Daredevil #20

Daredevil is the “Blind Man Bluffed” as he faces one of his more tricky adversaries yet. Coyote certainly leaves him on unsteady ground and groping for solutions to defeat his foe.

Writer: Mark Waid | Artist: Chris Samnee

Colorist: Javier Rodriguez| Cover: Paolo Rivera| Publisher: Marvel

The buildup towards the conclusion of ‘Blind Man Bluffed’ in Daredevil #20 is superb. In actuality, the entire run so far has been pretty strong, and the willingness to pick up a following issue has yet to falter. Daredevil has some pretty twisted villains and Coyote doesn’t fail to follow the same track. Coyote does some pretty twisted things (quite literally) and it may sound perverse but it makes for such an indulgent read.

Spot was a pretty eerie villain to begin with. His ability, when you think about it, or stare at the art long enough, kind of gets discomforting. So take that creep and his level of creepy and add on to it, you have Coyote. He’s a villain who seemingly knows what he’s doing, and yet you’re never quite sure what his entire agenda seems to be. Even when he doesn’t look like he has the upper hand, it’s not so simple to actually think that it’s going to be a walk in the park for Daredevil. And that’s what makes this so great.

Each page just amps up the suspense and dying curiosity to know what is about to happen next. It’s fantastic stuff by Mark Waid, truly, and there’s yet to be a disappointing moment from Daredevil by him. The grittiness, and darkness is captured so perfectly, and dialogue both inner and between characters never falters and there’s not a single moment that feels out of character at all, so serious kudos to Waid.

Not to leave Samnee without any love though, because his art is just as strong as the writing. Each expression is individual, even for a face like Coyote’s that never changes noticeably, there’s still a lingering hint of expression behind the ghoulish visage. Same goes for Daredevil, though admittedly his expressions are a little less varying. But given his current predicament, it’s pretty easy to sympathize as to why he only harbours two or so expressions throughout the issue. To add to the appreciation of the great art that is Daredevil, the colours are pretty close to perfect. They’re vivid without being bright. Despite all the shadows, there is still a lot of colour but not overwhelming so. It’s a perfect balance.

Essentially, this was the perfect precursor to what is about to be the conclusion of this little collection of “Blind Man Bluffed” and being left off on such an intense note at the end of this issue, waiting for the next to find out what’s really going on is going to be quite the task.