Daredevil: Blood of the Tarantula

[The Man Without Fear]

So did anyone else read this, or am I the only one? Here's a quick summary: Black Tarantula busts some low-level drug dealers and gives the money to a church/shelter. Matt becomes aware of his methods through the papers; doesn't really know if he should butt in. Carlos' wife and son from Argentina appear to be kidnapped. Runs off to save them. Captured. Turns out his cousin wants to off him so he can take his name and family position. Escapes. Injured pretty severely in the process, though. Goes to Matt for help. Wakes up two days later and convinces Matt to help him as DD to save his wife and son. Turns out it wasn't them; merely decoys. Is blown up, but survives. Kills cousin. The End.
This was really just Black Tarantula: Testing the Waters #1, as Daredevil was used more as a hook in the title than anything else. It wasn't bad by any means, and I like the Black Tarantula character, but it was pretty by the numbers too, in addition to being a poor substitute for a new issue of Daredevil this month. (Although with Rucka coming on board, I'm willing to forgive.) I also had somewhat of a hard time with Matt letting Carlos go at the end. Looking the other way while he was beating up some thugs felt about right, but with the brutal way in which it was implied that he killed his cousin... As much evil as the guy was looking to spread, I still don't know if Matt would let that one slide.

Nevertheless, it was a well-executed self-contained story with some nice action beats to keep it flowing, and not having any knowledge of Black Tarantula before he started appearing in Daredevil, it fleshed him out a bit more for me. I'm intrigued now to learn even more about his backstory, so as a launching pad for future stories, as well as to garner interest for those stories, this issue was a success. In fact, the relatively recent Daredevil Annual is a big reason for why I picked Blood of the Tarantula up, and in turn because of it I'll be keeping my eye out for future Black Tarantula appearances. Cross-promotion at its finest, I suppose.

- Manning

[jumonji]

You summed it up pretty well. Not a bad issue, but by the numbers and not exactly an issue of Daredevil. I think we all suspected that this was going to be heavily focused on Black Tarantula, but I was a little disappointed by just how insignificant Matt/DD was in a story that is published in his name. And I agree that the ending didn't make much sense. On the other hand - and Bru may follow up on this - Matt's lack of concern might have to do with his shaky mental state. With everything that's happened in the main book, his apathy fits the bill of clinical depression pretty well. He's probably really bothered by Carlos's last stunt on some level, but doesn't quite have the energy to care or do anything about it. At least, that's my way of explaining what undeniably feels a little out of character.

On the positive side, it's a rather compelling story that does manage to flesh out the BT character a little more and two solid thumbs up for the art. Chris Samnee is amazing, and people should check out all the sketches he posts on his site (http://www.chrissamnee.com). Great stuff.

[Gloria]

Jumonji, I didn't see Matt as out of character as you: as you say maybe a pre-DD #94 Murdock would have reacted differently over Carlos' act. But i'd say that the last events might have changed Matt's view of things.

In fact, I find most interesting the fact that the story is placed after the "Without Fear" story: I understand that if Matt hadn't gone through what he has undergone there, he might have stopped BT from... doing certain things. It would seem that Matt is a bit more focused than he was in DD#106, not in full command, but with enough awareness about the nature of Carlos' acts and his own. I feel that Carlos points at a different way to be a non-registered vigilante: and I love his chutzpah when he talks with the local cops... obviously the agents are not too bothered about the new superguy in the 'hood, as far as he's "helping", sort of (I feel Matt could envy his freedom a little bit). Of course the end of the issue points in an entirely new direction, but that's another story.

Oh, and after the scary plaid bowties by Azaceta, I must say that Samnee draws a cute -and more elegant- Foggy (who would appear to have lost some weight over his worries? No criticism on Azaceta, whose work in the last DD issue I liked, but... Plaid jacket, plaid waistcoat and plaid bowtie Nelson! Brrrr...). I liked Brubaker and Parks little touches of Characterization: Foggy, not in the costumed syndicate, is apprehensive about a former temporary associate of the firm behaving as he does, and worrying about the trouble it might bring to Matt, who seems to condone BT's actions by his lack of intervention, Matt, on the other hand, doesn't feel apt to judge BT's acts. Matt's trunks at home strongly suggest he hasn't still shown up at the firm's office, LOL

Incidentally, for those who complained about Black Tarantula not being quite the same guy seen in past issues of Spiderman comics, I think that the story provides a nice rationale for some of teh changes: he's got a new outlook of life and finds more satisfaction as a "Robin Hood" than he ever did as a Crime Lord: personally, I find it a nice twist and I feel it makes him more individual than his past status, which was a bit "South_american Kingpin with superpowers".

Of course, I understand that fans of the old Black Tarantula might feel otherwise, but this "redeemed" re-working of the character works for me: i'd like to see more of him, whether it's teaming with DD or not, and I suspect that we have not heard the last of Carlos (Well, I have a soft spot for Charlies (http://rootingforlaughton.blogspot.com/)) :wink:

[Dorsai]

I was not very familiar with BT prior to seeing him in the DD trades. In fact, I don't really follow DD that much these days but thought I would give this book a try.

I was pretty impressed and really enjoyed the story. Having only been familiar with DD up to Civil War, the story actually seemed to flow pretty well for me. Possibly because of that, I didn't see Murdoch as really that out of character. Granted, there may have been some major changes but what I saw of Murdoch in prison led me to believe that his world has a lot more shades of gray than it used to. It seems he showed about the same attitude towards BT as he does towards Frank Castle.

Even with the murder of the cousin at the end, the way it was framed, BT was still a sympathetic figure. To me, it came off as a family affair of sorts of Murdoch was just choosing to turn a blind eye as long as it stayed a family affair.

Were there some other changes since those Miller trades that would have made Murdoch's attitude towards BT as more out of character?

[Ullar]

So this takes place after without fear so when does the annual take place?

[Gloria]

So this takes place after without fear so when does the annual take place?
The annual tales place between Daredevil #93 and #94 (The beginning of the "To The Devil His Due" saga, which precedes "Without Fear")

[Tobias Drake]

I gotta say, I am liking Black Tarantula. He strikes just the right cords that makes him similar to DareDevil in motivation but just different enough in method to really stand out as his own character. There isn't enough there to sustain an ongoing, possibly enough for a mini, but I do hope he keeps making appearances. He strikes me as halfway between DareDevil and Punisher.

[The Man Without Fear]

I gotta say, I am liking Black Tarantula. He strikes just the right cords that makes him similar to DareDevil in motivation but just different enough in method to really stand out as his own character. There isn't enough there to sustain an ongoing, possibly enough for a mini, but I do hope he keeps making appearances. He strikes me as halfway between DareDevil and Punisher.
Completely agree. I think a 4- or 5-part mini could work, but anything beyond that I'd be skeptical of. Characters like Black Tarantula tend to work better in small doses, in my opinion. He doesn't really fall into the same category, but I'd hate to see him become a victim to overexposure ala Sabretooth and Venom. I've enjoyed his guest-spots in DD immensely, though, and hope he continues to show up in the same limited capacity to help gradually develop his history and motives further.

- Manning

[Pyro]

This was really just Black Tarantula: Testing the Waters #1, as Daredevil was used more as a hook in the title than anything else. It wasn't bad by any means, and I like the Black Tarantula character, but it was pretty by the numbers too, in addition to being a poor substitute for a new issue of Daredevil this month. (Although with Rucka coming on board, I'm willing to forgive.)I completely agree. The only reason I picked this up was because I peeked at the last page and it looked like DD won't be coming out for another month. The story was alright, but really cliche at times. The whole "cleaning up my streets and beating up bad guys but not killing them so they can spread the word" is something I've read too many times before. It was only after the family part of the story came in that it started being a little bit interesting to me. Still, I would rather have had an issue of DD this month.

[matt levin]

It was okay, but I found it a quick, shallow read, not at all what I hope for from Brubaker; I, to, like the change in Tarantula, that at least seems well grounded, and missed having DD a greater part of the book--really like the comment above about it being Tarantula Testing the Waters #1 (thanks, TMWF!).

So for now it goes into my DD collection, but I doubt it'll survive the next purge, as have many others in my long association with the title (since #23! whew).

Matt

[Gemini no Saga]

I like this side of Black Tarantula ... still for me he´s better as a bad ass villian (Spider Girl).