Daredevil

The strength of Mark Waid’s Daredevil relaunch is its quiet genius. Like Thor: The Mighty Avenger, this book is practically swimming in critical praise, yet I feel like it’s not anywhere as appreciated as it should be. We’re only three issues in, but I’m willing to say that this is the best, most consistently good book Marvel is putting out right now.

Where Daredevil exceeded in its first two issues and continues to succeed is in the attention to small details and characterization. More than any other hero, really, Daredevil is extremely sensual. At some point I have to stop pointing out how well the onomatopoeia is integrated into the art, but I’m not ready to stop yet. In one particularly fantastic page where Daredevil was being overwhelmed by sound, the entire panel was filled with letters, so much so that the letters themselves became panels. Following that traumatically loud explosion, all future onomatopoeia appeared washed out and difficult to read, similar to how Matt was blind to the world. Details, details.

Paolo Rivera’s art is striking in the issue, especially in its rendering of Klaw’s afterecho. I especially loved the shifting solidity of the face as a way to visually represent how truly unstable Klaw’s form was. Seeing his crumble away into static was another nice touch as were the visual representations of his handicapped radar sense.

Thematically the title of my review says it all. The echodouble of Klaw persisted from his “voice” long after his death. This is further reinforced by his weaker echoes and their tendency to echo all surrounding sounds. That sneaky little plot seed paid wonderful dividends with Daredevil using their echoic properties to amplify his sonic attack. In a neat twist, that attack obviously overwhelmed Matt’s sense of hearing such that he could not hear Klaw’s desperate pleas for help or the information he revealed. That was particularly haunting, by the way, as the echodouble had no excuse for existing and was simply trying to hold on. Watching him beg Daredevil to not kill him was pretty heartbreaking.

Continuing the theme was the Jobrani B-plot. The perfect storm was created when the carrying voices of Jobrani’s supposed insanity and Matt’s supposed secret identity rendered Jobrani unable to get help from anyone but Foggy and Matt. More directly related, Matt’s voice carried on through Jobrani, enabling him to win his case on his own and inspiring Matt to make this his new business. Like Klaw and his echodoubles, some of the message is diluted and lost, but, unlike Klaw, Jobrani is able to achieve his goal.

If there was only one complaint I’d have with this book, it’s that I wish someone would ban the word “articulate” when used in context of minorities. Long used as a disparaging code word for intelligent black athletes, “articulate” is a loaded word for some. I’m sure Waid meant nothing by it and I’m sure I’m probably the only one bothered by it, but it did bug me.

What more is there to say about this book? If you’re not reading it, borrow it or scrounge up $3. I think it’s worth it.

I feel like up to now a great deal of the praise for this series has been laid solely at Mark Waid's feet. And yes, this series has thus far maintained a very strong voice of its own, with a very upbeat and fun tone that the rest of the Marvel universe right now is not sharing, and that's a huge breath of fresh air. Nonetheless, for me anyway, the standout aspect of this series has been Paolo Rivera's stunning artwork.

Like no Daredevil artist ever before, Rivera has taken to drawing Daredevil's world the way Daredevil "sees" it. This has allowed for creative, new ways of rendering characters, backgrounds, the works, that are nothing short of breathtaking. This issue continues the trend, with a few panels that made me pause from my reading to take the time to just stop and admire.

Much of this was made possible by having Daredevil fight Klaw. Klaw is a Fantastic Four and Black Panther villain, and there is so rarely crossover with these sorts of things, but having "The master of sound" fight Daredevil instead was a brilliant idea, and I wish, for the art's sake, that it could have gone longer. This fight could have merely been a gimmick like when there's a brawl between opposites such as the Human Torch and Iceman purely for irony's sake, but no, this logical matchup ("master of sound" versus man with enhanced hearing and radar senses) allowed for some of the most clever superhero storytelling I've seen in recent memory. The story isn't complex, yet it is fresh, bold and VERY smart.

I like incoming artist Marcos Martin well enough and I'm sure he'll do fine with Daredevil based on my familiarity with him plus his backup feature in issue #1... but I'll be wanting Rivera back.

Mark Waid deserves a round of applause. He has taken a character that has been beaten to a pulp by dark, doom-and-gloom story lines and given him life. The new Matt Murdock is witty, easy-going, and most of all a lot of fun. "Daredevil" #3 brings the first arc to a close as Matt finds himself trapped in Klaw's crazy sound wave machine. While this is another well written and fun issue, I found it to be the weakest of the first three books. While Klaw is actually made interesting, he's not a character that I'm all that excited about.  I also felt Waid spent to much time with Daredevil in the machine trying to figure out who his captors were and how he could get his hand loose. But where Waid really excels is in the character moments. I loved every panel that Foggy appears in and the entire Jobrani case side story is incredibly well done. The final three pages are some of the best of the series so far and they're so dramatically different from past Daredevil books. 

I've loved Paolo Rivera's work on this series. His pencils combined with Javier Rodriguez's rich and vibrant colors give the issue a vivid and energetic tone that sometimes overshadows Waid's wonderful storytelling. Much like the story, the art is strongest in the character driven scenes. The action sequences are well done but not as strong as in the previous issues mainly due to a lack of clarity. There were some panels where I had a hard time deciphering what was taking place which really hurt to flow of the scene. But as a whole, this was still a visually strong issue. 

Even with a few shortcomings, "Daredevil" #3 is still better than tons of other books on the shelves. I'm running out of ways to say it but Waid and Rivera have injected new life into a character that desperately needed it. This is shaping up to be an incredible run and if you haven't been reading Daredevil you're missing out on something really special.

Matt faces off against Klaw, "The Master of Sound".

The Good

Really been enjoying the covers on this series.

The Daily Bugle intros to each issue are a nice little touch that add a unique flavor to this comic.

Matt facing off against Klaw is something I've never seen before and don't believe has been done until now. I mean it's an ideal so perfect in it's simplicity that it strikes me as odd that this face off hasn't occurred until now. By issue's end Waid really me sympathize with Klaw's motivations. He also uses this encounter to set up some interesting future story elements.

This issue had a lot of action which Rivera illustrated beautifully. Daredevil truly is one of the best looking books on the market. And they way in which Matt's heightened sensory perception (or lack thereof) is illustrated has yet to impress me.

For the first time in a very, very longtime Daredevil is fun to read again. The banter between Matt and Foggy is topnotch and Waid has a superb grasp on both men. The humor in this book has been truly refreshing and the interplay between Matt's day job and night time activities adds an added level of enjoyment. If one scene perfectly encapsulates all the things I've been loving about this book it's the end of the issue with Matt and Foggy having some brews...and Matt puttin' the moves on some ladies.

The Bad

Despite coming out twice this month I still have to wait til the 21st for more awesomeness.

The Verdict

This one is most definitely a buy. Waid and Rivera deliver another superb, action packed, fun filled issue of Daredevil. If you haven't been checking out this current run then you owe it to yourself to do so.

Some Klaw clones are in town and they have captured Daredevil to use him as a giant antenna to find where are Klaw's sounds in space and save him.But they don't know that Matt can get out of every situation and even completely blind,he can defeat them easily.They aim high and shut off his super-senses,but he finds a way to destroy them,but unfortunately he doesn't hear the name he needs to know.There is action and there is humor in the end.I like how Matt was shouting because of the ear damage and Mark Waid builds a strong character over Daredevil.And we have the artwork of Paolo Rivera,one of my favorite artists.