Daredevil No. 3 review: Daredevil, no longer the hunter

Daredevil is on the run from the cops after being shot. With a bullet in his shoulder, his only way out is on the ground with police beginning to swarm around him.

The first couple of issues of Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto’s run on Daredevil got the series off to a great start and really built up momentum for where the series is going. This issue really pays off that momentum, but not in a way that a comic would normally pay off the momentum that had previously been built up, which is a good thing because this issue is exhilarating.

This issue takes a much more straightforward approach than the two previous issues have taken. It focuses a lot less on the contemplative side of things and much more on the immediate ramifications for Matt if he doesn’t escape this situation. While said contemplativeness is slightly missed in this issue, it’s probably for the best that it wasn’t included because it would have slowed down the intensity that consistently built up throughout the issue.

That intensity though is incredible. So much of this issue is a cat-and-mouse style of story that had been told so many times throughout superhero comics, especially with darker characters like Batman and Daredevil, but the way this issue tells the story makes it feel fresh. So much of it is predicated on subversion of the tropes of the story being told and those subversions work so well. Almost every time that you think the story is going one way, it goes another way. Even when it goes the way that you think it will go, the issue does so in a way that actually feels like a person would say that rather than a necessary plot point. Plus, the ending will more than likely make you smile in sadistic glee.

Image by Marvel Comics/Art by Marco Checchetto

The treatment of Matt and Kingpin in this issue is fantastic as well. So many of their stories are about them being a pain in each other’s sides, so to have them still diametrically opposed, but not directly involved with each other is an interesting play. While it doesn’t quite hit the way that it should, it’s still powerful to see how much of a worthy adversary that Daredevil is to Kingpin and vice versa.

Marco Checchetto’s art is, yet again, gorgeous in this issue. He can do almost absolutely no wrong. The grittiness and downright brutality that he brings to the pages of this series brings to mind Alex Maleev’s work on the character in the best ways possible and yet, Checchetto might be better. The fluidity that he brings to his pages and figures is incredible and he knows exactly when to use certain types of shots. His art is superb in pretty much every way in this issue, which hopefully will continue for a long time to come. If his work on the series continues like it has, he will more than likely go down as one of the best Daredevil artists ever.

9.25/10 

Daredevil continues on its hot streak with this new volume and new creative team behind the wheel of the series.