Daredevil Omnibus

This is the definitive Daredevil collection, it will immerse the reader into the world that Matt Murdock inhabits & show you the dark side of New York City.  I have been a fan of Frank Miller's work since I first read Sin City.  This is where he truly got his start before Sin City, before Batman & before 300.  It is also a true joy to see Will Eisner's influence on Miller's work this early on because it seems that over time Miller lost some of that as his style changed.  I have to say I really love his early art compared to the art he has in some of his later work.  Where do we begin with such an extensive collection?  The beginning of this book kind of starts off in the middle of a story line so it is some what confusing but push on through it is well worth it.  Then it picks up speed with a some stories about Bullseye, Kingpin & Punisher.  By the time the book reaches the Elektra story it is at a full head of steam with no hint of slowing down.  The introduction of Elektra, Stick & The Hand are a great addition to the mythos One of the biggest surprises & highlights in this book is the inclusion of Black Widow & her relationship to Daredevil.  Again there is so much to discover in this collection of Daredevil stories that this is just the tip of the iceberg.  I love the new status quo that Frank Miller leaves his run on Daredevil with it was a fitting & lasting change & though it may have seemed small at the time it opened up a realm of possibilities.

Daredevil: The Man Without Fear

Earlier this month I binged Marvel's Daredevil on Netflix, that is one awesome show.  I had to go out & find the origin story of Matt Murdock.  Frank Miller revitalized Daredevil for Marvel Comics in the early 1980s before he solidified is career with his epic tales on Batman for DC Comics.  In 1993 Frank Miller & John Romita Jr. created the essential origin for Daredevil.  This book and everything & then some the only thing that was missing was Night Nurse she was so essential to the Daredevil's life in the show.  Other than that this book had everything even Elektra.  One of the best things about this book is John Romita Jr.'s art I love his work on Amazing Spider-Man, its appropriate for Kick-Ass but in this book it's just phenomenal.   I feel like his style had changed for the worse over the years.  Don't get me wrong his work is still great but his early work is far superior to his current work.  I would love to see Frank Miller return to Marvel Comics in some way on writing duties.  This was a great story & I definitely will be looking for more Daredevil to read.

Sin City: Hell & Back

This is the final volume of the Sin City yarns it is also my least favorite of the collected works.  This is somewhat of an odd duck in my opinion compared with the other stories.  The main character Wallace is ex-military part Rambo & part Bruce Lee.  The character from the story Blue Eyes comes back in this story.  Hell & Back is story about a reluctant hero saving a damsel in distress & the evil of human trafficking.  The main difference between this volume & all of the rest of the Sin City books is that there is a happy ending for the hero.  It just seems that Frank Miller was running out of steam by this point of the series & the final scene of Wallace & Esther driving away from Basin City never looking back seems to be a fitting way of saying goodbye to the series.

Sin City: Booze, Broads & Bullets

This is an anthology book that collects very short stories about the characters of Sin City.  The most important story in this book is Blue Eyes because it for shadows events in the final volume Hell & Back.  However it was not my favorite story within this collection.  The story Just another Saturday Night is referenced in the Hard Goodbye & explains what Marv went to jail for before the Hard Goodbye.  My favorite stories in this collection are Silent Night & The Customer is Always Right.  Silent Night shows Marv in the same light as Hartigan with a morale code protecting the innocent it is also the closest thing to a Nuff Said issue in the Sin City books.  The Customer is Always Right is the story that Robert Rodriguez filmed to show to Frank Miller before he got the go ahead to make the first Sin City movie it is an awesome little short & helps set the tone for the entire movie.

Sin City: Family Values

This is the 4^th Dwight story the 3^rd one is in the anthology book Booze, Broads & Bullets; it is referenced in this story but is not essential to understanding Family Values.  This is my favorite story of the entire series it is a basic revenge story.  Family Values is the girls of Old Town taking down an entire mob family for revenge of the death of one of their own the principle players are Dwight & Miho.  Dwight provides the dialog & backstory while Miho provides all of the rollerblading ninja action.  This has made these two characters my favorite in all of the Sin City books. 

Sin City: That Yellow Bastard

This was 1 of the 4 stories included in the Sin City movie.  This is used to be my favorite because the character Hartigan has a code of honor that surpasses any of the other characters in the stories.  He sticks by this honor to protect the innocent throughout the story.  This story also delves into the background of Nancy Callahan who is seen dancing in the background at Kadie’s Saloon.  Even though all of the main male characters in the Sin City yarns possess a code chivalry Hartigan goes above & beyond this he even rejects Nancy’s advances do to his code of honor.  This makes the end of the story that much more inevitable; since he would die to fulfill is his personal code of honor.  In my opinion this makes Hartigan the Wolverine of the Sin City stories.

Sin City: The Big Fat Kill

The 2^nd story to feature Dwight this story was included in the 1^st Sin City film as one of the yarns.  This story also introduces us to another 1 of my favorite bad-ass characters, Miho who is technically introduced in the previous book.  This story showcases her skills although my favorite story with her is still to come.  This 1 shows her as the ultimate ass kicker, a silent assassin, the ronin of old town.  This story also has shades of similarities with Frank Miller’s other work 300 including betrayal from within.  The Big Fat Kill shows that Dwight is still on the run from the events in A Dame to Kill For.  This volume ends in a cloud of gunfire that is still smoking on the last page ending sort of ambiguously without the reader knowing whether Dwight & Gail survive or not.