Daredevil, Vol. 5 by Brian Michael Bendis

“Well, I’m guessing this is the end of the road. This revelation is the issue that defines Bendis’ run on Daredevil, with pretty well all other stories if not spinning from it, then certainly advised by it. It’s a very comforting old school form of visual shorthand for a society already entrenched in an era of 24 hour rolling TV news. The excitement is apparent from the opening pages as Daredevil’s civilian identity is first whispered to a few behind closed doors, then broadcast to the world from the front of a newspaper. The Urich story appears to have been a tryout for Bendis, and it’s accompanied by Maleev that the character defining run begins. Maleev’s pages are layered in grainy effect, and while there’s sometimes a static quality to his work, it creates the appropriate mood. Maleev is the opposite end of the scale in terms of method, skilfully manipulating images for mood and effect, and well served by the sympathetic colouring of Matt Hollingsworth. These are often surrounded by ornate frames rather than the traditional ruled panel border. His pages are mixed media, splattered with splodges of background colour, while smaller head shots are randomly pasted around to supply the dialogue. It’s drawn by David Mack, and although very different, both he and the other primary artist Alex Maleev could be described as acquired tastes. That’s an investigation by journalist Ben Urich into why villain Leap-Frog has disappeared. Where he was less at home was getting his head round the idea that while Daredevil dealt with crime, he was also a superhero, and he’s entirely absent from three-quarters of Bendis’ first story.

He’d mastered the quirky anecdotal dialogue patterns that so enlivened the films of Quentin Tarantino, and these two strengths filtered into Daredevil from the start. When Brian Michael Bendis began writing Daredevil his previous comics CV was relatively limited, and exclusively concerned with crime material.

Daredevil, Vol. 5 by Brian Michael Bendis