Daily Archives: 2 January 2012

Oh, come now, Mr. Waid… you don’t really think a reader is going to believe Daredevil drowns and dies at the end of this issue, do you?

The end of the issue–the only problematic part of an otherwise charming outing–feels more than a little rushed. It’s like Waid needed to get his superhero fight scene in and he fell back on expository dialogue to get it done.

There’s some great Martin artwork of Daredevil on the yacht and the yacht incident and it makes the scene passable. But it’s a heavy drop from the rest of the issue, where Waid not only has his supervillain machinations, surprises from Foggy and actual lawyerly stuff from Matt.

The issue’s full enough, especially for a modern mainstream book, it doesn’t actually need the titular character to appear in costume.

Still, the ending’s just weak, not bad. The issue’s still quite strong.

Is Martin regular on Daredevil now? If so, it makes sense this issue feels like a soft relaunch, like Waid’s introducing the new artist. If not… well, it makes no sense.

But it’s a successful issue. Waid opens with some amusing action–Daredevil in a lion habitat at the Bronx Zoo–and then moves into this issue’s story. He just does it very slowly, very deliberately. There’s a lot of Daredevil in action, fighting the odd crime, there’s a lot with Matt bantering about not being Daredevil or bickering with Foggy.

There’s none of the flirting, which is okay, since Martin doesn’t draw Matt like a surfer dude.

It’s the kind of issue one would get excited about–it’s even more exciting that the series’s actual first issue–but I’m rather hesitant. Daredevil‘s been fine, but uneven.

The issue’s either another deviant or it’s a sign Waid’s firmly footed.