colonel_green (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} colonel_green) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} scans_daily,@ 2009-08-25 23:05:00 |
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Martial Arts Week: Daredevil vs. Lady B
In honour of Martial Arts Week, let's take a look at one of my favourite Ed Brubaker-written fight scenes, from Daredevil #113, as Daredevil comes fist to fist with Lady Bullseye for the first time.
Brubaker is generally known for mastery of the slow-burn style of writing, less for action (indeed, the fight scenes are usually the least-interesting thing in his work). But he can storyboard a great hand-to-hand fight scene when he wants to (besides this one, the Bucky vs. Iron Man fight is a favourite). Here, Daredevil arrives at the scene of the crime, having just been framed by LB for a couple of murders (he beat the rap when Dakota North told the cops he'd been having hot adulterous sex with her all night; so he's really not in a good mood).
Breaking up the one-on-one fight, she leaves him to fight a bunch of regular Hand ninjas. Unusually, going from one ninja opponent to a half-dozen does not increase Matt's fortunes by much.
Reading over this scene again while making this post, it occurs to me that Lady B's departure just before Master Izo arrives takes on a whole new significance since the reveal that he was her master, and she thought his plan was to put her in charge of the Hand. She sets up Izo to arrive as the big hero and ingratiate himself with Daredevil, thinking they're on the same side, when actually Izo is going to screw her over and help DD win.
In comparison to this, Daredevil's rematch with her in #500 only lasts a couple of pages. He arrives quickly and KOs her before she can really get into the game, and says one of my favourite lines in recent comics: "She's as good as the real Bullseye. At least. And I've beaten him many times."
Breaking up the one-on-one fight, she leaves him to fight a bunch of regular Hand ninjas. Unusually, going from one ninja opponent to a half-dozen does not increase Matt's fortunes by much.
Reading over this scene again while making this post, it occurs to me that Lady B's departure just before Master Izo arrives takes on a whole new significance since the reveal that he was her master, and she thought his plan was to put her in charge of the Hand. She sets up Izo to arrive as the big hero and ingratiate himself with Daredevil, thinking they're on the same side, when actually Izo is going to screw her over and help DD win.
In comparison to this, Daredevil's rematch with her in #500 only lasts a couple of pages. He arrives quickly and KOs her before she can really get into the game, and says one of my favourite lines in recent comics: "She's as good as the real Bullseye. At least. And I've beaten him many times."