Today I read Daredevil: Born Again (aka issues 227-233), by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli (et al), and. Um. That... went in directions I was not expecting.
I maybe
should have been expecting them, because Frank Miller, but even though I knew he gets really weird about the military and patriotism and governmental authority and stuff, I did not think those things would be in any way relevant to a story about a man whose life gets ruined by a vindictive crime boss.
Apparently I should never underestimate the strength of Miller's obsessions!
...
Anyway, reading 80s comics is a trip. First, I'd forgotten just how wordy they can get, using thought bubbles or narrative voiceover boxes (whether in third-person omniscient or first-person limited) right and left instead of letting the artwork tell the story. You end up getting more story per page count, but at the same time everything feels a little, I dunno... slower, maybe? A little more like reading an illustrated book. Second, the colors are super unrealistic, which I think is because of limitations in printing technology at the time. Third, there are an awful lot of background-what-background panels, with just blank white or a solid color fill behind whatever image (face, hand, gun, etc.) is being spotlighted for a moment. Sometimes, for variation, there's a pattern of ~dramatic lines~ but Mazzucchelli doesn't go for that option much.
( Okay, details and stuff: )---------------
I also read a Bendis/Maleev collection -- issues 46-50 -- and I am not going to make any attempt at a detailed review because it literally
does not make sense without context that I don't have. Okay, yeah, the basic A-then-B-then-C-then-D chain of events level is clear enough, but the meaning and emotional weight behind any of the events is just flat
not there. And that is all I can really say at this point.
I think I may have to get a Marvel Unlimited subscription for a month or two, just to figure out what on earth is going on there.