Comic Book Review: Daredevil #98

This current Gladiator story arc has certainly been solid; however it has certainly been the weakest story arc that Brubaker has given us on Daredevil. And that is understandable considering Brubaker just wrapped up a monster story arc. Taking some time to let the reader catch their break is necessary. I am sure that Daredevil #98 will be a good read like Brubaker normally delivers. Let’s hit 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 Turk telling another thug that Turk has got the boys out making the deliveries all over the Kitchen. Turk asks what the drugs are that they are passing out. The other thug says Turk should be asking those questions. That the boss want them passing out his crazy dope like it was candy for all ex-cons. Turk then mentions that the other thing is going down right now. The thug says the boss was already there. And the thing is that Matt Murdock doesn’t even know that this is the beginning.

We cut to Melvin at Matt’s house. Melvin smacks around Milla a bit.

We cut to Daredevil handcuffed and in the back of a police car. Daredevil kicks out the door of the car and jumps out onto the street. The cops get out of their cars and fire their guns at Daredevil. Daredevil manages to avoid getting shot, takes the key to the handcuffs from the cop who had arrested him and then Daredevil makes a clean getaway.

Daredevil race to his house. On the way he thinks of all his former girlfriends who have been killed. Daredevil arrives at his house and finds that Melvin is gone and has taken Milla with him. Daredevil goes to the roof and uses his radar to try and track down Milla.

We shift to Melvin and Milla on a rooftop. Milla tries to talk and reason with Melvin by telling him that he is not acting himself. Melvin gets angry and tells Milla to shut up. Melvin dangles Milla over the edge of the roof and tells her to scream out for Matt.

Daredevil arrives on the rooftop and tells Melvin to put Milla down. Melvin then lets go of Milla and she begins falling to the ground. Daredevil dives over the edge after Mill and managed to grab her and use his cable to swing them into a room down several floors from the rooftop of the building.

Milla tells Daredevil that she is all right. Daredevil then feels the floor shaking and hears Melvin coming. Melvin then busts through the wall. Melvin and Daredevil lock horns and start beating the hell out of each other. Matt gets the upper hand and starts beating on Melvin. Milla tells Matt to stop. That it isn’t Melvin’s fault.

Matt then stops and asks Melvin what is wrong with him. Melvin then says that he doesn’t know what is going on. That something is wrong with his head. That it is not him. Melvin goes to run and jump out the window to kill himself. Matt gets Melvin in a submission hold and knocks him out.

We cut to a clerk at a convenience store watching the news. The news report says that the Gladiator has been captured and is back in high security lockdown in Bellevue. Two thugs walk into the convenience store and shoot the clerk and steal the money. One of the thugs says that there are two more stores around the corner and he still has lots of bullets. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Daredevil #98 was a solid read. Brubaker delivered a nicely paced issue. Brubaker manages to create a panicky feel to the story in order to build up plenty of tension in the reader as we watch to see if Daredevil can save Milla. There is a nice sense of dread as the reader knows full well that Daredevil is going to arrive at his brownstone too late to stop Gladiator from getting Milla. Even near the end, I was expecting Daredevil to fail to catch Milla as she fell off the building. That is a good job by Brubaker of getting the reader to buy into the sense of panic that Daredevil was experiencing during this issue.

Daredevil #98 was well plotted as we slowly build to something large than just Melvin going insane. Clearly, the Gladiator plotline plays into a much large storyline involving this mysterious “boss” who is flooding the streets of Hell’s Kitchen with some new type of drug. Evidently, this drug has a very powerful effect on the ex-cons who are given it.

I’m really curious to find out who this mysterious boss is. With Kingpin out of the picture, it really opens things up for Brubaker to be more creative in who will be the villain behind this newest threat to Hell’s Kitchen.

I’m also interested to learn more about the master plan of this mysterious boss. Just what is he trying to achieve behind pumping the ex-cons in Hell’s Kitchen full of a very powerful drug? Is he trying to create such a massive amount of chaos simply in order to distract Daredevil from the Boss’ true goal? Brubaker is a master at the crime mystery and it should be fun watching this storyline unfold.

I dig how Brubaker has handled Melvin’s character. Despite the horribly rampage that Melvin went on in the last issue, the reader still feel sorry for Melvin. Melvin is a terribly tragic villain that the reader can sympathize with. Brubaker shows us at the end that Melvin isn’t an evil man and clearly didn’t go on this rampage of his own free will. Melvin’s attempted suicide shows how truly horrified Melvin is over the acts he committed in the past issue.

I’m interested to learn the connection between Melvin and this mysterious boss. Somehow, Melvin is being subject to some type of mind control.

I also dig the edge that Brubaker has given Matt ever since he went to jail. Daredevil definitely has more of an animalistic and violent side than before and doesn’t mind cutting loose on a villain when he has to. The reader is left to wonder if Milla wasn’t present during the fight if Daredevil would have actually killed Melvin in a fit of rage.

Brubaker makes Daredevil #98 a well balanced issue as we got plenty of action. The first between Daredevil and Gladiator was rather enjoyable. At the same time, Brubaker still gave us plenty of his trademark quality dialogue. All of the characters on this title are so well developed and work nicely together.

Lark and Gaudiano create some good artwork on Daredevil #98. While Lark and Gaudiano’s style of art is certainly not my favorite, I think their art is perfect for a title like Daredevil. Their style of art is a great match for the dark, gritty and grim tone of this title. I loved the one page splash shot of Daredevil in the New York skyline with the scenes of his previous girlfriends’ deaths above him in the sky.

The Bad: I was really hoping that Gladiator was going to kill Milla. I think that would have made this issue far more interesting. Plus, it would have gotten rid of a deathly boring character. Milla was pretty much the only part of Bendis’ run on Daredevil that was a total miss with me. If I had to pick a color to describe Milla’s personality it would be beige. She is just a terribly lackluster and dull character that adds absolutely nothing to this title.

Overall: Daredevil #98 was another solid read. Brubaker is employing his usual steady and measured style of storytelling to gradually build to a much large and interesting storyline. Daredevil may not always be an incredible read, but it is very rarely a poor read. Daredevil is certainly one of Marvel’s most dependable titles on the market.