It’s review time again! With this issue, Brubaker and Rucka’s collaboration ends (until next time?), and unlike a lot of people, I’m not the least bit worried about Brubaker going at it alone again. I have been a fan of his work since his very first issue, and have never really missed Bendis at all. Well, that’s not true. Bendis wrote some pretty witty dialogues for Matt and Foggy and a small boost of humor wouldn’t hurt this book. But that’s for another post.

Either way, my stating that I don’t fear for Rucka’s departure doesn’t mean that I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed this arc or that I don’t think the collaboration has done this book a lot of good. I think Brubaker needed someone to get him psyched about writing Daredevil again, and this story brings a very welcome change of pace for Matt and everyone around him. As such, one might say that this story has really been about more than “superhero and friends solve a mystery.” That’s a very good thing, because the actual resolution of the mystery isn’t all that impressive. Yes, it works. The story is resolved in what can be described as a satisfactory manner and all the pieces are neatly put back in place. All of it makes sense and there are no dangling plot threads at the end of it all. That’s part of the problem. It’s a little too neat, and a little too rushed. On the other hand, it’s a four-issue arc taking place over a few days of real time, which makes the quick resolution necessary if we want to see any kind of resolution at all.

What is ultimately more interesting is the character work done on Dakota North during this arc, as well as Matt gradually snapping out of his funk. He’s in a different place emotionally and psychologically at the end of it than he was at the beginning, and giving this devolpment ample time and space alongside the big mystery makes the whole story much more compelling. Daredevil is, for the most part, a superhero comic written for mature readers who welcome having their superheroics served with a big side of humanity and real life struggles. This is the area where this arc really succeeds.

Big character moments aside (I’ll get to that under the cut), this issue is the weakest of the arc. While still a great comic, as Daredevil tends to be every single month, it doesn’t quite live up to what I expected from the excellent set-up in the first couple of issues, with #108 being my absolute favorite. For a rare glimpse of something I hope to see more of, look under the cut (or dashed line if you reached this entry directly).

If there was every any doubt, this story ends well for everyone involved. I’m sure Dakota would have loved not having a bullet shot through her body, but she makes it through – as expected. Ben Donovan is saved from certain death and Matt seems to find himself again. He is appropriately upset at what he describes as a “perversion of justice” and he once again begins to care about someone other than himself or those in his inner circle. At the very end, we see something that has been absent for a long time: Matt actually smiles. Yes, a real smile and not a smirk or a tic or something else. Will you look at that…

Well, first of all, I will be discussing how this issue ends – it’s hard not to go there – but I’ll put that under a cut for those of you who want to remain essentially spoiler free. Next up, before going into any other detail, I want to give two thumbs up to the artists. Holy crap, you guys are good! Not only are the panels just stunning to look at, the attention to detail is insane. For proof of this, I’d point to the first panel on the page that shows Becky and Dakota going through Ben Donovan’s finances. See how the New York skyline is reflected in the windows? That just looks so nice. Matt spending some time alone in the basement with his heavy bag is another really nicely drawn scene. The art alone makes you sit up and take notice, and it’s clear that this is a real team effort, from the pencilling to the inking and the coloring.

What about the story? Well, this is a very solid issue with a suprise ending that I’ll get back to shortly. However, I realize that I’m going to have to stop reading the previews because it does diminish my appreciation for the issue as a whole. In this case, you have two important developments happening within the first few (preview) pages. That means you already know about them going in, and expect major additional developments beyond what’s revealed in the previews. We do see such developments here, but in terms of shedding some additional light on the mystery, they didn’t quite live up to what I was expecting. To explain what I mean, let’s look at what we knew going in:

1) Big Ben Donovan is about to be executed for a crime which he confessed to but did not commit. We know that someone has something on him, that he must be protecting something or someone which means more to him than his own life.

2) We know that the federal government is involved. Dakota North was assaulted by a federal agent, and has been warned by him to stay away.

3) We know that Mr Slaughter, a mobster of some importance back during the Miller days, is involved, and that his involvement is linked to the father of the dead children, a Henry Callinan.

4) We know that Dakota’s father has information about the truth of this case as well. While we don’t explicitely learn until this issue about his history with the CIA, that little piece of information would have been available to anyone who bothered to visit Dakota North’s Wikipedia page.

What do we know going into #110, that we didn’t already know up until this point? Very little. In this issue, we learn more about what, or rather, who Ben is protecting, but we still don’t know how or why. We learn that those who wish to protect this secret are willing to go to very long lengths to protect it. That gives an additional sense of urgency to the story. We understand, even better than before, that the stakes are indeed very high for everyone involved, from the federal government to Ben Donovan himself. However, at the end of the day, I’m a little frustrated by still being completely clueless as to where the evidence will lead. I would have appreciated a couple of more pieces to the puzzle in place, for the sake of my own sanity.

None of my (minor) complaints above, are meant to suggest that nothing happens in this issue. Lots of things happen. In fact, what I’ve been impressed with this whole arc, though slightly less so with #107, is the ability of the writers to cram in so much stuff without rushing anything or just skimming over it. Scenes get the chance to breathe and unfold organically before we move on to the next one. This issue is also fairly heavy on character development, which is something I always appreciate. Becky gets more panel space than she has in ages, and the scene with her and Dakota gives this book that “reality next door” feeling that I love about Daredevil. We also see things beginning to happen with Matt as he seems more determined to focus on the task at hand and come to terms with his most recent batch of demons. It’s hard to not read some meta-commentary into his inner dialogue during his workout scene, which seemed to specifically address many of the complaints that have been directed at this title since the Without Fear arc concluded. It’s nicely done, however, and doesn’t stand out too much. There are many great scenes that I could comment on, but let’s skip ahead to the very end, under the cut…

— SPOILERS AHEAD —

This issue ends with Daredevil in the sights of a sniper and Dakota having already fallen victim to one. My reaction as I saw Dakota take a bullet for the team was simply “she’s been shot.” Not for a second did I even contemplate that she might be dead. It seemed beyond reason to me, and it still does. I’m willing to put serious money on her still being an important character in the book for the foreseeable future. It was something of a shocker however, and I’ll be very interested to see how the whole team deals with this, and how it affects the fall-out of the arc. Maybe, just maybe, her father might step up to the plate and actually help them out. Maybe the whole conspiracy will unravel before Daredevil’s, ahem, radar, and Matt will only learn about the shooting after the pieces are already in place to get Ben Donovan’s execution stopped. Time will tell…

This issue is a step up from the already intriguing #107. The plot thickens, as they say, when some new and old faces, all seemingly unrelated, are thrown into the mix. Where #107 was a frustratingly fast read, this issue takes its time and I’m surprised to see this many scenes play out in 22 pages without any of them feeling the least bit rushed. And, just like last issue, the artwork is top-notch.

The issue begins exactly where the last one ended, with Matt meeting Ben Donovan in jail. Though clearly innocent of the crime for which he is being executed, Donovan refuses any help appealing his case and seems more terrified of what will happen if he’s not executed than he is of dying. In an unexpected fit of fear-driven rage, his forehead has a close encounter with Matt’s jaw, and after his attacker is dragged off, Matt shows up on Dakota North’s doorstep with a bruise matching hers. Dakota, meanwhile, is busy talking to Luke Cage and nursing her wounds when Matt shows up. I’m a big fan of the panels showing Dakota’s Vogue covers before cutting to the shot of Dakota “live,” mirroring the exact pose that is in the covers. It’s very nicely done. I’m not sure I like what having those covers on the wall says about her as a character, but as an artistic trick, it’s pretty cool.

Either way, the two compare notes and set out on their respective investigations. Dakota swings by the precinct to talk to Kurtz, where she finds out the identity of her attacker, and Matt has a rendez-vous with Ben Urich in a diner. Matt is really getting back in the game in this issue, and it’s obvious that the mystery before him has him intrigued. The action part of this issue sees Dakota wielding a baseball bat in a very nice scene and Daredevil hitting up thugs in a bar. While I don’t particularly mind the bar scene, I suspect it played out that way for the sole purpose of appeasing the “must see Daredevil action, or else I’ll ask for my $2.99 back” crowd. Wouldn’t it have been somewhat cooler to just have him waltz in there and go, “Start talking, guys,” with the intimidation factor alone being enough of an incentive to get them to spill their beans? In which case you still could have included the shot of him detecting a gun being pulled behind his back (which constitutes a nice use of superpowers in my book).

Either way, the reader leaves this issue even more mystified than he was going in as we not only meet someone with undeniably close ties to Dakota North, but a character from Daredevil’s distant past as well. And by distant past, I mean the first Miller run. I don’t know how Brubaker and Rucka are going to tie all of these threads together, but I’m surely going to enjoy seeing them do it. Great issue!

My only regret after having read this issue is that I now have to wait another month to read the next chapter of the story. Because ultimately, this just gives us a taste of things to come, and introduces a mystery to be solved with very few clues in play so far.

The art really stands out in this issue. Not only because it’s very beautiful to look at, but because it’s specifically contributes a great deal to the storytelling. It seems like the story reads like a movie in some places and I find myself just noticing the art more than usual. There is lots of zooming and many instances of the story being told without any dialogue at all. I’ve always liked Lark’s cinematic style, and it really shines here. And two thumbs up to Matt Hollingsworth’s colors as well.

So what about the story? Well, it sets up the arc nicely, offers just the right amount of intrigue and also shows Matt making some welcome progress. One of the things I like most about this issue is that it seems like he’s finally starting to come out of his slump. On the one hand, his suffering is appropriate in light of what he’s been through, but it’s starting to get a little depressing to read about. Here, we finally see him taking some steps in the right direction, despite his temper tantrum in the first few pages.

However, the story so far is almost as much Dakota North’s story as it is Matt’s, if not more so. I don’t mind this at all, as I think she’s an interesting character and with the inclusion of Becky, Foggy and Luke, it’s good to see that Matt has several people around to keep him in check. This has been apparent during all of Brubaker’s run, but you really get the feel of an ensemble cast here.

Not much more to say, at least not without giving the plot away, other than that this was a pitch perfect start to what is sure to be a very exciting story!