Daredevil S02 E04: Penny and Dime

We open this episode of "The Punisher"... um, I mean, "Daredevil," with the arrival of Finn Cooley in New York City. In the Punisher comics, this IRA explosives expert walks around with half of his face blown off, but here he's played by suave Scottish actor Tony Curran, who I know best as Vincent Van Gogh from "Doctor Who," but has quite an impressive career beyond his cool geek cred.

After wrecking his own family's funeral Finn goes on a meticulous and vicious rampage that gets him closer to the Punisher than Daredevil in three episodes. I mean, it's not like it's old hornhead's show or anything. As what's left of the Irish mob leaves Frank's apartment, with his dog in tow, kidnapping it John Wick style, the Punisher watches. Yeah, this is going to be ugly.

After the credits, Karen goes to pick up Matt, and they share an intimate tie knotting moment, before attending the lonely funeral of Grotto. Also in attendance is Foggy and, returning from last season, Father Lantom. Even though the gigantic church is empty and echoey, Lantom performs the service as if it was full. His sermon reinforces the drives of both Matt and Karen.

While Karen goes in search of the Punisher, Daredevil pays a visit to Melvin Potter. He's got a new cowl for him as well as gauntlets. He also mentions old contacts are back in town coming to him for weapons but he's turned them down. Melvin is a bit concerned with the hero's well-being, tells him to take care. When DD wishes the same back Melvin replies that he is a reveals the Gladiator chest plate beneath his shirt. Enough foreplay, guys, ditch the Punisher and bring on the Gladiator!

There is a subtle line being drawn in this season so far, and was hinted at strongly in "Jessica Jones," especially in the episode "AKA 99 Friends," that battle lines are being drawn between human and non-human. This all led to Captain America: Civil War and continues in the fourth season of "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," but it is interesting that it's rearing its ugly head here in the Netflix corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Witness Officer Mahoney's distinction made between cops and criminals and 'you people' in his brief discussion with Daredevil.

Now you folks who have been following along as I've reviewed "Jessica Jones" and the first season of "Daredevil," you know I write these reviews as I watch them, so my expectations and speculations are sometimes a bit off. There was unfortunately one aspect of this season that was spoiled for me - Karen Page and the Punisher getting together. For me, that makes the brief gentle moments that Karen and Matt keep having both bittersweet and exceptionally cruel. Because of that foreknowledge, I kinda hate them.

Despite all that, I have to marvel at Karen's ability to track down the Punisher right down to his origins, and even his former family home. This is more than the police, the Feds, or even the Irish mob was able to do - and the Irish were able to take the Punisher down. I joked about the title of this series at the start of this review, but really how much of a hero is the titular hero when he's so ineffectual and supporting cast and B level bad guys show him up so easily?

With Finn, it's quite a character reveal that with much of his family dead, including his son, at the hands of the Punisher, that what he really wants once his prey is in his grasp, is his money back. The Punisher apparently stole millions from the IRA, and Finn is going to get it back even if he has to drill his point home. Frank gets one point for compassion when he gives up the location of the money after Finn threatens his dog. I still don't like the character.

I did like the subtle stealth and almost casualness with which Daredevil attacked the Irish mob's hideout. It was like he was taking a walk in the park, with his eyes closed - and I guess with Daredevil, that's almost a given everyday. Unfortunately after that however, it falls apart. Rather than letting Daredevil rescue the Punisher, the showrunners give the latter some sort of weird precognition that allowed to know what the Irish were up to, so he rigged his van with the money to explode, and sewed a razor blade into his arm for later. Holy Shark Repellent Bat-Spray!

Daredevil and the Punisher escape from the villains' lair like they're buddies in a seventies issue of The Brave and the Bold. They have a little after party in the cemetery, with Frank opening his heart to DD about the rhyme he says before he kills people. The episode title references it and the tale he tells is one of tragedy that many veterans of war know. Has our hero forgotten about all the people this villain has killed? All the horrible things he's done, all the crimes he's committed? Again props to Jon Bernthal's performance, but he is still the bad guy... why has DD forgotten that?

He hasn't. And when the police arrive, thankfully Daredevil does something heroic. He allows the police to take the Punisher in, specifically Officer Brett Mahoney, and makes sure he takes the credit in an attempt to clear any blurred lines he may have caused with the police. I'm just surprised the Punisher went in without a fight.

The episode almost ends with more gentle moments with Matt and Karen, and most significantly a very sensual kiss in the rain that both reminded me of, and consciously tried not to be, the kiss in the rain from the 2003 Daredevil film. I know that kiss is with Elektra and this one is with Karen, but Deborah Ann Woll is very Elektra here... which is a shame because the real thing is waiting for Matt when he gets home...

Next: Kinbaku!

Daredevil S02 E03: New York's Finest

The first episode of "Daredevil" Season Two ended with our hero shot in the head, and the second with his radar sense failing and the Punisher closing in. When the police arrive seconds later, both combatants are gone. So far, the cliffhangers are hot. But where did Daredevil and the Punisher go? Something tells me I don't want to know.

As we open in the pre-credits scene, Matt is hallucinating from his Catholic upbringing, until he slowly awakens in chains on a rooftop with the Punisher. This apparently right from the comics, from Garth Ennis' Punisher #3, but I can't comment much, having never read the issue before, but it's been praised for the philosophical discussion between these two protagonists. Daredevil's compromised position forcing him to engage his foe verbally as opposed to with his fists.

So I dug up the comic in question, and found it to be much what I expected, and worse. Garth Ennis is an extremely talented writer, but with one serious flaw, especially when working in the world of comic books - he hates superheroes. Unlike other comic book writers who hate superheroes, like Frank Miller, Ennis doesn't usually write superheroes, unless they're twisted parodies like The Boys or dark anti-heroes like Preacher, John Constantine, or, the Punisher.

In this dark and dreary world of Ennis' Punisher, no one is happy, as masterfully illustrated by the late Steve Dillon, rest in peace. Punisher lives in a skewed vision of our world where misery reigns, where he is the twisted mirror of heroism, and Daredevil is a clown that must be shown the error of his ways. On the rooftop chains of the comic book source material, the Punisher must remake Daredevil in his own image. If it wasn't so ridiculous, it would be horrifying.

I read comic books for escape from the real world, to see heroism as it should be, to be inspired to be a better person. Superhero comic books are supposed to make you want to be the hero and change the world. Reading Punisher #3 made me depressed, and most of all, it made me hate the Punisher more than I had before I opened that damned miserable comic. I do appreciate the talent and skill it takes to evoke such a reaction from a reader, but trust me, it will be a very long time before I ever read another Punisher comic.

But that was the comic, I hope the Netflix episode that is aping it can do better. Here it is also, as I described, a philosophical discussion between the two protagonists, but a far more sensible one. While the Punisher goes about his business, Daredevil (or Red as he calls him) remains in chains talking the shades of gray in what they do. It's a difficult chat, each exchange like pulling teeth, and even though they vehemently disagree with the other's method, there is a hint of hatred-tinged bromance at work. I get the feeling that under different circumstances Frank and Red could be friends.

There is some prime acting here, and while Charlie Cox's Daredevil plays a very good counter to Jon Bernthal's Punisher, but the latter is the star here. His performance is spellbinding, saying volumes with an economy of words and gestures. I wasn't impressed when I'd heard Shane from "The Walking Dead" was going to play the Punisher, but he is amazing in the role. The only thing Shane and Frank have in common are we love to hate them both. Serious props.

The bottom line of the debate is killing. Frank will and Red won't. The difference is when Daredevil hits a bad guy they get back up, maybe come back, and when the Punisher hits 'em, they don't. Simple as that. Daredevil's reluctance to kill makes him a "half-measure," a coward who won't finish the job he started. And then it all turns to sh!t, as the ghost of Garth Ennis ruins everything.

The Punisher duct tapes a gun into Daredevil's hand then produces Grotto, beating the man senseless until he confesses to the murder of an innocent. The terms of this ridiculous trap - Daredevil must 'man up' and kill the Punisher before he kills Grotto, and at this moment is when I really started to hate this show. Where are the Owl, Gladiator, and the Stilt-Man when you need them? I really hate what comics and their related media have become...

In a world where Captain America knows that the Winter Soldier murdered Tony Stark's parents, I guess it shouldn't surprise anyone that Daredevil is too late to save Grotto. The nearly six-minute fight sequence that follows as Daredevil battles his way down several flights of stairs against the Dogs of Hell motorcycle gang with a gun taped to one hand and a chain around the other is phenomenal and spectacular - topping the hallway fight from last season even - but it in no way makes up for how this turn of events made me feel.

Meanwhile back in the real world, Karen and Foggy bring the only real light and hope to this dismal situation. As Karen fights the very different evil of District Attorney Reyes and learns more about the Punisher's past, Foggy has a heart-to-heart with Night Nurse and breaks up a gang fight in an already insane emergency room. Both are more heroic than the two 'superheroes' we watched for most of the episode.

I always love seeing Rosario Dawson, and Jon Bernthal deserves serious accolades for his performance, and that stairway fight sequence is one of the most amazing I've seen - but I still hated this episode. I may have to take a break before I come back to the second season of "Daredevil." This was rough.

Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War ~ I will say it up front, this is quite possibly the best of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies so far in my opinion. Marvel's The Avengers, Ant-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Captain America: Winter Soldier all run a tie for a very close second. And it's notable to mention that Ant-Man and Avengers are probably only in that running because of my love for those characters more than the movie itself, but still I would rank them top five easily. But Civil War, thematically an Avengers film and an official sequel in the Captain America franchise is still the best of the dozen or so MCU flicks.

The film is very loosely based on the Mark Millar and Steve McNiven miniseries from Marvel Comics a decade ago called Civil War where Captain America and Iron Man divided the Avengers and the entire American superhero community to go to war with each other over philosophical issues. It was a real war, and lives were lost and destroyed, and one of Marvel's greatest friendships was splintered for many years.

Jessica Jones S01 E13: AKA Smile

Cancel Sweet Christmas. If I was really clever, that's what I would have said at the end of the last episode when Jessica had to shoot Luke Cage in the face to stop his Kilgrave-powered rampage to kill her. We know Luke's okay, super-tough skin and upcoming Netflix series and all that, but the characters on the show don't.

Jessica rushes Luke to the closest Hell's Kitchen hospital, Metro General, which is where Claire Temple, Night Nurse, works. As other nurses struggle to give Luke medical treatment, bending needles and all (a plot complication that comes right from the pages of The Pulse), Night Nurse is there to help. I love Rosario Dawson so this is a more than welcome appearance.

The pre-Civil War antagonism is still festering, as another nurse sneers toward Luke, "he's one of those." Claire notes later that she herself is not special, but she keeps running into special. Claire gets the comatose Luke out of the hospital while Jessica contends with the Purple Man's amplified powers turning everyone in said hospital against her.

Night Nurse and Jessica have very good repartee and I would love to see them together again. At Jess' place they get Luke resting, and Jess patched up. Later a scene where Jess curls up with Luke is ruined by too much talk. Show, don't tell, folks. After a bit for Jess, it's back in the trail to Kilgrave. When Malcolm shows up (they keep writing him out but he never seems to leave), he and Claire get on well - I hope they both show up in "The Defenders."

If Kilgrave wasn't dangerous before, he's getting a real knack for the super-villain game now. Amazing what a jilted love and a couple days in a torture cell can do. A previous episode's title asks, what would Jessica do? Obviously she would turn a selfish jerk rapist into a full blown super-villain. She even found his mad scientist dad to help him modify and maximize his powers. Thanks, Jessica. And did anyone else think that, just for a second, Kilgrave was going to actually turn purple?

The horror show left in his wake at the penthouse where Dad amped him up is not for the squeamish. That last shot of amp must have messed him up good. There's a showdown with many people on his side, police and civilian, and a tense confrontation with Patsy, who should never have been there in the first place. The ending of Kilgrave is however too easy, and completely unsatisfying. And I hated it.

The closing of the series is more promising however, noir with a bit of hope. Jessica, Patsy, and Malcolm all on the road at least to being a hero. The first seven episodes, and the last two were very good, in between, not so much. "Jessica Jones" has been renewed for a second season, but first we'll have to see how "Daredevil" fares in his second...

Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek Beyond ~ The trailer for Star Trek Beyond is one of the things that kept me going when I spent this last December in the hospital. Beyond of course The Bride, my friends, my family, and a short video of my kitty Snowy, there was the first trailer that broke.

My friend Andy Burns posted it at Biff Bam Pop! on a day when I was feeling a bit better and I showed that YouTube clip set to the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" on my iPhone to everyone who came into my room that day. I was psyched. One reason I was going to get out of that hellhole was certainly to see Star Trek Beyond in July.

It's July, and I'm out. I saw it, and I loved it. Star Trek Beyond is one of the three best movies out this year so far. And the other two - Captain America: Civil War and The Legend of Tarzan respectively - actually have a lot in common with Star Trek Beyond.

Like Civil War, this carefully structured script by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung, gives all of the many characters in this venerable cast equal time. Everyone has something to do and no one gets the short end of the stick. No matter who your favorite is, he or she gets a spotlight. Speaking of the script, Pegg and Jung are masterful in creating adversaries and situations that are absolutely geared to defeat the crew of the Enterprise, but never once does it degenerate into a when-is-it-time-for-the-good-guys-to-win scenario. There is no desperation, we are always rooting for our heroes.

And while we're on the topic of heroes, the similarities to Tarzan become apparent when as a viewer I realized that this was not the new crew, or new actors, but the real thing. This was Star Trek, and it was bringing it for a new generation without losing that which made it cool to begin with. I not only loved the traditional characters, but the new ones as well, and look forward to a fourth installment - something I could not have said after Into Darkness sadly.

This new Trek was fun, exciting, and triumphant. Highly recommended, and worth living for.

Jessica Jones S01 E12: AKA Take a Bloody Number

We pick up scant moments after the last episode, when Luke Cage blew up his bar with himself in it, as per the Purple Man's commands, made sure Jessica Jones saw it. He is of course unhurt, but his bar is toast. As I wondered if he had insurance and what an insurance investigator might make of his story, we dove into flashback - Kilgrave has been busy during the episode where he was missing.

When he left the hanging restaurant with his father, he ran right into Luke Cage, who had been following Jess in hopes of running into Kilgrave. Best line, and our title reference comes when Kilgrave asks Luke what he wants. His reply is to kill him, and Kilgrave's sharp comeback - "Take a bloody number." Then he commands Luke into the getaway car for clarification and interrogation.

The second best line is when Jess brings Luke back to her office/apartment and tells him to mind the mess from the fight with Nuke. Luke asks if he needs to know what happened there, she simply replies, "I guess we're both lousy renters," to which both Luke and I said in unison, "at least it's not on fire." Five minutes in, this one's not so bad so far. I'm smiling.

Of course now that Luke is at her side and Jessica has sworn to kill the Purple Man, there's some creative stalling. Trish is still paranoid about Simpson, asks around and finds the program is a made-up organization called IGH, with initials that apparently stand for nothing. I wonder though, could that H stand for Hydra?

Despite Jessica's warning, Trish's mom comes to visit her estranged daughter in the hospital. What a harpy. Good thing Jess doesn't know. As she joked with Trish earlier regarding Simpson, Jess can only fight one big bad at a time. I guess Nuke and the harpy will have to take a bloody number.

There's mention made of Hammond Labs as being the place where Hope's fetus was sent. This could be a number of different references. There's a Hammond Labs where Speedball, later Penance, got his powers; or it could be a reference to Camp Hammond, a Marvel Civil War era training facility for superhumans; or simply a nod to the original android Human Torch.

The writing is much better in this episode, elevating it above previous ones. I'm not surprised to see the name Hilly Hicks, Jr. on the script. The playwright and screenwriter is also responsible for the excellent "AKA 99 Friends" earlier in the season. Perhaps he can be convinced to write more when the second season of "Jessica Jones" rolls around.

More clues about IGH come from a surprising source. When Trish's mom comes to visit her daughter at home, again against Jessica's wishes, she brings her a folder marked IGH. It contains Jessica's medical records from the accident that killed her parents and brother. IGH paid her bills. But I guess that's a mystery for another day.

The main event is the showdown in a blue-hued theater between the Purple Man and Jessica - and Kilgrave's proxy is Luke Cage. The whole episode, as their chemistry blended and he played sidekick, Luke was in Kilgrave's power, a puppet working her like a dummy. And now they dance. It's a fight we didn't know we wanted, and it's awesome.

It's a fight that can only be stopped by a shotgun blast to the face. Is the "Luke Cage" Netflix series canceled now? To be continued…

Next: Smile!

Heroes Reborn: Dark Matters

So many television series are returning from the dead, "Twin Peaks" and "The X-Files" are probably the most high profile of them, but there are others out there, like the inexplicable "Coach," and one that should have been given a better chance, one that was mishandled and ruined by the powers-that-be... I'm talking about "Heroes."

I loved "Heroes," and so did everyone else, for the first season at least, and then it lost its way. Personally I blame Jeph Loeb, who similarly ruined the Marvel Animated Universe. I made some too-little-too-late suggestions hoping to save "Heroes," but the writing was on the wall, the show was doomed. Now it's getting a second chance. Perhaps the bad taste of the second and third seasons have been washed away, and that old magic is possible again.

"Heroes Reborn" begins five years after the start of the original series, with a special series of webisodes called "Dark Matters." This is really only fitting as the show was one of the first to be actively interactive with other media, why not ease us back into the "Heroes" universe in this way, right?

If you haven't watched yet, be warned, spoilers ahead.

Reconnecting the audience with elements that did work from the first season we meet Phoebe Frady (Canadian actress Aislinn Paul), who can 'steal light' and manipulate shadows. Like the Cheerleader, she documents her power discovery on YouTube. Unfortunately we are now in a world well aware of powers. Super-powered individuals, or EVOs, are watched carefully and discriminated against.

If you're feeling the heavy Civil War and X-Men vibe, you are not alone and it's probably on purpose to cash in. Substitute mutant or superhero for EVO, and you've got Days of Future Past and/or the Superhuman Registration Act all over again. It's pretty blatant, and as cool and engaging as Phoebe's story is, the shadow of the unoriginality of her world covers it up.

Phoebe is spurred on to show her powers by the HeroTruther, whose YouTube rants not only update the viewers on the new world status quo, but encourage those EVOs who have gone underground to show themselves. As we follow Phoebe's journey of discovery and she learns to use her powers, we learn that EVOs are being put in camps and sterilized in Russia and China, and that here in the States, some companies only hire 'humans.'

Phoebe's disappearance and reappearance in Odessa TX, at a EVO terrorist attack that destroys the city, kicks her brother into action investigating her apparent death. As it turns out, the attack was blamed on Mohinder Suresh, and the PrimaTech Paper Company now called Renautas is behind it all. HeroTruther is similarly revealed as an old friend. The story continues in "Heroes Reborn."

"Dark Matters" is available on YouTube and OnDemand, and "Heroes Reborn" premieres on NBC September 24, 2015. I'm giving it a second chance, are you?

Daredevil S01 E02: Cut Man

This episode introduces us to Claire Temple AKA Night Nurse, which is a bit of an anomaly, because in the comics, they're two different people. Here in the series she's played by Rosario Dawson, one of my favorite actresses, because of her talent, her looks, and that rooftop dance sequence in Clerks II. Be still, my heart.

We open on a trail of blood leading to a dumpster, in which Daredevil lies close to death. A neighbor kid taking out the trash alerts Claire, who he knows is a nurse. They bring Matt to her apartment. He's been beaten, stabbed, and refuses to go to the hospital. Whoever did this will kill everyone to get to him. He drops back into unconsciousness, and flashback territory.

Flashbacks have been an interesting storytelling tool so far in "Daredevil." Much like "Arrow," though notably less obvious and with smoother segueways, they not only tell us about the past and Daredevil's origins, but also shed light on the present day circumstances and predicaments. This one has a pre-accident Matty sewing up his dad after a big fight he lost by knockout. We get a sense of the boy's life, and his relationship with his father

In the comics, Claire Temple is purely supporting cast. She was originally Dr. Bill Foster's ex-wife. He himself a support character for a long time before he eventually became Black Goliath, then Giant-Man, and then Goliath before being killed by Thor's clone in the superhero Civil War. Yeah, I know, more than you wanted to know. She also spent some time as the on-again off-again love interest of Power Man, and that might be the key comic connection here as the third Marvel Netflix series will be "Luke Cage."

Despite being pulled from obscurity and recently gaining popularity under the pen of writer Brian Michael Bendis as a supporting character to Doctor Strange and the New Avengers, Night Nurse has been around much longer than most folks think. Linda Carter who would someday actually use the codename Night Nurse first appeared in the pre-Marvel Atlas Comic titled appropriately enough Linda Carter, Student Nurse way back in 1961.

A decade later when Stan Lee wanted to introduce comics to interest girls specifically, in some cases created by women, he brought out The Cat, a super cool heroine who later spun off into two other super cool heroines, Tigra and Hellcat; Shanna the She-Devil, who would later partner with another Savage Land jungle hero, Ka-Zar; and Night Nurse. In this last one, he reintroduced Linda along with two colleagues in this tense drama, hospital-based with no apparent connection to Marvel's superhero universe. Sadly these comics didn't last long, but the characters were remembered and loved.

Bendis brought Linda Carter back in a 2004 Daredevil comic, where she had taken on the name Night Nurse. Now a doctor, and having been saved at some point by a superhero, she had decided to pay it forward, giving medical aid to superheroes who needed it. Her first few 21st century appearances involved heroes from the Marvel Netflix series - Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, so it's really no wonder the character has been included here. One might imagine the merging of Claire with Night Nurse could also be to avoid confusion with that other superhero actress Lynda Carter.

Rosario Dawson's Claire Temple is very much the Good Samaritan, almost a soulmate for the Nelson and Murdock law office. And she works well with Charlie Cox, all of the actors so far are perfect fits. The details she gets from the beaten Matt are sketchy and elusive, no matter how she tries to pry his secrets from him, yet she helps him. It's the right thing to do. I can't express how nice it is to see so many good characters in a grim and gritty superhero show. Claire gets her superhero wings in this episode.

Of all the good things I can say about this episode, it must be said, and it must be recognized - "Cut Man" is what would be considered on network a filler episode. The thrust of the story is simple, but surrounding it, and supporting it are character and plot bits, like the flashbacks mentioned above. We get to see what wonderful chemistry Elden Henson's Foggy and Deborah Ann Woll's Karen have. Both actors continue to impress.

Much of the support, the flashbacks, involve Matt's father's fight with the young Crusher Creel. It's a fight in which the elder Murdock is supposed to take a fall, but wins by knockout. It's his last. I imagine we will be seeing bits and pieces of the complete Daredevil origin in this way throughout the series. The father/son theme is strong as the kidnapping of a boy from his dad is the case that gets Matt beaten by the Russians to begin with.

Again there is that unbearable level of evil to the villains. Even the police have been infiltrated. The Russians and their human trafficking were among Daredevil's first targets. And of course at the end we are treated to another amazing fight scene, this time with a fixed camera in the confined space of a hallway, nice. I am loving this.

Archie Comics Interview

My Silver Bullet Comics interview with Fernando Ruiz of Archie Comics is now online:

http://www.silverbulletcomics.com/news/story.php?a=4916

Check it out.

Comic Widows - April 2007

Just wanted to let you folks know the newest edition of our comic review website Comic Widows is now up.

Comic Widows presents articles, opinions and reviews of comics in all forms of the media: mainstream and independent print, film, television, manga and anime, gaming and on the web.

Our April issue features over one hundred comic reviews including a new edition of Rick Silva's Panel Discussion, a review of Marvel Comics' Civil War, a retrospective on Jack's Joke Shop, the 2006 NerdCon, and the notorious much much more.

You can check it out at: www.comicwidows.com

Please visit our message forum at Comics Uncovered or Yahoo! Groups and join in the discussion.

Also if anyone is interested in submitting articles, reviews or press releases, we are always taking submissions. Our next deadline is April 30th. Send them to:
comics@comicwidows.com

For announcements and updates regarding the Comic Widows website, please join our announcement group.

And please don't forget to scroll down the front page at Comic Widows for our Tooncast web comics from Insight Studios, featuring Cryptozoo Crew, The Chelation Kid and Doctor Cyborg. Comic Widows now also features Dick Hammer from Tabloia!

Enjoy!

Glenn Walker
Comic Widows
http://www.comicwidows.com