Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1988-10-01 00:08:30 |
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Daredevil #259
Issue(s): Daredevil #259
Cover Date: Oct 88
Title: "The children are watching you"
Credits:
Ann Nocenti - Writer
John Romita Jr. - Penciler
Al Williamson - Inker
Marc Siry - Assistant Editor
Ralph Macchio - Editor
Review/plot:
I've joked many times that Daredevil's rogues gallery is pretty lame, and Nocenti has actually sort of been developing an alternate list of mostly low key characters: Bullet, Ammo, the Wildboys, and Bushwacker (ok, there's nothing low key about Bushwacker). Unfortunately, i say "developing" but except for Bullet, who has been handled very nicely, what i really mean are characters that have appeared once. So when Nocenti has Typhoid Mary recruit them all for this story, it may actually be a little too soon and if you haven't been following along carefully (or had people call them out in the Comments for you!) you might get to this point and say, "Who?".
But it's really to Nocenti's credit that she was developing a group of low or non-powered threats that fit into the world of Daredevil, especially post-Frank Miller.
The impetus for Typhoid recruiting all of Daredevil's recent foes is Kingpin deciding that he's tired of Mary making time with Matt Murdock.
But to back up, this story actually begins with one of Daredevil's Bratpack kids, Butch, noticing a girl getting sold into slavery for some drug money. He runs off to tell Daredevil.
Daredevil, meanwhile, is in his Matt Murdock guise, trying to break things off with Typhoid Mary's "Mary" persona, and then meeting up with Karen Page but acting suspicious and distracted. And that's when Butch shows up to tell Matt to tell Daredevil about the kidnapped girl. And after Butch leaves, Matt tries to slip off to become Daredevil, which would conveniently allow him to avoid talking to Karen, but she holds him back, reminding him that she's been in trouble enough in her life to have a good idea where the girl might be held. And it's nice to see him taking her along with him.
Karen actually has a way to make underworld connections, since she's recognized as a porn star. It's a good use of Karen, by which i mean that Nocenti is embracing what's been done to her and not just making her stay home to daintily recover from her life's tragedies.
She maybe should get down when Daredevil tells her to, though. She's not a super-hero.
But DD doesn't seem to mind.
JRJR depicts Daredevil and Karen as monsters when they first rescue the kids, but Karen is able to get through to them.
The experience seems to bring Karen and Matt closer.
But then by the end of the issue, he's back in Mary's hands again.
Butch was running to ask Matt about the idea of putting locator chips in kids, by the way. Butch was ahead of his time; it's a topic of some controversy (and nonsense) today.
Meanwhile, we see Typhoid's recruitment drive. She starts by striking up a conversation with Bullet's nuclear holocaust-obsessed kid.
And manages to recruit Bullet.
She then breaks Ammo out of jail.
Then the Wildboys (we don't see that) and then she has Bushwacker surgically enhanced.
It's a good build-up although it might have been cooler to see some of them on their own a few more times first. At least having Typhoid Mary recruit them in this issue but not attacking with them yet helps establish them a little more. Overall, the John Romita & Typhoid Mary portion of Ann Nocenti's run continues to pleasantly surprise me, even when there's dialogue like this (and even this works great since it's crazy Typhoid Mary and her unconscious manipulations).
Quality Rating: B
Historical Significance Rating: 1
Chronological Placement Considerations: Mary intends to attack Daredevil with her new gang "tomorrow", but the MCP has Amazing Spider-Man annual #22 between this and next issue for DD.
References:
- There are no references but the characters Typhoid Mary has recruited are Ammo from Daredevil #252, Bushwacker from Daredevil #248-249, the Wildboys from Daredevil #253, and Bullet who has had multiple appearances, first in Daredevil #250.
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: N/A
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Comments
I suspect homeless bums stopped being reliable underworld informants some time before the 1980s.
Man, Bulet is all class: not two seconds after Typhoid threatens his son with a knife, he's hitting on her and asking her to stick around. (Maybe it's supposed to be her mind-control, but I get the feeling Bullet would do that anyway.)
For soem reason, i always assumed Bushwacker needed his arm reattached, like the authorities had surgically removed it after his capture. But next issue, he seems to be able to "morph" it in new ways, so perhaps Typhoid is augmenting him instead. Of all of the recent villains Typhoid recruits, Bushwacker is probably the most enduring, Ammo the least.
It is good to see Ammo and the Wildboys again, but they really aren't ongoing villains. Normal people shouldn't provide too much challenge for an actual superhero. But they would make good recurring antagonists. Somebody a notch above ordinary mooks, but below actual supervillains. Someone a hero like Daredevil needs to take seriously, but not as a physical threat. A good person to namedrop now and again to establish the setting, and who could be recruited by higher up villains to do jobs.
Also, good scene with Kingpin punishing Typhoid for insulting him. People like Wilson Fisk can't risk their prestige being undermined. Characters who insult or joke about such dangerous men and somehow getting away with it, always leaves me with a bad taste (heroes openly fighting the villain excepted of course). Peter David, for all his strengths, would fall into the trap repeatedly.
