Daredevil #356-357Issue(s): Daredevil #356, Daredevil #357 Review/plot: I wondered in past entries why there was such a dilemma about helping Mr. Hyde, since he basically admitted to kidnapping even if he didn't murder Angela Parish. And perhaps fans at the time wondered that as well and wrote in. In any event, issue #356 starts with Mr. Hyde telling Matt and Foggy the location of a letter from Parish thanking him for locking her up while she kicked a drug habit. We then meet a fun character, Rosalind Sharpe's receptionist, Sunny Sitka. That line about the mother is perhaps another reactive bit. The obvious answer to the mystery of Rosalind Sharpe is that she's Foggy's mother, and there was apparently an advertisement in Over The Edge that gave that fact away. So having another woman who is Foggy's mother call the office introduces a twist to that. The main story begins from the idea that the warehouse where Mr. Hyde was holding Angela Parish was an Osborn property, and the thought is that perhaps the new Green Goblin is involved in Parish's death. Foggy wants to force Ben Urich to say what he knows about the new Goblin, but instead Matt decides to investigate the warehouse as Daredevil. Independently, Rosalind Sharpe hires Misty Knight (as we saw in an earlier issue, Nightwing Investigations shares an office building with the firm) to investigate as well. They discover a tunnel hatch. It's jammed shut buy Misty is able to pull it open with her bionic arm. As a private investigator, the procedure is for Misty to return to report the info, so Daredevil heads on alone. I Love The 90s alert: As Daredevil investigates the tunnel, he thinks to himself that from what he's heard, his radar sense "isn't exactly Myst-level graphics". As the tunnel narrows, DD find a silicon-based lubricant and guesses that it was left behind by Cobra, Mr. Hyde's old partner. Since the partnership didn't end on good terms, it would make sense that Cobra tried to frame Hyde for Parish's murder. As DD nears the end of the tunnel, he thinks he hears Karen Page's voice. And then when he emerges, a real surprise: The Enforcers! One of the newer Enforcers, Snake Marston, is a contortionist, and DD wonders if he was wrong about Cobra. But Marston doesn't use a silicon-based coating. So Daredevil goes back to the original idea, and accuses the Enforcers of working for Cobra. Their reaction to the idea that they might be someone else's goons is hilarious. Daredevil is so distracted by that he doesn't notice the Eel sneaking up behind him. It turns out that the Eel was disguising himself as Snake Marston. Using the Enforcers is a good way to show your appreciation of the Silver Age. But the, er, twists with the contortionists is almost Gruenwaldian. Of course, Mark Gruenwald would have the three contortionists team-up, probably with the Scarecrow as well, and hit Daredevil with a ray that turns him into a contortionist for three issues. What Karl Kesel does here is a little more subtle. Daredevil suspects on contortionist for good continuity-based reasons, but then has him find a second guy who turns out to be disguised as a third. I mean, that's all kind of silly too but it's less in your face about it. I also like Daredevil mocking Hammer Harrison's fighting style (DD probably shouldn't be name-dropping the obscure Battlin' Jack Murdock, but still). It turns out that Hyde was moving in on some of the Eel's territory, and Hyde tried to hire the Enforcers to go after the Eel, but the Eel had disguised himself as Snake Marston. When the Enforcers hear the Eel talking about them like they are his goons, they attack him. And Daredevil gets some help from Misty. Daredevil brings the Eel to the courtroom where Hyde is being tried (another very Silver Age-y type of thing) and Hyde is acquitted. To explain why he missed the trial himself, Matt says that he was mugged. Rosalind Sharpe says that Matt should get a "dog or bodyguard" to protect him (i wonder if the dog idea is a reference to the aborted Daredevil cartoon). After the trial, Daredevil introduces Hyde to Artie and Gwen, the couple that Daredevil saved in Daredevil #353. He says that they and other people will be keeping an eye on Hyde and will report back to Daredevil if he commits any more crimes in the city. A bit of a mystery has been built up around Karen Page's new job, and it was compounded when DD thought he heard Karen's voice in the Enforcer's headquarters. It turns out that she's working as a radio host for WFSK. So it's nothing sinister, at least from Karen's perspective. But FSK = Fisk? It's not FNN, the Fisk News Network as seen circa Daredevil #290, but it's probably a subsidiary. Fun stuff! Quality Rating: B+ Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A References:
Crossover: N/A Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: N/A
Comments are now closed. |
|||||||||
SuperMegaMonkey home | Comics Chronology home |