Cloak and Dagger: Predator and Prey

Cloak and Dagger (Collected Editions) #4

by Bill Mantlo, Peter B. Gillis, Dan Lawlis (Penciler)

The lives of Cloak and Dagger take a dark turn! Nightmare seeks to use Cloak to destroy his old foe, Doctor Strange...and if Dagger can't unravel the plot fast, Cloak will die! And while Dagger's path is crossed by the Black Cat, the horrifi c Mr. Jip makes his debut! Why have he and his minions Day and Night targeted the light-and-darkness duo? Cloak and Dagger face the Punisher, Power Pack and the menace of Mayhem, but when Dagger's soul is corrupted, it's X-Factor to the rescue! But can the shattered duo survive Inferno? Plus: C&D face the threat of...Jack the Ripper?! COLLECTING: STRANGE TALES (1987) 3-6 (A STORIES), 7, 8-19 (A STORIES); MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL: CLOAK AND DAGGER - PREDATOR AND PREY; CLOAK AND DAGGER/ POWER PACK: SHELTER FROM THE STORM; MUTANT MISADVENTURES OF CLOAK AND DAGGER 1-4

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Marvel

445 pages, Paperback

First published August 22, 2018

About the author

William Timothy Mantlo is an American comic book writer, primarily at Marvel Comics.
(source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating 2.8 stars.
As I mentioned in the Dr Strange collection, I won’t read anthology series like this the same way again.
I started this collection over two years ago and of course, it’s hard to remember every story that happened.

I do appreciate that while the first few issues were the same formula as the last C&D series, the rest at least tried to get out of that cycle.
Said formula, if you were curious: Tandy hates what she and Tyrone have become, she gets upset (probably at Ty), Cloak tries to comfort her because he loves her (a fact she’s totally unaware of.) Then something else happens and Cloak loses control of the darkness within his cloak and somehow Tandy realises that their friendship means more than her grievances. Oh and there’s the always going back to ‘normal’ thing and mentioning their origins every third issue…

Sadly, even though there were some changes, the stories still felt dull to me (which is why I skipped issues).

I remember liking the story involving Dr Strange. And when Cloak interacted with Julie from Power Pack.

The lead up and the actual issues of Mutant Misadventures were better. But only marginally.
I don’t understand the ‘Tandy is blind’ plot. Nor do I understand why Cloak has to be in outer space.

Unfortunately, I just don’t connect with the characters because they are so one note. Tandy is always the helpless one, Cloak is the dark broody one.
I hope that when Tandy decided she didn’t want to be helpless anymore, she’s no longer helpless. But that’s something I’m gonna have to read to find out.


Link to individual status updates:
Issue #1-2│Issue #3│Issue #4│Issue #5│Issue #6│Issue #7│Issue #8-9│Issue #10│Issue #11│Issue #12│Issue #13│Issue #14│Issue #15-16│Issue #17│Issue #18│Marvel Graphic Novel #56│Mutant Misadventures #1│Mutant Misadventures #2│Mutant Misadventures #3│Mutant Misadventures #4

[Aidan Pugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this is an okay book, It starts off very strong with strange tales work with Bill Mantlo involved. I feel these characters were most interesting during this especially with Cloak questioning whether it is right for him to decide what is right and wrong and if he is even a good person. I find Dagger less interesting overall however she offers a great balance to the duo and helps Cloak grow and answer these questions.

After this run I felt there was a drop off where at times I didn't stay glued to the pages and kinda just powdered through it. Mr Jeb and the storyline of night and day was okay and towards the end was pretty good with us seeing daggers dark side. It was also interesting later on where she became blind and how someone so pure and positive dealt with such a daily struggle.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice collection of some of their later stories, but they take dip in quality once Bill Mantlo departs.

[Adam Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are old comics from the late 80s when you really had to READ them. The villains "monolog", it's hilarious, and you actually had to have quite the vocabulary to get it all.