Ms. Marvel v2 #2

"Invasion!"

2.99 USD/4.25 CAN @ June 2006

Writer: Brian Reed
Penciler: Roberto De La Torre
Inker: Jimmy Palmiotti
Colorist: Chris Sotomayor
Letter: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Andy Schmidt
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada

Synopsis: Ms. Marvel is in the middle of a battle with the Brood is Spaulding, Georgia. There are many civilian casualties. Then one of the Brood aliens spoke and said "CRU is here." A flash of white light engulfed the area and the Brood were obliterated, while Ms. Marvel lost consciousness. When Ms. Marvel regained consciousness, standing before her is a blue alien insect-like creature. It didn't speak English and opened up what looked like a weapon. Ms. Marvel kicked it and it in turn grabbed and tossed her. And it turned upwards and flew in the sky. Ms. Marvel was too weak to pursue. Ms. Marvel then went to the initial Brood ship that crashed earlier, and seeing there are more Brood aliens there, she went on the attack. Killing off the rest of the Brood, she noticed the alien blue creature must be what the Brood referred to as CRU, and was trying to access a crystal in the Brood ship. She tried to prevent the creature from accessing it, and flew to intercept, but was too late. The creature had the crystal in its "handlike" limbs, and all of a sudden there was blinding white light that surrounded the area.

Comment: Not too much happened here other than the continuation of the battle. A blue insect-like alien arrived trying to get a hold of the crystal in the crashed Brood ship. And somehow Ms. Marvel has to now prevent this blue alien from getting this crystal or it's dire straits for everyone.

Marvel Knights: Daredevil #31

“Underboss” Part 6

2.99 USD/4.50 CAN @ May 2002

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciler: Alex Maleev
Inker: Alex Maleev
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Wes Abbot
Editor: Stuart Moore & Kelly Lamy
Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada

Synopsis: Sammy Silke, Richard Fisk, and the other wiseguys were toasting each other with drinks celebrating the death of Wilson Fisk, The Kingpin of Crime. Sammy Silke plan on calling all the other crime bosses in America including his father in Pittsburgh for a sit down, with him and associates that killed The Kingpin, as the New York Organization. Also, they wanted to gift them with the information of Daredevil's secret identity of Matt Murdoch, which Kingpin knew and did nothing about the information. Richard Fisk cannot believe his father is dead, and was reassured by Sammy Silke that he is.

In the middle of the night, outside the Daily Bugle, Daredevil met with Ben Urich. Daredevil is in the mood to kill somebody, and at the same time doesn't know who is trying to assassinate him as Matt Murdoch. Ben Urich has an idea who might it be... Falzone. The man who went to get assassins to kill guys like Murdoch. He went upstairs to get the info on Falzone. A few hours later, Daredevil was at Falzone's Billiards and Pub, which was closed for the night. But his senses noticed that people ran out of there earlier. He went to the back office, and noticed the dead Falzone slumped on his chair with a close range 22 caliber slug on the dead man's forehead. Then he smelled mink and patchouli oil. He realized... that Vanessa Fisk was there earlier.

In the darkness of Richard Fisk's room, his mother sat as he entered. She questioned what he did. And he answered that he finally saved them. The Kingpin, the monster, is finally gone. He thought wrong. Vanessa Fisk talked to her son condescendingly telling him that his father, Wilson Fisk, was a man of conviction and ambition and even with all his faults, stood by the people he loved. Unlike Richard, a sniveling coward who had every opportunity in the world and took it all and made nothing. She told him when she was pregnant that she was afraid of bringing a baby into this world of violence, but she didn't have the strength and courage then to end the pregnancy, then she could have spared the disappointment that Richard is right now. She was holding a handgun, which Richard noticed.

Later that evening, she walked out of his home (apparently after killing her son) and was met out front by her right hand man, Mr. Dini, and ordered him to go with the plan and do it. There's no going back. And the next pages have various degrees of violence perpetrated against Kingpin's assassins. One was thrown off the roof, another was strangled to death by prostitutes he was in bed with, another is dead in the bathroom reading a newspaper, and another was dead in a restaurant with an ice pick sticking in the back of his head. Elsewhere, Sammy Silke is with a prostitute entering his hotel room when gunshots went off, which hit the woman but he eluded. They chased him down the corridor, but he made it to the elevator and escaped downwards.

Later in the middle of the night in the empty streets of NYC, Sammy was at a public phone and called his dad in Pittsburgh saying he made a mistake. It's to no avail, his father hung up on him. He is alone in a dangerous NYC populated with men loyal to The Kingpin with orders from his widow, Vanessa Fisk, to kill all men associated with killing her husband.

At Wilson Fisk's bedroom, Vanessa Fisk sat quietly in the dark at his working desk. The bloodstained carpet is still there with the Kingpin's blood dried up all over it.

At NYC FBI HQ, Sammy Silke is with two FBI Agents in one of the interrogating rooms. He surrendered himself to get protection. They laughed, and said they don't care and they'll just take him to jail. Fear surrounded Sammy knowing that he'll get killed in prison. They wanted all the information on his gangster father and the other crime bosses, which he refused to give them. They were about to walk out and have an agent come in to take him away, when he offered them Daredevil's secret identity, Matt Murdoch.

Comments: Vanessa Fisk, the crime lord's widow scorned, did a Michael Corleone Godfather Part One style order of multiple hits at the same time. The Wilson Fisk assassins celebrated in the beginning of the issue, but were too overconfident, not thinking of the payback from The Kingpin's widow and loyalists. And his son, Richard Fisk, paid the price with his life at the hands of his mother.

Daredevil's meeting with Ben Urich showed he had anger issues. Alex Maleev conveyed Daredevil's anger emotions in his noir-like illustrations and you really feel like Daredevil is an uber violent superhero drenched in a violent streak in him, unlike his persona of the blind attorney, which made no appearance in this issue.

Okay. They remind me of the DCU's The Deominators monster aliens. 

rberman so the Brood was created by Chris Claremont based on the movie Aliens. I didn't know Kitty Pryde was based on Sigourney Weaver. Is that really true?

Thanks for providing links to the origins and background on Kitty Pryde and the Brood rberman.

Daredevil #169

"Devils"

0.50 ¢ @ March 1981

Artist and Writer: Frank Miller
Inker: Klaus Janson
Colorist: Glynis Wein
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Editor: Denny O'Neil & Mark Gruenwald
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Synopsis: An evening talk show has its host interviewing its guest, Matt Murdock, but was interrupted by an emergency news broadcast that Bullseye has escaped a mental hospital from surgery, and the public was cautioned to call the police as this villain is unarmed by any object in his hands is considered a deadly weapon. Normal broadcast resumed but Matt Murdock is no longer at his interview seat.

Bullseye is in the streets of Manhattan and is hallucinating that everyone is Daredevil and dressed in his costume. As he walked through the street, he assaulted them and killed them with the exception of one woman he ran away to escape from the get-go. After killing them, he went to a tailor's shop. He emerged from the tailor's shop with his Bullseye costume and killed the tailor as well, but then held his own head as he felt his brain was on fire and with tears of pain rolling down his eyes, he blamed Daredevil for it.

At the hospital, Daredevil is with the hospital administrator and an NYPD Lieutenant where the hospital admin talked about Bullseye's tumor and his obsession with Daredevil causing hallucinations that everyone around him looked like Daredevil and induced him to attack the hospital staff. They decided to remove the tumor before it killed him. The Lieutenant didn't think Bullseye's death would be a real loss to society, which Daredevil disagreed with. DD thinks any loss of life that can be prevented should be done so, as it is not for them to decide. A police officer entered their room and reported Bullseye has started and has killed three civilians in Times Square so far.

Inside a Times Square movie theater, Bullseye's tumor started giving him headaches again thus inducing hallucinations that everyone is Daredevil. His screaming had others complaining which lead to a fight inside. Some of the moviegoers left the theater, and Daredevil outside spoke to a bystander who directed him to and told him there's a psycho in a movie theater. Daredevil headed that way on foot.

At the Law Offices of Nelson and Murdock, Foggy Nelson, their handicapped secretary Becky, and Matt's girlfriend Heather were having some Christmas get together and waiting for Matt, and thought he'd never show up. Heather left telling Foggy to tell Matt she'll give his Christmas gift later at his place.

Back at the theater, Bullseye is waylaying the moviegoers who looked like Daredevil in his mind. The real Daredevil arrived telling him to stop and allowing DD to help him. Bullseye screamed "Never!" and attacked DD. They engaged in mortal combat and traded blows. Bullseye finally disengaged and grabbed a moviegoer still watching the movie and gave DD a choice that either he kill this innocent civilian or DD. DD just stood there, and Bullseye threw a weapon at his arm sending DD to the floor, and allowing Bullseye to escape.

At Matt Murdoch's apartment, Elektra snuck in. She had a reltionship with Matt Murdock years ago and it should be behind her. She found a gift from Matt's girlfriend Heather and threw the gift destroying a mirror. This woke up Heather who headed to the room thinking Matt was back. Elektra snuck out through the window and left.

Back at the theater, the NYPD Lieutenant is gathering clues and ordered one of the cops to get a medic to patch up Daredevil who told the Lieutenant the description of the hostages that Bullseye took with him.

A couple of blocks away, Bullseye and the two hostages arrived at their apartment.

Outside the movie theater, DD goes to a rooftop and concentrates on the city to see if he can use his heightened radar sense, and other senses to detect the smell from Bullseye's cigar and the victims' cough and cough drops. There were so many different sounds and smells surrounding him and even in the distance. Until finally, he hears a specific cough, eliciting a smile on DD's face.

Back at the victims' apartment, Bullseye had another headache attack. One of the victims were going to take advantage and hit him over the head with an appliance, but it's too late, Bullseye saw him, and was about to kill him until DD crashed through a window. They engaged immediately into hand to hand combat which spilled outside into the hallways and down the flight of stairs. This led to outside and Bullseye entered a subway entrance adjacent to the apartment. DD followed suit and they continued their combat in the subway and eventually to the train tracks. Bullseye got the better of him and had DD in a headlock, which DD countered by pushing his head back following it with a combination elbow and punch to the face, and eventually knocking out Bullseye by ramming the back of his head on the steel train tracks. Bloodied and groggy, DD considered leaving the unconscious Bullseye on the train tracks to die because he'll just kill again. A train approached, and at the last second, DD pulled Bullseye to safety.

Later at the corridors of a hospital, the NYPD Lieutenant is screaming at DD, who told him to lower his voice. The Lieutenant cannot believe what DD did by saving Bullseye and now extending the villain's life by bringing him to surgery. He'll hire a high-priced lawyer become free, and kill again. DD told the Lieutenant they have a set of laws in place and justice is handled by the courts, which society has put in place. It's society's responsibility to make Bullseye pay not them, and he is not a murdered. The Lieutenant told him Bullseye will kill again next time and it will be Daredevil's fault. Daredevil just walked away as behind them the voice of the surgeon just said that the surgery is a success and the patient will live.

Comments: The scene in the hospital between the hospital administrator, NYPD Lieutenant, and Daredevil reminded me of Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and an Arkham Asylum doctor talking about The Joker. The Lieutenant just like Commissioner Gordon wouldn't mind the villain dying and it would be a good riddance. Daredevil like Batman would say that all life is sacred, even The Jokers, and that it should be saved as they are not there to judge a life, any life, even that of a psychopath.

In the movie theater Bullseye was threatening to kill hostages unless Daredevil stopped hostilities, and it wasn't even a choice for Daredevil. He just disengaged combat and allowed himself in a vulnerable position where he could have been killed by Bullseye. It's the price of being a superhero, sacrificing their own life for even one bystander.

I loved Frank Miller's fight sequence starting from the apartment and going through the halls and eventually outside to the adjacent subway entrance. Then it worked its way to the train tracks. With Bullseye getting the better of him during their grappling, Frank Miller showed just how Daredevil's prowess in combat is superior to that of Bullseye, by detailing how Daredevil got the better of Bullseye in that prone position. But he barely escaped with his life.

Daredevil for a moment considered letting an unconscious Bullseye die, but he saved him at the last minute from being run over by the incoming trains. And the final scene with the Lieutenant has that old debate of allowing the super-villain to live and kill again, and it would be the fault of the superhero for any future killings by that villain. That debate can go back and forth and will continue to do so as long as there are fans and readers of comic books such as Marvel's Daredevil and DC's Batman.

The brief interlude of Elektra showing up at Matt Murdock's apartment has left me thinking if she was there to confront Matt Murdock because she now knows he's Daredevil and they had a battle encounter the previous issue, or wanted to talk to Matt Murdock because of their past relationship. Was she there for a confrontation to resolve their conflict, or to fix the problem because of their past history?

Not X-Men related, but Claremont also homaged Alien in his "World of Fire" storyline in the UK's Star Wars Weekly #107-115 from 1980. In this adventure, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia are stalked by an unseen, but lethal alien creature from a supposedly long dead planet. The way that artist Carmine Infantino only let's the reader see fleeting glimpses of the alien's body until the big reveal at the end of the story, is very Alien-like.