Customer Reviews

Daredevil Vol. 7: Hardcore

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Spoiler Alert
The reason why so many traditional comic book readers hates Bendis is because he is not a traditonal comic book writer. He will not give you stale stories of where the good guys beat the bad guys and they always come back, where the status quo never changes. But Bendis doens't change the status of the characters just for increased salesr such as the death of superman . All his change creates a great story. Volume 7 is about Daredevil being truly hardcore. He has had enough loss in his life and he will take control of his destiny in just one volume. There are no more epic struggles between the good guy and the bad guy. This is it: Daredevil is making his stand. In Volume 7, he takes out his greatest enemies which include typhoid Mary, Bullseyes, and the Kingpin. But rather giving them the chance to reinstigate the fight in the future, he makes his declaration to his enemies. He psychologically analyzes Bulls-Eye during their battle and scars him physically. He beats the Kingpin into submission and throws his carcass in front of Hell's Kitchen seedier citizen. He proclaims that he is the devil and Hell's Kitchen is his kingdom.

Bendis once again continues to tell compelling stories while making our hero's life a living hell! As if being a lawyer and costumed vigilante wasn't enough, Matt Murdock is trying live a (semi) normal life while romancing a new girlfriend and dodging reporters who keep hounding him about being Daredevil. If that wasn't enough, Wilson Fisk reemerges in New York to reclaim his title as Kingpin of crime. To help him achieve that goal, he enlists the help of Bullseye and Matt's psycho ex-girlfriend, Typhoid Mary! Included in this volume is issue #50 which features a slugfest between Daredevil and the Kingpin, and has guest pencils by many former Daredevil artists, including John Romita Sr. and Gene Colan! If that wasn't enought, wait until the final two pages, which feature another shocking turn for the Man Without Fear!

I never found Daredevil interesting and as i stated in another review, if asked two months ago who my least favorite character was i would've said Daredevil. After falling in love with Ed Brubaker's run on Captain America i decided to check out his run on Daredevil, but all my friends and my local comic shop owner told me that i really need to start with Hardcore and the stories after that first so even though i wasn't a big Bendis fan i gave it a shot and now i'm really glad i did.
I won't spoil anything for those who haven't read this book, but i'll say one of the highlights for me was the DD and Bullseye fight and of course the jaw dropping ending. This was the first Daredevil story i've read and now that i've read a few more volumes i can definitely say that this is the perfect book to start with if you're new to DD and thinking about checking it out. I was never bored reading this and like i said i never found Daredevil the least bit interesting, but now he's one of my favorite characters and he's just as interesting as Matt Murdock than he is as Daredevil.

While being a big fan of Frank Miller's run on Daredevil. When friends ask me why I love Daredevil so much, I always start them with Kevin Smith's story and have them read through Bendis's run. I think this is story telling at its best and the greatest part of the whole run is Hardcore. In this collection the long simmering feud between both Bullseye and the Kingpin in are resolved in very memorable (and brutal) ways. This collection is a huge turning point for the character and should be read at the earliest opportunity by anyone interested in a comic that is both gritty and well written.

I understand why many comic book lovers hate Bendis. He writes too much dialogue, forcing artists to draw repetitive pictures of characters just standing there talking. I like it and I think it fits the now-older Daredevil who probably needs to take things a little slower and smarter, but I understand your complaint.

This book is a little different. Daredevil finally gets to stop talking and start kicking butt. There is a wonderful fight in this book between DD and Bullseye that has a great splash page and some snappy effective dialogue. He also takes out the Kingpin and shows his dark side. Along with "Out," this is one of my favorites of the Bendis run.

This five part storyline is even more solid proof that Brian Michael Bendis is a modern day visionary. Not since Frank Miller has anyone painted a more gritty, realistic portrait of the Man Without Fear. The last part of Bendis' long time run on the Daredevil series, Hardcore finds the blind vigilante even more popular with the people of Hell's Kitchen now that his identity has been outed, and this story contains some of the most memorable scenes and moments to happen in the pages of Daredevil in quite some time. After dueling with The Owl, we see our hero being attempted to stay at bay by Wilson Fisk who is trying to reclaim his mantle as the Kingpin of crime. Daredevil has a run in with Typhoid Mary, followed by one of the most violent and memorable fights with Bullseye that must be seen to be believed. The final battle with the Kingpin seals up this package, the conclusion of which for now (I should say forever, but this is the Marvel Universe after all) changes Daredevil forever. Bendis' knack for gritty storytelling is at his best, while the art by Alex Maleev is superb as always. Appearances by Luke Cage and Jessica Jones (from Bendis' other series Alias, no, not the TV show either) are featured here as well, and this storyline is a fine swan song for Bendis and Maleev.

Let me explain where I'm coming from. I hate pretty much all post-Torso Brian Michael Bendis work, particularly his Marvel stuff. I think Ultimate Spider-Man was complete idiot fluff and that Alias was one of the least-shocking shocking books ever put out. I don't understand nor buy into the hype of Mr. Bendis's work, regardless of what Wizard tells nerds they're supposed to think.
Now, here's where I got mad. I kept hearing buzz about his Dare Devil run and picked up my first TPB with the excuse that I was checking out Alex Maleev's incredible artwork. Maleev's artwork is incredible but saddly it was a double whammy; Bendis's story was great.
I now own the three TPB's that lead up to Hardcore (Underboss, Out, and Lowlife) and have told everyone I know, much to my chagrin over Mr. Bendis, to read them. In fact, if your reading this and don't own them, buy them right now. They are one of the few solid crime-yarns out today, regardless of format, and pay proper homage to the rich heritage of the Dare Devil books.
I fell in love with them and was foaming at the mouth over the inevitable conclusion between Dare Devil and the Kingpin and Bullseye. I cannot remember a better set up in comics to a fight yet to come. Everything of those three previously mentioned books was leading specifically up to the brawl to end all brawls in this collection, Hardcore.
Hardcore came and I'm not to particularly impressed.
This here is my spoiler warning.
After some twenty or so issues hinting at the return of Bullseye, everyone's favorite assassin shows up in his horrible movie look and proceeds to get his butt thuroughly kicked in a single issue. Then ol' hornhead goes after the Kingpin directly and proceeds to stomp a mudhole in his ample behind in a single issue.
Three TPB's of setup and it ends in two one-sided beatdowns and thats it.
I think it was a publishing problem. The end of Hardcore was the 50th issue of the ongoing series, so I suspect thats why the whole story seems forcd and rushed. Had they been able to go to whatever issue they desired, perhaps the story would have been better conceived and realized, but as it stands, its a slight fizzle after three books of incredible set up. Hardcore, in the end, just comes off as the silly, predictable comics that the rest of the run refused to be.