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caitcoy's review against another edition
5.0
Brubaker, I hate and also love you, you heartless bastard.
SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN'T READ VOLUME 1!!!
This is one of those dark, fucked up stories that I was still thinking about hours after I'd finished it. This second volume covers issues 100-105 and holy shit is it brutal. I mean, even with as little knowledge as I have of Daredevil's past, I probably should have expected it to not end well. But damn. At the end of the first volume, it was revealed that an old foe of Daredevil's, Larry Cranston, AKA Mister Fear, was behind the strange behavior of both the previously gentle criminal Melvin Potter and Matt's wife Milla Donovan. This Mister Fear is not some laughable asshat in a mask though. He's reborn as a sociopath totally without fear. Turns out that Mister Fear has been less than pleased with the fact that Matt was getting his life back together again.
So he sets out to make sure that Matt learns the true meaning of fear by breaking Milla Donovan.
Watching Matt struggle with what's been done to Milla and how to fix it was painful. And the ending...damn. It's Brubaker so you can't expect a happy ending but that was just seriously fucked up.
The following spoiler is a MAJOR one so please don't click unless you've read it and/or would like the ending spoiled for you.
Mister Fear doesn't play around. After all the other seriously unhappy endings in his romantic life, to have his wife literally driven insane by a villain has to just be the cherry on top. Seriously, no one wants Matt to be happy ever. At least, not without there being a very long fall coming.
The artwork was all over the place in this one and not in a bad way. The first issue has a fear hallucination sequence that has different styles every few pages which made for an interesting break and was really well done. The rest is in Lark's standard dark, gritty style which pairs so well with Brubaker's writing.
It should go without saying that Brubaker writes dark stories extremely well and this has to be one of Daredevil's darkest yet. Just an incredibly well written disaster for the Man Without Fear and yet another reason to love Brubaker.
SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN'T READ VOLUME 1!!!
This is one of those dark, fucked up stories that I was still thinking about hours after I'd finished it. This second volume covers issues 100-105 and holy shit is it brutal. I mean, even with as little knowledge as I have of Daredevil's past, I probably should have expected it to not end well. But damn. At the end of the first volume, it was revealed that an old foe of Daredevil's, Larry Cranston, AKA Mister Fear, was behind the strange behavior of both the previously gentle criminal Melvin Potter and Matt's wife Milla Donovan. This Mister Fear is not some laughable asshat in a mask though. He's reborn as a sociopath totally without fear. Turns out that Mister Fear has been less than pleased with the fact that Matt was getting his life back together again.
So he sets out to make sure that Matt learns the true meaning of fear by breaking Milla Donovan.
Watching Matt struggle with what's been done to Milla and how to fix it was painful. And the ending...damn. It's Brubaker so you can't expect a happy ending but that was just seriously fucked up.
The following spoiler is a MAJOR one so please don't click unless you've read it and/or would like the ending spoiled for you.
Spoiler
Mister Fear doesn't play around. After all the other seriously unhappy endings in his romantic life, to have his wife literally driven insane by a villain has to just be the cherry on top. Seriously, no one wants Matt to be happy ever. At least, not without there being a very long fall coming.
The artwork was all over the place in this one and not in a bad way. The first issue has a fear hallucination sequence that has different styles every few pages which made for an interesting break and was really well done. The rest is in Lark's standard dark, gritty style which pairs so well with Brubaker's writing.
It should go without saying that Brubaker writes dark stories extremely well and this has to be one of Daredevil's darkest yet. Just an incredibly well written disaster for the Man Without Fear and yet another reason to love Brubaker.
uosdwisrdewoh's review against another edition
4.0
In superhero books, you expect a happy ending--such a formula grows tired, but then becomes reliable, and later comfortable. In crime books, a happy ending is never assured. With this and Volume 1, Brubaker has written a pitch-dark crime noir drama disguised as a superhero book. The effect is disconcerting and powerful. All the familiar elements--rampaging supervillains, a hero on the prowl, a mastermind bent for revenge--are there, but they refuse to cohere into a familiar or expected form. The effect is unsettling in the best possible way.
crookedtreehouse's review against another edition
2.0
For me, this is by far the weakest portion of the Brubaker Daredevil run. I don't believe pretty much anything that happens in this story. I get the impression that Brubaker didn't like the Murdock marriage and wanted to get rid of it immediately but wasn't sure how. And the way he begins to go about in this volume is not just brutal but also incredulous.
There's also an issue #100 in this volume (and we're only 2 or 3 volumes away from an issue #500!). To celebrate, some of the most famous artists who have ever worked on Daredevil come back to do a few pages of art. And while there are narrative reasons for the art shifts, and the art itself is beautiful, the story doesn't support it. It's a weak frame to support the level of artistry in the issue.
I had to really grit my teeth to keep reading Brubaker's run.
There's also an issue #100 in this volume (and we're only 2 or 3 volumes away from an issue #500!). To celebrate, some of the most famous artists who have ever worked on Daredevil come back to do a few pages of art. And while there are narrative reasons for the art shifts, and the art itself is beautiful, the story doesn't support it. It's a weak frame to support the level of artistry in the issue.
I had to really grit my teeth to keep reading Brubaker's run.
fabilous_books's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Not my thing, and poor Milla…
bowienerd_82's review
3.0
Another one I wish I could award half stars, because I'm not sure I really want to give this a three. A two and a half would be a bit more accurate. Just not a story I was into, and I'm tired of female characters being victimized in new and creative ways just to make the male heroes suffer.
I love DD, but damn, this book suffers from a lot of that.
I love DD, but damn, this book suffers from a lot of that.
mark_cc's review
3.0
I mean if you like Matt-Murdock-Is-Sad porn, which I guess is kinda the point of Daredevil books?
depreydeprey's review
4.0
Hell to Pay, Volume 2 is the Empire Strikes Back of Daredevil. It's very well written, gritty and the bad guy, in this case Mr. Fear, seems to come out better off than he went in. It is the conclusion to a very good story by Brubaker with interesting art. Brubaker uses the side characters of Hells Kitchen like Dakota North really well here without making cheesy call backs. This collection and Volume 1 are every bit as good as Brubacker's work on Gotham Central.
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