I've come to believe that Bendis's Daredevil really wouldn't work as well without Alex Maleev, but it turns out with issue #65 that I was both right and wrong about that. Right, in that this issue doesn't really feel much like an issue of Bendis's Daredevil, but more like the regular superhero take on the character. Wrong, in that it's still a pretty good issue, an examination of some of the events that Bendis skipped over to focus on the larger story arc he's been telling. Some of the artwork here didn't work for me, and the story has its stylistic tics as well, but overall, this is a nifty little anniversary issue that puts the Daredevil stories Bendis has been telling into the context of the Marvel Universe, which is both a neat trick and a fun read.
The last time the "rotating artists" deal was tried, it was a bizarre experiment where a variety of artists did one page each of a big Kingpin/Daredevil fight. It was a neat idea, but it didn't play out well in execution. This time out, while there's still really one story, it's a more traditional use of additional artists, in that the story is essentially broken up into chapters, with each artist being assigned to one of the chapters. The result is that the art changes don't feel like such a disconnect, but instead feel like a natural indication that the story is shifting in time or location.
It also generally serves notice that the book is shifting to focus on another character. This is Daredevil's story, but this issue is also a big focus on guest stars, and how they reacted to the big change that took place in Daredevil that has defined Bendis's run. Nick Fury, Spider-Man, Captain America, Dr. Strange, The Punisher, in using these guest characters Bendis shows the reaction to Daredevil's "outing" from a variety of quarters. In so doing, he also sheds some light on unanswered questions I didn't know I had from his early arc.
Easily the strongest sequence in this book, for me, is between The Punisher and Daredevil, because these two have a traditional relationship from the Frank Miller days. The Punisher's reaction to Daredevil's "kingpin" declaration makes perfect sense, and even better, the art on this sequence is by Phil Hester and Ande Parks (of DC's Green Arrow) and is perfectly suited to the action-packed nature of the confrontation. If Maleev were ever to leave this book, this would be the only art team that could match up with Bendis's style quite so well, and they can handle action a little better to boot, so it was a joy to see them at work here.
There are definite strengths to be found in the rest of these stories, though. Captain America's reaction to Daredevil, asking him why he didn't come to the Avengers for help, reinforces Daredevil's outsider status and is a pretty decent take on the Avengers as well, especially considering how badly Bendis has missed the mark in their own title. The Nick Fury/Daredevil scene is the closest to the regular stuff Bendis has been doing in this book, but it also has some really good moments, even though Nick Fury's disappearing trick seems more suited to the Ultimate version of the character. Both of these sequences feature art by legends, namely P. Craig Russell and Michael Golden, and both of them do a great job, although in both cases, it looks like they are modifying their styles to echo some of what Maleev has been doing. Golden, in particular, reminds me more of the work of Sean Phillips than of his own stuff, but that's no surprise, as Golden is one of those guys who seems to be constantly trying out a different style, and he's also one of the few guys who can pull that off.
The most distinctive sequences, artwise, feature Spider-Man (by Greg Horn) and Dr. Strange (by Chris Bachalo.) The Spider-Man sequence is the weakest in the book for me, because it's not a comic, it's illustrated text, and I tend to hate that storytelling technique. Don't get me wrong, Horn's paintings are nice (although his Peter Parker looks utterly generic and nothing like the character), and there's some interesting stuff to be found in Bendis's look into Peter's mind, but the writing also carries with it the undertone of Bendis's inability to believe Spider-Man could maintain a secret identity, which has always seemed like a complete misunderstanding of the character to me.
The Dr. Strange sequence is much stronger, as we see Daredevil contemplating what superheroes really would in these dire situations, wondering if all this magic that gets used in the world could be used to fix their personal problems, and Bachalo's storytelling is stronger here than it has been on most projects of late, and as gorgeous in style as usual. Dr. Strange's chummy behavior with Daredevil is unusual, a more human take on the character than I'm used to seeing, but I liked it quite a bit, and there are some really rough, affecting moments in seeing Matt Murdock deal, at long last, with the loss of Karen and of his private life.
