Daredevil #27 Review
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artists: Marco Checchetto & Mike Hawthorne
Inkers: Marco Checchetto & Adriano Di Benedetto
Colourist: Marcio Menyz
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Dear readers, I am conflicted about where Daredevil is at right now.
I love, love, love the idea of Elektra taking over for Daredevil while Matt is in prison. The concept, the costume -- and now, in this issue, the gadgets -- it's all absolutely brilliant.
Poor Elektra can't catch a break, though. Instead of just policing the Kitchen, she has to deal with an invasion of monster death-god symbiotes from space. It's a bunch of crossover cheese that, instinctively, I want to dislike.
But these creators handle it just too damn well for me to write this off as event tie-in nonsense.
Knull's assault on New York has serious, probably lasting, ramifications for this title's characters. In this issue, Elektra, Matt, Fisk, and Typhoid Mary all go through significant plot and character development. They learn things and change their status quos.
Chip Zdarsky pulls top honours, as usual, for spinning gold out of whatever straw he has to work with. He makes the battle for Matt Murdock's soul intensely personal, playing up every link between the character's established religious struggles and the arrival of a Big Bad who insists on being called a god.
Knull doesn't just drench Matt in symbiote goo; he challenges his faith and attempts to seduce him with the promise of a darker higher power.
On the other plot threads, Fisk makes a possibly-disastrous decision to leave his bunker. Elektra and Mary fight throughout the issue, with the new Daredevil finally crafting an effective fusion of her own brutal strategies and Matt's more humane tactics.
Visually, I suspect that if we tallied up the pages, Mike Hawthorne might deserve to be billed ahead of Marco Checchetto. I believe Mr. Checchetto handles Elektra and Mr. Hawthorne handles everything else.
This is not the first time I've seen an artistic collaboration where drawing duties are divided according to divergent plotlines. It's a solid recipe for avoiding visual clash and turning differences between artists' styles into a positive instead of a negative.
But rarely have I seen it done quite this well. While they have different finish styles, Mr. Checchetto and Mr. Hawthorne are working on mind-meld level when it comes to character proportions and blocking.
Inker Adriano Di Benedetto deserves his share of praise for helping Mr. Hawthorne's art to match Mr. Checchetto's level of detail. The two artists are drawn further together by the equal levels of polish applied to their art.
Colourist Marcio Menyz rounds out the visual triumph by bathing each page in skillfully-chosen colours. The ample amounts of red on the characters are balanced out by lots of cool blues in the background, but Mr. Menyz adapts the palette to each setting. Matt's prison scenes have some nice institutional green tones. I also love the distinctive yellow backgrounds he uses to highlight critical moments in Elektra's story.
Daredevil #27 drives a steamroller over any objections to a crossover event, effortlessly using the opportunities presented by "King in Black" to make meaningful progress in developing its own plot and characters. This remains a must-read for followers of the title, and anybody who stumbles into Daredevil through the event will be treated to a dose of comics storytelling at the highest possible level of talent.
Artists: Marco Checchetto & Mike Hawthorne
Inkers: Marco Checchetto & Adriano Di Benedetto
Colourist: Marcio Menyz
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Dear readers, I am conflicted about where Daredevil is at right now.
I love, love, love the idea of Elektra taking over for Daredevil while Matt is in prison. The concept, the costume -- and now, in this issue, the gadgets -- it's all absolutely brilliant.
Poor Elektra can't catch a break, though. Instead of just policing the Kitchen, she has to deal with an invasion of monster death-god symbiotes from space. It's a bunch of crossover cheese that, instinctively, I want to dislike.
But these creators handle it just too damn well for me to write this off as event tie-in nonsense.
Knull's assault on New York has serious, probably lasting, ramifications for this title's characters. In this issue, Elektra, Matt, Fisk, and Typhoid Mary all go through significant plot and character development. They learn things and change their status quos.
Chip Zdarsky pulls top honours, as usual, for spinning gold out of whatever straw he has to work with. He makes the battle for Matt Murdock's soul intensely personal, playing up every link between the character's established religious struggles and the arrival of a Big Bad who insists on being called a god.
Knull doesn't just drench Matt in symbiote goo; he challenges his faith and attempts to seduce him with the promise of a darker higher power.
On the other plot threads, Fisk makes a possibly-disastrous decision to leave his bunker. Elektra and Mary fight throughout the issue, with the new Daredevil finally crafting an effective fusion of her own brutal strategies and Matt's more humane tactics.
Visually, I suspect that if we tallied up the pages, Mike Hawthorne might deserve to be billed ahead of Marco Checchetto. I believe Mr. Checchetto handles Elektra and Mr. Hawthorne handles everything else.
This is not the first time I've seen an artistic collaboration where drawing duties are divided according to divergent plotlines. It's a solid recipe for avoiding visual clash and turning differences between artists' styles into a positive instead of a negative.
But rarely have I seen it done quite this well. While they have different finish styles, Mr. Checchetto and Mr. Hawthorne are working on mind-meld level when it comes to character proportions and blocking.
Inker Adriano Di Benedetto deserves his share of praise for helping Mr. Hawthorne's art to match Mr. Checchetto's level of detail. The two artists are drawn further together by the equal levels of polish applied to their art.
Colourist Marcio Menyz rounds out the visual triumph by bathing each page in skillfully-chosen colours. The ample amounts of red on the characters are balanced out by lots of cool blues in the background, but Mr. Menyz adapts the palette to each setting. Matt's prison scenes have some nice institutional green tones. I also love the distinctive yellow backgrounds he uses to highlight critical moments in Elektra's story.
Daredevil #27 drives a steamroller over any objections to a crossover event, effortlessly using the opportunities presented by "King in Black" to make meaningful progress in developing its own plot and characters. This remains a must-read for followers of the title, and anybody who stumbles into Daredevil through the event will be treated to a dose of comics storytelling at the highest possible level of talent.
A Look Inside
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