Daredevil #7
Storytellers- Mark Waid & Javier Rodriguez
Inker- Alvaro Lopez
Review by Justin Townson
Since the relaunch of the Mark Waid Daredevil, the book has been so consistently great it could be easy to take it for granted. I’ve found myself slipping into that mindset. I just know it’s gonna be good so it’s not something I give much thought to. However, every now and then something comes along and slaps you in the face and awakens you. I’ve been a long time fan of the series since the Bendis/Maleev days and this is quite possibly one of my favorite issues of the book ever.
There’s an entire story here has Matt’s mom kidnapped off to Wakanda at the same time as an Original Sin storyline interjects with the book. All of that magically works perfectly and leads to a very intense emotional conversation Matt has with his mother. That is the highlight of the book. The Wakanda part of the book was pretty cool and it’s always awesome to see how Matt approaches situations in his very “Matt like” way. Seeing him and the new Black Panther at odds was entertaining and doesn’t play out how you would initially expect. Yet, that part is nearly forgettable to the second half of the book. Depression is a very real thing that people deal with and it’s sadly been a focus of recent events. To see Waid tackle something as serious as that in a very real way was that slap I mentioned earlier. This is really good effecting writing that shouldn’t be as easy to make work as he manages to do. It brought me a new sense of enlightenment to a struggle many people have to deal with. It’s an emotional story that really should be read.
The art in this book. Both pencils and colors are terrific. Javier Rodriguez draws this book so well I didn’t realize it wasn’t Chris Samnee on the book until I started writing this. There’s a terrific action sequence in the middle of the book and shows off Rodriguez’s talents, but also shows he can make the smaller moments work well too. Alvaro Lopez is let loose in this book. For a book that takes place in a urban jungle being able to color an actual jungle must be freeing and it shows. Oranges and bright greens are everywhere. The thing that stands out the most though is the red of the Daredevil costume. It’s bright and vibrant and that meshes well with the overall tone of this series these days.
Verdict.
Buy it. I wouldn’t be shocked to see this book listed on peoples end of the year lists. It’s fun story and beautiful to look at but also packs a deeper emotional punch. Buy it right now.
