DC Unbound - Batman: Year One, Deluxe Edition

I have really had a lot of fun reading Batman stories over the last few years. I had never read a proper Batman comic until 2008 when a friend gave me DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore with Batman Annual #7 in it. Since then, I’ve enjoyed Jeph Loeb and Tim Sales’s Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Haunted Knight, along with Frank Miller’s Absolute Dark Knight.

I read Batman: Year One, also by Miller, over the weekend for the first time. Miller’s writing is gritty and so far from the bulk of what I was reading back in the day. I have always loved Frank Miller’s mainstream comic work at Marvel… Daredevil and Spider-Man in particular, and now Batman is also firmly on that list.

This Deluxe Edition trade paperback is a perfect collection. The four-issues are reproduced beautifully with original story arc colorist Richmond Lewis doing all new coloring for this edition. Apart from a short essay by Miller, artist David Mazzucchelli serves as a gracious host and tour guide through the extra material that makes up nearly half of the 140-some pages collected.

Mazzucchelli starts things off with a really cool four-page comic, a la Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics, where he shares his first memories of the Caped Crusader, his thoughts on what motivates Bruce Wayne, why he likes the Batman and Robin dynamic, and his philosophy on how we view comic book super heroes. There is an overabundance of sketches and samplings from Mazzucchelli’s portfolio presented here, too, including his first comic page from when he was six years old (“Batman Comics”) and promotional drawings from the Year One era.

We get copies of Mazzucchelli’s marked-up pages of Miller’s script paired with his rough layouts, and some great examples of Lewis' original colored pages and he re-colored, hand-painted art from the Deluxe Edition. It really is a treasure trove of Batman: Year One goodness. If you somehow missed this the first time around like I did, do not hesitate to pick-up this fantastic story presented in a first-rate edition.

Marvel Unbound - Daredevil Omnibus, Volume 2 (Bendis)

I think Daredevil might be my favorite character of all-time. But if that is true, it’s because of the creators who have guided him – Frank Miller and Klaus Janson in the ’80s, Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev in the first half of the 2000s, and Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark in the latter half of that same decade.

Until the Immortal Iron Fist Omnibus challenged its status, the Bendis/Mack/Maleev Daredevil Omnibus, Volume 1 was the previously untouchable high-watermark among current era Marvel omnibuses. Now I would be hard-pressed to make a choice between the two, and Bendis’ second volume complicates things further by not missing a beat.

I love Marvel’s omnibus line. I like the idea of collecting 25 or so issues of a particular creative team or specific era under a single cover with beautiful art reproduced in an oversized format. Daredevil Omnibus, Volume 1 by Brian Michael Bendis, David Mack and Alex Maleev is no exception. Holy crap is that a stunning body of work! I loved every emotionally wrenching page. The “Wake Up” arc alone is a visual treat (issue #16 through #19). David Mack’s painted pages demand you linger on each panel, soaking in every detail. It took me days to just get through those first four issues that open that beautiful, gargantuan tome.

Volume 2, however, is every bit as good as the first. The arcs are bit more obvious in the storytelling this time around, but it all flows beautifully, threaded together by the underlying threat of Matt Murdock being “outed” once and for all, definitively as Daredevil.

There are four arcs and a one-shot collected here. The first one, “The Widow” is a great story of Murdock struggling with the end of his marriage to Milla Donovan, and highlights the friendship and respect between Murdock and Natalia Romanova – the Black Widow. This sets up an all-star “40th Anniversary Super Special” with issue #65. Nine different creative teams handle the art on this single oversized issue, including everyone from Michael Golden to Greg Horn, Phil Hester and Ande Parks to David Finch, Frank Quitely to Maleev. It was probably my least favorite issue of the run. It felt very much out of place, disrupting the flow of the overall narrative despite its in-continuity place in canon.

The next arc, “Golden Age,” introduces Alexander Bont into Daredevil mythos, wrapping his history up with the Gladiator along the way. Stylistically, Maleev really shines here with varying the pages between straight black-and-white, faux yellowed pages with retro touches, and his more common dark and brooding “everyday” style.

“Decalogue” is a five-issue story listening in on the support group that meets in the basement of St. Mary’s Church in Hell’s Kitchen to discuss the impact of Daredevil and Matt Murdock (who has declared himself the Kingpin) on their lives. There is a recovered drug addict, the son of a bomber, the wife of a serial killer, the serial killer’s last intended victim, and one of Milla Donovan’s former co-workers, among others. Murdock himself is revealed to be there and attempts to give closure to the group.

Things wrap up with “The Murdock Papers,” a great arc (maybe Bendis’ strongest on the title) that finds Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime, using both the feds and the press to bring Murdock’s world down around him. It’s a bold way to go out as a writer, and Bendis couldn’t have done it without the cooperation of his successor on the book, Ed Brubaker. There is even a letter from Bendis that follows the last page of the last issue of his run collected here that is basically his explanation of walking away from the title when he did. It reads like it was published in the original single issue, which is kinda cool and also speaks to the clout Bendis had established at Marvel by that time (2006, and continues to enjoy today).

Rounding out this collection of everything Bendis has done on Daredevil is his What If... Karen Page Had Lived?, which finds Michael Lark drawing Bendis himself as a sort of blue-collar Uatu the Watcher chronicling the tale, and the three-issue Spider-Man/Punisher/Daredevil story in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #6, #7, and #8.

I have no shame in my enjoyment of Bendis’ work. You like what you like, and I like his writing. Having said that, there is one area of the Marvel U. that I am not a fan of Bendis’ work: Marvel’s Ultimate Universe. But what makes the three issues of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up collected here palatable is a combination of a story that doesn’t feel trapped in a “trying too hard to be hip” space and Bill Sienkiewicz’s art. The first time I remember being consciously aware of Sienkiewicz was when he took over the art duties on New Mutants as “The Demon Bear Saga” began, and his work on Elektra with Frank Miller is revolutionary. And it’s clear from the three issues collected here he hasn’t missed a step in the 15 or 20 years since I first recognized him.

Speaking of art, Maleev’s dark and brooding tones are perfect for the main stories collected here. Issue interiors are gritty, shadowed, and the covers within individual arcs have specific graphic personalities that serve as clear signposts. We also get unused and alternate cover designs, cover inks, and a handful of stunning watercolors of Black Widow and Daredevil.

A part from every thing else previously mentioned, the only other extra is Bendis’ script for issue #81, “The Murdock Papers, Part 6.” While maybe not as robust as Volume 1 when standing alone, Daredevil Omnibus, Volume 2 is still a near-perfect collection, and when taken as a whole with the first volume, Bendis and Maleev’s complete body of work on Daredevil is cohesive, nuanced, entertaining, and worthy of the mantle Frank Miller and Klaus Janson established in the ’80s.

Marvel Unbound - The Complete Frank Miller Spider-Man

I just finished reading The Complete Frank Miller Spider-Man. I picked this hardcover up from the local comic shop’s half-off bin. It’s one of those collections I’d never heard of before seeing it, but couldn’t resist the attraction. This 200+ page volume collects three Spidey stories penciled, two penciled and co-plotted, and one scripted by Miller. Plus, there is a gorgeous gallery of the 22 Spidey-related covers Miller produced over the years.

It’s great to have all of Miller’s limited work on the Webhead in one place, compiled chronologically. The book opens with a two-part Bill Mantlo-scripted Spectacular Spider-Man story spread across issues #27 and #28 from February and March 1979 (both of which were collected together under the cover of Spider-Man and Daredevil Special Edition in 1984). It’s a grim little tale that picks up mid-action, with Spidey getting some assistance from Daredevil in dealing with the blindness caused by the Masked Marauder in a previous issue. It’s a dark tale in both storytelling and composition that works well with what we’re given. Issue #28 wraps up with a cliffhanger because, although Spidey has regained his sight, he’s being stalked by Carrion, who knows Spider-Man’s secret identity and holds Peter Parker by the throat, choking the life from him.

Next up is the 1980 Amazing Spider-Man Annual #14, scripted and co-plotted by Denny O’Neil and penciled and co-plotted by Miller. This is a fun Doctor Doom and Dormammu up against Spidey and Doctor Strange story that includes Spider-Man’s alter-ego Peter Parker heading down to the Bowery for some midnight punk at CBGBs. Doctor Strange, resident deus ex machina of the Marvel U., can be such a prick. It’s great how he sends his astral self out to look for assistance – looking everywhere and when he can’t find anyone else, he settles for asking Spidey for help. And then at the end of the story, after Spidey has given everything to save Doc Strange and the day, Doctor Strange up and leaves, refusing to tell Spidey exactly what they just fought and what they just saved mankind from! Classic.

Following that is the other Miller penciled and co-plotted offering of the collection: Marvel Team-Up #100. Co-created by Miller and Chris Claremont, this December 1980 issue marks the debut of future New Mutant Karma as Spidey and the Fantastic Four team up to straighten things out. There is a hilariously scripted cameo by Professor Xavier as we see him on the phone with Reed Richards while directing Storm, Colossus, and Wolverine through a Danger Room exercise. All in all, though, it was a really solid character introduction for Karma – one I’d not read previously.

The 1981 Marvel Team-Up Annual #4 written by Miller is a great example of what made annuals so awesome back in the day! Marvel seemed to take an “everything and the kitchen sink” approach to annuals of the ‘80s, giving the books an event feel to them, like this was something special, and this one is no exception. Here, Spidey teams up with not one, not two, not three, but four heroes! The always awesome Daredevil tag-teams with Spidey to tackle the Purple Man and the Kingpin with a little help from Heroes for Hire’s Power Man and Iron Fist, and Moon Knight’s also along for the ride. Miller also lets us know that even though Peter Parker might be a nerd, he’s a hip nerd who listens to pub rock godfather Elvis Costello by way of working “Oliver’s Army” into the story.

Last in line is the 1981 Amazing Spider-Man Annual #15. Scripted by Denny O’Neil, this gorgeous epic battle between the Punisher and Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus and J. Jonah Jameson is penciled by Miller and finished by Klaus Janson. Miller’s work here is incredible, nuanced. Nearly every rendering of the Punisher is simply stunning, including an early close-up that was positively menacing. The story is framed by a continual need to change the front page plate of the Daily Bugle, resulting in six very cool images of the Bugle’s changing headlines acting almost as chapter stops.

What are missing from this collection are the covers from all the collected issues. I get why they aren’t found here: This is only work by Frank Miller. So we do get every Spider-Man related cover Miller did work on, including two Amazing Spider-Man Annuals and three single issue covers. We also get a Marvel Team-Up Annual cover and five individual issue covers by Miller. Miller drew 10 covers for Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man that are found here, along with the front and back cover of the Spider-Man and Daredevil Special Edition mentioned earlier. Good stuff.

My favorite of the covers is, hands down, Marvel Team-Up #95 from July 1980 that marks the debut of everyone’s favorite battle stave-wielding heroine, Mockingbird! This gorgeous cover with Mockingbird vaulting over a downed S.H.I.E.L.D. agent while kicking Spidey off balance is beautiful and colored perfectly. The yellow titles, green backgrounds, blue-favored center and purple/black foreground flow amazingly well with the art.

If you’re a fan of Spidey or Frank Miller and can find The Complete Frank Miller Spider-Man, I highly recommend it. There have been two printings of the book, a 1994 leather-bound version with a three-quarters dust jacket, and a 2002 second printing with a full length dust jacket and markings on the spine that line the book up nicely with the other oversized Marvel hardcovers on your shelf. But, ultimately, you should be picking this up for what’s contained under the wrapper.