Shadowland's Epilogue... Again?
There's not much to say about this issue that I didn't say in my review of last week's issue of Daredevil. That is because this issue doesn't have much to say that it didn't already say in last week's issue of Daredevil. It is another epilogue of the Shadowland event, written by the same writer and covering the same ground. The art and writing are great, but it can't overcome the fact that I just read this last week.
This issue is told through the perspectives of Detective Kurtz and Ben Urich, who are both investigating Shadowland's aftermath for their own reasons. It is a good way to structure this story, and I would even go as far to say it's better than the way Daredevil told this same story. Urich is left with the sad duty to write a story about the fall of Daredevil, while Kurtz is put in the uncomfortable position of having to try to arrest Daredevil for everything that happened. This issue alone has more emotional conflict and tension than the entire five-issue Shadowland event.
No new ground is covered here, though. Foggy Nelson is, as already established last week, clinging to his faith and hope that Matt Murdock will eventually come home. Daredevil has made an enemy of most of the NYPD and has an official arrest warrant out for him. Black Panther has inexplicably come to claim Hell's Kitchen as his territory. The Shadowland fortress is not going away and filled with ninjas. Matt has left Daredevil and Hell's Kitchen behind out of guilt. This is all already known by readers who have been following Shadowland.
The worst part about the redundancy is how wasteful it is. Why retread all this ground when there is other ground that should be covered? Black Panther moving in and Matt's continued guilt-trip are not the only things coming out of Shadowland. Why is there nothing in this about Heroes for Hire, which is the next thing for many of the street heroes who were involved in Shadowland? Even worse, why is there nothing about the series that is about to launch for Iron Fist and Power Man, a duo that was created in Shadowland? If you were to only read the Shadowland series and this, you wouldn't even know that there is a new Power Man. Good marketing strategy, Marvel.
Marvel's Batman is how Black Panther used to get described a lot back during Christopher Priest's run on the character, and for the most part, it was meant as a compliment. Black Panther had achieved that high level of distinction and cool shadiness while still remaining uniquely the Black Panther. Now, I think he's likely to be referred to as Marvel's Batman in a much less respectful way. Because from reading this issue and last week's, I can't help but think... he's Batman. He is a blatant Batman clone. Everything about his portrayal screams Batman and not Black Panther. Maybe this will change when his series actually begins, but for right now, Batman has come to Hell's Kitchen and forgotten his cape.
Even though I have a lot of criticisms, I'm not willing to say this is a bad issue. That simply wouldn't be true. The writing and art are very good. It's just burdened with being an unnecessary book with nothing new to say. If you have already read last week's Daredevil, there is really no reason to pick this up.
