Devil vs. Devil
Daredevil #22
Matt Murdock is out of a job and running out of money. Even worse, it’s rumored that he’s gone completely insane — he hasn’t, but that doesn’t stop Spider-Man from coming after him. But this isn’t the Peter Parker we’re familiar with — this is the Superior Spider-Man — Dr. Octopus in Spidey’s body, trying to be a hero and feed his own supervillain ego at the same time. Daredevil suspects something’s funky — Spidey’s not making with his trademark wisecracks. But before they can get into a serious fight, they discover that Stilt-Man is in town and preparing to rob a helicopter. And Stilt-Man has made some upgrades — to Spidey’s fury, he’s used some of Doc Ock’s technology to improve the reach, flexibility, and strength of his legs and his arms. Can Daredevil stop Stilt-Man, make nice with Spider-Man, and get his old job back? And what’s the dire secret Foggy Nelson is hiding?
Verdict: Thumbs up. Good story, good art, excellent action and characterization, and some amazing drama at the end. I think this “Superior Spider-Man” nonsense is entirely garbage — part of the “any stunt for a sale” mentality that’s plagued comics for the last decade or two. But Waid sells it just fine while still giving Daredevil all the space he needs keep his starring role in the comic.
Ame-Comi Girls Featuring Power Girl #4
We get our introduction to the Ame-Comi version of Power Girl, who nicely fuses Superman’s “most powerful hero in the world” status and heroic attitude with Karen Starr’s entrepreneurship and public relations savvy. After rescuing Jimmy Olsen from pirates, she’s giving a product demonstration at her futuristic megacorp when she’s attacked by a mysterious armored figure who’s almost certainly a female Lex Luthor and a bunch of underlings wearing Silver Banshee powered armor. Can Power Girl survive Luthor and the Silver Banshee’s high-powered attacks? Who’s in the rocketship that just crashed at the Kent farm in Kansas? And why do the Manhunter robots want her so bad?
Verdict: Thumbs up. Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray wrote the best Power Girl series ever, so I’m not at all surprised that I enjoyed this. But what is surprising is how much this version of PeeGee differs from the one in her self-titled series. I love the way her personality takes a dash of Superman’s “I just want to help everyone” spirit, a pinch of Booster Gold’s “I just want to sell products” ethos, and turns it into a unique “I just want to help everyone by selling them products” attitude. It’s a very fun twist on her personality. On top of that, there’s plenty of action and humor. The art is a little bit funky, but it actually seems to match up pretty well with the style of the Ame-Comi statuettes that inspired the series.
Today’s Cool Links:
- Here’s an essay on Superman as a populist hero vs. his own aristocratic origins.
- Patton Oswalt writes a “Karate Kid” postscript that flashes forward into a completely different movie.
- Fox just tried to steal from the worst possible target — Jonathan Coulton, the Internet’s favorite musician.
- A cat encounters snow for the first time.