Daredevil #2 Review
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Marco Checchetto
Colourist: Sunny Gho
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Daredevil, framed for murder, casts a wide net looking for clues and moral support. While he's at work, though, his new deuteragonist Cole North is also keeping busy. This issue is slow and moody - until the two characters meet in a final scene like a Hulk-clap.
"Deuteragonist" is the number-two character in a story. His relationship to the protagonist is critically important, but - and this is that part that's key for Cole North - he has his own motivations and agenda that can clash with those of the protagonist.
I felt the word was particularly suited to North's role. This issue does an excellent job of painting him as tough, driven, and strongly opposed to Daredevil - but also as a tremendously noble, moral man.
Speaking of painting, I'm falling further in love with Marco Checchetto's talents. After delivering so much art set in a galaxy far, far away, and drawing so many cosmic and post-apocalyptic landscapes, Mr. Checchetto has, at last, come to Fun City and the main Marvel universe.
And it is glorious.
This comic's visuals are detailed and dirty, full of life and chaos. From the elegance of Mayor Fisk's office to Daredevil's favourite alleys and rooftops, the world around the characters throbs with realism. And those characters are no slouches; they're drawn with both anatomical precision and emotional weight.
The colours enhancing the artwork are laid down with subtlety. Muted palettes full of delicate blues and browns suit the tremendously-detailed scenes and their mostly-nighttime settings. Reds slash through the spectrum with greater intensity, picking out Daredevil himself but also elevating critical moments like the blockbuster final page.
The gritty visuals are a nice contrast to the script. It's smooth and fast like some kind of hairless predator. The dialogue and narration are surprisingly wordy, but not weak. Every phrase is chosen for maximum impact, and some of them - particularly Cole North's grim inner monologue - deliver tough-guy poetry in the finest tradition of hard-boiled detective novels.
In its slow burn up to a shocking climax, this issue lets Matt touch a lot of bases. There's a good Foggy scene, a good scene with Sister Elizabeth, a good "rough up a doctor for clues" scene, and a classic "foil a mugging" fight. For his part, Cole North confronts Mayor Fisk in a sensationally strong pulse-taking scene.
The harshest criticism I could level against this story is that it's set on familiar ground. Daredevil struggling against a frame-up is not exactly the most novel plot he's ever been subjected to.
If this is familiar ground for Daredevil, this particular stand on it is iconic. Daredevil has faced challenges like this before. The telling of his story has seldom been conducted any better than it is here, though. Fine characterization, hard-boiled words, fascinating mystery plot, gorgeous art - this arc continues to deliver only the very best for our beloved Hornhead.
Artist: Marco Checchetto
Colourist: Sunny Gho
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Daredevil, framed for murder, casts a wide net looking for clues and moral support. While he's at work, though, his new deuteragonist Cole North is also keeping busy. This issue is slow and moody - until the two characters meet in a final scene like a Hulk-clap.
"Deuteragonist" is the number-two character in a story. His relationship to the protagonist is critically important, but - and this is that part that's key for Cole North - he has his own motivations and agenda that can clash with those of the protagonist.
I felt the word was particularly suited to North's role. This issue does an excellent job of painting him as tough, driven, and strongly opposed to Daredevil - but also as a tremendously noble, moral man.
Speaking of painting, I'm falling further in love with Marco Checchetto's talents. After delivering so much art set in a galaxy far, far away, and drawing so many cosmic and post-apocalyptic landscapes, Mr. Checchetto has, at last, come to Fun City and the main Marvel universe.
And it is glorious.
This comic's visuals are detailed and dirty, full of life and chaos. From the elegance of Mayor Fisk's office to Daredevil's favourite alleys and rooftops, the world around the characters throbs with realism. And those characters are no slouches; they're drawn with both anatomical precision and emotional weight.
The colours enhancing the artwork are laid down with subtlety. Muted palettes full of delicate blues and browns suit the tremendously-detailed scenes and their mostly-nighttime settings. Reds slash through the spectrum with greater intensity, picking out Daredevil himself but also elevating critical moments like the blockbuster final page.
The gritty visuals are a nice contrast to the script. It's smooth and fast like some kind of hairless predator. The dialogue and narration are surprisingly wordy, but not weak. Every phrase is chosen for maximum impact, and some of them - particularly Cole North's grim inner monologue - deliver tough-guy poetry in the finest tradition of hard-boiled detective novels.
In its slow burn up to a shocking climax, this issue lets Matt touch a lot of bases. There's a good Foggy scene, a good scene with Sister Elizabeth, a good "rough up a doctor for clues" scene, and a classic "foil a mugging" fight. For his part, Cole North confronts Mayor Fisk in a sensationally strong pulse-taking scene.
The harshest criticism I could level against this story is that it's set on familiar ground. Daredevil struggling against a frame-up is not exactly the most novel plot he's ever been subjected to.
If this is familiar ground for Daredevil, this particular stand on it is iconic. Daredevil has faced challenges like this before. The telling of his story has seldom been conducted any better than it is here, though. Fine characterization, hard-boiled words, fascinating mystery plot, gorgeous art - this arc continues to deliver only the very best for our beloved Hornhead.
A Look Inside
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