I’m back in the Old World! While trying to manage work and jetlag, I’ve been working on a couple of posts. One is a double review of Daredevil: Dark Nights #3 and #4 (yes, really playing catch-up on that one) and the other is a summary of my final thoughts on the convention in Baltimore (now that I’ve had time to digest everything).
However, for right now, I’d like to start with a closer look at a couple of things I really liked about the Daredevil #31 preview, which was posted this morning. Why wait until the actual issue comes out, when there are things to love – and discuss – already?
Crowd control
Much has already been said about Mark Waid’s careful attention to detail when it comes to trying to decipher the world through Daredevil’s senses. He never shies away from the fact that whether Matt is in or out of the costume, there are certain complications that come with being blind, having heightened senses, or both.
The idea that Daredevil might be perturbed by large crowds and chaotic scenes is not new. Daredevil has used it at least once to defend his decision to not join the Avengers (I can’t recall where off the top of my head, but I think it was in an issue of Avengers). It has also popped up sporadically throughout much of Daredevil history. One specific example, very similar to the one in the preview, was seen in Daredevil #21 (vol 2) by Bob Gale, Phil Winslade and James Hodgkins. Daredevil, facing a large crowd of protesters below, thinks to himself: “Too many people. My senses are overwhelmed. Do I risk going down there?” (Incidentally, the story arc that spanned Daredevil #20-23, Playing to the Camera, also featured the Jester.)
What I particularly like about the scene below is how Chris Samnee’s art perfectly conveys the perceived chaos of the scene. Through Daredevil’s internal monologue, Mark Waid also makes sure to remind the reader of how things like uniforms or other more subtle markers are lost on our main character.
Pet ants
When I commented on Twitter that I thought it was cute that Hank Pym kept a pet ant named Larry, one friend joked back that surely, these ants should be considered colleagues! I don’t know about that, but they do seem to be more “service animal” than pet. I do wonder how Hank is able to control them though, without that helmet of his? Either way, yes even this science-minded fan is in love with this scene. It is silly without going overboard. It’s just funny. Do note the doglike behavior in the panel below when “Larry” appears to want to lick his master, tongue or no tongue. 😉
As an aside on the science though, did you know that Hank’s own senses would be very much affected by his shrinking down to a microscopic size? He would become extremely near-sighted (yes, the size of the eyeball itself matters a great deal when it comes to maximum visual acuity), and he would likely be much, much worse at hearing low frequencies. Of course, his voice would also be very high-pitched since his vocal cords would also be much smaller and vibrate differently. How people other than Matt Murdock would be able to hear Hank at his smallest, is something that you’d actually need “comic book science” to explain. 😉
Marvel also just released their solicitations for December, featuring Daredevil #34 (with Javier Rodríguez back on an interiors for an issue!) and Daredevil: Dark Nights #7 (of 8).
Perhaps he did something to his phone to compensate?