Monday, February 13, 2017

Kingpin #1 Review & Spoilers - Marvel Monday



The King’s Back

Writer: Matthew Rosenburg
Artist: Ben Torres, Jordan Boyd
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Cover Price: $3.99
On Sale Date: February 8, 2017 ***NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM*** Kingpin has returned to Hell’s Kitchen and plans to turn a new leaf. But we all know Kingpin can’t stay on the straight and narrow forever. But hey, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt.

At the start of the issue, we meet Sarah Dewey, a known journalist in Hell’s Kitchen. She is supporting an upcoming boxer training to become the next middleweight champ. There she receives a visit from Kingpin’s right hand man, Wesley. He tells Sarah that his employer, Kingpin would like to meet with her. It’s unclear at this point what Kingpin wants with her. But we’ll get to that. Wesley offers her two thousand dollars to simply just meet Kingpin. Where is Wesley when I need extra money?

We jump to where Wesley has brought Sarah to Kingpin’s mansion. Here we see a reminiscent scene to Frank Miller’s Daredevil run. Kingpin is practicing martial arts knocking the snot out of his opponents. He brings everything to a halt when Sarah and Wesley walk into the dojo. Kingpin praises Sarah’s writing and offers her a job to write his biography story. Sarah isn’t on board to take on this job. So he invites her a social function the following night in order to get to know each other a little better and she accepts.


When she arrives back to her apartment, she has received a package from Kingpin. He has sent her a choice of two dresses that he’d like for her to wear.

The next night at the event, Sarah has shown up wearing a red dress and she resembles his ex-wife, Vanessa. Makes me wonder if that’s one of the reasons he has taken such a liking to her. During the party, Sarah takes a moment to get away from all the testosterone between Kingpin and fellow gentlemen.


She bumps into Matt Murdock and the two strike up a conversation. He recognizes her journalism work and gives her praise for her boxing articles. The two are starting to hit it off, that quickly ends when Sarah mentions she is a guest of Wilson Fisk. Matt’s attitude quickly changes toward Sarah and the two exchange words before departing ways.

There Sarah decides to get a drink at the bar and has a conversation with the gentlemen from earlier, Gavin Boyce. He is quite the jerk and believes she’s Kingpin’s escort for the night. She quickly replies and mentions she’s a reporter. Gavin continues to talk bad about Kingpin and tells her not to trust the man with so much blood on his hand. At this point, she’s had enough and decides to head home.



Back at her apartment, relaxing in her Spiderman sweatshirt she receives a visit from Kingpin. He offers to take her to a local diner to continue their conversation.

At the diner, we get insight into why Kingpin is hell bent on getting this biography story published. He’s ready to confess all his sins to the entire world. Kingpin starts to show his emotional side to Sarah. This could all be a part of his plan to convince her to take the job.

Leaving the diner, Kingpin offers to walk her home and they encounter a bum who is asking for a dollar. He has no problem whipping out a wad of cash and giving the guy a $20 bill. That’s not enough though cause the guy comes back to stick them up with a knife and demands more cash. Kingpin shows a kind side and gives the bum his gold watch. That ends their encounter and at this point, Sarah has decided to take Kingpin up on writing the biography.


Back at her apartment looking a hefty check from Kingpin. She decides to call her ex-husband David. But her phone has been disconnected and has to make her way to a pay phone. Speaking with David and telling him of her job opportunity. Here we learn she has two children. In this exchange we’re given some insight into the fact her alcoholism led to their divorce. Before they can finish their chat, that's ended abruptly when she notices a group of police officers standing over a dead body. Sarah heads over to see what’s going on, revealing that it’s the bum who has died of a drug overdose. Makes you wonder if this was all set up by the main man.

The start of this series does a great job of giving character development for our side character. Matthew Rosenburg has set up Kingpin to be a possible changed man. But when things turn dark it’ll be a big impact on both the reader and Sarah. The art style is the perfect fit for this story. There aren’t any bright colors used throughout and helps set the tone of the world Kingpin lives in. Overall, the tone of the book harkens back to the vibe of Frank Miller’s time on Daredevil. If you weren’t a fan of the Bullseye issue, I’d recommend giving this title a chance. The team has set up an intriguing story that I plan to read every month.

Bits and Pieces:

Kingpin is attempting to show his emotional side and wants to share his past with entire world. Although it seems he’s turned a new leaf, Kingpin is planting seeds for something big. It’s still a mystery to what Kingpin is after. But it can’t be good. Matthew Rosenburg provides an engaging story that’ll leave you wanting to see how this all plays out for the big boss.

8.9/10

No comments:

Post a Comment