DAREDEVIL versus TOMBSTONE/MATADOR
The Devil Takes a Ride: Part 3 (Marvel comics)
Where: Daredevil #91 When: January 2007
Why: Ed Brubaker How: Michael Lark & Stefano Gaudiano

The story so far...
With his dual lives in tatters, Matthew Murdock employs the aid of the Punisher to make a daring escape from prison, allowing him the opportunity to avenge the supposed death of his best friend, Foggy Nelson, and unravel the mystery of turmoil that has enshrouded him.

On the trail of a man named Alton Lennox, Daredevil finds himself drawn to Europe, where the mystery thickens to invite new players into the game. Tombstone, an unnamed European Matador, and the daughter of a European crime boss all become entangled in a battle that takes DD from Portugal, to France.

Inching gradually closer to the answers he seeks, it's a Parisian stand-off, as Daredevil seeks the kidnapped crime heiress, Lilly Lucca, and her stone-faced captor. It's a rematch double header as DD faces off against the man who beat him in Portugal, Tombstone, and the Matador he bested on his home turf.

Previous Form:
Daredevil (#12): Solo victories over Wolverine, Bullseye, & the Jester.
Tombstone (#179): Has a victory over Daredevil, and Spider-man.
The Matador: The unnamed Matador makes his debut in the Infinite Wars.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Tombstone 5 (Super Strength)
Intelligence: Daredevil 3 (Straight A)
Speed: Daredevil 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Daredevil 5 (Marathon Man)
Agility: Daredevil 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Daredevil 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy Powers: Daredevil 2 (Projectile)


- As a young man, Matthew Murdock was the innocent victim in an accident involving the illegal trafficking of chemicals through New York City. Being doused in the hazardous materials cost young Murdock his sight, but enhanced his remaining senses so intensely he could now "see" through the reverberation of sound -- a bat-like radar sense!

The angry youth would find himself orphaned, and dedicate himself to training his body in the martial arts under the tutelage of the mysterious Stick.
His speed, strength and agility would be built to the human optimum, his enhanced senses complimenting his physicality in battle.

By day, Murdock studied to become a hotshot lawyer, but by night he sought a method of justice without rules as the guardian of Hell's Kitchen: Daredevil!

- As an African-American albino growing up in Harlem, Lonnie Lincoln endured a childhood that toughened him up until he was as hard as stone.
A career criminal; Lincoln would eventually grow into the statuesque underworld muscle called Tombstone. His powers would only be enhanced when, during a battle with Spider-man, he was inadvertently exposed to experimental gases designed by Oscorp scientists.

The experimental Diox-3 chemical embued Tombstone's already impressive physique with enhanced strength levels, durability, and endurance. This served only to increase Tombstone's already formidable strength, complimented by his impressive speed and mobility, despite his size.

- Little is known of the bull-fighter encountered by Daredevil during a brief journey through Europe. Employed by an embittered and dying Vanessa Fisk, the new Matador; presumably unrelated to long-standing Daredevil opponent, Manuel Eloganto; is a highly skilled fighter, proficient with swords dervied from his skills as a bull-fighter.

Additionally, the Matador is incredibly fast and agile, but does not appear to have specific aspirations as a recurring villain.

The Math: Daredevil The Pick: Daredevil

What went down...
Knowing full well that Paris has become the stage for his downfall, Daredevil reverses the tables on Lily Lucca and her co-conspirators as they stage a kidnapping for his benefit. Almost flawlessly, the woman with the scent of a thousand lovers sells the ruse, even her heartbeating to plead the case to the guardian devil, but this time he is well prepared for her deceit.

Silently the Daredevil renders two lakeside gunmen unconscious, before launching into an acrobatic assault on Tombstone and Matador, both.
Lily Lucca continues to play her part, shocked when Daredevil abruptly shoves her aside, no longer lured by the aroma of lost love, Karen Page.

Tombstone is the first to fight back, lunging at the leaping hero with a fist powerful enough to shatter bone. Daredevil swiftly vaults over the stoney assassin, landing ready to tackle his foes, the veil lifted as they openly join forces with some chagrin.

The Matador strikes first, leading with the edge of his ceremonial blade.
Familiarized with his opponent's speed and guile, Daredevil does well to block the attack, and swiftly disarm his deadly new foe. As the weaker link, the Matador is easily tossed aside for later.

The real obstacle barrels in next like a raging bull, scoring with a stiff jab to the side of the Devil's head. The blow rattles Murdock, even knocking him to the ground, but he rolls with it to lure Tombstone in for the kill. The brutish onrush of Tombstone's attack sees Daredevil cartwheel aside, leaving only stone to crash against the thug's equally tough knuckles.

As the Matador recovers and charges, Daredevil again turns the momentum of his enemies against them. This time it's the bull-fighter who does the hard work, staking the tip of his blade into Tombstone's durable hide. The mistakes earns him a super strong backhand from his already reluctant ally.

Tombstone continues to menace his objective, now clearly frustrated by the careening course of events. Tired of Daredevil's acrobatic avoidance, Tombstone launches into the air with surprising speed and skill. The gambit topples both men as the spill across the stone paving, Daredevil combing out the better.

An improvised boot to the face is the final straw for Tombstone, who draws a pistol with the intent to end it clean and fast. The shift in tactic puts a ranged focus on Tombstone's attack, and changes Daredevil's tactic completely.

Retreating to the shadows, Daredevil employs a stealth that forces Tombstone to become the unwitting hunter of his elusive prey. Too angry to think straight or take note of his surroundings, the hired thug is left flat footed as Daredevil pops out of the darkness like a vengeful arcade sock'em.

With Tombstone out of the picture, DD turns his attentions to the Matador who has the Lucca girl with a dagger to her throat. With eyes bulging out from beneath bruises and swelling, he spits threats that do little to engender the action of an unconvinced Daredevil.

Content to call the bluff, Lucca and DD both are surprised somewhat that the blade does indeed pierce the skin of her throat. The Matador pulls away before doing any serious damage, letting out a cry before dropping to his knees in a scene of epic European drama.

Apparently ordered to kill Lucca regardless of her crucial involvement in the plot against Daredevil; the Matador succumbs to the manipulative powers of Lucca's uncanny pheremone persuasion. Despite having fallen under the same spell, Daredevil is unsympathetic.

Without allies, Lucca is convinced to reveal more of the plot, as Daredevil himself unravels the puzzle of Alton Lennox' murder, and Lucca's responsibility in the part. Reduced to little more than a pawn designed to remind Murdock of Karen Page's murder, Lucca turns the tables, and reveals finally the source of the deeply personal attacks.

The hammer...
If you already skimmed over the tape and didn't pick up the big reveal (behind Daredevil's troubles), you might like to avoid the spoiler if you haven't read the story. As always, there'll be an Amazon link for your convenience at the end of the post, but in the mean time, how about this spoiler? Daredevil wins!

If the current theme is about the flavours of 2007, one has to wonder if Daredevil is really among them. He was certainly the sponsored favourite of 2006's Infinite Wars, but in '07, he's been somewhat left by the wayside in the wake of Civil Wars, Hulks, and Infinite Crisis'.

If you're a regular reader you'll know new releases are few and far between, but even so, one has to acknowledge the perspective gained even from lack of purchase. Heck, lord knows some of the folks out there with regular pull lists could do with that kind of perspective, but I digress into silliness...

I've spoken before about my theory that, though fundamentally a very good writer, Ed Brubaker has a habit of fading out into a droning hum of acceptable, but unextraordinary content. On Daredevil we saw a reasonably strong transition in the handover from Brian "Rubber Chicken*" Bendis, to the prison bound flow on of Brubaker's continuation of this world.

The flowing nature of the DD universe continued beyond, but a cycle of repetitive mystery driven stories, that offered little detail in which the reader could invest in investigation, came to typify the less than stellar run.
Even now, as I slip behind on the title that has otherwise been quite a consistent purchase over the past few years, I'm not terribly perturbed. Of the books I so eagerly hope to read again, Daredevil has slipped from the top of the list, to the fuzzy milieu just beneath the must-reads. The ranking of the title seems almost ironically reflected in Daredevil's ranking status here in the Infinite Wars, slipping from last year's top five consistent, to a twelve total, and barely top twenty for the year.

Contributing to a lack of interest, the apparent drift to more disjointed storytelling. It's unfair to say storyarcs haven't played a major role in Daredevil history. Even Bendis' run was heavily influenced by 'the trade', fragmenting the specifics of the Daredevil saga into flavoured outings built around demons, literal and personal; unfinished business; and conspiracy.

Though these stories featured a similar 'villain of the month' structure to Brubaker's work, they did so with distinct differences. In such a grounded on-going comic, it's almost strange to refer to division in plot as a good thing, but it's almost certainly the over contrasted grey of Brubaker's work that has led to the death of certain underworked tastebuds.

As you might be wondering; it was whilst browsing over recent solicitations featuring the Enforcers, that this epiphany was reached. Granted, the emergence of Mr. Fear as a new threat in the Daredevil universe is interesting, and I myself have toted the demand for a new criminal element to capitalize on the vaccuum left by the incarcerated Kingpin, Bullseye, Hammerhead, Daredevil, and Punisher - a contrived conceit by nature.

I suppose it just bothers me that it has to be so obvious, and so blandly fragmented, to the point where Tombstone, Gladiator, and Enforcers are the only real strokes by which we differentiate these tales.

But hey, if you want diversity of product, then you're reading on the right day!
Once you've finished soaking up the hits and misses of the Infinite Wars, why not stroll over to Bahlactus, whose Friday Night Fights unite the blogosphere in battle. Pretty pictures, and the occasional essay, are all on offer, as Bahlactus' insatiable hunger is fulfilled with wanton regard for the third-world (and fourth, for that matter).

Also be sure to check out the latest review of The Kirby Martin Inquest, which is delighting all who encounter it! At $2.99 plus shipping, it's a worthy online purchase for this year's stocking stuffers!

The Fight: 5 The Issue: 5

The Devil Takes a Ride is the second arc in Ed Brubaker's run on Daredevil, and features the run-on story of a conspiracy that began in the final pages of Bendis' work. Despite greivances toward newer issues, these first two tales do well to round out any collection particularly interested in DD of this decade, and compliments the undeniable run by Bendis and Maleev.

DAREDEVIL versus IRON FIST
The Devil in Cell Block D: Finale (Marvel comics)
Where: Daredevil #87 When: September 2006
Why: Ed Brubaker How: Michael Lark & Stefano Gaudiano

The story so far...
A living hell is nothing new for Matt Murdock, but incarcerated without charge, things take a turn for the worse when his best friend - Foggy Nelson - is seemingly murdered mere rooms away.

Manipulated by an unseen player, Daredevil finally accepts the aid of a voluntarily arrested Frank Castle - aka The Punisher.

Finally free to pursue those that have wronged him, the Daredevil's first target is an imposter who has been patrolling his patch with the same vigilance as he.
Is this new Daredevil a friend, or will the confrontation present a new foe?

Previous Form:
Daredevil (#6): Daredevil holds a victory over fellow hero, Wolverine.
Iron Fist (#163): Iron Fist appeared as Daredevil in Civil War.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Draw 3 (Trained Athlete)
Intelligence: Daredevil 3 (Straight A)
Speed: Draw 4 (Olympic Sprinter)
Stamina: Daredevil 5 (Marathon Runner)
Agility: Draw 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Iron Fist 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Iron Fist 3 (Explosives)

Alright, before we get into things proper, consider this a change of plans.
Instead of indifferently moving forward toward the new year I have done something slightly uncharacteristic and changed this to blatant favourtism month.

Daredevil is currently ranked #6, but since December has space for a fifth week, we're going to feature the top five characters in the home stretch. Well, the top five except Hulk, and including Daredevil.

So, just how heavily are the decks stacked in DD's favour?
Honestly, not a whole lot. Last month we featured an issue of Daredevil [#90], and fawning over that run continues with this entry which, unlike last time, features a pretty even match-up.

Danny Rand aka Iron Fist is chosen to pose as the dummy Daredevil presumably, aside from his availability [ouch!], because of his comparable skills to DD.
The most notable differences between the two are Daredevil's radar sense, and the aptly named Iron Fist's fist.

Because of their status as characters it's easy to under estimate Iron Fist here, but statistically his skills probably not only match Matt Murdock's -- but even excede them.

The fan in me wants to lean toward Daredevil as the likely victor, but the indifferent judge says logically Iron Fist should be the victor more often than not.
At the very least we can conclude from that that this is certainly an even battle!

Overall: Draw (28)
The Pick: Iron Fist

What went down...
Having laid the smack down on celebrity guest stars Brian Posehn and Patton "Spence" Oswalt, Danny Rand leaps to the rooftop to record his on-going DD report via commercial guest star - an iPod. It's at this point when the real Guardian Devil stands up.

A gritty and stubbly Matt Murdock knows the impostor is saying something as he leaps at him with deadly kung fu in his soul, but the sound of his heart is all he can hear.
This is probably a scenario where he's hearing what he wants to hear, Mr. Super Radar Hearing Man.

Iron Fist defens himself against his attacker, insisting his outfit is an entirely different shade of red, and that he arrived at the ball first anyway!
He gets a stiff strike to the ribs, but Daredevil returns in kind with a boot to the face and a striking fist across the chops.

DD notices that his opponent is a great martial artist, and is even going to great lengths to emulate his moves, but the fatal flaw in Iron Fist's facade is the billy club. He doesn't use it enough.
Murdock shows him how it works, ricocheting it off a chimney so it "spok"s IF in the back of the head. Like a pinch in the neck from Mr. Spock.

As the fight continues, Daredevil recognises another difference.
Something Iron Fist doesn't have or understand, probably because he's a good martial artist instead of a grim and gritty bad ass -- rage.

Rage apparently gives Murdock the edge as he slaps Rand around with a jumping roundhouse kick that would put even Daniel "Bloodsport II" Bernhardt to shame.

Iron Fist's repeated meetings with the ground lead him to make the executive decision to cut the crap, and risk being found out by unleashing the deadly irond fist of K'un L'un.

It's at this point that DD stops throwing his angry fists of rage, bested by the iron raging hand of Danny Rand. Who is a poet, and doesn't even know it.

The hammer...
Having resolved their identity crisis, the two allies call it quits on beating each other stupid, resulting in a draw.
Even by our strictest standards, you couldn't even give it to either man on points. To hate the player, hate the game.

There have been various mystery based plot points in Brubaker's Darerdevil run, and while I would acknowledge the stories as a whole have been very good, these mysterious harken back to previous writer, Brian Bendis.

With some uncertainty most, if not all, of the mystery here has been telegraphed by informed fan speculation. As enraged as many fans were, even Foggy Nelson's death was quite popularly speculated as faked from very early on.

While random guessing can't be the basis of criticism, I'd have to say the outcomes in each case can be. Part of what made random shots in the dark so easy was that each reveal was relatively underwhelming, and I think this is where I find myself less enthused at the end of Brubaker's work than I should be.
Even the final reveal of who was manipulating DD and the pawns around him was somewhat underwhelming, even if not totally expected.

However, pertaining to this issue's reveal; Iron Fist was undoubtedly the most popular assumption, with the exception of perhaps Echo, because if New Avengers taught us nothing else [and it did, ie; how to bog down a good team book], it's that gender bending is much easier than Mulan would have had us believe.

So, does this destroy the quality of the work?
Not entirely. I earnestly want to be excited by Brubaker's measured approach, and as I've discussed previously, it's very much along the lines of what I want to be seeing from an urban pseudo-hero book. I think it's just unfortunate that Brubaker's work seems to rest fairly heavily on certain checkpoints that don't always hold the tent as taut as one might like.
I found this on his acclaimed Captain America, and even on Gotham Central, albeit in a different way.

Regardless, this is a book everyone should be looking at in 2007 if they haven't already. Mine is just an opinion, and even if only to agree with me, Daredevil deserves your assessment! It's undoubtedly a tight read with a strong pedigree of lineal credit owed; Brubaker to Bendis, Bendis to Miller.

Oh, and the inclusion of Poseihn and Oswalt as reference?
I would say with the heartiest of good humor; you sad little MySpace bitches.
Fun, but so ridiculous. :-p

The Fight: 5 The Issue: 5.5

DAREDEVIL versus TOMBSTONE
The Devil Takes a Ride Part 2 of 5 (Marvel comics)
Where: Daredevil #90 When: December 2006
Why: Ed Brubaker How: Michael Lark & Stefano Gaudiano

The story so far...
Having escaped jail, Matt Murdock is on the trail of the mysterious Alton Lennox in an effort to discover the identity of the person who has been toying with his life, and is responsible for the near-fatal attack on Foggy Nelson.

His travels take him to Europe, specifically Portugal, where DD finds himself sidetracked into helping a damsel in distress with a familiar scent.

When Tombstone intervenes, DD is stretched to the limit, but things may not be as they seem.

Previous Form:
Daredevil (#5): Daredevil has faced Wolverine, Hulk and Bullseye in one-on-one competition.
Tombstone: Tombstone has not yet been featured.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Tombstone 5 (Super Strength)
Intelligence: Daredevil 3 (Straight A)
Speed: Daredevil 4 (Olympic Sprinter)
Stamina: Daredevil 5 (Marathon Runner)
Agility: Daredevil 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Daredevil 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy Powers: Tombstone 2 (Projectile Weapons)

I'm just going to say it straight up. Yes, Tombstone's mugshot looks kinda crummy compared to the usual, but damned if I didn't go straight for that issue just to scan a John Sal Buscema Tombstone. Nobody does it better than JB!

So anyway... Tombstone V Daredevil.
Well, it's probably at least worth noting that in this particular circumstance, Daredevil is carrying injuries relating to earlier confrontations with Iron Fist and more specifically, an unnamed Matador.
Not that injuries are exactly strange for Daredevil...

Tombstone hasn't gotten a great deal of respect over the last decade or two, but at the very least his purpose remains constant. He's a high-rating street level bruiser, who can take as much as he dishes out -- and as a kicker, is fast.
I wouldn't go so far to rate him in Daredevil's league in terms of speed and agility, but he has been known to give even Spidey a good run for his money.

Daredevil certainly can't match him in strength, and as a hand-to-hand fighter, Tombstone's physical strength poses a significant obstacle. The equalizer is DD's maneuverability, and generally broad skills in fighting, and fighting logistics.

Tombstone's greatest chances lie with blunt and immediate attack.
Time gives Daredevil the edge to familiarize himself with the scene, and develop a logistic attack. Likewise, though formidable, Tombstone is not invincible, and even a duke-out could swing DD's way given the nature of Daredevil's technical skill.

Overall: Daredevil 26 (+5)
The Pick: Daredevil

What went down...
With Alton Lennox dead, DD follows Lily Lucco's scent to the street, where he spies a car that contains Lily. The car swerves hard, and heads straight for the costumed crusader. The driver is an unlikely foe to come across in Portugal.

Tombstone wastes little time throwing the first punch, and though DD avoids it easily, he follows it up with a clubbing polish hammer. It puts the rain soaked hero down on the wet ground.

Tombstone tells DD to stay down. That he hasn't been paid to deal with him -- but Daredevil doesn't back down.
Clutching his billy club, he throws a left that hits hard.

Tombstone takes it and dishes out his own fists of fury, knocking Daredevil around like a ragdoll. "Maybe I'll just do you for nothin'!!," he says.

DD kicks back, springing into a defensive whilst using his trusty billyclub for an offensive.
The red fighting stick ricochets off a chimney, the car, and... Is caught by the surprisingly agile and quick Tombstone. Possibly a little too agile for my tastes, but fair enough.

Tombstone further menaces the out-of-town hero, slapping him around with another right as DD tries to hit a pressure point on the concrete stomached villain.
Still silly from the punch, Daredevil falls into Tombstone's arms, and he repays the close quarters situation with a headbutt. DD goes down hard again.

Lily Lucco comes at Tombstone from behind with a tyre-iron, but it has little effect on the stoney bulk of Tombstone's mighty shoulders.
He backhands the girl, knocking her stupid. Daredevil watches from the cobblestone road, unable to intervene.

The hammer...
Well, though a site favourite, we've discussed before Daredevil's penchant for loss. Continuing the Spidey kick, I'm just kinda glad the defeat goes to Tombstone.

To any mystifyed readers, I'm typing up this update December 28. I'm still kinda bouncing around based on interest. With Christmas just passed, I figured it was a good time to go with a new issue that I'm into right now.

I mentioned Sal Buscema earlier, and no doubt an issue of Spectacular will show up with Tombstone in the near future. That run in the eighties is one of those things that is comics to me. Sal Buscema is probably to me, what Mark Bagley now is to a lot of people through Ultimate.
I was a big Erik Larsen fan too, and McFarlane's Spider-man is very important to me, and even Romita Sr is a very familiar Spider-artist for my eye. But Buscema just has a special little corner. Something about his characters really popped, and I'm not sure anyone has ever drawn Tombstone with as much menace and personality as Buscema.

Tombstone's a character I have a great affection for, too.
I kinda feel silly claiming all these characters as my own. I can't really do that, because they're not really obscure characters. They've just been a little down on their luck lately.

The last time I saw Tombstone he was a pawn of Hydra, and for the decade before that he's pretty much been relegated to whipping boy of guys like Punisher and Luke Cage, getting thrown off bridges and generally being a schmuck.
It's perhaps this that makes Brubaker's respectful take on the character a little jarring. He almost goes too far, making Tombstone a very impressive threat.

I love that he's gotten a solid treatment like this, though.
I've alluded in the past to various ideas here and there, and I have to say a lot of those street level characters, and assassins, and hired thugs just haven't gotten the world they deserve. They really do deserve to occupy their own world.
I think we've seen ideas like this in Daredevil stories of the past, and certainly Joe Kelly's early Deadpool and the recent mini-series Underworld, too.

It's great to see a Tombstone show up in the super-hero action epic like Enemy of the State, but at the same time, these guys aren't quite like Dr. Octopus or the Mad Thinker. These guys feature in a similar villain-of-the-month format, but their characters depend more on having an on-going life.
Guys like Tombstone don't go back to the drawing board to cook up their next big scheme. They lick their wounds, and then go back to the dives to look for jobs.
Presumably these characters would be involved in street crime and gang conflict far more regularly than we ever get to see.

In this respect Ed Brubaker probably writes catered to me.
His is perhaps a more subtle, less overtly superhero take on the formula than say, Judd Winick's Batman run. It's playing an on-going reality, but doesn't reveal itself through cut-scenes, or co-feature more superheroey obstacles.

A similar style of story can be seen in Captain America, and I actually think, as great as it is, it's why I lost interest in the Cap book, and haven't enjoyed this second storyarc as much as Bendis' work.
I think Brubaker has a tendency to meander, focusing a little too tightly on very small moving parts. This perhaps falls most notably in an issue like this, where there is an indulgance in more gratuitous superhero action.

I think even with five-issue storyarcs, Brubaker's stuff just gets a little lost in itself. It was this subtlty that I found most surprising in Gotham Central, which was a book that came heavily recommended, but did not, in my opinion, live up to the hype.
It has a suitable grounded nature, but unfortunately doesn't marry that to the paced of fiction we're perhaps used to otherwise reading.

Obviously a lot of people are enjoying it, and Brubaker's star continues to rise with titles like Daredevil, deservedly so. I just hope his subdued style will sustain my readership on Daredevil.
Perhaps most telling will be Brubaker's management of story beyond this current period, which is filtering on from Bendis' run, and centered by a constant reference. I think the next big story will be where Brubaker sinks or swims for me.

Though sometimes a little vague, Lark is Lark, and that's okay with me.

EDIT (Nov 26, 07): Well, it only took a year to catch the mix-up of John/Sal Buscema. Which tragically undermines my credibility, but has been corrected for all you info hounds! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go lash myself fifty times with a car battery tied to a power chord...

The Fight: 5 The Issue:6