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Heroes and Enemies
Apr. 2nd, 2010 04:20 pmAs I noted below, Shawn and I spent her birthday shopping. We spotted a HalfPrice Books in Roseville we’d never seen before -- though, according to the clerk, they’ve been there for two and a half years. For us, it was like a mirage appearing in the desert.
Anyway, Shawn checked out the new releases and I headed for comics. I found some Brubaker DAREDEVILs and ran into my friend and fellow writer Bob Subiaga, who was also hunting for cheap, used comics. He and I chatted, and I left with more stuff for me and Mason than for Shawn, alas.
When Shawn went to Kohls to shop for costume jewelry earrings, I sat in the car and read DAREDEVIL:
#84 / “The Devil in Cell-Block D” (part 3)
#85 / “The Devil in Cell-Block D” (part 4)
#86 / “The Devil in Cell-Block D” (part 5)
#87 / “The Devil in Cell-Block D” (finale)
#88 / “The Secret Life of Foggie Nelson”
#89 / “The Devil Takes a Ride” (part 1 of 5)
#105 / “Without Fear” (part 3 of 6)
I was never much of a Daredevil fan in my youth. I think used to perceive Daredevil as somewhat inscrutable (as he points out in one of the above, it’s not *his* thing to fight and talk) and, because he’s always portrayed as a serious loner, he wasn’t much fun to pretend to be when playing superheroes. My cousin and I used to prefer superheroes who were already part of a team (Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four) or gregarious enough to blend into an existing group, ala Spider-Man.
Plus, like Tony Stark/Iron Man, I’m never really sure how “good” Daredevil is. He’s always been out there as a vigilante – which is one of the things that I’ve always disliked about DC’s Batman (who is probably the closest DC analog to Daredevil, or visa versa since Batman came first.) But it’s more than that. I was doing the dishes just now trying to figure out why I have so much trouble sympathizing with Batman and, by extension, Daredevil.
I think you can judge the quality of a hero by his enemies. My favorite heroes fight my favorite villains. My favorite villains are often tragic in some way. Dr. Doom could have been a friend to Mr. Fantastic if only his pride and arrogance hadn’t consumed him so totally (and pride, as you may have guessed, is a sin I’m quite fond of.) Victor von Doom is what Reed Richards could be, but for the grace of god.
Likewise, Magneto is kind of the mutant version of Malcolm X (Professor X being Martin Luther King, Jr.). He wants freedom and equality for mutants, damn the cost (or screw humanity, as the case may be). Yet, often, Magneto makes a compelling argument, which is what makes him interesting to me. Professor X and Magneto are two sides of the same coin. Both want a word with mutant equality, they just have different methods.
The enemies of Daredevil (and the enemies of Batman) scare the crap out of me. Kingpin is a ruthless mob boss; the Joker is insane. If you go with my idea that enemies make the hero, than what does that say about Daredevil or Batman? There but for the grace of god you have a ruthless killer (Daredevil) and an insane megalomaniac (Batman).
You can kind of see it, can’t you?
Despite my deep reservations about Daredevil, I liked what Brubaker did (for the most part “quantum bullets” aside,) with the CAPTAIN AMERICA storyline, so I thought I’d give his DAREDEVIL a try. I enjoyed what I read as a story, but I’m still not terribly sold on Daredevil as a character.
By accident this set of DAREDEVILs and the Straczynski AMAZING SPIDER-MANs that I picked up earlier shared a common theme, which could be summed up in the question: what could make a superhero break (and become a villain)?
Interestingly, both answered basically the same way -- someone you love must die/or be dying.
For Daredevil, it’s his long-time law partner/bromance Foggie Nelson, who gets “shanked” while visiting Matt Murdock in prison. To be fair, Foggie’s apparent death is, for Matt, likely just the final the nail in the coffin. Getting sent to Riker’s Island is probably just as difficult, especially given that even without people knowing/suspecting that he’s Daredevil, as a lawyer, he helped put a lot of the inmates there in the first place.
Just as I suspected, in the darkness, Daredevil’s true character comes out, and I don’t like him. Over the course of the six part arc, we watch Matt slip closer and closer to becoming a cold-hearted, ruthless killer. It takes a wake-up call from the Punisher (of all people!) to shake him out of an unholy alliance with Kingpin _and_ Bullseye.
If I were more of a Daredevil fan, I’d appreciate this look into Matthew Murdock’s soul. But I’ve known it was dark and twisted there since reading the “Saints and Sinners” storyline back in the 90s (or 80s… whenever that was.)
I think I found Spider-Man’s struggles/descent into madness/criminal behavior more interesting simply because I like Peter Parker better. However, I can’t say it’s because his villains are favorites, though it’s notable that Doc Ock is a messed up, brilliant scientist and Peter certainly could have gone down that road. It’s actually kind of hard to point to just one darker version/antithesis of Spider-Man. His enemies are Legion, as it were. Perhaps his most persistent villain is the Green Goblin, and that wouldn’t say anything particularly nice about Petey – except, perhaps, that any evil he does, he does without knowing and that basically, at heart, he’s a good guy.
Okay, maybe it says a LOT.
Both the Green Goblin and Spider-Man have “daddy issues,” both making them essentially who they are. I can actually sympathize with Green Goblin when he’s Ozzy Osbourne (or even his father.) So my theory holds.
And yet no one has invited me to attend ComicCon; what’s up with that? *teasing*
Anyway, Shawn checked out the new releases and I headed for comics. I found some Brubaker DAREDEVILs and ran into my friend and fellow writer Bob Subiaga, who was also hunting for cheap, used comics. He and I chatted, and I left with more stuff for me and Mason than for Shawn, alas.
When Shawn went to Kohls to shop for costume jewelry earrings, I sat in the car and read DAREDEVIL:
#84 / “The Devil in Cell-Block D” (part 3)
#85 / “The Devil in Cell-Block D” (part 4)
#86 / “The Devil in Cell-Block D” (part 5)
#87 / “The Devil in Cell-Block D” (finale)
#88 / “The Secret Life of Foggie Nelson”
#89 / “The Devil Takes a Ride” (part 1 of 5)
#105 / “Without Fear” (part 3 of 6)
I was never much of a Daredevil fan in my youth. I think used to perceive Daredevil as somewhat inscrutable (as he points out in one of the above, it’s not *his* thing to fight and talk) and, because he’s always portrayed as a serious loner, he wasn’t much fun to pretend to be when playing superheroes. My cousin and I used to prefer superheroes who were already part of a team (Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four) or gregarious enough to blend into an existing group, ala Spider-Man.
Plus, like Tony Stark/Iron Man, I’m never really sure how “good” Daredevil is. He’s always been out there as a vigilante – which is one of the things that I’ve always disliked about DC’s Batman (who is probably the closest DC analog to Daredevil, or visa versa since Batman came first.) But it’s more than that. I was doing the dishes just now trying to figure out why I have so much trouble sympathizing with Batman and, by extension, Daredevil.
I think you can judge the quality of a hero by his enemies. My favorite heroes fight my favorite villains. My favorite villains are often tragic in some way. Dr. Doom could have been a friend to Mr. Fantastic if only his pride and arrogance hadn’t consumed him so totally (and pride, as you may have guessed, is a sin I’m quite fond of.) Victor von Doom is what Reed Richards could be, but for the grace of god.
Likewise, Magneto is kind of the mutant version of Malcolm X (Professor X being Martin Luther King, Jr.). He wants freedom and equality for mutants, damn the cost (or screw humanity, as the case may be). Yet, often, Magneto makes a compelling argument, which is what makes him interesting to me. Professor X and Magneto are two sides of the same coin. Both want a word with mutant equality, they just have different methods.
The enemies of Daredevil (and the enemies of Batman) scare the crap out of me. Kingpin is a ruthless mob boss; the Joker is insane. If you go with my idea that enemies make the hero, than what does that say about Daredevil or Batman? There but for the grace of god you have a ruthless killer (Daredevil) and an insane megalomaniac (Batman).
You can kind of see it, can’t you?
Despite my deep reservations about Daredevil, I liked what Brubaker did (for the most part “quantum bullets” aside,) with the CAPTAIN AMERICA storyline, so I thought I’d give his DAREDEVIL a try. I enjoyed what I read as a story, but I’m still not terribly sold on Daredevil as a character.
By accident this set of DAREDEVILs and the Straczynski AMAZING SPIDER-MANs that I picked up earlier shared a common theme, which could be summed up in the question: what could make a superhero break (and become a villain)?
Interestingly, both answered basically the same way -- someone you love must die/or be dying.
For Daredevil, it’s his long-time law partner/bromance Foggie Nelson, who gets “shanked” while visiting Matt Murdock in prison. To be fair, Foggie’s apparent death is, for Matt, likely just the final the nail in the coffin. Getting sent to Riker’s Island is probably just as difficult, especially given that even without people knowing/suspecting that he’s Daredevil, as a lawyer, he helped put a lot of the inmates there in the first place.
Just as I suspected, in the darkness, Daredevil’s true character comes out, and I don’t like him. Over the course of the six part arc, we watch Matt slip closer and closer to becoming a cold-hearted, ruthless killer. It takes a wake-up call from the Punisher (of all people!) to shake him out of an unholy alliance with Kingpin _and_ Bullseye.
If I were more of a Daredevil fan, I’d appreciate this look into Matthew Murdock’s soul. But I’ve known it was dark and twisted there since reading the “Saints and Sinners” storyline back in the 90s (or 80s… whenever that was.)
I think I found Spider-Man’s struggles/descent into madness/criminal behavior more interesting simply because I like Peter Parker better. However, I can’t say it’s because his villains are favorites, though it’s notable that Doc Ock is a messed up, brilliant scientist and Peter certainly could have gone down that road. It’s actually kind of hard to point to just one darker version/antithesis of Spider-Man. His enemies are Legion, as it were. Perhaps his most persistent villain is the Green Goblin, and that wouldn’t say anything particularly nice about Petey – except, perhaps, that any evil he does, he does without knowing and that basically, at heart, he’s a good guy.
Okay, maybe it says a LOT.
Both the Green Goblin and Spider-Man have “daddy issues,” both making them essentially who they are. I can actually sympathize with Green Goblin when he’s Ozzy Osbourne (or even his father.) So my theory holds.
And yet no one has invited me to attend ComicCon; what’s up with that? *teasing*