Daredevil: Typhoid Mary

Rating:
Summary: A book with a lot of shining moments, but slacks off.
Review: This book is a little hard to review. It has all the markings of a Daredevil classic -- tragedy, love, conflict, et cetera -- but it also has parts that are mediocre, boring or confusing.

Daredevil: Typhoid Mary introduces a new and great villain to Matt's rogues' gallery. What makes this book good is its relationships between the characters (Mary, Typhoid, Kingpin, Matt, Daredevil, and Karen). This is the best part of the book and I just wish that the author, Ann Nocenti, concentrated more on them. Instead of her centering and expanding on the relationships between the characters she gives in to boring action sequences towards the end of the book, after it started off nicely. There are useless appearances from Johnny Storm (the Human Torch of the Fantastic Four), which were meant for comedic value but come off as childish and unamusing.

And, perhaps the strangest part of this book, the ending leaves much to be desired. It barely has anything to do with what has happened in the previous chapters. Basically what happens is, hell invades Manhattan. (I can't put the blame on Nocenti for that part, though, because it was a crossover event, titled "Inferno," between a lot of the Marvel properties that the editors probably enforced all series to undergo a part in.) It detracts from the overall value of the book and it's a distraction from what we should be paying attention to.

Also, the writer redundantly expresses her feelings on war in a portion of the book. It's worthless to the overall story and she just uses the two main characters, rather unfairly I might add, to spread her pro-peace message. WE GET IT, YOU DON'T LIKE WARS OR NUKES.

If you ignore the Johnny Storm appearances, the peace propaganda, the unexciting fight sequences (the good action pieces are the ones between Typhoid and Daredevil), and the incoherent ending, you've got a pretty good book on your hands.

I know that I've painted a bad picture of this book, but I honestly must say that the shining moments in Daredevil: Typhoid Mary -- such as the taboo relationship between Matt and Mary, the failing connections between Matt and Karen (and Matt and Foggy, for that matter), the unusual and malignant "love" between the Kingpin and Typhoid, and so on -- deserve to be read, for they do make for a great story. Take the good with the bad. It's worth it in this case because the good is really, really good.

And John Romita Jr. shows off some pretty nice artwork.

Don't pass this book up. Its shining moments are worth the cover price.

Rating:
Summary: analysis of female and male interaction
Review: This is one of the best comics I have read to date that explores female and male interaction. Using one of the best female villains that have appeared in a comic book, Typhoid Mary. Duel personalities, with psychotic manipulation perfectly written to create a formidable female foe, or equal - depending on how you overall see the charcter.

Daredevil : Typhoid Mary is a comic that so relevant in so many ways, now that we are living in the 21st century, and the comic was written between 88 and 91. The anti war sentiments thoughtout, the frustrated male posturing that occurs within most of the male charters. The fragility of relationships, i.e. (Karen Page and Matt Murdock's fling with Typhoid Mary's other personality, the placid and timid Mary.) Manipulation, and power struggle between the "powerful" yet vulnerable male charters, and the manipulative and destructible Typhoid Mary. The pages where the Kingpin reveals his loss of his wife. Typhoid Mary's manipulation and power struggle with the Kingpin, which you could relate to women today, gaining more high-powered jobs, corporate etc. Considering the Kingpin represents the pinnacle of male power.

Comics should be written like this, dealing with human interaction and strength weakness etc. Makes the story so much more relatable and interesting.

The disappointing ending with the rushed conclusion, in which Manhattan is overun by Demons halted the enthralment of the overall story. Understandably comics have to run down its moments of greatness and conclude stories, which occurs a lot.

But all and all, if you are a DD fan, or a new fan get this comic. It shows the interesting possibilities of a comic charter that is so contemporary, and so relevant to the current world we live. Excellent