Comic Book Review: Daredevil #101

I didn’t post a review for the last issue of Daredevil. Don’t mistake that for me not thoroughly enjoying Daredevil #100. It was a great read and I loved all the past Daredevil artists returning for the special 100th issue. I was just too busy to get around to posting a review.

At any rate, I am positive that Brubaker will deliver another gem with Daredevil #101. This story arc is being to sizzle as Brubaker slowly increases the intensity in this story. Let’s go ahead and hit this review.

Creative Team
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Penciler: Michael Lark
Inker: Stefano Gaudiano

Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with Daredevil savagely beating up and breaking the bones of some thugs. Daredevil demands to know where Mr. Fear is hiding. We cut to Turk talking to two thugs about Daredevil’s recent rampage. Turk is worried that Mr. Fear overplayed his hand. That even Kingpin knew not to push Daredevil too far. That there is a monster lurking inside of Murdock. Turk doesn’t want to go toe-to-toe with Daredevil again.

Turk tells the thugs to start charging for the drugs from Mr. Fear. The thugs leave. Turk then calls someone and tells them “Tell your boss I can help him find what he wants.”

We cut to Matt and Foggy arriving at the detention center where Milla is being held. Milla is strapped to her bed (cause she likes it rough) and has been sedated due to her wild erratic behavior. Milla freaks out and begins yelling and screaming about empty spots in her memory. Matt tells Milla to calm down and that he will save her.

The D.A. then enters and asks to speak with Foggy and Matt. Matt says that Milla has been drugged and wasn’t acting of her own free will. D.A. Algren tells Matt that he won’t consider bail until Milla passes a psych evaluation.

We shift back to the law firm office where Matt angrily slams his door shut. Dakota enters Matt’s office. Matt screams for her to get out and leave him alone. Dakota reminds Matt that he is an adult and she is a lady. Dakota tells Matt that she has a connection in the NYPD that is going to help Matt.

Matt apologizes for yelling and says he is just upset that he failed Milla and that she is all alone in the detention facility. Dakota reminds Matt that he is Daredevil and that he can go see Milla after lights-out at the detention facility.

We cut to Daredevil sneaking into the detention center and slipping into Milla’s room. Matt tells Milla that she will never be alone a single night while she is being detained. Matt realizes that in order to pass a psyche evaluation that Milla needs to suppress whatever is making her paranoid and angry. So Matt teaches Milla meditation techniques that his sensei taught him in order to clear Milla’s mind so she may better control her mind.

Milla ends up falling asleep in Matt’s arms. And for the first time in a long time Matt prays. Matt then leaves in the morning before Milla wakes up.

We zip back to two days ago. Daredevil is meeting with Dakota’s contact within the NYPD. The detective tells Daredevil that the man who was blown up in Mr. Fear’s apartment was a science teacher at Empire State University named Dante Govich.

Evidently, Dante and Larry Cranston (Mr. Fear) became friends while teaching at ESU.
Dante sold drugs to the students. Dante got arrested a year ago. Then all charges were dropped after the students recanted their testimony. Dante then disappeared until his death in the bomb explosion two days ago.

The detective says that Dante helped Mr. Fear create new drugs and gases. One of those drugs is turning the crooks in New York into psychos. And now Mr. Fear has gone underground.

We cut to Milla failing her psych evaluation. During the evaluation, Milla loses it and has to be physically restrained from attacking the doctor conducting the exam. We cut to court where the judge orders Milla to be sent into protective custody at Bellevue where she will be held until she is competent to stand trial and is no longer a danger to herself and others around her.

Matt yells at the judge that she is locking away Milla before she has been convicted of any crime. The judge hold Matt in contempt of court and orders the bailiff to put Matt in the holding cell for the night.

We zip to one day ago, with Daredevil viciously beating up some thugs and demanding to know where Mr. Fear is hiding. Daredevil knows that Larry killed his chemist, Dante, because he didn’t want anyone else to have the antidote. That the antidote that Milla needs is Larry’s power over Matt. The power to make Matt suffer. Matt thinks how Mr. Fear went too far this time and that was his mistake. Now, Mr. Fear is the only person who can cure Milla and Matt vows to find Larry no matter what he has to do.

We cut to tonight. Turk and The Hood are watching Daredevil brutally beat up some more thugs in his search for Mr. Fear. Turk tells the Hood that maybe the Hood should let Daredevil deal with Mr. Fear. The Hood disagrees. That they will let Daredevil lead them to Mr. Fear. Then the Hood and his men can finish off whichever one of them is still standing. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Daredevil #101 was such a well written issue. Brubaker continues to use his patented slow burn approach with this story arc. Brubaker is a master at moving a story along at a measured pace while adding layer upon layer to an incredibly textured and complex story arc. Brubaker’s unbelievable attention to detail is amazing. I love watching as Brubaker continually reveals various plot twists as he slides all the different pieces of the puzzle into place. And Brubaker knows that to craft a quality mystery that every answer he gives the reader should naturally lead to the creation of a new question.

Brubaker whips up his usual phenomenal dialogue. Seriously, very few writers can match the incredibly realistic and natural flowing dialogue like Brubaker does on all of his titles. And the well crafted dialogue goes hand-in-hand with Brubaker’s wonderful character work. Brubaker is obsessed with getting into the psyches of each of his characters and creating such realistic and three-dimensional personalities.

Daredevil #101 was a rather powerful and emotional read. Brubaker is able to pull at the reader’s emotions and get us to feel Matt’s sorrow, his hopelessness and his rage. At the beginning of this issue, Turk comments that there is a monster inside of Matt Murdock and that Mr. Fear is making a mistake by going too far and releasing that monster. Brubaker then uses the rest of Daredevil #101 to reflect Turk’s comments and show the reader that monster inside of Matt.

The monster is overtly present in the scenes of Daredevil brutally beating thugs in order to find out where Mr. Fear is hiding. And I just love seeing a brutally vicious Daredevil kicking ass, breaking arms and fracturing legs. It is smart for Brubaker to show that as Matt gets angrier and more threatened that his handling of criminals gets more and more violent.

We also see the monster come out of Matt in other scenes as well. The scene at Matt’s office was great. Matt is becoming more and more on edge as he snaps rudely at his friends. The scene in the courtroom was perfect. Matt’s feelings of rage and desperation are palpable as it boils forth from him in his confrontation with the judge.

Brubaker also shows the reader Matt’s tender side. I found the scene with Matt and Milla at the detention center to be very touching. It was sweet to see Matt’s love and his undying devotion and loyalty to his wife. I’m no fan of Milla and have been vocal about how boring I find her character. But, I have to admit that Brubaker actually got me to feel for their relationship for the first time ever with how he handled this scene.

Daredevil #101 has a cool ending with the appearance of the Hood. Now, I have ragged on the Hood for being a lame character over in my reviews of New Avengers. I still find the Hood to be a bit on the lame side, but at least he is finally in the type of comic book that I have been saying he belongs in ever since he first appeared in New Avengers. A title like Daredevil is exactly where the Hood belongs and he fits very well into Brubaker’s story arc. I look forward to seeing Daredevil smack the spit out of the Hood.

Brubaker also puts together the pieces of the puzzle at the end and reveals to the reader Mr. Fear’s plan to position himself as the only person with the antidote for Milla. And this just may be something that Mr. Fear will end up regretting as it will probably serve as his undoing. Mr. Fear should be careful what he wishes for, because he just may get it.

Lark and Gaudiano combine to deliver plenty of their usual quality artwork. Their style isn’t my favorite, but it is a perfect fit for this title.

The Bad: I have no complaints with this issue.

Overall: Daredevil #101 was another fine read. Brubaker continues to make this title a must read comic book. If you still haven’t given this tile a try then you really have to do so. Daredevil combines incredible psychology, well crafted stories and bone crunching action. Daredevil along with Captain America and X-Factor constitute Marvel’s three strongest written titles.