Shadowland #1: Writer: Andy Diggle. Pencils: Billy Tan.
Review: We open with a few mystics from the Hand talking about allowing Matt Murdock to do something that would corrupt him, so that they could awaken their master and he could destroy the world of man... Okay than... The scene then shifts to a cargo plane that was carrying Bullseye to the Raft prison in New York. Bullseye tricks the guards, gets free and manages to kill them all, taking the plane to Hell's Kitchen in order to find his old enemy Daredevil. At Avengers Tower, Luke Cage and Iron Fist discuss the Daredevil situation with the Avengers. The Avengers explain that they're willing to give DD his space and allow him to help the people in Hell's Kitchen in his own way, but the moment he steps over the line, they'll be there. After hearing that, Iron Fist and Cage decide to go and speak to DD about some of the more unsavory things they'd been hearing were going on in the Kitchen. Bullseye makes his way to the Kitchen, and spots the huge Hand castle that DD had erected on the ruins of the tenement building Bullseye destroyed, killing 107 innocent civilians in the process. DD and a battalion of Hand ninjas show up and DD sends his minions after Bullseye. Bullseye makes a break for it, running to the Javits Convention Center, where he figured there'd be plenty of cameras to catch him in action. Bullseye stands his ground and begins to ravage the ninjas, killing several of them before DD calls off his dogs and attacks Bullseye himself. After an brilliant fight scene between the two arch-foes, DD manages to dislocate BOTH of Bullseye's shoulders, leaving him on his knees and completely helpless. By this time Luke Cage and Iron Fist had made their way to the scene of the battle, and they arrive just in time to see DD drive a sai straight through the chest of Bullseye(!!!!), ending this issue.
What I Thought: Now THIS is the way to kick off a mini-series!!! This was absolutely perfect. I don't have a single thing to complain about. The fight scene between Bullseye and the Hand ninjas was great, but the fight between DD and Bullseye was AMAZING! And the ending! What poetic justice! DD doing Bullseye in, in the EXACT same manner as Bullseye originally killed Elektra was magnificent! The only question I have is, is Marvel going to wimp out here or not? So DD stabbed Bullseye straight through the chest... Are they going to let Bullseye die, or will Iron Fist and Cage manage to get him to a hospital in time? I personally hope that the death stands, because Matt has had cause to kill Bullseye for SO long now, plus his stepping over the line fully should lend itself to a much better/more interesting story. I CAN'T wait for the rest of this mini to come out!
Score: 10 out of 10This is my current Windows Desktop picture.He may be a totally evil remorseless killer, but you've got to admit, Bullseye seems like a pretty funny guy!This scan will probably end up being my desktop picture eventually! Yeah, I liked this comic SO much I posted THREE scans from it!
Wow this sounds like a damn good issue. Lol, I think you are turning me over to the Marvel side sir. Because DC is TRULY eff'ing up. Big time. Maybe you'll win that bet after all. I may have to pick this up this weekend.
ReplyDeleteGreat review by the way. I'm glad you're finding something else interesting and actually good to add to your reading.:D
Have to agree with Falisha, I'm loving all the Marvel reviews lately. Anyway, I sincerely doubt this series will result in Daredevil turning into a straight-up bad guy like some people seem to think, but if they follow through on the ending for the first issue I think it could lead to a pretty interesting temporary direction for the character.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've got to say, Marvel is DEFINITELY bringing it lately. Whereas DC has fallen apart(to me anyway)after Blackest Night, Marvel is pumping out some of their best work in years since Siege... I honestly never expected that to happen!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can't see DD turning fully to the Dark Side Marc, but if nothing else they've definitely managed to spruce up the character a bit. I mean, I'm a DD fan, but when a normal comic fan thinks of the top 5 to 10 Marvel Characters, I kind of doubt DD makes that list. Maybe this is the direction the character needs to go in order to get some notoriety. Plus I'm really loving the new duds. I liked DD's red costume, but the current black one is awesome!
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ReplyDeleteI Finally read this and it was AMAZING. Dude I loved this issue so much, I also read the follow-up in DareDevil. I also love the new costume, it's so awesome in terms of making him look the part. I think at the end it'll all have been some big Batman-like plan by Matt, but we'll see.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Glad you liked it JT! Yeah, this comic was that damn good! DD is a subscription title, so I'm still waiting on my copy... Grr...
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with you, about DD having some huge master plan, but no matter what, stabbing Bullseye like that was a much darker action then Matt's ever done before. I can't wait to see how he explains THAT away!
I bet it's he stabbed him in a non-fatal way, or Bullseye is in on it. Bullseye showed earlier he knows how to stop his heart, I feel like they wouldn't say that if there weren't a reason, ya know?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I just CAN'T see Matt crossing that line... Although if ANYBODY deserves to die at Matt's hand, and ESPECIALLY in the manner shown here, it's DEFINITELY Bullseye. But yeah, I get the feeling that it'll turn out that Matt stabbed him in a non-fatal way, although it sure as hell didn't look non-fatal to me!
ReplyDeleteI might well have ta pick up this issue next time I'm in a comic shop. Not sure when that will be then. Might be Sunday, might be in a month, might be before then. Who knows, cause I don't :D
ReplyDeleteAny others that might well be awesome? Andy Diggle is always good, and the preview I read in some of the Marvel comics looked good, so yeah, seems ta be one to add to the pile, even though I'm not a Daredevil fan.
On a sort of related note, did anyone read Doomwar?