WHAT IF ... KAREN PAGE HAD LIVED? ADVANCE REVIEW

[Andrea Speed]

Reviewer: Andrea Speed andy@comixtreme.com
Quick Rating: Very Good

Karen survives the baton through the chest - what happens next?

<a href="http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/media/1/whatifkaren.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixtreme.com/gallery/data/thumbnails/1/whatifkaren.jpg" align="left" border="0"> </a>Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Michael Lark
Colors: Dave Stewart
Letters: Virtual Calligraphy's Cory Petit
Editor: C.B. Cebulski
Cover Art: Michael Lark & Frank D'Armata
Publisher: Marvel



Review: This is one of two issues that takes place in the same diner, being narrated not by a Watcher but by a man who looks an awful lot like Brian Michael Bendis. Also, there’s a woman in a booth behind him; I hope she looks familiar to you, as she stars in the second What If..? book that the Bendis look-alike narrates.

In case you didn’t read the Daredevil arc “Guardian Devil”, where Karen is killed by Bullseye, it is recapped here, and then given a new ending, where she is seriously hurt but not killed. You’d think that would be a good thing, but it actually turns out to be the worst thing that could ever happen to Matt. Hard to believe? Well, as this story unfolds, a rash decision in a moment of passion causes Matt’s entire life to implode, leading him somewhere he’s never been before; a place where he will never recover, and he ends up a broken shell of a man.

Yeah, it’s a real downer. But as long as you buy the premise it all makes a certain kind of sense, and has an inevitable logic to it. It meshes together key Smith plot points with key Bendis plot points, and while it is a little verbose in spots, it’s a solid story of unfortunate decisions and even worse consequences.

The art by Lark is very dark, and highly reminiscent of his work on Gotham Central. It’s noir art that’s not quite as stylized as Maleev’s work, but has much the same feeling, and works well for this depressing tale. In fact, there are some sequences in here - I’m thinking of Matt’s meeting with the Kingpin, and the whole church sequence - that are honestly the best work I have ever seen Lark do. He should really ink his own work all the time (well, time permitting - I realize artists don’t always have that luxury.) The coloring by Stewart is good, and better than his coloring on the last issue of Daredevil, if only because it’s generally brighter in spots.

A good story, but if you’re expecting a happy ending, look elsewhere.





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Buy this issue online now from X-World and Save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=1606&cat=WHAT+IF%3F)

[Blake Petit]

Heck, Andrea, Bendis does look like the Watcher. Is it THAT hard to believe? :LOL:

[Andrea Speed]

His head isn't THAT big ...:LOL:

[batmanego]

Well, to me Page´s death was proof of what an overrated writer Kevin Smith is... Not only sort of repeating something done much better by Frank Miller, but putting yet more tragedy in the life of a character that didn´t need any more. Bendis proves that you can tell amazing DD stories without that kind of "shock" moment.

[Adam Chapman]

What made Karen Page's death important and special, I think, was something expanded upon AFTER Smith left. The actual death itself- nothing that original there, but come on, it was still a very gripping moment. When I picked up my copy of the Guardian Devil tpb a few years ago, I knew she was going to die, but damn if Smith didn't have me on the edge of my seat when he did it. Quesada really did a good job artistically on DD as well, when Smith was writing it, so that the moment just seemed outstanding.

Plus, the Karen Page character hadn't really been meaningfully used for quite some time, and Smith's storyline really put her through the ringer, as well as Matt, before killing her. It really shook up Matt's life, and in the long run, really allowed for some great stories, but again, that's writers after Smith who really made it even more important.

The death of Karen Page on paper isn't that original, but in the story that Smith was telling, it packed one hell of an emotional wallop. :D

[batmanego]

Originally posted by Adam Chapman
What made Karen Page's death important and special, I think, was something expanded upon AFTER Smith left. The actual death itself- nothing that original there, but come on, it was still a very gripping moment. When I picked up my copy of the Guardian Devil tpb a few years ago, I knew she was going to die, but damn if Smith didn't have me on the edge of my seat when he did it. Quesada really did a good job artistically on DD as well, when Smith was writing it, so that the moment just seemed outstanding.

Plus, the Karen Page character hadn't really been meaningfully used for quite some time, and Smith's storyline really put her through the ringer, as well as Matt, before killing her. It really shook up Matt's life, and in the long run, really allowed for some great stories, but again, that's writers after Smith who really made it even more important.

The death of Karen Page on paper isn't that original, but in the story that Smith was telling, it packed one hell of an emotional wallop. :D

But again, look at how Bendis has shaken Matt´s life and he didn´t have to kill another girlfriend for it... Repeating that kinda thing makes you think Matt belongs in a monastery... He should just stay away from women...:D

[Adam Chapman]

Well, no story ever really NEEDS to be told... I just think that the comparison between the deaths of Elektra and Karen Page isn't quite fair, and gives no credit to Smith either (although I'm far from his biggest fan). Just because it was Bullseye who killed another of DD's girlfriends, doesn't mean it's a blatant rip-off of a classic Miller moment. And it wasn't even the climax, the climax to the arc came later, once Bullseye had gotten away. It had powerful emotional resonance, and yes, you don't need to kill off a girlfriend of Matt's to have a great story, but it doesn't mean that you can't spin that yarn if it's going to be different and special. I've been reading DD for a LONG time, and have read almost every DD issue, and I still think that Smith's run was a great one, very well written, and was a very high watermark at the time when it was published, and it still is. Bendis has created some amazing stuff recently, on a par with if not possibly surpassing Miller, but it doesn't mean that Smith's run isn't powerful and engaging. Two different writers, two different styles, two different directions.

[batmanego]

But you know what, I didn´t read every DD, but I just read an article on the history of the character and it turns out pretty much every girl who got involved with ended up dead... The man is cursed...:D

[Cyclops3057]

Black widow is still alive and kickin

[Lord_Magneto]

Originally posted by Cyclops3057
Black widow is still alive and kickin not if Bendis gets his hands on her! *evil laughter*

[Adam Chapman]

Originally posted by Lord_Magneto
not if Bendis gets his hands on her! *evil laughter*

Well, actually he already has... twice... :p

[chrismozer]

Originally posted by Lord_Magneto
not if Bendis gets his hands on her! *evil laughter*

I know that i'd like to get my hands on her, too. LOL.

Good book that proves being Matt Murdock stinks in any Marvel Universe!!

[Andrea Speed]

Good book that proves being Matt Murdock stinks in any Marvel Universe!!

:LOL:

Yeah, I think this was my personal favorite among all the What Ifs, if only because it showed happy endings don't guarantee happy endings.