Batman Volume 6 Graveyard Shift is the next collection from the foremost and greatest series of New 52 Batman by Writer Scott Snyder and Artist Greg Capullo. Following the last big event Zero Year, the next volume was due to be the subsequent big saga titled End Game, but instead this collection consists of stories that came in between Snyder and Capullo’s big sagas. The duo have been producing big epic long saga since the New 52 began, starting with The Court of Owls, Death of the Family and the epic Zero Year. The single issues collected are the short self-contained stories and are from different eras in Batman’s career; past present and near future. Written or plotted by Snyder with art by Capullo with a few guest artists, Alex Maleev, Andy Kubert, Dustin Nguyen and more. Collects Batman #0, #18-20, #28, #34, and Batman Annual #2.
The collection begins with Bright New Yesterday from Batman #0, it acts like a primer to the first part of the Zero Year that see’s possibly Bruce Wayne’s first interaction with the Red Hood Gang and his earliest attempts at fighting crime. When we first read the opening pages of Batman Zero Year Secret City Vol 4 Bruce is taking on the gang and their leader Red Hood One has previously met the vigilante, this could be that first meeting. Plus it further confirms in The New 52 universe that Red Hood One is the man that becomes the Joker. It has snippets of some great character moments for Bruce, Alfred and Jim Gordon. The backup story was an interesting feature showing how Batman indirectly inspired members of the Bat-family; the first three Robins and Batgirl in a superb framing device. The main story takes place just after Bruce has returned from Gotham for the first time in his crime fighting quest, it’s a first look at his pre Batman days continued from Batman #24 as collected in the fourth and fifth volumes of this graphic novel series of graphic novels.
The death of Robin/Damien Wayne occurred in the series Batman Incorporated #8 by Grant Morrison. The effects are felt in the Requiem crossover event that follows his demise, his father Batman and team mourn him, despite their continued commitment to fighting crime. Issue #18 is part of that event, Resolve is told from the perspective of Harper Row, a character created earlier in the series and makes her appearance in first of two of the stories in this book. In her first she is seeking to help Batman with whatever emotional problem he’s dealing with as he is becoming increasingly violent and careless. She’s the main character for the story and fulfils a familiar role as that of the third Robin Tim Drake after the death of the second Robin/Jason Todd in 1989’s A Death in the Family.
The best and biggest part of these stories is Nowhere Man from issues #19 and 20, an entertaining mystery action story with a classic Batman foe. When I first got Vol.4 of the series I was kind of disappointed it left out issue #19 from being collected. Its cover featured Bruce Wayne holding a gun to Jim Gordon was intriguing and is finally collected here. It’s a pretty straight-forward story, as it appears Bruce is taking hostages at gunpoint at Gotham National Bank. It’s a story more concerned with building a fun mystery for the readers to enjoy without having to play to a larger narrative. It also juggles to notion aspect of Batman’s secret identity being exposed, something not seen in Batman comics of recent and gives it an almost silver age feel to it. The story is the stand out of the collection and the two part back up story; Ghost Lights is a supernatural demon story with Superman checking up on how Batman is coping. It plays to Superman’s weaknesses to the supernatural and is a good read. Ages is an Arkham Asylum centric story as Batman gets himself incarnated in to test its security first hand. The story is told from the perspective of a new orderly who meets the first patient of the facility who’s angered by how Batman has changed the Asylum for the worst. It’s a good story and the opening splash page of Batman in handcuffs is great opening to an intriguing story. The Meek old fashioned dark detective story of Batman tracking a serial killer that’s targeting the patients of Dr. Leslie Tompkins. The timeline of this standalone tale takes place concurrently with Snyder’s other series Batman Eternal. Set six months after current continuity Batman Eternal breaks away from usual timeline as Snyder offers a sneak peek into a future Gotham and its criminal underworld. Issue #28 acts a preview of things to come in Batman Eternal.
Batman Vol. 6 is a really enjoyable book that enriches both the series and the character. Bright New Yesterday and Nowhere Man is the kind of story we’ve come to expect from the creative duo while other stories venture into new and different territory with guest artists. While the stories at the start and end are set six years in the past and a Gotham future yet to come, the core of the book’s stories take place in the present with the overarching theme of Batman dealing with the death of his son and crime fighting partner.
Since their debut on Batman, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo have been almost consistently focused on telling sweeping epics; Court of Owls was almost a year long, Death of the Family was a multi-faceted Bat-family event and Zero Year is another year-long tale. Graveyard Shift takes a step back from the big stories to present smaller scale ones, these are the stories in between those big sagas that were previously missed during the earlier graphic novel releases. It’s a welcome change of pace and offers a breather before Snyder and Capullo’s next big epic; Endgame that see’s the return of the Joker for a story that’s expected to be another amazing story with some big ramifications in the upcoming next release Batman Vol. 7 Endgame.
Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson Vol.3 is the conclusion of one of the most influential and acclaimed comic book runs of the Man Without Fear – Daredevil. Frank Miller concludes his highly successful run of the series with Inker-Penciller Klaus Janson. Collecting the final six issues of his initial run; #185 – 191 from August 1982 to February 1983, also included are other works by Miller, an alternate version detailing what if Matt Murdock became an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. in What If? #28, the gritty urban crime western story #219 and Daredevil: Love & War, a 1986 graphic novel. Their character defining run ends here on the last of three collected trade paperbacks that covers the end of their four year run.
It’s more from the master of crime of noir featuring stunning visuals and gut-wrenching storytelling as Frank Miller ends his run. The drama, tension and action doesn’t falter or slow down towards the concluding part of Miller’s series. It’s as good as everything that preceded it. By issue #185 Miller had nearly relinquished his role as artist only providing rough layouts for Janson to both pencil and ink. Although Miller returned to the role for his exciting conclusion issue on the series. The final six issue of the initial run by Miller are great. Issue #185 -Guts is a pleasant start to the book, it’s a lighter tone and fun story depicting an investigation by Matt Murdock’s partner and best friend Foggy Nelson’s and his foray into the world of organized crime, he even comes face to face with The Kingpin. It is a change of pace for a light hearted single issue tale before the story gets back to its more familiar tone. The main story arc cumulates from the best of the previous aspects of Miller’s run. The Hand and their return to New York, Stick, Black Widow and Elektra are all a big part of this final story arc that’s a thrilling and a satisfying end to arc ending issue #190 another excellent and brilliant double length.
Issue #191 Roulette is frequently cited as one of the greatest single issues of all time and rightfully so, for this finale of Miller’s initial run has Daredevil pay a visit to a hospitalised Bullseye, bringing back the villain that had long plagued Daredevil since Miller’s run began. He lies motionless, paralyzed due to their last encounter. The over the edge hero plays the deadly game with his deadliest enemy as he reveals the reason that brought him here as well as his own back story. Daredevil reevaluates what it means to be a hero. The art is dramatic with depth as Miller pencils his final issue with guest Inker Terry Austin providing excellent work with dark tones to match the story. An element that’s very effective was the use of the same panel several times and in the climax, becomes larger, zooming in closer on a helpless and still Bullseye. It was great bringing back the villain for his final issue even if it a reduced state. A fantastic issue that you instantly want to re-read again that marks the end of Millier’s initial run on the series, serving as the conclusion on a highly successful run. It summarizes many of the moral themes and character statements the writer focused on, reflecting on the nature of morality, law and ongoing conflict between good and evil in society that became one of Marvel’s single greatest comics ever published. It could also be considered as one of the earliest high points of Miller’s career, predating The Dark Knight Returns and Batman Year One by less than three years. The story is the single greatest highlight of this collection, its brilliant. Unfortunately it can only undermine the impact of the two single issue stories that follow.
What If… was a series that explored alternate paths of various Marvel heroes and issue #28 featured what if Matt Murdock became an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Miller penciled and co-wrote the story shortly after he became a Writer on the Daredevil series. It’s a nice bonus tale that’s something you’d expect to find in a collection such as this. Being a Daredevil fan you know the origin story so well and this is an alteration of the familiar event. Issue #219 marks a single issue return by Miller on the series, Badlands is an urban crime story that’s like a modern western. Matt leaves his Daredevil persona at home as he’s traveled to a little crime ridden town and doesn’t utter a single word in this gritty crime tale. It’s very good, giving you something that’s different from what we’ve come to expect from both Miller and Daredevil, it’s an interesting story.
Love and War is the final piece of the collection. Originally printed as a graphic novel in 1986 features Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin trying to help his wife Vanessa recover from her catatonic state from events of the Gang War story line that was featured in Vol.1 of this series. A story very much told in the presence of the crime lord, he arranges the kidnapping of the wife of Psychiatrist Dr. Mondat as a method of persuasion to help Vanessa’s recovery. The kidnapping of the doctor’s wife is carried out by Victor, a psychologically disturbed man who carries the real horror of the story. Daredevil plays a supporting role as he attempts to rescue both the Doctor and his wife from the actions of Fisk, it shows his savage nature to help his wife, the one he thing he truly holds dear. It’s an excellent story that builds upon Miller’s initial Daredevil run further expanding upon the antagonistic relationship between the two, explaining the reason behind the change in Kingpin’s attitude toward Daredevil that indirectly bridges Miller's first run with his jseminal Daredevil story Born Again. A great story focusing on the motivations of both The Kingpin and Dr. Mondat showing the depths what both men go to for their wife’s. It’s very much a violent story down to the actions of the psychopath Victor. Originally printed in a single Graphic Novel that’s no longer in print is a nice bonus and great way to end the collection of Daredevil by Frank Miller books, a somewhat unheard of book and story. The art of the story is distinctively painted by Bill Sienkiewicz, his skillful art doesn’t make it appear as dated as others in the collection. Everything that followed in Millers primary run in this collection features Millers doing something different and not trying to re-create the same kind of style of stories he had previously done, An alternate history, a modern western tale and a story more focused on sympathizing with the villain, positioning Daredevil in the background of the story offering a change of pace of the 35 issues over the three trade paperbacks.
Miller brought some of the greatest and interesting aspects back for this final arc including The Hand, Stick and Elektra and the welcome re-appearance of Black Widow. The final story arc raises the drama, action and tension for an exciting story that has a grand finale feel to it. The inclusion of Miller’s other work, What If…#28, issue #219 and Love and War is a great bonus from a writer that you are interested of reading more from. When Miller first came on board Marvel's ailing Daredevil series, his role was largely visual, but seeing how well fans were responding to Miller's darker style, he eventually took full control of the series, Daredevil gained a new level of recognition and respectability. Miller’s take redefined the character for a generation and has lived on to be a classic decades later.
But Miller wasn't done with the character he later returned for several issues of what is considered the definitive and greatest Daredevil story; Born Again. Miller’s return to the series was heighted due to how successful and influential everything he had done previously. Miller again later returned to the character for his 1993 limited series The Man Without Fear, redefining the origin story that included many elements that originated from this original run of the series.
Frank Miller ended his brilliant four year run on Daredevil as both a Penciler and Writer with one of the most amazing comics ever published, with issue #191 which saw Daredevil be so open about his doubts and give an interesting point of view with respect to violence. Miller’s final issue that he cited in a 1983 interview as the issue he’s most proud of before passing the torch to another comic’s legend Denny O’ Neil. Miller's stories, tone and artistry herald one of Daredevil's greatest eras and is concluded in the last of three trade paperbacks. If you’re a Frank Miller Daredevil fan who’s previously read the best known books; The Man Without Fear and Born Again, go back a check out this amazing and influential run of his first take on the character that’s arguably one of best takes of Daredevil and some of the greatest comics you’ll ever read, essential reading for any Frank Miller or Daredevil fan.
Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson Vol.2 is the continuation of one of the most influential and acclaimed comic book runs of the Man Without Fear – Daredevil. Frank Miller continues his highly successful run of the series with Inker-Penciler Klaus Janson collecting Daredevil #173 – 184 from August 1981 to July 1982. Their character defining run continues here on the second of three collected trade paperbacks that covers the midpoint of their four year run.
Frank Miller continues his gritty noir take of Daredevil, street level crime and unraveling legal conspiracies while infusing the series with the tone that has become so synonymous with the character. This was the era where Miller first introduced the ninja element to the series, creating the ninja cult The Hand and introducing Stick, Daredevil's former mentor and - perhaps most importantly – Elektra, returning for a lengthy story arc that would become what the series was best known for. It achieved a height of success and acclaim years before Miller later returned to the series to for the amazing story arc Born Again.
This is the book that's the core of Miller and Janson’s run and everything great about Daredevil, I got this book long before I purchased Volume 1 and 3 of the series due to its recognition. The Gladiator makes a sympathetic appearance in an early story line, even fighting alongside Elektra and Daredevil. It’s the return his former flame and the escape of Bullseye that weighs most heavily for our hero, with issue #181 Miller’s began writing in a new spectacular fashion.
Elektra remains to be one of the greatest parts of the Miller’s time on the series. Her first appearance in the previous collection marked in debut Daredevil #168 and this era of stories is what’s been viewed as the highlight of Miller’s original run on series, putting his biggest addition at the forefront of a story that was dubbed The Elektra Saga. She was earlier introduced as a long lost love interest to Matt Murdock who became an assassin. This is the main story arc of the collection, The Elektra Saga, (starting with her debut in Daredevil #168 from Volume 1 and issues #174-182), the conclusion of the story became one of the most shocking and iconic aspects of comics, the imagery is unforgettable. All of the previous plot points cumulated in Daredevil #181, it was a great story with superb action sequences. The double length issue a big deal for its time and still holds up as a significant read more than thirty years later and still considered as one of the major high points of Miller’s Daredevil run. It’s highly likely the one story line fans think of in relation to Miller’s original run in the late 70’s/early 80’s. Miller was at the top of his game, doing his best work as writer and artist, the duel between Bullseye and Elektra is iconic. Its outcome results in Daredevil gradually became a darker kind of hero, this kind of drama and urban crime stories began to attract attention. The revamping of the series might have seemed controversial amongst fans, but it clicked with new readers, increasing sales. Miller had taken a second-tier Marvel character and turned him into on of Marvel’s most popular. It’s really with this era that Frank Miller and Daredevil began to break new ground. It was also in this period that the comic returned to monthly status rather than bi-monthly just three issues after Miller came on as writer. It also highlights Daily Bugle Investigative Journalist Ben Urich as a important player, whom has his own share of the danger as he seeks to uncover truth and conspiracy.
The Punisher first meets Daredevil in a dark and controversial story line “Child’s Play” that concludes the collection. The Punisher/Frank Castle and Daredevil, they are both after a drug pusher who is selling drugs to children. The two crime fighters come into conflict with each other, mostly down to their methods of dealing with the perpetrators. It made for a fantastic story just after the previous story. This one is very different kind of tale, but its dark and gritty, things you’ve come to expect from this interpretation of Daredevil. It was a great story to end the collection.
Daredevil by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson Volume 2 wherein Miller continues his highly acclaimed run, introducing more aspects to Daredevil continuing the most influential period for the character almost redefining a darker interpretation of the hero and stories. The showdown between Elektra and Bullseye remains one of the most iconic moments in comics. Miller's take on Daredevil was characterized by darker themes and stories that hit its peak with issue #181 in this volume. The clash between two Daredevil enemies is one of the most visually iconic and shocking scenes in Marvel history. It stunned readers and the drama was wracked up a few more notches. This is the high point of Miller’s initial tenure on Daredevil. It has so many elements that made the series so great and became a classic. It showcases both Frank Miller and Daredevil breaking new ground, entering a new level of stories and success. If you only pick up one of these trade paperbacks collecting Miller’s original run on the same, let this be the one.The creative team of Miller and Janson’s continue their daring reinvention of the character, raising the series to new heights.
