By d. emerson eddy — For February, I was thinking of focusing on a number of romance comics to coincide with the holiday. Then I got distracted a bit by the looming threat of turning 40. It had me looking back to some of the “romance” comics of my childhood, and I hit on something that rings entirely differently. I suppose it's a love story, but not romantic love. It's rather one of obsession and the darkness that can come from unhealthy attachments. I arrived at Daredevil: Love & War by Frank Miller, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Jim Novak.

The book came out amidst the perfect storm of “mature readers” and experimental comics that were gaining prominence in the mid to late '80s. Daredevil: Love & War also coincided with Miller, Sienkiewicz, and Novak's other experiment in the Daredevil mythos, the Epic mini-series, Elektra: Assassin. Arguably Love & War is tamer, but the subject material is no less dark and at times disturbing. It hinges around the Kingpin kidnapping a doctor's wife in order to blackmail the doctor into treating Kingpin's own wife, Vanessa.

Obsession manifests itself in the story in a number of ways. It does this first through Kingpin's unhealthy relationship with his wife and the lengths that he'll go to in order to fix her mental condition. It's more about control than about love, but people in these kinds of abusive relationships tend to lie to themselves about the meaning. Second, there's an undercurrent in many Daredevil stories that Matt has his own hang ups towards sex, essentially veering towards a kind of nymphomania. Though I'm not sure it's been addressed overtly as a direct problem, it cropped up in the works of Miller, Ann Nocenti, and even recently in the current run from Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto.

And finally, we see it in the man who the Kingpin hired to kidnap the doctor's wife, Victor. Victor seems to be a mentally ill drug addict with very peculiar notions about saving and protecting his victim, demonstrated racism, and inexplicable bursts of violence. It's his obsession with the victim that drives a large portion of the story and serves as the focal point that much else revolves around. The only real potential healthy form of love that we see in the story is through the doctor, his wife, and the care that he takes of Vanessa. It's an interesting, subtly-played juxtaposition against the other three character arcs.

If you've been reading these features for a while, you’ve probably made the correct assumption that Bill Sienkiewicz is one of my favorite artists. While I think Stray Toasters is likely the height of his work — perfectly blending experimentation and storytelling — I think Love & War is among his most beautiful painted work. There's exaggeration in Kingpin's size and shape and a very interesting application of surrealism as Victor breaks from reality, but otherwise there's a level of natural colors and presentation that grounds the story.

We see Sienkiewicz drawing inspiration from artists like Gustav Klimt here, leading to some intricate patterns and a kind of soft, realistic approach to character design. The darkness and absurdity of influence of Sergio Toppi and Ralph Steadman is still there, but it's restrained, largely only coming out during the Victor sequences, like a hidden madness. Jim Novak applies his letters in a variety of ways, matching the sometimes shifting nature of Sienkiewicz's paintings. Borderless narration, a mix of dialogue boxes, colored word balloons, and more are presented here, which more fits the atmosphere of the story than feeling in any way scattered.

Daredevil: Love & War is an interesting addition to the Daredevil canon from Miller, Sienkiewicz, and Novak. It largely stands alone as a curious, separate object that presents a rather twisted interpretation of love through some beautiful visual storytelling.

Daredevil - Love and War

Daredevil: Love & War
Writer: Frank Miller
Artist: Bill Sienkiewicz
Letterer: Jim Novak
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Frank Miller explores the push and pull nature of Kingpin and Daredevil's relationship. Vanessa Fisk represents all that the Kingpin holds dear; when the woman he loves is in grave danger, Fisk will act savagely to save her. All's fair in Love and War, and for Kingpin the saying’s particularly true!
Release Date: September 19, 1986 (as Marvel Graphic Novel #24)
Price: $4.99 | Also available in Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson – Volume 3 ($19.99)
Buy It Digitally: Daredevil - Love and War

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d. emerson eddy is a student and writer of things. He fell in love with comics during Moore, Bissette, & Totleben's run on Swamp Thing and it has been a torrid affair ever since. His madness typically manifests itself on Twitter @93418.