Mark Waid’s current run on Daredevil has been good. Insanely good. Does this issue meet expectations? Read on to find out!
SUMMARY
Pros
Consistently good since the beginning
Cons
How did Milla show up?
READER RATING!
[ratings]
DAREDEVIL #19
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Chris Samnee
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Javier Rodriguez
Editor: Stephen Wacker
Publisher: Marvel
Cover Price: $2.99
Previously in Daredevil: Matt Murdock’s sanity has been slipping. It’s cost him his law practice, his friendship with Foggy and almost his life. Now as Daredevil he is investigating the murder of a drug lord, but who or what is messing with him?
MAINTAINS CONSISTENCY
Waid’s Daredevil has been consistently good since the beginning and this issue continues that consistency. Matt is starting to question his own sanity as he continues his investigation into the murder of Victor Hierra. He soon figures out Coyote (previously know as the Spot) has been pulling the strings all along and I personally didn’t see it coming. Waid is doing something that I love when writers do. He is taking a “C-list” villain and making them a significant threat to the hero, so much so that they rank up there with the major leaguers. My knowledge of Marvel characters isn’t as extensive as some (Matthew), so I’d never heard of the Spot before except for his appearance in issue one, but I certainly won’t forget him after this.
There is a lot of tension throughout this issue and the pace is quick and never slows down. Even the emotional conversation between Foggy and Kirsten McDuffie was gripping. The conflict at the end as Daredevil tries to stop all the mobsters from getting killed is as exciting as it should be. All the pieces are starting to come together and Waid has done a great job at slowly laying them all out. There are still a few things that need explanation such as how Milla showed up (I’m assuming she was teleported there by Coyote) and if killing is so easy for Coyote, why hasn’t he simply used his power to kill Daredevil. These are questions that I’m confident Waid will address later on. This is a go to book every month for me, and I can’t recommend this issue and title enough.
RETRO VIBE
A great script is nothing if an equally great artist doesn’t accompany it, and Chris Samnee is pretty damn great. As I’ve said before, his art has an old school feeling to it that makes the book come across as one of the good ol’ Marvel classics. Things like drawing the sound effects and adding heartbeat signatures bring that vibe across. Facial expressions all convey emotion such as Foggy’s look during his confession. The scene in the warehouse flows perfectly and creates the appropriate tension and the last page shot was brilliant. I simply can’t say enough nice things about this artwork.
BOTTOM LINE: IF YOU’RE NOT READING THIS, YOU’RE MISSING OUT
There’s not much else to say about Daredevil that hasn’t been said before. Mark Waid and Chris Samnee continue to bring the goods, month in and month out. This issue is no exception as the action and tension is ramped up. If you’re not reading Daredevil, I strongly urge you to start picking this book up and even get the previous trades (or hunt down past issues if that’s your thing). You won’t be disappointed. Plus, Daredevil literally loses his head in this one. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
1 Comment
One of the things I couldn’t bring up in my own blog on the issue – ostensibly because of spoilers – is what the comic did for the villain formerly known as Spot in terms of his powers. When you really think about it, the ability to open a portal anywhere in the world should be a force to be reckoned with. And this comic illustrates how it can be put to devastating use by anyone with a modicum of imagination. The revelation also implies a great character shift: the Spot realized he was a joke, so stepped up his game and really thought about how he could screw with Daredevil in a multitude of ways. And so he did, reinventing himself into a form that is most certainly not a joke.
It’s a thing I love to see; creators pushing the limits of what a power can be used for, rather than just mindlessly increasing raw power. It’s what makes One Piece such a great Shonen manga: those who ate the fruit never get more powerful, they just get better at using their weird abilities. See also Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.