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Tweak says, "Wash behind your ears!"

kusonaga (kusonaga) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-11-07 11:32:00

Entry tags:

char: black widow/natasha romanova, char: dagger/tandy bowen, char: daredevil/matt murdock, char: moon knight/marc spector, char: power man/luke cage, char: shang-chi, creator: chuck dixon, creator: ed barreto, title: marvel knights

When Matt met Luke: Marvel Knights #11
So, last time I was here I posted some pages from the 2000 series Marvel Knights, a fun little exercise into street level team-building, featuring Daredevil assembling a team to take down the Punisher and for about fifteen issues, taking on various threats of a superpowered kind. The team was originally just Daredevil, Black Widow, Shang-Chi and Dagger (from Cloak and Dagger), but the group got an expansion in issue #5 with the inclusion of Moon Knight. The latter thought the team needed some organising (y'know, some actual being a team) and in issue #11, he brought in Luke Cage for some reinforcements.

This is a response to starwolf oakley's recent post, featuring Cage's interaction with DD in the pages of Bendis' Daredevil.

Scans not mine. Written by Chuck Dixon, drawn by Ed Barreto. 7/22.

"And that's a cash-back guarantee."

The Knights (who never actually got themselves a team name) go about catching some bad guys.

Marvel Knights might've had some crappy covers and Dixon's Daredevil wasn't always spot on, but it sure didn't lack in fun. I'll be posting some Dagger/Black Widow interaction soon, as that was a definite highlight of the team: Cloak and Dagger (although mostly Dagger) got some much needed time around other people.

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Re: Pardon my borked HTML.

va1tyr
2009-11-08 01:00 pm UTC (link)

I think it's because they're pushing Pym hard - he's all ~Scientist Supreme~ and such, while Stark's braindead and Richards - well, I think they're doing something with him, his short-term memory seems to be bollocking up in Reborn.

Yeah, but she's not... she's not accustomed to being broke, if you see what I mean. She usually has the backing of a large organization - she's usually an agent, rather than independent. So I think that would give her a different perspective. Also, she can feasibly get a job as a Russian teacher at UCLA, whereas Dagger and Luke and Shang-Chi don't have (as far as I am aware) the kind of qualifications that would allow them to get a comfortable job. Shang-Chi could possibly teach martial arts (I have no idea if he's qualified in a way that would be recognized, or if he can teach) but really, they don't have a lot of options.

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Re: Pardon my borked HTML.

psychop_rex
2009-11-08 10:18 pm UTC (link)

Basically, though, what that means is that she's used to being an agent - she's used to being an employee of a group with lots of money that pays the bills for her. That's a far cry from being self-employed. It basically keeps her at the other end of the spectrum from Daredevil and Moon Knight.
I think if Luke Cage ever wanted to get out of the superhero biz, he'd find some doors open to him. He's superstrong and basically indestructible, not to mention he's had years of experience fighting crime. He could likely get a job as a cop, or a private detective, or a security guard - there's lots of jobs for a big, tough guy. As for Dagger - she may not have any FORMAL qualifications, no, but she was studying ballet when she ran away from home - she could probably get a job as some sort of a dancer. I don't know about Shang-Chi, but he IS a terrific martial artist who has gone up against some of the best fighters in the world - he could probably at least give private instruction in the martial arts.

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Re: Pardon my borked HTML.

va1tyr
2009-11-08 10:23 pm UTC (link)

Well, isn't that what Luke Cage effectively does? He has a felony record, so I don't think he could be a cop, and security guard is low-pay grunt work, and he does do some private... detectoring. Detectiving? Detecting.

As for Dagger, a teenage runaway who was training as a ballet dancer could get a job as some sort of dancer. That is not generally the kind of story that ends well.

Point is, Moon Knight, Daredevil, and Natasha aren't really accustomed to worrying about money on a regular basis, whereas Luke, Dagger, and Shang-Chi probably have pretty frequent issues with it.

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	Re: Pardon my borked HTML. psychop_rex 2009-11-08 10:53 pm UTC (link)
	I suppose that's true, although I still say that working for well-funded people on a regular basis is a far cry from being well-funded yourself. Still, you're probably right. What I'd like to know is whether they ultimately wound up telling DD to shut his mouth. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: Pardon my borked HTML.

va1tyr
2009-11-08 10:58 pm UTC (link)

Oh yes, quite true, there's a whole spectrum here; Moon Knight the millionaire, Daredevil well-paid lawyer, Black Widow used to being funded and with some white-collar qualifications/skills, Luke Cage who gets fairly steady work, Shang-Chi who's an adult drifter with some marketable skills, and then Dagger is pretty much a teenage bum. Which considering her butt cleavage in the post, is quite apt.

Yeah, I'd like to know that. Luke Cage and he often seem to clash; I have a Daredevil trade where Reed, Luke, Peter and I think Strange all come to lecture Matt about taking over Hell's Kitchen.

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Re: Pardon my borked HTML.

psychop_rex
2009-11-09 12:27 am UTC (link)

For the record, though, Dagger is the daughter of a supermodel, and is still in fairly regular contact with her stepfather, so she COULD return home to a pampered life of privilege whenever she chose to - she just doesn't choose to, given that she has a whole new life as a superhero, and her symbiotic relationship with Cloak kinda complicates things. Still, she COULD, and when her mom dies, she'll probably inherit millions, so it's not like she's not set for money in an emergency - she's just never had a job.
I'm not a huge fan of Daredevil, really - he's too grim and gritty for my tastes, and his character development usually seems to consist of 'let's make his life even WORSE!' Still, he's part of an interesting team dynamic here.

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Re: Money, money

jfurioso
2009-11-10 02:25 am UTC (link)

The matter of being able to support one-self is an interesting topic rarely handled well in modern comics. Author and critic Samuel Delany once commented that the lack of attention to livelihood and other details of real existence contribute to the "thinness" of many genre characters. Part of the appeal of the original Spiderman and Fantastic Four comics was that such considerations WERE part of the running stories and characters (mostly in the former). These days, sending the penniless FF to work is a gimmick, when once it was something that added dimensions to the books.

I would really like to see how ShangChi survives at all. I kinda envison him going about like the Stephen Chow character in SHAOLIN SOCCER, offering kung fu lessons to pedestrians.

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