Hellfire in Hell's Kitchen
T'Challa and Vlad's battle comes to a dramatic close as new dangers await beyond the horizon.
The Good
Another issue, another superb cover by Simone Bianche
You know the drill by now. Francesco Francavilla is a one man art team and a force to be reckoned with. It's really not fair that Liss get's Bianche on covers and this guy on interiors. This issue has a lot of action. both the opening scenes which take place in the after math of Vlad's bomb exploding in the diner and Vlad and T'Challa's final confrontation give Francesco plenty of room to flex his muscle. I was especially impressed with his use of color to set the mood. Simple as it seems his transition from bold reds, yellows, oranges and strong shadows to soft blues and deep purples and violets was something to behold. Vlad's been going off the deep end lately and Francesco's pencils really show that. There's some panels of Vlad here that need no dialog to get the point across. They truly say 1,000 words, and all of them are intensely bone chilling.
A hero's only as good as the villain's he faces, and with this arc Liss has crafted a villain that I can't wait to see in the future. Vlad, though he was only around a short while, has managed to make a great first impression. I look forward to seeing what direction Liss and future writers will take this would be Kingpin. In this issue Vlad cements his place as a dangerous and unpredictable villain worthy of being a arch nemesis. What he does early in this issue really made me exclaim "Holy $H!+!!!" and shows you just how ruthless a man Vlad Dinu is.
Liss does a great job with the dialog between T'Challa and Vlad this issue. After last week's let down of a shoving match with Luke Cage I was worried things would fall flat between he and Vlad in this issue. Luckily I wasn't the least bit disappointed by their final confrontation. The fight was excellently scripted by Liss and superbly illustrated by Francavilla.
Liss, once again, displays T'Challa whipping up some home made tech on a shoestring budget to combat Vlad's superhuman powers. I like how Liss writes T'Challa as smart and resourceful as he should be and it's really refreshing. As intelligent as T'Challa is, Vlad is cunning and equally resourceful. This has always made this physical confrontations interesting and impressive to watch. They're battles are like two great masters playing chess. T'Challa manages to use his new device on Vlad but the way Vlad turns the situation around on him is very satisfying and adds a nice does of drama to it all.
The last minute appearance of Gabe and Iris really could've thrown off the flow of the issue but it occurred just as it should've. I'm really impressed with how Liss has crafted a dense, multi-layered narrative but very cleanly ties up all the lingering threads. Gabe started this arc out as a background character who more often than not was around to provide some comedy. In the last two or three issue's Liss has really managed to flesh him out and give him a story of his own. Vlad's family dynamic was one of the strongest points of this title and with Gabe gaining powers and the path he chooses to take this issue sets things up nicely for future stories involving him. Let's just hope we don't have to wait as long as we did to find out what James Gordon Jr.'s been up to.
Sofija proves she's more than just your typical civilian sidekick. She's got some moves of her own that she show's off this issue and she make's it clear that she's not just gonna be damsel in distress. I love strong female characters and this has really endeared her to me.
Gabe gives T'challa some information at the end of the issue that really sets the next arc up nicely. And the reveal of the big bad for the next arc was a great way to end the issue while building up anticipation for the next.
The Bad
Despite how strong this issue was there were some problems with it. For starters, the portrayal of Luke Cage in this issue was way off to me. I know it was meant to be humorous, but the way he carries himself with a chip on his shoulder about their school yard slap fight was just really immature and of putting. Normally Liss NAILS Cage and how he and T'Challa interact, but he drops the ball here. Also him apologizing to T'Challa about checking him for his actions in Hell's Kitchen just felt wrong to me. Luke was right and T'Challa wasn't getting the job done. The apology seemed forced and really awkwardly ends their relationship arc. All things considered, there was no reason to have him actually appear in this issue.
The way Vlad escapes at the beginning of the issue didn't seem right. He stays long enough to make a dramatic "vengeance shall be mine!!!" speech when cops are crawling all around the diner and he sort of just, well, walks off after that.
Towards the end of the issue Iris reveals that she knew for quite sometime exactly what Mr. Okonkwo was really up to at night. My question is how? like really, how?
The Verdict
Buy This Comic!!!
Quiet as kept, Man Without Fear has become one of Marvel's most consistently excellent monthly books. By all laws of logic and reason this title should've fell flat on it's face, but David Liss and Francesco Francavilla have managed to not only make this book work, but make it work well. Liss has taken the gritty, down to earth appeal of classic Daredevil stories and inserted T'Challa right into the thick of things. I know that both Daredevil and Panther fans were a bit turned off by the premise of this book, but I guarantee if you give it a chance you'll love it.
Quiet as kept, Man Without Fear has become one of Marvel's most consistently excellent monthly books. By all laws of logic and reason this title should've fell flat on it's face, but David Liss and Francesco Francavilla have managed to not only make this book work, but make it work well. Liss has taken the gritty, down to earth appeal of classic Daredevil stories and inserted T'Challa right into the thick of things. I know that both Daredevil and Panther fans were a bit turned off by the premise of this book, but I guarantee if you give it a chance you'll love it.
