Dreaming of a White Christmas
Daredevil has always been one of my favorite superheroes, and I find it almost criminal how little attention he sometimes gets. Ever since Mark Waid started his run with the character, I've been loving every panel of it, and while this issue pulls away from the story arc it has slowly created, this standalone issue is more than good enough to forget about it, just for this month.
The first thing i have to say is that this creative team makes great use of the fact that a comic book is a visual medium. This issue focuses on a school of blind children Murdoch is doing volunteer work with, but I don't think there's a single moment where he expressly states that they are blind: that is communicated to us through subtle things, such as a cane in the background, or the children breaking off sticks to use as make-shift one, or the fact that they all have their eyes covered by their hats, or other visual cues meant to show rather than tell. Not only that, but the art also helps express the danger they are in, and how some scenes can be conveyed without any dialogue at all, yet we all understand what they are trying to do and accomplish.
The story also remains simple, yet also at the same time, powerful. Good ol' DD gets another bout of bad luck, gets in a serious accident, and has to save himself and the group he has found himself with. There's no action, no antagonist (other than whatever god has decided to make Murdoch's life hell), just a simple survival story that is filled with drama and tragedy. The focus is on Matt and his struggles, and I feel more than any issue of Mark Waid's run this issue approaches subtly how crappy Daredevil's life was and how that has affected him emotionally, perhaps even suggesting his new, happy go lucky personality is a defensive front?
The fact that this series hasn't become the biggest selling thing Marvel is putting out is nothing short of a crime, and I hope Waid continues to release such a fantastic series for years to come. Hell, it'd be a dream come true if he did like Bendis with the Avengers or Geoff John's and Green Lantern and committed to this series full time. time will tell.
