In sitting down to write my comic book review of  Daredevil #4 and the story titled “Killgrave, The unbelievable purple man!” I find myself thinking, that this tale may be one of the better mind control stories I have seen so far.   While the starting crime of him robbing the bank, seems a bit weak, where the tail goes from there, seems fitting.   In this tale, we have Killgrave (The Purple Man), whom has the power to control the minds and wills of anyone whom he is near.  however -as fate would have it- Daredevil finds that his blindness has made him immune to The Purple Man’s Powers.   The the critical nature of the mission becomes even more so as Killgrave takes an interest in Karen, and uses his power to change her allegiance to serving him.

Originality & Continuity

We have reviewed many Mind Control Stories so far from marvel, and The Purple Man is not all that different from say Jason Cragg in Tales To Astonish #42.  Sure, we have a mind control caused by site vs. sound.  but the effect, and the uses are in some ways similar, as is the ending defeat.  But, with time so comes skill, and where that story could be seen as a prototype, this one seems to have advanced the idea further, and performed it better.

Characters & Development

The Love triangle between Foggy, Karen, and Matt

This is something we have seen growing; and a commonly recurring theme in marvel comics of that time.  It was teased early in Fantastic Four, with Thing, Mr. Fantastic and Invisible woman; but shifted thing out for Sub-Mariner for an occasional plot peace.  But a better comparison would be the later arriving Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Happy Hogan.  In Daredevil, they are using the same trop to build the triangle, the tension, and to keep the hero from the potential happiness of a relationship.  The use of Love triangles can be good, and effective; but I find myself asking, at least this month, does the daredevil book need to build and strengthen what so many others also offer?

Story

Despite the similarities to earlier stories,  The Purple Man story told here, may be one of my favorite Mind-Control and Daredevil Stories so far!   I feel it helps to develop the character and a bit of a distinction from him and others such as Spider-Man.  In fact, this story combined with Amazing Spider-Man #16  helps drive the point home.  Daredevil is likely the best hero to fend off Mind-Control Villains -at least the vast majority who’s powers relay on some form of visual connection-.  Does this mean every story will be like this? or other characters won’t face Mind Control? no, not at all.  but I feel it does show that our hero in this book can handle things a bit different.

Artwork

The artwork on daredevil provided by Joe Orlando continues to be great in this issue, maintaining many of the elements I hiked from Daredevil #3.  but two of the panels that I liked both, fettered Daredevil’s shadow; not the hero himself. the effect of this, the meaning, the message… it is one that I feel to be speak volumes more than I will even try to put in words here.