After last week, I cannot put into words how excited I was to move onto this week’s comics! I absolutely love David Mack’s work (especially on DD!), and have never read the 1997 run of Heroes for Hire! And I am even more pleased to say that all the excitement was warranted! We have quite a few issues this week (13 to be exact!), so let’s just jump right into it! Every story will be analyzed based on story, art, characterization, long-lasting impact, and then be assigned a grade S-D and put on a tier list! The first story up is Heroes and Villains from Heroes for Hire (1997)!

Story:

Heroes for Hire (1997) is the only story on this reading order from before the 1998 Marvel Knights initiative. While not a hard company-wide reboot, Marvel Knights represented a shift from the self-contained one-and-done stories of the 90’s to a more serialized deep dive into the charaters. You’ll see going forward that most story-arcs were 6 issues, with clear endings and beginnings. Heroes for Hire, conversly, is still very much a product of its time. Issue 1 is written by Roger Stern and John Ostrander, while the remainder of the run is just Ostrander. This first story arc very much feels like a response to the question of “who is left after Onslaught?” The avengers are missing, the fantastic four are missing, and I guess so are the X-Men? I admit to not knowing a whole lot about this era of Marvel, but I can tell that this initial team is very rag-tag. This section is much more detailed than normal, mainly since this is my first time reading this story and I’m unsure what plot lines will end up being important going forward.

Heroes and Villains starts with a cinematic shot of “The Vault”, a maximum security prison in the Marvel universe that is overseen by power-armor wearing guards aptly named “guardsman”. A shield aircraft lands and begins to offload a prisoner when the two Guardsman on patrol comment on the oddities of this drop-off; saying it seems “last minute”. The “Shield personel” then break their disguise, kill the two guards and begin their true purpose – the breakout of the entire Vault. Now, is this incredibly reminiscent of Batman: Knightfall? Yes. Yes it is. These newly revealed villains are none-other than the “U-Foes” (Pronounced like U-F-O’s), which mirror the powers of the Fantastic Four. There is Ironclad (the muscle), Vector (the brains), Vapor (the spy/ infiltrator), and X-Ray (whatever role Human Torch played). They are uniquely designed and perfectly C tier villains – ripe for the picking for a team book consisting of other rejects. After breaking everyone out, we are shown two mysterious characters who have been observing the action – one, a mysterious woman in white with tiger stripes (wait, I know this one! Pick me!) who is watching it from a nearby building, and the other is a man sitting in a sitrep room monitoring the plan who is apparently the brains behind the breakout.

He does not appear to be on the best of terms with the U-Foes, which tradionally operate independently. We then jump to everyone’s favorite martial artist billionaire, Danny Rand! At this point in Danny’s history, he is working as Iron Fist, and has merged his company (Rand & Meacham) with that of Namor the Submariner’s Oracle, Inc. Oracle is being overseen by Jim Hammond, the original android Human Torch and team-mate of Namor during the Invaders. Interestingly enough, compared to his role in more modern comics, Danny is keeping secret the origins of his powers and the mystical city of Kun-Lun – so no martial arts and mysticism here! Danny is training while listening to the news (overhearing commentary on the Thunderbolts – man, I need to read that run too. Add it to the list!) and hears of the breakout at the Vault.

He manages to destroy the training dummies after almost being seriously injured, and has a wonderful conversation with Jim about the current state of heroes. I love Ostrander’s writing, and am less familiar with Stern’s, but I can see that there is a great deal of attention into making this super hero team make sense in the current continuity of Marvel Comics. This does not feel like “The Defenders” of the 1970’s where is a non-team. This feels like Jim and Danny, who are by nature heroic and charismatic, getting a team together to take on a threat that they know only they can. We then jump over to Hulk, who, apparently, has been “seperated from what was left of his humanity”. Whatever that means. (I assume this is the in-universe reason that Hulk went back to being a Jeckyl and Hyde character after the Peter David run? Maybe that run is still going on during this?) Hulk lands from a massive jump only to be overcome by Vapor, who has suffocated him from the inside making him collapse. The rest of the U-Foes show up, with Tremor knocking him out for good with a giant slab of rock. They then reveal the next stage of their plan – circular discs with the power to mind control – which they put on the Hulk!

At the Gem Theater, home of Luke Cage (semi-retired Hero for Hire), Luke is sitting watching a movie, when Danny shows up in full costume. Luke and Danny were a part of a team in the 70’s, but the death of Danny (don’t ask – he got better!) ended their superheroing.

Danny brings up to Luke the need to create a new team that can be hired to stop crime and be run more like a business enterprise. Luke says that he is not interested, but gives Danny his blesssing in using the name “Heroes for Hire” (the original moniker for Luke Cage in his earliest appearances). I cannot speak much on whether or not Luke not joining the team feels out of place, but I feel that having witnessed Danny dying would have left a sour-taste in his mouth to any more team-ups. As Danny leaves, deflated that his once-partner will not be one of the founding members of this new team, we once again see the white woman watching from a nearby building – who is she, and what does she want with Danny? Another jump to the United Nations Building and another wonderful moment to help ground this comic in the greater narrative of the time. These world leaders and scientists are gathered together to discuss the events of Onslaught, especially the negative effects that have happened to the Hulk. Then the U-Foes attack with their new teammate – none other than the Hulk himself! We do not know their motivations, but before the scene ends we are given a comment by Vector about “picking their brains” with the mind-control discs! In a nearby bar we see Hercules (in a super 90’s costume! Ooooh shiny!), causing a huge ruckus by being quite obnoxious. He is lamenting how he was unable to assist the Avengers or Fantastic Four in their fight against Onslaught, and now is, seemingly, left alone with no real cause. He then sees another news report (how convenient!) talking about the Hulk attacking the United Nations and feels the need to go intervene since they were both Avengers at one point. At the same time, we see Danny in his limo returning to Oracle, Inc, when he gets a phone call from Jim telling him about the attack at the United Nations and the appearance of the U-Foes. He then rushes over to help, getting the aid of law enforcement to get blueprints of the building (a nice touch) and the location of the ventilation shafts that will get him closer to the room in which the hostages are being held. He is not alone, however, and sees the woman in white who has been tailing him this evening.

They have a brief “hero misunderstanding” and she tells him her name is “White Tiger”, and she is wanting to help. There is a nice continuity check here where Danny acknowledges that he knows of another white tiger but “that one is a male”, which is presumably Hector Ayala. Nice touch! They agree to work together to help the hostages and start observing the situation and coming up with a plan when Hercules busts through the wall and ruins everything. Great job Herc! Hercules begins to fight the U-Foes and Hulk, while Iron Fist and White Tiger jump down and join him. Iron Fist uses his “fist of iron” to break the mind control disc on Hulk’s neck freeing him and he begins to fight on their side.

The U-Foes, noticing that they are quickly losing ground, flee and leave the heroes to clean up the mess and remove the mind control devices from the hostages. Iron Fist helps Herc to his feet after taking a nasty hit from Tremor, and we get a glimpse into more of the current state of Herc – he has had his immortality stripped and has the constitution of a normal person again. Iron Fist picks up on something strange going on with him, saying that he is acting like he is drunk, something that was not possible in the past with his godhood. Foreshadowing! News reporters arrive on the scene and report that Hulk was part of the villains, to which Iron Fist quickly absolves him of any wrongdooing with the mention of the mind-control discs. These discs apparently belong to, or are similar enough in design to be reminscent of, the Controller – is he the one behind the new villain team? Danny also announces the new team, saying that “The Heroes for Hire is back in action!” with the team being himself, White Tiger, and Hercules. There is a cutaway to the leader of the U-Foes, a man claiming to be “Master of the World” who has the Controller in a sealed vat. Their battle with the U-Foes and this so called “Master of the World” is only just beginning!

The second issue gives writing credit to Ostrander only, though I honestly could not tell a difference in quality. This issue begins in the middle of an attack from Nitro in which the H4H are being beaten due to a lack of cohesion. Herc continues to charge head first into all of his problems, throwing a train car full of natural gas at Nitro causing a massive explosion damaging city property and hurting himself in the process.

Danny comments on the fact that Herc is a loose cannon and that his alcoholic tendencies are negatively effecting the team. While Danny’s heart is in the right place with the creation of this superhero team, he attributes the failings of the team are due to his leadership and general lack of respect from the other members. He is thinking about what Luke is doing when we are shown exactly that! Luke, still at his own personal cinema, is watching Aliens, when the U-Foes attack and kidnap him! While this issue is not strictly a “part 2”, and up to this point there is no real mention back to the events of the first issue, I like how they show that the U-Foes are not captured and still have a plan.

We then have an extended interlude with Black Knight, Dane Whitman, who, in a similar situation to Herc, is left teamless after the Avengers, and seemingly powerless! Slight aside, I absolutely love the character of white tiger, and had no idea that a version was in this book – but more than that I love Black Knight! I was grinning ear-to-ear when I saw him in this issue! Anyway, Whitman is called to a local zoo to see the supervillain Dreadknight’s flying horse after he was arrested in an issue of Spider-Man. As Dane is leaving he brings up a job offer he received from Jim Hammond to work for Oracle, Inc as a scientist, and to be a part of H4H business as the Black Knight. Unsure of his purpose following Onslaught and the loss of Circe, he initially does not respond. Not far from the zoo he runs into the Lady of the Lake from Arthurian legend who whisks him away to Avalon and reveals that he is destined to take the place of King Arthur and become the new Pendragon. She grants him a new suit of armor along with the sword of light and the shield of night.

He then receives a new flying horse and wakes up safely in his bed, assuming it all to have been a dream – except he has a new necklace that contains the sword and shield and the knowledge that when he says “Avalon” he is granted their power. We then cut back to Oracle, Inc where Danny is discussing what to do with Herc to Jim, when Dane shows up to accept the job offer. Dane is quickly accosted by Herc (who is still drunk) to which Dane scolds him for his drunkeness and says that “You wouldn’t have reported to Captain America like this!” further casting doubt on Danny’s leadership. We have no time to contemplate the implications of such a reality where Cap is on the team because Nitro is once again seen blowing up sections of New York. The H4H rush to action, leaving Dane to talk with Jim about science, still reluctant to become the Black Knight.

Herc once again rushes straight in with no regard for the plan or his own health, and Dane decides that he needs to become the Black Knight to help defeat Nitro and prevent more property damage and injury to Herc. With the words “Avalon” he dons his armor, his shield and sword, and jumps on his flying horse to go help the H4H, breaking through the glass walls of Oracle, Inc because that is more dramatic! Great first day on the job Dane! The issue ends with Luke being in chains in front of the villain from the epilogue of last issue, the Master of the World, who claims to have business concerning the fate of the very world!

The third issue is much less in depth than the last two (which, the first issue was an oversized issue!), and can be broken down into 4 scenes. The first scene is the fight between the Nitro and the H4H plus Black Knight. The H4H hold their own, but Herc continues to not listen, and Black Knight is ultimately the reason they are able to subdue Nitro.

During the fight Danny is hurt when he pits his Iron Fist against an explosive punch from Nitro, causing him to be out of action for a bit. The second scene is the continuation of the epilogue from the last issue with the Master of the World and Luke. The MotW (such a goofy name) tells Luke that humanity is on the brink of cataclysm due to overpopulation and depleted resources (who knew?) and claims that a reduction in 70% of the Earth’s population would fix this. Luke, reasonably, has objections to this claim and says that he would never allow someone to simply wipe out 70% of the population, and asks why exactly MotW thinks he is qualified to make this statement. This is where we find out that, the reason MotW seemed familiar to me earlier is because he is literally Marvel’s Vandal Savage! That makes sense. Stop me if you’re heard this origin story before – ancient human, makes contact with aliens, is experimented on and gains immortality and a “god-like agenda”.

Anyway, Cage then asks the million dollar question – why am I here? To spy on Danny Rand and H4H, MotW responds. In a move that I cannot decide if is out of character or not, Luke doesn’t immediately decline. I have a very hard time thinking that Luke would betray Danny like this, but maybe there is more to this than I am seeing at this point.

Danny is recovering from his injury at from the fight with Nitro and decides to spar with White Tiger. He still doesn’t know much about who she is and where she came from, but believes that she has a mystical connection, possibly to Kun-Lun itself. He deflects her attacks easily, egging her on until she eventually snaps and unleashes her hidden powers turning into an actual white tiger! Super cool!

Danny, understandably, gets very alarmed and tries to calm her down and she transforms back into her human form, embarrassed and ashamed at having revealed her powers. Before Danny can question her about the origin of her powers, he gets a call from Jim that Herc is causing a disturbance at a nearby bar. Danny and Dane go into damage control mode and try to prevent their reputation from being ever more tarnished by Herc’s actions. Dane goes in first, assuming that their history as team mates would allow him to get through to Herc, but Herc responds by throwing him out of the bar. Danny then goes in and decides that the only response is to use his iron fist powers and punch Herc clean in the face. So very, very satisfying. Herc calms down, sobering up almost instantly from Danny’s punch, and explains that he is still reeling from the dissapearance of the Avengers and needs some time to get better, leaving the team. Honestly, Herc filled the role of chaos and dissension on the team, and I am glad that he is gone. But that leaves the H4H without their much needed muscle – except, the very next page, Luke shows up at Oracle, Inc and offers to join the team! Interesting, did he agree to spy for MotW?

The final issue of this initial story arc begins, once again, in the middle of a fight. I like that Ostrander manages to find a good balance between bombastic team fights, soap opera team drama, and solo character development. Luke Cage is in the fray alongside Danny, Black Knight, and White Tiger, who is using her power in the open, showing that there has been significant time between this issue and the last.

After the battle we get a glimpse of Misty Knight, who will be a constant face within Heroes for Hire going forward! We then see a meeting between the MotW and the U-Foes – the first such meeting in the whole story arc. Harkening back to the alluded to conflict in issue 1, the U-Foes refuse to get themselves captured, which is the plan according to MotW. The U-Foes attempt to blackmail MotW by telling the H4H (so many acronyms!) that Luke is a mole (once again, not sure how I feel about that), to which MotW allows them to change the plan. Despite what MotW tells the U-Foes, he does not seem to happy about them questioning his authority and position – interesting juxtoposition with Danny not being able to control Herc. There is a short interlude showing more development with Dane’s story, apparently he and Circe (a member of the eternals) were pulled into a time vortex during the fight with Onslaught and got seperated. Dane survived and returned to New York, but Circe is missing and it is weighing heavy on Dane. He awakens from his nightmare in a daze, confused about what is real and a dream, questioning the very creation of the H4H. Jim brings him back to reality, only to be interrupted by an emergency broadcast by Danny saying that he has a lead on the location of the U-Foes and the Controller. How does Danny know about the Controller…? The heroes meet up at Laguardia airport and White Tiger senses a trap – and at that moment the U-Foes teleport in with the Controller! We are meant to think that Luke is the betrayer, but it turns out that Danny has been mind controlled with one of the discs!

The battle quickly spirals out of control, with both sides pretty evenly matched. Danny and Luke duke it out in classic “hero misunderstanding” fashion, with White Tiger taking the initiative to break the disc on Danny’s neck and free him. The U-Foes once again activate their teleportation tech to flee (like they did in issue 1), but this time there is a horrific malfunction that causes a massive electrical surge, knocking all of them out. The H4H consider it a win, not questioning whether the event was planned from an outside entity – which is exactly what MotW did. He knew that his leash on the U-Foes and the Controller was getting strained, so he decided to sabotage the mission and give the H4H a win. The epilogue shows Oracle, Inc being invaded, with Danny, White Tiger, Luke, and Dane rushing to the front entrance to intercept the invader. As they get there, Dane realizes that the invader is none other than Circe, who also made it out of the time vortex. Before she collapses from exhaustion, she has a warning for Dane – the celestials. Are they invading? Are they dead? Are they throwing a birthday party? Who knows, but I hope we find out in the next story arc!

Art:

The art is by Pascual Ferry and Jaime Mendoza and is very typical of comic art at the time. The poses are flashy, the colors are bright and distinct, and the character designs are over-designed. However, there are some very nice framing shots that set the scene very well, and the backgrounds are consistently detailed and recognizable. Fight scenes have crosshatching and impact lines for backgrounds to center the action and not make it too muddied, whereas exposition is firmly set in defined rooms.

The scenes with Hulk feel like areas from a Hulk comic, whereas Avalon from issue 2 feels like a Black Knight comic. The art reflects not just the team but also the individual members and their unique style.

Long Lasting Impact:

Heroes for Hire feels like a comic from the late 90’s, an era of financial hardship for Marvel where they were just trying to stay above water. Luke Cage had a solo series in 1992 that did not perform very well commercially, and Iron Fist could never hold a solo series for more than a handful of issues. The idea to combine them back into a team book, with the inclusion of Herc and Black Knight who also didn’t have a great track record of selling comics, was a great way of keeping the characters on the shelf after Onslaught removed so many other super heroes from the board. The creation of a new White Tiger, even though Hector had not appeared in comics in over a decade, is an odd choice but I do enjoy the idea of them being able to turn into an actual tiger. All of this to say, this iteration of Heroes for Hire did not have a huge implication as a team, but as a way to keep these characters getting new stories, it was instrumental. Seeing the fallout of the Hulk going back to his more monster roots, seeing Dane Whitman getting a new armor suit and weapons, and seeing Hercules cope with the fact that he was not “killed” alongside his fellow Avengers, is where this book excels.

Characterizations:

Historically, I am not a fan of team books. I never got into Teen Titans, or Justice League, and only barely got involved in Bendis X-Men and Johns JSA. I feel that team books getting busy really fast and most times characters get condensed into their base personality traits. Compex characters get put into boxes like “the muscle”, or “the brains”, and almost all stories boil down to someone not following the plan or wanting to take all the glory. This book is no exception to that rule. Danny and Dane feel in character, but Herc is depicted as much more rash and unstable than normal (which, might just be the new Herc post Onslaught), and I still don’t feel that Luke Cage would betray Danny and work with a super villain. Ostrander does his best to try and keep everyone’s individual stories moving forward and when they are the only character on the panel I feel that they act more themselves, but I do feel that there is a lot of generalizations and concessions being made to keep everyone distinct.

Verdict:

To remind everyone of the tier list and what each rank means, they are as follows:

[S] Rank – Stories fundamental to the character; worth hunting down and purchasing regardless of your familiarity with the character

[A] Rank – Wonderful stories adding layers to the lore; great place to continue learning about a character

[B] Rank – Stories that are fun and interesting but do not add to the character; worth reading digitally, possibly owning if you like the character

[C] Rank – Generic stories that don’t feel like they belong to any particular super hero; read as part of an online subscription only

[D] Rank – Stories that detract from the overall character; not worth owning unless a hardcore collector of that character

Having said all that, I feel that it is only fair to give Heroes for Hire: Heroes and Villains a [C]. I really enjoyed this read, but once it was done, I had to basically reread the entire thing to do this review. I couldn’t remember any of the villains names, and forgot entire sub plots like the Hulk or the U-Foes blackmailing MotW. The art is passable, but nothing distinct enough to stick with me. I will continue to be excited going forward with this series and seeing where the plot lines lead – especially those of White Tiger and Black Knight, but I can not be bothered to hunt down these issues and own them physically.

The next read for the week was Daredevil: Parts of a Hole by David Mack, Joe Quesada, and Jimmy Palmiotti (and a few guest fill in artists); and – spoiler alert – it was so much better than the last DD story. Full disclosure, I am a huge fan of David Mack. I have signed copies of the entire Daredevil: End of Days series by Mack that I received as a birthday gift when I was 17. I bought the Kabuki monster sized hardcover collection without batting an eye. I am going to be biased, but at least I’ll let you know beforehand! Let’s jump straight into the story arc that sold me on this volume of Daredevil back in the day.

Story:

Parts of a Hole picks up where Guardian Devil left off – not only in plot but in purpose. If Smith’s goal with DD:GD was to remove the bloat that had grown up in the Daredevil comics of the 90’s by removing Karen and getting Foggy and Matt to open their law office back up and get back to the “good old days”, then Mack’s goal was to reestablish Kingpin as the criminal mastermind he used to be. Kingpin hadn’t been a major player in DD comics ever since Last Rites which ran from 297-300 of the first series. But, as we saw with DD:GD, he still knows Matt’s secret identity and was the true villain that allowed Mysterio to enact his master plan by selling that information for $1,000,000 effectively giving him the money to kickstart his comeback. Mack uses this first issue to introduce the reader to a new character – Maya Lopez. Maya is a native american woman who is deaf, but has the uncanny ability to mimic anything she sees – from gymnastic stunts, to feats of strength like kickboxing, to playing piano. And yes, that is basically Taskmaster, but this is a cool ass idea so let’s give him a break. Mack utilizes Maya’s handicap as a juxtoposition to Matt’s, showing them both playing the piano but focusing on different aspects of it – Maya plays for the vibrations, both from the piano but also from the sound of the applause from the audience, while Matt plays for the memories that each note brings forth in his mind, memories of a time when he could see.

While the art in the credits is only attributed to Quesada and Palmiotti, you can definitely see the influence that Mack has. He manages to integrate the script into the art in a seemless way, using long sentences to draw a picture, or page layouts that break the art into miniature sections with his written words scattered throughout. This theme of “parts of a whole” will continue throughout the story arc, showing how deficiencies can be offset by strengths in other areas, or in others. Back to the plot, Matt is interrupted from playing piano by Natasha returning and telling Matt that she knows he doesn’t want a lover right now, but that she is available to talk as a friend. Matt does not give her a response, and continues to grieve for Karen in the silence of the music. We jump forward in time a few months and the law office of Nelson and Murdock is up and running, and has it’s first client! In fact, he is there so quickly after opening that he smears the paint on Matt’s door when he comes in. Instead of reading “Matt Murdock, Attorney” it reads “Matt Murd// Attorn // ” with a handprint in ink. Remember that hand print, it will come up later (It’s a left hand too).

The client, Lenny, is a man who claims to have information on Fisk’s criminal enterprise, and wants protection in exchange for setting the case in motion. The problem is, this gentleman has a speech impediment and cannot be understood by Foggy (once again, handicaps and deficiencies) but luckily for both of them Matt can understand him fine. Before he can say any increminating information, a bullet takes him square in the head, and glances off Matt’s cheek knocking him to the floor. Two more shots ring through the office and strike the piano, damaging it in the crossfire. Matt tells Foggy to call the police, and quickly changes to his costume and attempts to find the shooter.

We then see more about Maya’s backstory, and learn that her father was murdered when she was a small child, leaving her an orphan. This part is a little up to interpretation, but I would like to believe that that moment is so cemented into her psyche that it is the reason she has a photographic memory – that a part of her is still that same little girl grieving for the loss of her father – which is why it is depicted in the comic as a children’s drawing on lined paper.

We are not told the events that lead to her father’s death, but we do see that Wilson Fisk is her “number one fan” and that she can distinguish between his clapping and other people’s based on the vibrations. Back to DD, he has found the shooter, a man in a white trench coat who only speaks in catchphrases.

He subdues him with relative ease, but then suddenly an identical twin dressed the same also armed with a gun shows up and starts attacking him. (Remember this too. See, Mack is a great writer!) Matt knocks them both out, but finds the cell phone that one of them was using to call their boss and report the success – Matt hits redial and reaches none other than the Kingpin himself. Matt threatens Kingpin telling him he knows that he is behind the shooting. Kingpin then unveils his plan to salvage his reputation and cement his return to power – what’s the best way to remove Daredevil off the board? Remove Matt.

Matt is realing from the death of Karen Page, his secretary turned long-term girlfriend turned confidant. Karen was the perfect blend of what Daredevil needed in a woman, and what Matt needed. Black Widow, however, was always just the woman for Daredevil – a superhero like himself, but not someone to experience the mudane with. Kingpin believes that he has the ultimate woman for Matt – someone who will know what it is like to live with a hole in your life – the loss of a loved one, and the loss of a key sense – Maya.

Part 2 begins with another time jump – this time with Matt at the hospital, having finished up with the assassins, returned to the law office, and passed out from his exertion. He is dreaming of Karen, and slowly wakes to the overwhelming sounds and smells of said hospital. He hallucinates Lenny, the client that Kingpin’s assassins had killed, telling him that “heh sehruh es da ka ra ze ho a su” (sidenote, in the previous issue, Mack has Matt translate what the client is saying because it is necessary for the plot and he is explaining to Foggy. Here, this is a secret to the reader, and we can translate it if we want, but Mack will come back to it later if we can’t figure out what he is trying to say.) When Matt looks back at the man, he is gone, cementing in his head that it is indeed a hallucination.

He returns to the law office and tries to distract himself from the fact that it is a crime scene, but is only reminded of that fact when he tries to play the piano and it produces a horrible noise from being damaged by the bullet.

Feeling exhausted both physically and mentally, Matt returns to rest while Foggy tries to build a case that the assassins were hired by Kingpin to prevent whatever information Lenny (the client) had from going to court. We then see Maya on her way over to Nelson and Murdock on behalf of Kingpin to try and dissuage Matt and Foggy from their case by telling them that Fisk is innocent. Kingpin hopes that Maya’s childish innocence and beauty will captivate Matt and keep him distracted. Back at the office, Foggy embraces Matt and tells him how much Matt has meant to him over these past few months, effectively putting a nice bow on the whole debaucle from the last story arc. It is at this moment that Maya walks in, and Foggy, embarrased, excuses himself to go compose himself in the other room. Maya explains she is looking for a “Mister Murdock”, but gets distracted by the paino in the other room and goes to play it, commenting that it is “broken” (the vibration seems off). Matt is confused as to her intentions and reason for coming to the law offices asking if she has an appointment, to which she responds “I haven’t unlocked the secrets of the telephone.” Maya senses that this a bad time and that they have a lot going on between Foggy’s emotional state, the broken piano and crime scene, and Matt being in his bathrobe, so she leaves him with an invitation for lunch after her performance tomorrow morning. Before Matt can inquire any further, she says “it’s in regards to Wilson Fisk.” and leaves. Matt is left dumbfounded, and the art reflects this with a missing and misshapen puzzle piece leaving a hole in the greater picture.

We jump forward to Matt inflitrating the skyscraper office of Fisk, having figured out what the hint was from the “hallucination Lenny” earlier in the issue – “heh sehruh es da ka ra ze ho a su” translates to “his secret is the crazy horse”. That is the secret code to Fisk’s wall safe, which Matt breaks in to find. He beats through the guards, finds the wall safe, opens it and uncovers mountains upon mountains of blackmail; from judges, to politicians, to other mob bosses – and a single gold gun in the back. (Remember this!) He takes his spoils and leaves, shifting to Kingpin finding out he has been robbed.

Understandably shaken, but not to be defeated, Kingpin realizes he can turn this loss into a net positive – and enlists the help of Maya once again. He tells her that her father was killed by none other than Daredevil, and uses the CCTV footage of DD moving the gun out of the way to get to the papers as proof that he planted the gun as a show of force. Kingpin tells Maya that her father was his best friend and business partner, and that Crazyhorse protected Kingpin against DD costing him his life.

Maya swears revenge on DD, but not before she reveals another part of her past. She was with her father when he died, and in his final moments he placed his hand upon her face, leaving a bloody handprint across her face (remember this for later!).

Maya performs her play, entitled “Echo” about a native american shaman and the devil. The devil was jealous of the shaman’s shadow, and killed him for it. However, in the shaman’s final moments, he emparted a “mark on the littlest brave”, in the form of a white handprint across her face. This white hand print, the right hand of her father, represents Crazyhorse’s mark upon Maya. Contrast this with the black ink left hand mark upon Matt’s door from earlier – different, but together they create a pair. The play finishes to resounding applause – but Maya is not done. She is only just getting started; and her quest? To kill DD and avenge her father.

The epilogue to the issue shows the true final moments of Crazyhorse’s life. He has dissapointed Kingpin for the last time, and Kingpin holds the gold gun to his cheek. He lets out one last plea, for Kingpin to ensure that his daughter Maya will be taken care of. Kingpin responds with “the retarded one?”, but does promise to take care of her. Then he shoots him.

Issue 11 serves as the rising action of the story, and gives us some answers as to how Matt knew the code to Kingpin’s safe. Turns out that Lenny (the client, who was shot and killed) had a twin brother Larry, who worked for Kingpin as a janitor and found out about the safe and what it contained. Kingpin sent his own twin assassins to kill Larry, but Lenny came on his behalf to talk to Matt and Foggy and was erroneously killed instead.

We also see the blooming relationship between Maya and Matt this issue – their coffee date turns to lunch which turns to a walk through the park which turns to dinner and a movie. They compliment each other, and there is a beautiful scene of Matt and Maya in the movies, Maya telling Matt what is happening on screen while he tells her what they are saying (Maya can perfectly read lips if I haven’t already said that. It comes up later!). They get thrown out of the movie theater for being so disruptive, which causes Matt to laugh so much that he breaks his stitches open on his face, and bleeds all over the place. Maya cleans his face and comments that the blood pattern is in a question mark. Mack loves his symbolism.

They depart and Maya spends the rest of the day preparing for her confrontation with DD by watching his old fights with Bullseye and Kung-Fu movies.

When Matt goes out on patrol that night, Maya ambushes him as her new persona – Echo. Echo’s design is phenomenal. Just enough native american references to not feel stereotypical, but basically just street clothes mixed with workout gear. Something that a regular person would be able to put together in a reasonable amount of time without needing to find a super-tailor.

Matt immediately picks up that it is Maya, but she does not know it is him. He tries to speak with her during the fight but she won’t read his lips. Matt refuses to harm Maya, pulling his punches and mainly running away, but Maya is ruthless and hits him over and over again with moves from Bullseye and even Matt himself. The issue ends with Maya holding the golden gun to the back of Matt’s head in a playground.

Issue 12 is quite an odd issue within this story. The previous 3 were all the same creative team – David Mack, Joe Quesada, and Jimmy Palmiotti. Issue 12 is odd in the fact that it does not have David Mack, and instead has new artists in Rob Haynes and David Self. “Wait, new artists?” the astute among you might ask, since Quesada and Palmiotti have been the artists for the first 11 issues, and they are still credited with this issue. Well… yeah, they are writing it. So let me jump out in front before anyone makes the claim that I am surprised at artists turning writers or writers turning artists – I am not. What suprises me with this issue is how much of the story so far in Daredevil (1998) I had assumed came from Smith and Mack, but in reality might have been equally from Quesada and Palmiotti.

This issue takes place at the same time as issue 11, and basically shows the effect that Daredevil and Echo are having within Hell’s Kitchen. The story follows a wife and her catatonic husband who, up until a few months ago, was a succesful police officer; a child molester who is released from jail early on good behavior; a man diagnosed with M.S (multiple sclerosis) who seeks to commit suicide instead of wasting away from illness; and a young teenage boy who is watching as his youth group is falling apart without the guidance of their youth leader Mr. Kelly. On the outside, these are four seperate stories that have nothing to do with each other except that they all take place in Hell’s Kitchen – but they are all related. You see, Mr. Kelly is the police officer from the first story, who’s wife is drained from taking care of him following the death of his partner. She wants to leave him, feeling that his situation, while horrible, is making her run out gas herself.

And the child molester about to get revenge on his victim for putting him in jail? He falls off the apartment building roof from a baton thrown by Daredevil, only to land on the hood of the suicidal man’s car. This sudden and unexpected event prevents him from pulling the trigger, and seeing that the man that landed on the car is none other than a man with a bounty on his head for $200,000 , an amount of money that would allow him to pursue treatment and medication for his M.S., he holds him at gun point with the very weapon he was about to use on himself. Circling back to the teenager, he is about to become a statistic for gang violence in urban youths when they notice none other than Mr. Kelly looking out the window, reassuring them that they are all in this together. And, not only that, but now that everyone is together (Mr. Kelly and his wife looking out the window at the playground with the teenagers, the child molester being held a gunpoint by the man with M.S. in a nearby alleyway, and the teenagers on the playground themselves), they all stop to watch Echo holding a gun at Daredevil about to shoot. This issue should be a low point for the story arc – it ticks almost all the boxes for a throwaway fill in issue – but instead it stands out as a highpoint for the entire series so far. In one single issue, Quesada and Palmiotti were able to remove the super heroism and theatrics and just show what it would be like to live in a world with super heroes. And realize that DD and Echo had little to do with the resolutions in this issue. Yes, DD did throw the baton that hit the child molester and caused him to fall, but who’s to say he wouldn’t have fallen himself later? The real hero in the book is that of Mr. Kelly, who’s mere presence prevented a teenager from killing his fellow out of gang initiation. Haynes and Self’s art is quite stark in contrast to Quesada and Palmiotti, but works really well in this more grounded issue. I commend Quesada and Palmiotti’s efforts to salvage a story that was most likely created to give Mack time to finish the rest of the arc, and applaud them on the fact that it is such a good issue.

After that short interlude we return to where the last two comics have ended – Daredevil with a gun to his head. Maya refuses to create more traumatized children like herself so she lets DD go, promising him that this fight is not over. We then move forward with the court case between Foggy and Kingpin. Kingpin has employed none other than Foggy’s mother as his defense attorney, hoping that it will throw Foggy off balance. Foggy calls Matt to see if he can help find Larry, Lenny’s identical twin, who is missing from the court hearing. Larry is the lynchpin for the entire case, and Matt fears that Kingpin killed him to force the case to be dismissed. Foggy continues to question Kingpin with little success, while Matt goes around all of Hell’s Kitchen looking for leads on Larry, eventually finding out Kingpin does in fact have a bounty on his head.

We are treated to an updated origin story of Fisk, showing his rise from teenager to crime boss, and the origin of the gold gun he would later use to kill Crazyhorse. Dispite Foggy’s best efforts, the court case is dismissed with the murder of Lenny tied to the twin assassins, but not to Kingpin. As he leaves the courthouse, Fisk makes a statement that “Lawyers think they can make some money by running my name through the sewer.” which is fabulous foreshadowing for the remainder of the story arc. Fisk then gets in his limo, and asks his driver if there has been any confirmation that Larry was killed, to which the driver says “nuh Laru reh heh” and shoots Kingpin several times in the chest. The driver, of course, is Larry himself, who knew that Kingpin had a hit out on him and assumed the identity of the driver this whole time waiting for the whole thing to blow over.

Kingpin, who is historically incredibly difficult to hurt, throws Larry from the car, only to be shot several more times and fall off the bridge into the river below. Matt shows up too late to prevent Kingpin’s “assassination” and apprehends Larry until the police show up.

The press, however, manages to get a picture of Daredevil holding the gun, which is what Maya sees when she recieves her evening paper. Now even more supercharged to kill Daredevil, Maya assumes the role of Echo and goes looking for him!

Issues 14 and 15 are basically one giant issue, so i’ll go over them both together. The remaining plot is broken into 3 seperate sections: one following Matt and Maya, one following Foggy, and one following Kingpin (who is not dead. Surprising no one.) Matt, thinking that Kingpin is dead, gives all of the blackmail to Foggy who begins to prosecute everyone involved in Kingpin’s criminal enterprise. He has win after win and really comes into his own as a prosecutor in these issues.

The Kingpin plot shows how he survived the fall and has been hiding in the sewers as he heals, thinking about the conditions in his life that lead him down the path of crime. Unlike Magneto or Dr. Doom, Kingpin does not see himself as a necessary evil or as a savior. Kingpin sees himself as a thug, and believes that the only reason he is successful when others fail is his willingness to continually go further than his enemies.

He lit his tenament on fire when he was young for a few dollars, then gouged out a bully’s eye when he was being picked on for his weight. He read about how to be a fearful leader like Hitler or Cuppone, and kept upping the ante. He is a survivor and a fighter, and has no lines he will not cross to keep himself in power and control. He killed Crazyhorse for no reason other than he thought he would get in his way of his future plans. And the final story revolves around Matt and Maya. Natasha finds Matt on a rooftop overlooking the city, and congratulates him on the recent wins with Nelson and Murdock. She continues to want to be a part of Matt’s life but he does not allow her to be, whether it be from the guilt of Karen’s death or from Maya’s influence.

Natasha is then shot from a nearby building by a tranquilizing dart meant for Matt, but before Matt can get her to safety, Maya shows up ready for the final confrontation. Matt realizes he cannot both save Natasha and fight Maya, so he attempts to flee, hiding in the dark of an abandoned building using his lack of vision as an asset against Maya’s reliance on sight.

Maya, discouraged and deflated by loosing Matt’s trail, returns to the playground they had fought in previous. While there, she realizes that the noises of the area (the construction, the train, the television store, etc) would be a cacophony for someone who could hear, unlike herself. She then attracts the attention of DD by lighting “DD” on fire in the playground, calling him to fight her. He returns and they have their actual final confrontation. This time, Matt is not only blind, but experiencing sensory overload from the noise, the smells, and the heat of the fire. Maya, on the otherhand, is running blind through the dense smoke. After a prolonged fight, Maya hits Matt in the face, opening the wound on his cheek from the bullet in issue 9. She recognizes the blood patern in the shape of a question mark and, to her horror, realizes that Matt is Daredevil.

She does not immediately realize that Matt did not kill her father, however, but does stop attacking him long enough for him to explain himself and for her to read his lips. Matt explains that he would have been just a child when her father was murdered, and tells her that he does not know who did it, but they both know deep down.

Maya runs away and finds Kingpin in the very ring she had her fight in in the first issue and holds him at gunpoint with the golden gun. He tries to stop her from shooting, saying “I made you what you are. Promise me you won’t forget that.” “I promise” she says, then pulls the trigger.

The epilogue shows Matt visiting Natasha in the hospital and getting her discharged. As they go to leave, a giant body under a sheet gets bustled through with some doctors saying “What’s the skinny on this guy?” “Multiple gunshots. One in the head” “Can we save him?” “I don’t know. We won’t be able to restore his…” and then a cut away to Daredevil on the roof of a building holding one of the eagle feathers that was a piece of Echo’s costume. Matt wonders if he will ever see Maya again, only for it to cut to Maya in a jet high above New York with her hand pushed against the glass, crying. The final cut away is to Kingpin staring at a blank wall with bandages over his eyes, saying that “A leader must have vision.” Kingpin survived the gun shot from Maya, but not without losing his eyesight. Leaving Matt, Maya, and Kingpin, parts of a whole. I get chills every time.

Art:

While my opinion on Quesada and Palmiotti’s art remains mostly the same in these issues, I feel that the coloring and inking is better when the characters are in daylight, which is more prominant in these stories than the last. Mack’s addition to the art with the words integrated into the artwork and the childlike drawings on lined paper are a welcome addition.

Haynes and Self’s art, like I said above, is good but much simpler in style than Quesada and Palmiotti. Haynes’ art is more defined, harsh lines with simplistic color fills and less detail. I would say the art in general is better in this story than the previous, if only by a little bit.

Long Lasting Impact:

Volume 2 of Daredevil continues to move classic characters into more traditional roles – Natasha continues to be the female voice for Matt’s troubles, Foggy is growing into a more confident and accomplished lawyer, and Kingpin has regained his criminal empire. Echo is a wonderful character that, unfortunately, is rarely used after this story arc; but Kingpin having his dirty laundry aired out in court and being blinded by Maya are going to have some lasting effects throughout volume 2. Nothing quite as big as the death of Karen Page, but we continue to place Daredevil’s supporting cast in new roles and watch them expand and grow.

Characterizations:

Mack, Quesada, and Palmiotti continue to show they understand the characters of Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson, Natasha Romanov, and Wilson Fisk. Matt is broody, but has moments of merriment and joy. Foggy is goofy, but is brilliant and kind. Natasha is mysterious and elusive, but offers help to those that don’t even know they need it. And Fisk – Fisk is most certainly the surpising star of this entire story. He killed his business partner, sent his special needs daughter to a throwaway school, but once he found out she had extraordinary powers, kept her around to be used at a later date. He mastefully foils Foggy’s case in court, survives an assassination attempt and falling off a bridge (Rasputin style), and returns to the scene of the crime with Maya. The characterization in this story is basically perfect, and I am hard pressed to find anything out of character.

Verdict:

Well, this is the part that it all boils down to isn’t it? I spent almost 4,500 words expousing my love for this story and how thought out the symbolism was, and everything is going to be pressed into a single letter ranking. I love this story, I love David Mack and Quesada and Palmiotti, I love Echo. However, I cannot give this story an [S]. For me, an [S] rank comic is a comic that you give to people with no background in comics. An [S] rank comic is something you give to your friend who loves Batman and wants to try out a Marvel character even though he knows nothing of Marvel. Parts of a Hole by Mack, Quesada, Palmiotti, Haynes, and Self, is a fantastic, wonderful, and fun [A]. If you like Daredevil, you’ll love this story. This is the basis for what volume 2 of Daredevil feels like – the tragedy and heartbreak, juxtoposed with the joy and laughter. The candid humor and the raw truth. I wish, oh how I wish, that this were the first story arc of Volume 2. But alas, it is not.

What a good week so far! Pleasantly surpised by Heroes of Hire, and I always love an excuse to read anything David Mack touches – let’s finish out this week with a quick 2 issue story arc from Black Panther (1998) – Hunted and Caged. Priest continues his romp through Black Panther, now joined by Joe Jusko and Avalon Studios on issue 6, as well as Jusko, Palmiotti, Evans, and Drew and Matt Yackey for issue 7. This book continues to be plagued by a revolving art cast, though we are nearing the end of that era! Bear with me for a few more story arcs and you will see the vision and understand why I love this series so much!

Story:

In now predictable fashion, Priest begins the story with no introduction or preamble – Nikki walks in on two voices shouting from a nearby room. Suddenly, Ross flies out on rollers skates with a bicycle helmet on, followed by none other than the President of the United States in his sleeping garb chasing him with a hockey stick. Oh, never change Priest. Never change.

Ross tries to explain the situation by going back a few days earlier to a professional kitchen where He and T’Challa are being attacked by Kraven the Hunter. Yeah, we’re going to need a bit more context than that. Last story arc ended with T’Challa effectively being deposed – his exile from Wakanda serving as the detente to Achebe’s hostile takeover. While stuck in the US, T’Challa does not forget whom we serves and continues to concoct plans for his inevitable return and liberation of his people. So where does Kraven come in? We are treated to a prolonged knife fight between T’Challa and Kraven to truly show off how beautiful Jusko’s artwork is – we have some incredible poses and great camera angles! But, to our dismay, T’Challa appears defeated and Ross is in no position to attempt a rescue.

Ross then skates on by and says “oh, but I’m getting ahead of myself” and we go back a few hours to a government sponsored party in T’Challa’s honor – a party for an African King to show good will and faith from the U.S. government. T’Challa is shown dancing with Nakia, their relationship in a weird place ever since T’Challa kissed her under the influence of Mephisto during the last story arc. The kiss, which to western standards would mean little except for the fact she is constantly referred to as under age (gross), basically constitutes a marriage proposal.

Nakia and Okoye represent the two main tribes in Wakanda, and the hope is that by showing them both as “brides-to-be” will keep the peace between the traditional tribesman of the outlying areas of Wakanda and those in the technologically advanced capital. T’Challa does not intend to cement their marriage, having made a rather public declaration of intent to marry his girlfriend Monica Lynne, a jazz singer he had met in a previous visit to New York. While his current relationship status is quite complicated, Priest makes it even more complicated by showing that T’Challa, in a previous lifetime when he was in the US for college, had a relationship with Nikki – the boss and current girlfriend of Ross.

This is some X-Men level of complicated relationship triangles. While this retcon is not super necessary, I do like that the person who guilt trips T’Challa after he kisses a white woman is none other than a US Senator invited by Ross to show some Black representation at the event. Nice touch. The event was broadcast all over the national news networks, and as such, there was a massive turn out of regular people outside of the venue.

Ross and his team begin a show of force, fearing a race riot, while T’Challa dons his Black Panther costume and addresses the crowd from the roof. In a coldly direct way, Priest unveils one of the major problems with Marvel comics (then, and now) with T’Challa asking “Why have you come? […] I have always been among you.” (in reference to this not being his first time in the US as Black Panther) to which someone in the crowd responds “You were with them – the Avengers – the Fantastic Four. They don’t care nothin’ about us. They not our heroes – they their heroes.” While DC has, historically, attempted to address race issues and class issues in Green Lantern/ Green Arrow by Denny O’Neil, Marvel has kept their cards a little closer to their chest. Black Panther directly fought the Klu-Klux Klan in Jungle Action, but was, coincidentally, cancelled during that arc. T’Challa has always been treated as either an Avenger in the US, as an accent to a team book, or as an African King in Wakanda in his own. Very rarely has he truly been treated as an outsider to US customs or an advocate for race equality inside the US. Priest tries to maintain this balance, placing Panther in a realm not unlike Doom or Magneto or Namor, where they view themselves as above human government and societal striations, but also giving him causes in which to champion. Back to the story – Panther does not get to address the crowds concerns, however, because it is at this time that Kraven appears and kidnaps both Panther and Ross. Once again, the end of an issue with little context of what happens to get Ross in trouble with the President, but we’ll get answers (hopefully) in the next issue.

Issue 7 begins with Nikki saying roughly the same thing I just said, and Ross saying that “he’ll try” to explain it more sequentially. Remember the gang banger that T’Challa drug out of his car and up the side of building in the last story arc? Well he’s back, and pissed at T’Challa for doing so. He has both T’Challa and Ross tied up in a tenament building and is pouring some kind of accelerant in hopes to burn their bodies and hide the evidence.

T’Challa tells them they have one last chance to surrender, to which they respond by firing hundreds of rounds point blank into his Panther suit. This is the strongest that vibranium has ever been portrayed, and will be significantly nerfed in the future, but here, T’Challa is alive and unharmed.

They start the fire, and flee the building before they can be engulfed by the flames. T’Challa and Ross free themselves, then jump out of the building and ambush the gang members before they can get to far.

It is at this point that Zuri and the Dora Milaje show up and help aprehend the fleeing thugs – remember, T’Challa is an honored guest of US soil and trying to avoid an international incident so he is not killing people. Panther interogates the leader and finds out that they were the ones who paid Kraven to kidnap them, but who would put Kraven in contact with your average gang members? T’Challa hunts down Hunter (the leader of the Hatut Zeraze from last story) and he confirms that he was the one that arranged for Kraven to be contacted.

He states that the whole detente thing between T’Challa and Achebe is false, and all but confirms he knows Romanda is in on it. Panther neither confirms nor denies these accusations, and Hunter leaves him with a cryptic question – “you call her yet?” – Her being Monica Lynne who T’Challa saw in the crowd during the last issue. Panther goes to leave the apartment he found Hunter in when Kraven attacks him again, this time insisting on fighting to the death.

Kraven is wildly fixated on the idea that T’Challa will teach him about the Panther God and grant him power, which explains why he even agreed to capture him in the first place. We then get brought back to the current time, with Ross and the President running through some governmenet building. The President manages to knock Ross to the ground and they discuss the real issue at hand – “avengers business” saying that T’Challa has 24 hours to retract his statement or Ross is going to be sent on assignement to Iceland. What in the hell does Kraven have to do with the Avengers!? Back to Panther versus Kraven – T’Challa continues to fight Kraven, blows getting more and more savage until he eventually has Kraven beaten on the ground, but before Panther can make the killing blow (remember, international incident) the Avengers show up to subdue him. Iron Man claims “The Avengers want some answers!” and truthfully, so do I! What is going on? So I guess we won’t find out why Ross is being chased around by the President with a hockey stick; or at least we won’t until the next story arc!

Art:

Like I stated in the beginning of this section, Black Panther (1998) continues to not have a consistent art direction. Texeira’s art in the first arc made everything super gritty and static, while Jusko’s art is a little lighter (both in color choice and actual brushstrokes). I feel that Jusko’s art is better in general, with some fantastic angles during the fight scenes and great movement, something lacking in the last story arc.

The proportions on Black Panther are also a bit more realistic in this art, though he’s still depicted at Triple H levels of ripped.

Long Lasting Impact:

Priest continues to develop the Dora Milaje and the Hatut Zeraze in the forms of Nakia’s story and Hunter’s motivations. Ross and Nikki had less development here than in the previous arc, though T’Challa having a relationship with Nikki while in college is new and interesting. Priest is balancing the numerous love interests that T’Challa has at this point fairly well, showing his feelings for Monica are still smoldering in the background. Priest continues to cement vibranium technology showing new uses for T’Challas vibranium boots, his suit, and his daggers.

Characterizations:

The main focus of this story is T’Challa and his relationships with the greater socio-politcal stage. He still has affection for Monica, but realizes that his relationship with Nakia might be heading in territories that he is uncomfortable with. He chose Nikki when we has a young adult in college, but the race relations in the US pushed them apart. He keeps up to date with the names of congressmembers in the US, not as a hobby but as a politcal need. This T’Challa is much more composed and is shown as always having a plan, but does have areas of his life that seem out of his control. The only other character that has motivations in this arc that is not new is Kraven, and I honestly don’t feel knowledgable enough about him to comment.

Verdict:

Priest’s Black Panther run, in my head, is a 10/10 run. I love it so much and have read it so many times, but, and its a big but, a good portion of my love for this run is due to the fact that I can binge the entire thing. I can read 10-12 issues in a day, finishing both omnibuses in a week. That is a luxury that we have now that the readers back in 1998 did not have. They were waiting at least one month in between issues, and I have to consider this when I am doing my reviews. We are now 7 issues into this run, and we have had 4 different art teams, and really no resolution to the original issue of “The Tomorrow Fund” and Achebe. Ultimately, this story arc feels like a fill-in issue. Yes, we get development with T’Challa and the Dora Milaje and a fun appearance of Hunter, but not a lot really happened. It reads like a primer to the next story arc, which is 5 issues long with another new art team. Black Panther: Hunted and Caged is a [B] – and a low [B] at that. The only redeeming factor, in my head, is Priest’s writing and characterizations. It does not feel like a generic comic book, but it does feel like a generic Black Panther book.

The Current Rankings:

After the end of week 2, the current rankings are as follows:

Week 3 Readings:

Next week’s storylines will be Black Panther: Enemy of the State (Black Panther [1998] issues 8-12), and Heroes for Hire: Broken Bonds, The Thunderbolts Take Over!, Revelations, Conlict of Interest, and Misaliances! (Heroes for Hire [1997] issues 5-11). Another 12 issues into the reading order and I hope to see you all there!