I haven't liked a lot of Millar's work on mainstream Marvel, and I'm really sick of Wolverine as a character, so I'm at a loss to explain why I enjoyed this issue of "Enemy of the State" so much. Perhaps it's because Millar has come up with an interesting (if slightly out-of-character) use for Elektra, or because he's shown an ability in "Enemy of the State" to write some of the Marvel Universe stalwarts without the overtones of disdain and irony that comes through in some of his other work. Maybe it's the artwork, as Romita Jr. and Janson are doing very strong work in these pages. More than likely, it's a combination of all of these, but it also comes down to this: If Wolverine has to have a solo comic, it should be the comic in which he gets to cut loose a bit from heroic morals, and it should be heavy on the action, and "Enemy of the State" has definitely been true to both of those needs.
Wolverine versus Daredevil seems at first like a bit of a mismatch, but when you think about it, the two have a lot in common. Ties to the Japanese warrior tradition, enhanced senses, daddy issues, they both once wore yellow spandex... well, okay, maybe it's just the first two that matter, but at any rate, matching the two of them up makes for a really interesting fight. It's also another example of something that Millar is doing in Wolverine that I like, acknowledging the larger context of the Marvel Universe, and though Wolverine's constant guest-starring makes him the exception to the general rule of X-book ghetto characters, it's still interesting to see these two characters from essentially different worlds mixing it up.
Daredevil also has clear ties to the story in that it plays heavily upon the Hand, one of his nemeses, and Elektra, his greatest love and another of his nemeses. From the beginning, I've thought that Millar's more mentally adjusted Elektra isn't as interesting as the penitent version that Greg Rucka wrote or the psycho that Frank Miller wrote, but I do kind of like her as an operative of SHIELD, and I liked finally seeing that she's in this story for more reasons than just because Millar wanted to write her. Her involvement in the story and how deep it runs clicks a few pages before Millar reveals it, and it's a good way to pay off the excessive amount of time that has been devoted to her in Wolverine's solo book.
Millar is doing a lot of things stylistically that I like here as well. The changing narrative captions are a clever way of indicating Wolverine's inner turmoil while eschewing old school thought balloons, and Millar has some interesting insights into the characters in those captions, such as Wolverine noting that the non-powered guys of the Marvel Universe actually have to be better than those with powers. Of course, there are also some stylistic things I don't like, including Wolverine's mental "trash talking" of Daredevil indicating that the heroes make fun of Daredevil because he's blind, which doesn't feel right for the characters, and which I would have bought as verbal sparring but not as inner thoughts, where we're meant to accept it as truth. That's a fairly minor complaint, though, and that's pretty much the level of complaint I have about the book.
Then there's the artwork, and the book really shines in this regard. Romita Jr. and Janson work with a very crowded space to deliver an exciting and mobile fight scene between Daredevil and Wolverine, and it's really fun to see this kind of martial arts and gunplay in sequential storytelling form. It's easier to stage that kind of thing in film and TV, but in a static medium, it's truly a testament to the artists' skills that you can get the sense of brutality and fluid movement in the fights. This is especially noticeable in the battle between Gorgon and Elektra, which clearly takes place quicker than the eye could follow but is "slowed down" for the reader into easily followed moments. I might complain that Millar has Elektra, one of the best warriors in the Marvel Universe, punked out by his new villain without even landing a couple of face-saving blows, but again, minor complaint amongst a pretty solid fight scene.
Truthfully, my biggest complaint about the book is one of personal taste, and it comes down to not being all that interested in Wolverine as a character, especially when he's in every third Marvel comic these days. However, if I were going to read a comic for Wolverine, this would be the one, as it shows the character doing what he was created to do, participating in a really fun action book where the violence feels more visceral and dangerous than your average superhero comic. Wolverine fans should definitely take note. 8/10
