[BOOK REVIEW] Daredevil: The Man Without Fear by Frank Miller

Title:  Daredevil: The Man Without Fear

Author:  Frank Miller

Artist:  John Romita Jr.


Genre: Superheroes / Action / Adventure

Year Published: 1993

Year Read: 2013

Series: Daredevil

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 13+ (Some Language and Some Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 
 

Introduction:

Now, to be honest, I had never read a “Daredevil” comic book in all my life.  The only way I knew about Daredevil himself was through the movie starring Ben Affleck that I saw years ago.  However, after I saw the movie, I decided to check out some “Daredevil” comics and I stumbled upon Frank Miller’s version of the classic vigilante called “Daredevil: The Man Without Fear!”   First of all, this is basically a retelling of Daredevil’s origin story since Daredevil originated in 1964. Second of all, this is the first “Daredevil” comic I had ever read about, so imagine my glee at picking this comic up!

What is this story about?

This story basically explains about how Matt Murdock became the daring do-gooder, Daredevil! It also shows the relationship between Matt and his famous boxer father Jack Murdock, Matt’s encounter with the mysterious Elektra and how Matt tries to save a young girl from the evil forces of the Kingpin!

What I loved about this story:

Frank Miller’s writing: I have been reading many of Frank Miller’s works, with his work on “Batman” being the ones I had read the most, and I had enjoyed his work so far.  After I heard that Frank Miller worked on the retelling for “Daredevil,” I just had to pick this comic up!  I loved the way that the Frank Miller made this story have a dark and gritty feel to it, which is reminiscent of his “Batman” comics (though I wonder if that is where the inspiration came from). I also loved the sort of poetic way that Frank Miller narrates this story, as it gave the comic a lot more emotion.  One of my favorite passages in this comic involved a brief description of the winter weather, which went like this:

“It’s outside, everywhere outside.  It’s the wind and everything it carries; everything it touches.  It charges off the ocean, fierce, bitter cold.  It rattles antennae and shakes power lines and leaves swirling snow in its wake. It roars down concrete canyons and brittle branches clatter in combat; surrendering winter leaves that rustle and skitter like fairies, begging Matt to join the dance. The city that never sleeps!”

I also loved the character progression for Matt Murdock himself as he starts learning that he must obey the law while trying to stop criminals from hurting innocent people and it was done in a natural way that really suits the story.

John Romita Jr.’s artwork:  John Romita Jr. had done a brilliant job at doing the artwork for this comic as the characters’ expressions look truly realistic and I also loved the coloring done on each panel as it made the artwork look even more dramatic.  I really loved the way that John Romita Jr. did the shadowing on the characters’ faces, especially the villains, as it made them look truly threatening whenever they show up on the panels.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

The only problem with this comic is that there is some strong violence where characters are shot and blood just spurts out in pools.  Also, there is some language in this comic, although it is not anything worse than what I usually see in some Vertigo comics. 

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Daredevil: The Man Without Fear” is a fantastic read for anyone who is just getting into the “Daredevil” comics!  I would highly recommend this comic to “Daredevil” fans everywhere!

 

[BOOK REVIEW] Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller

Title:  Batman:  The Dark Knight Returns

Author:  Frank Miller

Artists:  Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley


Genre: Action / Adventure / Superheroes


Year Published: 1986


Year Read: 2012


Series: Batman


Publisher: DC Comics

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 12+ (Violence, Mature Themes and Themes of War)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository
 

It is 1960s “Batman” vs. 1980s “Batman!” Guess which one will win!

Introduction:

For many years, I have actually grown up with the darker version of Batman when I was little, thanks to the animated TV series that came out of the 90s.  But a few years back, I have realized that there was a 1960s TV series where Batman seems a bit campy, but I had enjoyed it for what it was.  Now, I had heard of a particular “Batman” story that was the one that really changed Batman’s character over the years and that story happened to be “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns” written by Frank Miller along with artwork by Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley.  This is easily one of the most influential stories I have ever read from the “Batman” comics!

What is this story about?

Basically, this story is broken up into four different books detailing Batman’s adventures in Gotham City:

Book 1: The Dark Knight Returns: When Batman (who is now much older) retires, he then realizes that after all of the years he had retired, there is still crime rampaging in Gotham City. So, Batman decides to come out of retirement and save Gotham City, surprising the citizens of Gotham City.

Book 2: The Dark Knight Triumphant: When the mutant gang threatens Gotham City, it is up to Batman to stop the leader of the mutant gang, putting an end to their terror.

Book 3: Hunt the Dark Knight: When the citizens of Gotham City saw Batman as more of a threat then as a hero, they send out the new Commissioner, Commissioner Yindel, and she decides to go out of her way to arrest Batman.

Book 4: The Dark Knight Falls: When the Soviets start attacking Corto Maltese and Superman takes the job to stop them, this leads to a huge showdown between Superman and Batman to decide about their ideologies about protecting the world.

What I loved about this story:

Frank Miller’s writing: Frank Miller has once again proven that he is definitely a force to be reckoned with whenever he was writing for Batman!  After reading his work in “Batman: Year One,” I just had to read more of his work on “Batman” and behold, this story was beyond anything fantastic I have read about Batman!  I loved the way that Frank Miller portrayed Batman in this story as Batman seems darker and grittier than ever before and this really helped revolutionized the dark character that Batman would soon become in the future “Batman” stories.  At first glance, there does seem to be so many events going on in this book (Batman’s return, Batman fighting the Mutant Gang, Batman’s battle with Superman) so, it was a bit hard to keep up with all of the events going on in this book (I was even confused at the beginning when I found out that Batman was much older than he was early on, only to realize this story takes place several years in the future).  But the best thing about all of these events taking place in this book was that we were able to get so many amazing stories centered on Batman and his struggles in coming back out of retirement to fight the bad guys.  I also loved the dark and gritty feel of this book as the Batman in this book is not afraid of hurting enemies to get what he wants and even recruits a young girl named Carrie Kelley, who is dressed up like Robin, to be his sidekick.  Now there is one thing that I wanted to get out of my chest and it is this:

I DO NOT LIKE POLITICAL TIE INS IN THE STORIES I WANT TO READ!

I am getting this off my chest because of the Cold War themed story in “The Dark Knight Falls” and most of the time, I do not like reading about any kind of political wars in these stories because it is either the “us against them” mentality in these stories or sometimes they tend to interrupt the flow of the story.  However, this is the one case that I did accept the political themed story in “The Dark Knight Falls” because it was using the Cold War theme to bring out a message about how Superman and Batman have different views on how to handle the situation in saving people’s lives as Batman seems to be anti-government while Superman seems to support the government and I loved the way that their views on the government was brought out through their actions and ultimately their showdown with each other.  I also loved the way that Frank Miller presented some news media segments in this story as we are able to gain a great insight on how the people of Gotham view Batman and how he is affecting the American society as a whole as it brought great depth to the story.

Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley’s artwork: Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley’s artwork is very well done in this story as the artwork has a dark and gritty feel to them.  I loved the images of Batman being large and muscular and how he usually looks threatening to all the criminals.  The colorings may seem a bit washed out and some of the artwork was a bit sloppy, but the artwork has that 80s feel that I really enjoyed and so, I really enjoyed the dark artwork being portrayed in this story.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

Some of the problems that some “Batman” fans might have with this story are that it is a bit too lengthy.  There are a total of four volumes contained into one book and since so much is happening in this book, it might be a bit too much for some fans to take in.  Also, this is probably one of the darkest “Batman” books I have ever read since Batman is shown to actually torture some of his enemies and there is some gore in this story as characters are punched and several scenes of characters being cut up.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns” is a fantastic take on everyone’s favorite dark knight vigilante and with its many running themes about taking the law into your own hands, it will remain a classic in many “Batman” fans’ eyes! 

[BOOK REVIEW] Wolverine by Chris Claremont

Title:  Wolverine

Author:  Chris Claremont

Artists:  Frank Miller and Paul Smith


Genre: Superheroes / Action / Adventure


Year Published: 1982


Year Read: 2012


Series: Wolverine


Publisher: Marvel Comics

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 11+ (Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

KILL BILL!

Or at least that is what I think of when I read this story since both main characters (Wolverine and the Bride) had to go to Japan to fight off their rivals.

Brief Introduction:

When I was looking through the comic book boards and I wanted to know what the best “Wolverine” story was, many fans declared that “Wolverine” which was written by Chris Claremont along with artwork by Frank Miller was considered the best “Wolverine” story out there.  So, I went out and got this graphic novel and I have to agree with the fans that this was indeed one of the best “Wolverine” stories out there!  This also features the first four issues in Wolverine's new solo series during the 1980s which I was so impressed at seeing for the first time! Never have I have seen so much drama, romance and action contained into one graphic novel and because of that, “Wolverine” has remained to be one of my all time favorite “X-Men” stories about Wolverine!

What is the story?

Wolverine heads off to Japan to find the love of his life, Mariko Yashida, who is the daughter of Lord Shingen who is the Lord of the Clan Yashida, but discovers that his lover has married someone else, which breaks his heart.  Along the way, Wolverine meets up with a mysterious assassin named Yukio who seems to know about Lord Shingen’s plans to take over all of the major crime gangs in Japan.  Wolverine must put a stop to Lord Shingen’s evil plans to rule as the ultimate crime lord of Japan before it is too late!

What I loved about this comic:

The premise and Chris Claremont’s writing:  I will admit that when I heard about this graphic novel, I did not know what to expect from another book about Wolverine and I actually thought that we would get another “Wolverine” book that is all about the fighting and Wolverine acting tough.  However, in this graphic novel, what we got was an extremely thought-provoking and heartwarming tale about Wolverine’s romance with Mariko and his inner struggles with dealing with his “animal” side.  I loved the way that Chris Claremont has shown us a more sensitive side to Wolverine as he struggles to get the love of his life back while dealing with the customs of her family, which the importance of honor and pride plays a huge role in his story.  I also loved the intense kung-fu atmosphere of this story as it gave this story a more creative approach to Wolverine’s time in Japan and made the story exciting to read through.  Chris Claremont has done an excellent job at writing this story from Wolverine’s point of view on the situation as we are able to see how Wolverine reacts to the situations he gets involved in Japan whether he is confessing his love for Mariko or fighting ninjas out to get him.  It was also interesting seeing how Wolverine viewed himself and Chris Claremont does a brilliant job at portraying Wolverine’s insecurity about being seen as an animal as he usually uses violence to solve his problems. I really enjoyed the tone shift that Chris Claremont had provided when he introduced the other X-Men (Colossus, Storm, Cyclops, Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler) in the second story that was apart of "Uncanny X-Men" as Wolverine’s solo series was dark, while the "Uncanny X-Men" storyline was a bit light toned.

Frank Miller and Paul Smith’s artwork:  When I heard that Frank Miller was doing the artwork for this graphic novel, I was actually blown away by this information because before I read this graphic novel, I was reading “Batman: Year One” which was a graphic novel that Frank Miller wrote himself and I was surprised that Frank Miller has actually done some artwork during his time at the comic book industry.  Frank Miller’s artwork was fantastic as they greatly captured the fight scenes in this story.  I loved the colorings that were done whenever the characters were in shadows as there are dark colorings shadowed on the characters’ faces which really gives off a foreboding feel to the situation.  I also loved Frank Miller’s artwork on the fight scenes, especially the scenes where Wolverine is fighting a group of ninjas and the scene where Wolverine is punching the ninjas is effectively done.  In the “Uncanny X-Men” issues of this graphic novel, Paul Smith did a brilliant job at detailing the fight scenes and the characters’ facial expressions and I loved the way that the colorings are much brighter in these issues than in Frank Miller’s artwork in the “Wolverine” issues.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this book:

The only problem that some readers might find with this graphic novel is that there is some violence in the fight scenes.  The violence usually has Wolverine cutting into another character and you can see some blood squirt out of the wounds.  Now, the violence is actually pretty low-key here as sometimes the blood is not as realistically shown as it usually is in current comics, but the scenes of Wolverine cutting into people might upset some readers.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Wolverine” is definitely one of the best stories dealing with Wolverine and anyone who is a fan of Wolverine or the X-Men in particular; I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND this graphic novel to any comic book fan!

[BOOK REVIEW] Batman: Year One by Frank Miller

Title:  Batman: Year One

Author:  Frank Miller

Artists:  David Mazzucchelli and Richmond Lewis

Genre: Superheroes / Action / Adventure


Year Published: 1987


Year Read: 2012


Series: Batman


Publisher: DC Comics


Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 15+ (Some Language and Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

Brief History:

To be honest, I have actually first heard about Batman through the 90s cartoon series “Batman: The Animated Series,” which apparently, I have actually had my first exposure to the world of comics through so many animated series throughout the 90s.  Since I have been reading a lot of comics lately, especially the “X-Men” comics, I wanted to try a different comic book series and that is where I started reading up on “Batman.”  So, the first “Batman” comic I have actually came upon recently is a little gem that I have just noticed lately and that is “Batman: Year One” by Frank Miller along with artwork by David Mazzucchelli along with coloring by Richmond Lewis.  “Batman: Year One” is truly a brilliant comic book that newer fans of “Batman” can easily get into!

What is this story about?

This story basically retells the origins of Bruce Wayne as Batman as it details Bruce Wayne’s first year as Batman and all the struggles he overcomes in his new role as Batman.  This story also details about Commissioner James Gordon’s first year as a lieutenant of the police force before he became a commissioner.

What I loved about this story:

Frank Miller’s writing: Frank Miller’s writing was so amazing and simple to read through, especially if you are new to the “Batman” comics and you need a good place to jump right in the series.  Frank Miller has created a more modern spin on the origins of Batman without changing the original history of Batman (his parents are killed before him when he was a child and he decides to become the famous caped crusader he is today) and I especially loved the way that Frank Miller details Batman’s first year fighting crime as being difficult since Bruce Wayne had difficulties in becoming the crime fighting caped crusader since the public viewed him as a menace the moment he started fighting crime. I also loved the way that Frank Miller shown the months that all of this was taking place from January fourth to December third which gave an extremely detailed timeline of this story.  What really interested me about this story was learning about the origins of Commissioner James Gordon since I have not really been exposed to his origins and it was interesting to see how James Gordon actually started out as a lieutenant of a police force that was corrupted by the crimes of Gotham City and how he tried to do his best to protect the citizens of Gotham City from such criminal activities.

David Mazzucchelli and Richmond Lewis’ artwork: David Mazzucchelli and Richmond Lewis’ artwork is simplistic yet gives a dramatic feel to the story, especially during the scenes where the characters are in shadows and they give out an eerie feel to the scene they are associated with, like during the scene where James Gordon is attacked by hit men and Richmond Lewis’ red coloring that flashes on the characters’ faces makes this scene extremely intense as you can see the pain and sorrow on James Gordon’s face.  I also loved the shadowing that Richmond Lewis applies to Batman as Batman is usually shown in the dark and the dark shadowing makes him look menacing.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

The only problem with this comic book novel is that there is some blood in some scenes, especially during the scenes where some of the characters are shot.  Also, there is some language in this book that might offend some readers, so if you do not like dark themed books that deal with crimes in the cities, then this graphic novel might be hard to read through.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Batman: Year One” is not only a brilliant read for “Batman” fans everywhere, but it is also a great place to get into the “Batman” comic series, especially for new fans who are just getting into the “Batman” comics and want to know how Batman’s origins came about!