Daredevil Vol. 4: Underboss [Paperback]

Brian Michael Bendis (Author), Alex Maleev (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Daredevil; The Devil Inside and Out | Publication Date: September 16, 2002

Cover by alex maleev. brian michael bendis (w)/alex maleev (p and i). Who put out a hit on the Kingpin.. and Matt Murdock? The mystery man named Mr. Silke has inspired Wilson Fisk's lieutenants to rise up and take down the Kingpin of Crime! What is the connection between the underbosses' uprising and the contract on DD's life? The true-crime creative team of Brian Michael Bendis (Powers, ALIAS) and Alex Maleev (Sam and Twitch) reveal all! This 144-page trade paperback collects DAREDEVIL #26 - #31! 144-page trade paperback.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Marvel Comics (September 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785110240
• ISBN-13: 978-0785110248
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #608,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Godfather Meets Memento with a DD spin!, December 15, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Daredevil Vol. 4: Underboss (Paperback)

Using five minutes before, a week before inverse chronological style that made Memento such a heady pschological thriller, this collected storyline packs plenty of punches and twists, I had to go back three times while reading Underboss to see if indeed twists were hinted at. The gangland language is awesome or rather goombahrific, and the Kingpin as Julius Ceasar angle(though you know that Kingpin can't be killed off that easy, right ;) all makes for an entertaining read. My one qualm is the "silent" issue, where its all pics and no words(a string of these ran through all the Marvel Universe titles at the time) while still engaging, it was a let down compared to the rest of the stories since the dialogue in this book is so good. Bendis does a superb job fleshing out all the supporting DD characers like Ben Urich, Foggy and Kingpin's son and wife.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bendis and Maleev excel., March 27, 2003

By 

D. Sippel "Rocker" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Daredevil Vol. 4: Underboss (Paperback)

I was never a huge Daredevil fan, for no reason in particular. With the recent attention from the feature film, and my appreciation for the writing of Brian Michael Bendis, I enthusiastically dove right into "Underboss". Bendis is remarkable, bringing the reader right in with Daredevil/Matt Murdock's thoughts and feelings. Maleev's art is perfect for the portrayal of the darkness and seedier side of Hell's Kitchen. The city lives and breathes around us as we follow Matt through his trials and tribulations.

As much as I enjoy traditional superhero stories, I'm even more impressed with Bendis' intention of making sure the reader knows all about the man behind the mask. By making us aware of Dardevil's internal struggles and imperfections, I was identifying and empathizing with him all the way. After a certain point, some costumed crusaders can lose the reader by being too invinceable, too invulnerable, too perfect. Matt Murdock is a human being, whether he's in costume or not.

Bendis and Maleev also give us a well developed plot and a diverse cast of supporting characters. It's easy to envision "Underboss" as a gripping thriller of a movie, or a page turner of a novel. Congratulations to Bendis and Maleev for giving us such enjoyable reading. I look forward to reading the next collection.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant start to the Bendis/Maleev run on Daredevil, February 10, 2008

By 

Vasconcelos Crisogono (Zurich, Switzerland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Daredevil Vol. 4: Underboss (Paperback)

Underboss is Bendis at his best. Here he writes grounded and realistic crime stories, even though the main character (to a certain extent) is a blind man in tights.

Underboss introduces Silke, a new player in the crime underworld, that will have a significant impact in Murdock's life by the time this story arc is over. Silke is a very interresting character, I only hope Bendis picks up on his storyline in the next arcs. The plot starts with Silke and some of the Kingpin's men betraying the blind Wilson Fisk Caesar style, while a reward is being offered to the man who kills Matt Murdock. What unfolds from the two plot lines is great and makes the reader want to read the whole thin in one go, I admit wanting to put it down, but not being able to.

Bendis makes this a realistic crime story, which is ultimately about betrayal. He focuses on Silke, Murdock, the death of Wilson Fisk and also has Vanessa Fisk playing a significant part in the story. Bendis writes some of the best dialogue in the industry, and his style of talking heads once again help the story a lot, since its mostly moved by dialogue. Bendis also jumps around a lot in time to tell this story and it works well, never leaving the reader confusued.

The art by Maleev is very good, his layouts are great and his pencils give the book a perfectly suited Noir feel. His storytelling abilities are great as well, as his drawings are never ambiguous, always sending a clear message of what is happening, this is mostly evident in the 'Nuff Said' issue, where there is no dialogue, even without Bendis' biggest device to move plots is not present, Maleev still manages to make the story interresting even though the plot doesnt move forward too much, it still shows the consequences of having a price on your head, as well as teasing the return of Bullseye in the latter volumes of the series.

"Daredevil: Underboss", is not your average superhero book, its an extremely compelling story, which will most definately leave you wanting more when its done, and trust me when I say, the next volume is even better.