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DAREDEVIL: YELLOW #3
"Stepping Into The Ring"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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Marvel Comics/Marvel Knights
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Tim Sale
Colors: Matt Hollingsworth
Letters: Comicraft
Editors:
Nanci Dakesian & Stuart Moore
Price: $3.50 US/$5.25 CAN |
For the first two issues of
this series, I've been basically saying that Loeb and Sale are doing excellent
work, but really offering nothing terribly new in the Daredevil mythos. This
issue, that changed, because while they're still focusing in on redoing the
early days of Nelson and Murdock and the relationship of Matt and Karen, they
started to add to the plotline of Jack Murdock's death with a surprisingly
unconventional choice of villain, as well as providing some absolutely terrific
character scenes with the Fantastic Four and a bunch of pool hall thugs.
Marrying the always strong level of craft with a more interesting story has
sparked my interest in this series up another notch.
The issue opens with some incredible
visuals, as Sale gets to do his take on the Fantastic Four. It's a hilarious
little bit of building the setting, contrasting the wild abilities and style of
the Four (even Invisible Girl's powers are being shown off in the splash) with
the relatively normal street-level crime-fighting of Daredevil. It also features
some terrific dialogue and narration, and the scene doubles for both introducing
the concept of the larger Marvel Universe into the story and providing an
important origin story point: the first clients.
Incredible visuals are found throughout the
issue, of course. Whether it's enormous splash pages like Daredevil flipping his
way through the city or less action-packed moments like the introduction of the
villain at the end, the work is always gorgeous and beautifully rendered by Sale
and Hollingsworth. In addition, Sale has really made the setting come alive,
with vividly-realized jail cells, back alleys, seedy bars and sunlit law
offices.
There are two through-lines running through
this story, and they are both very interesting to me. The first, of course, is
the narration directed at Karen, which means that part of the story is the
growing romance between Karen and Matt, sweet and touching despite what we now
know to be a tragic ending. The other is the story of Jack Murdock's death,
which like most origins in the last 20 years, has been expanded from a single
issue throwaway event to the spark for a series of events that can fill an
entire origin story. In this particular case, Loeb is going further up the chain
than the Fixer, and rather than going for the obvious choice of villain in these
post-Frank Miller days, he has chosen to tackle a lesser-known but
equally-suited Daredevil villain for the role, a choice I appreciated.
However, much as I enjoyed Matt's encounter
with Slade or closing page encounter with the villain who I believe we'll come
to see as the man pulling the Fixer's strings, the center stage this issue
belonged to a more personal scene. Matt's performance at the pool table is both
a defining moment in his relationship with Karen and a good way to add action to
the issue, as well as a nice example of the good guy triumphing over the cruel
and senseless of the world with wit and style.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
