Comic Book Review: Daredevil #96

The Revolution thought that last issue of Daredevil laid the foundation for what has the potential to be a pretty good story arc. Daredevil has lost a bit of its intensity ever since Matt Murdock got his name cleared, his law firm back and resumed his relationship with Mila. Hopefully, Brubaker has some more drama in store for ol’ hornhead. I expect Daredevil #96 to be a solid read. Let’s do this review.

Creative Team
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artists: Michael Lark & Stefano Gaudiano

Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with Matt and Becky talking with the prosecutor. The prosecutor says that Mevlin is going to be transferred back to Ryker’s. That Melvin does not have a mental illness. Matt demands a pscyh evaluation to be scheduled tomorrow for Melvin before he is taken to Ryker’s.

Matt and Becky leave the prosecutor’s office. Matt tells Becky that Melvin is guilty. That if Melvin has developed an even more dangerous personality disorder then there is not much they can do. Becky asks Matt what if Melvin is telling the truth and that he is being set up.

We cut to Daredevil on patrol that night. Daredevil takes down a mugger. While on patrol Daredevil thinks about that maybe Matt and Becky are being played. Or maybe Melvin had found a whole new level of crazy. Daredevil thinks how Melvin’s pulse and voice showed that he was scared like a little kid in the dark.

Daredevil wonders if Melvin was scared of himself or if there is another angle he is not considering. Is there someone who is an enemy of Melvin and can walk through walls or turn invisible. Daredevil’s gut tells him that Becky is wrong and that Melvin is guilty.

We shift to the next day with Melvin undergoing his psyche evaluation. The psychologist then reports her findings to the prosecutor, Matt and Becky. The psychologist says that Melvin is not mentally ill. That he is faking it. That he is guilty and he knows it. That Melvin is venting his anger about being imprisoned and persecuted.

The prosecutor offers Matt and Becky a deal on Melvin. That Melvin please to four counts of first degree manslaughter and serves fifteen years. Matt and Becky leave. Matt tells Becky that they should take the deal. That Melvin does know he committed these crimes. Matt doesn’t know why he did, but Melvin did do it. Matt says Melvin is guilty and fifteen years is a good deal.

We cut to Milla in the waiting room for psychiatrist Lyman Johnstone. Another patient waiting to see the doctor tells Milla how he is keeping his visits a secret from his wife. That he is probably being silly and underestimating her. He asks Milla what she thinks.

We zip forward to Milla coming home that night. She calls out for Matt. There is a phone message from Matt telling Milla that he has to work late on the Melvin case and for her to have a good night. Milla is upset since she wanted to talk to Matt.

We cut to Daredevil kicking ass on a bunch of thugs. Daredevil thinks how maybe Melvin isn’t being framed. That maybe he is being manipulated against his will. Maybe that is why Mevlin is so scared. Because he knows he is being set up, but he can’t do anything about it.

We see Melvin being placed in an armored prison transport van and being taken back to Ryker’s. Daredevil decides to shadow the prison van. Suddenly, two cars of thugs pull up to the prison van and kill the driver. The van wrecks. Daredevil starts brawling with the thugs. Two of the thugs blow the back of the van open and free Melvin. Melvin mutters that it is happening. But not like they promised. They lie. They always lie.

Melvin steps out of the van. Melvin starts screaming “Liars!” and begins killing the thugs. Melvin then starts pounding away on Daredevil yelling that Daredevil has always hated him. That Daredevil is a liar, too. Melvin says that he hates everyone and that they are all going to pay. Melvin then runs off.

We shift to the next morning. Matt arrives at his office and tells Foggy that Melvin escaped. Suddenly, there is a visitor at the law firm. It is Lily Lucca. Matt asks Lily what the hell she is going at his office. Matt tells Lily to leave immediately. Lilly pleads with Matt that she needs his help. That she is in trouble.

We cut to Melvin talking through the swerves and arriving at a secret hideout where his Gladiator outfit is located. Melvin mumbles that he must remember who his friends are and remember the way. To remember the Gladiator. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Daredevil #96 was another solid read. Brubaker continues to crank out dependable and consistently good reads on this title. This issue wasn’t spectacular or anything special, but it is vintage Brubaker. Right now Brubaker is trying to build his next major story arc.

Brubaker just finished stunning the readers with the monster story arc with Matt in Ryker’s and then Matt in Europe trying to discover who was behind all the efforts to frame him. Now, it is only natural for Daredevil to seem a bit anti-climactic and lackluster. Brubaker’s first to big story arcs were amazing and are going to be tough to top.

However, I believe that if anyone can do it that Brubaker can. Brubaker typically takes his time setting up his story arcs. He is an extremely patient writer and enjoys employing a measured and steady pace to slide all of the pieces of the mystery into place before the real fireworks begin. That is what we have gotten in Daredevil #95 and #96.

The plotline involving Melvin is really starting to heat up. Melvin is an interesting character. He certainly isn’t your typical villain. I have always found his unusual relationship with Matt rather interesting. Melvin is a man-child that the reader genuinely can sympathize with.

Brubaker is doing a great job crafting a bizarre mystery with Melvin. Clearly, there is someone controlling Melvin by some strange manner. Could it be mind control? Could it be something more magical or mystical in nature? It definitely should be interesting to find out who is behind the manipulation of Melvin, how they are doing it and why.

Brubaker does a nice job handling Melvin’s gradual descent into madness and violence. The Melvin that we get at the end of Daredevil #96 is a stark contrast to the normal version of Melvin we usually see. Melvin completely snaps in an obscenity laced rage as he destroys everyone in his path. Brubaker excels at character work and the complete breakdown that Melvin is having is a good example of this strong character work.

The Milla plotline is beginning to get a bit more interesting. Clearly, Milla has issues stemming from her relationship with Matt. I’m curious to see why exactly Milla has to undergo therapy. Personally, I would be thrilled if Brubaker was positioning Milla to be written off of this title. I still find Milla to be terribly boring and uninteresting.

And Brubaker, with his excellent long term vision and plotting, mixes in yet another plotline with the appearance of Lilly. We all know that Lilly is the epitome of the lying, deceitful and manipulating bitch. Whatever Lilly is up it can’t be anything good. But, what makes her character so great is that you want to scream at the comic book and yell at Matt to not trust her.

Of course, Matt will somehow get suckered by Lilly because Matt always gets played for the chump by a pretty face. If you are a woman, you can probably manipulate Matt. And will Lilly’s appearance stir up some tension between Milla and Matt? Probably. At any rate, I am very interested to see what Lilly is up to and what mess she is going to drag Matt into.

As always, Brubaker delivers well crafted dialogue. Brubaker is a master of very realistic dialogue that posses a nice flow. Each character has their own well defined external voice. And this fine dialogue leads to great character work. Brubaker is the type of writer that isn’t afraid to deliver a slower paced issue with minimal action and plenty of strong character work. Each character in Daredevil is pleasantly well developed.

The Bad: At this point, I have to admit that this current story arc isn’t as exiting as the last story arc involving Matt over in Europe. And this issue and the last issue were a bit slow. Lastly, I still can’t stomach Milla. Milla and Echo were pretty much the only two things that Bendis did on his run on Daredevil that I didn’t like.

Overall: Daredevil #96 is a steady and technically sound read. Brubaker is constructing an interesting mystery. Brubaker’s Daredevil is a wonderful crime noir themed story. Daredevil is an excellent change of pace to all the universe spanning, time traveling, alternate reality hopping and universe shattering stories that you get on so many of the top titles on the market. I dig a street based urban hero with a more “realistic” fell that is based in the here and now. I definitely recommend giving Daredevil a try.