Mark Waid (writer)
Chris Samnee (artist)
Javier Rodriguez (colorist)
Well, all good things have to end. About a year ago I rediscovered one of my favorite comic book heroes, blind lawyer Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, and have, since then truly savored a sterling creative run by renowned writer Mark Waid and one of my favorite artists today, Chris Samnee. The book has apparently been received so well that Marvel has decided to "promote" it from its current three-dollar cover price to a four-dollar one, complete with "Marvel NOW!" branding and a new #1. Gone, therefore, are my days of more affordable enjoyment of one of the best comic books out on the market today.
The good news, though, is that Waid and Samnee are closing this "volume" of the book on a high, giving Daredevil a major status quo shift along with a very satisfactory conclusion to a storyline that began back in issue #28.
The issue begins with Matt Murdock on the witness stand in a criminal case, having dropped a bombshell of of a revelation at the end of the last issue, one which I will not spoil. Suffice it to say, Daredevil throws down with the members of the Sons of the Serpent, a white supremacist group whose leader tries to blackmail him, and wins the day, but at considerable cost.
The story sounds a bit more grim than it actually is; while the book ties up a long-running storyline and shakes things up for Matt Murdock in a major way, it is really more notable for setting the stage for a whole new chapter in Daredevil's life. It's really a credit to Waid's and Samnee's storytelling that even when this incarnation of Daredevil, which has more in common with the 1960s work of Stan Lee and Wally Wood than Frank Miller's grungy, 1980s neo-noir stuff, takes a turn for the dark with story twists like the return of Bullseye and Foggy Nelson's bout with cancer, they are still able to maintain the book's lighter-than-air tone.
I was a fan of Samnee's before he joined Waid on this book, but having followed their collaboration for roughly a dozen issues now I have to say I'm hard-pressed to think of a better team-up working in comics today. Their storytelling synergy is simply amazing to behold, with Samnee perfectly capturing the courtroom tension in the issue's first half and then launching into the rapid-fire action sequence of the second. For me, sequences like this are right up there with John Romita Jr.'s work on the Daredevil: Man Without Fear miniseries as some of the best visual depictions this character has ever had.
Also, I don't claim to have read every Daredevil issue ever published, but I think the Waid-Samnee era has been the most effective at depicting Murdock as both a superbly canny lawyer and a kick-ass superhero, albeit one with feet of clay.
Starting next month, it'll cost a little more, but given the quality of the work so far, I'm more than ready to shell out the extra money to enjoy the adventures of my favorite lawyer superhero.
4.5/5
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