heroes since he put that plan in motion, besides possibly Elektra like we mentioned before.

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  15. IDK, Foggy's known Matt since like forever, so if ANYONE would have had a shot at talking Matt out of his plans, I think it would have been Foggy. Sure DD prob trusts Cage and IF, but I don't think he'd consider them his friends. I've always seen DD as kind of stand-offish, even moreso then a guy like Spidey, so I could see him disregarding the words of... well, almost anybody!

    I really don't know... I mean, maybe GR, and like I said, if Punisher was still alive, then maybe him, but other then that, I kind of doubt it, especially since everybody has seen DD killing Bullseye. That HAS to turn a lot of heroes off of DD's plans.

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  16. Ah I didn't know that. Speaking of that though, didn't he trust IF to take his mantle during the Civil War? Why was Danny playing the Daredevil role during that anyway?

    Good point, well since The Hand can bring people back, do you see them bringing back any currently dead heroes/villains to fight for them besides possibly Bullseye? (Have I asked this before? haha)

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  17. Hmm, good question! The non-comic reason is that Ed Brubaker was writing DD and IF at the time, and wanted to connect the two more closely. I THINK the comic book reason was that Matt needed somebody to portray DD to prove that he wasn't DD, since he wasn't a registered hero... That sounds about right, but don't quote me on it, since I very well could be wrong(although if I am, kudos to me for coming up with such a convincing reason!).

    Jeez, I'm not sure... Even as I was putting that top 5 list together last night, I couldn't really think of anybody in the Marvel U who was even dead! Stilt-Man maybe? :P

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  18. Ah interesting, I'd accept that as a good reason why IF was posing as DD.

    Speaking of Marvel I read Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk today and freaking LOVED it, I mean I'd read it again, tomorrow. Also read Insane in the brian where Wolvie ate those "pills" that were an eraser and a jelly bean.

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  19. The Hand should most definitely bring back Stilt-Man. Best villain ever!

    Ultimate Wolvie vs. Hulk is great! Glad you liked it, JT. I still haven't read that "Insane in the Brain" arc. So you guys both liked it, huh?

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  20. HA!!! I only mentioned Stilt-Man because of that top 5 a few weeks back where Marc mentioned him in the best villain category! Marc, your love of Stilt-Man is both inspiring and pretty damn weird! :D

    Wow, so you guys both read and loved Ultimate Wolvie/Hulk? I think I have the first 2 issues(or was it only 1?) before that HUUUUGE delay, and after that I just wasn't interested in the story anymore. I mean 2-3 years is a long time to wait between issues! Hearing this though, I'll have to see if I can get the final issues of the mini.

    I liked Insane in the Brain. It was some uber-creepy stuff. I still say that was the perfect story to read come Halloween night!

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  21. Yeah I really enjoyed it, I lucked out and didn't have to deal with the wait so I could read all six issues in succession and I thought it was excellent, hell I was hooked when Wolvie got ripped in half on the second page!

    That would be a great Halloween story, if only for Chainsaw Charlie! And I don't mean Terry Funk haha.

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  22. Yeah, I'll take a look around the comic shop tomorrow, and if not I'll throw the issues I don't have in one of my CB store shopping carts.

    You know, when I saw Chainsaw Charlie, the first thing that came to my mind was Terry Funk. Was the guy in the story really named that, 'cause if he was I totally missed that!

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  23. Awesome, make sure you also grab those OMIT spidey issues we talked about bro.

    I believe it was, lemme check.... I googled it because I'm too lazy to go look and it was Charlie Chainsaws, eh I was close.

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  24. Damn, I totally forgot... But I'm probably gonna head back to the cb store Sunday since the owner told me I could pick out 20 free comics from one of the back issue boxes. So yeah, I'll def try to keep those comics in mind.

    Yeah, if it was Chainsaw Charlie, I'm sure I'd have caught the Terry Funk thing. Leave it to the E to bring in a guy like Terry Funk, who EVERYBODY knew was Terry Funk, put him under a mask and call him Chainsaw Charlie...

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  25. Wait..... WTF?! Is it because you've already spent enough to put his kids through college? Lol

    Right? Terry Funk, Tracy Smothers, Rob Conway, Charlie Haas, Dustin Runnels, all people who should've had MUCH better gimmicks... And Jerry Lynn, his crowning WWE achievement is being Lightweight champ..... lol

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  26. HA!!! And his grandkids too! :D No, he has this deal where if you pick up your new books on Wednesday, for every 5 new comics(I think)you can pick up a back issue from a certain box. I remember he told me that like when I first started going there, but then I started to forget(once I get my new books in my hands, I forget everything else!), so he was like, "I've been trying to remind my regulars about the free back issue thing." to which I replied, "Well, I have my new books, so I'll come back Sunday!"

    You know, I agree with all of those names you mentioned, except for Golddust. I think Dustin took that character and really made it his own. If Golddust would have debuted during the Attitude era, I think he'd have been WAY more over then he was. The stuff he was doing in 95 would have worked so much better in 99. As for Jerry Lynn, I've got to say he was lucky to even have held that belt! A wrestler of his size, with his lack of mic skills was NEVER going to be over in the E. He wasn't even a spot-monkey, he was just a solid hand in the ring. When he signed with the E, he had to know the best he could hope for was a Light-heavyweight title run, or maybe a 30 second Hardcore title run.

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  27. That's pretty awesome dude, any idea on what you'd like to find or any specific character you're aiming for? I'd gladly take some comics and pay the shipping :D

    Lol @ 30 Seconds. I do agree that Goldust was perfect at his role, I mean he took something most people would've failed at and made it good, my only thing is that dude is talented, he's one of the most solid guys over 40 to never have the belt in the current WWE incarnation, and he can still go. Hell last year he was putting on great matches with Sheamus and won the feud, and four months later Sheamus is WWE Champ. Even Jericho has said on his twitter (I've read, don't have one lol) that he'd love a program with Goldust and he's one of the best guys he's been in the ring with in a while.

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  28. I'm not even sure what's in that back issue box to be honest! It'll prob be spur of the moment. I'll look in there, and if something carches my eye, I'll grab it. Dude, you'll be rolling in the dough soon, you don't need me to send you any free comics! :D

    Yeah, I can still remember when Goldust first debuted, at an In Your House against Marty Janetty I think(hmm, when I was watching that you were probably like 3!), and I was expecting like NOTHING from him. You know, I figured he'e be another Waylon Mercy or Skinner or something, but yeah, he def got some major mileage out of that character. It be nice if they gave Goldust a final curtain call(HA!)and let him hold one of the main belts(it seems everybody else gets to hold it at least once!), but unless he really altered his character again, I just don't see it happening.

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  29. Sounds cool, here's hoping you find something good buddy. And yeah haha, good point. :P

    Lol @ me being three, way to make yourself look like you're up there :P And I'd love for him to get that shot, and be champ, I mean if JBL can do it, anyone should be able to. Hell, look at how quick they changed Swaggger around, and Goldy has so much history he'd be more believable. Ah well, I say when he retires have him train guys, Finlay style. Btw, that curtain call joke was excellent, even if it WAS a coincidence.

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