by Soule, Buffagni, Sudžuka, and Milla. Annual by McKenzie and Del Rey
This paperback collects three stories:
- #'s 6-7: "The Elektric Connection," in which Elektra beats Matt up a ton
- #'s 8-9: Matt's team-up Chinese casino heist with Spider-Man, in "Blind Man's Bluff"
- Annual #1: a story with Echo and Klaw, and a backup story with Gladiator.
HIGHLIGHT: In "Blind Man's Bluff," Daredevil and Spider-Man take the hydrofoil from Macau to Hong Kong, and Spidey can't help but enjoy himself:
He goes parasailing from the hydrofoil using his webs! (hm, but wouldn't he need a parachute?) And in the next page, he's convinced Daredevil to parasail with him! What a great character moment. Spider-Man acts as this younger brother to Daredevil, quick to joke and adds a lightness to Daredevil's life. When they part, he even warns Matt about the black costume phase: they can really do a number on you, he says. What might normally be considered a nuisance with his wisecracks, he acts as a poignant foil to the darkness in DD's life.
Read more Back in Black:
by Chelsea Cain and Kate Niemczyk
Chelsea Cain's spy thriller comes to a conclusion in the second storyarc, issues 6-8. Apparently, Hawkeye had murdered the Hulk in the larger Marvel Universe, and Bobbi receives a complimentary ticket to a "nerd cruise" to the Bermuda Triangle, amidst the controversy. Bobbi's offered information from a mysterious stranger that may exonerate her ex-husband (they were married?), leading to a murder mystery in international waters!
The writing is wry and smart, with plenty of snappy dialogue and there are brief humorous, creative asides that move the story. Manny Mederos does backup material, including a "how-to" guide with corgis and yoga, and there's this single-page bird's-eye view of five different cabins, as Bobbi and company assess the murder.
The whole page is a cute teaser with the reader. You can play "where's Waldo" and spot a slew of Easter Eggs (like the corgis in the hall on the right edge!), along with a clue, if you don't get too distracted. I had to re-read it myself to find it! The creators are playing with the format, and it makes for a fun, creative read that evolves the genre. Chelsea Cain, prior to Mockingbird, had never even written a comic book. But you wouldn't know any better otherwise.
Definitely worth a read: this comic's got it all -- superhero intrigue, a smart protagonist, nerd easter eggs, the Bermuda Triangle, and Mercorgis.
My god, Mercorgis.
There's a Mockingbird-centric New Avengers story bundled here, issues 13-14. It too was tied in with another Marvel-wide event, Fear Itself in this case rather than Civil War II. The larger story is that of the New Avengers and their new liaison Victoria Hand, but the focus is on Mockingbird's miraculous revival thanks to a combination of, again, a Super Soldier serum and the Infinity formula. Wasn't this how Bobbi got her powers originally?
Anyways, it is serviceable but pales in comparison to Cain's depiction of Bobbi: where she is generally an agent of her own story, in this one she's a subject to another person's decisions and a bit player in the larger world of the Avengers.
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