My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This issue, sadly, is something of a confused mess, lacking subtlety and a clear idea of what it’s actually trying to say.
Is it a damning indictment of the capitalist system, in which rich individuals horde the wealth generated by the working man, while simultaneously denying that working man access to the fruits of his labour?
Is it a damning indictment of the media, which sees everything as a story and chews people up and spits them out once they’s served their useful purpose of selling papers or winning ratings?
Is it an examination of the way in which superheroes, who claim to be peaceful men, use violence often in order to protect an unjust system, protecting capital and keeping the working man down?
Well, it’s trying to be all of these things at once and not really being clear about what it thinks in regards to any of these subjects. It’s asking a lot of interesting questions and answering none of them. Its biggest problem is that it has that working man accidentally murder the capitalist who’s denying him the fruits of his labour…which leaves it not really sure of who’s right or wrong. Is the greedy capitalist a bad man? Undoubtedly. Was the working man right to murder him? No. The problem being that super heroes don’t really work especially well with these kinds of moral ambiguities. I mean, I think that’s what Nocenti is trying to explore here, I just don’t think it works particularly well (and I do feel that a less workman like artist might have sold the inherent conflict within the narrative better).
The whole part with Karen suddenly being afraid of Matt because of how violent this peaceful man that she loves is when he’s Daredevil really didn’t make much sense to me either. She’s only thinking about this now? Really?
Still, for all its shortcomings this comic is still very readable. But maybe I just love reading comics from the eighties…? (There’s no maybe about it!)
Random Ramblings Of A Ragamuffin 