Daredevil Volume 1 Chinatown TP NM Charles Soule Ron Garney 1st print

Description

DAREDEVIL: BACK IN BLACK VOL. 01: CHINATOWN SC (MARVEL COMICS)

PUBLISHER Marvel Comics
WRITER Charles Soule
ARTIST Ron Garney
COVER ARTIST Ron Garney
120 pages
Graphic Novel

Daredevil is back in black and back on his home turf as Matt Murdock begins a fresh life once again! He may have returned to New York City, but Matt’s on a different side of the law now, with a job in the District Attorney’s office. And he finds his new career quite the challenge when he locks horns with local crime lord, Tenfingers, duplicitous founder of the Church of the Sheltering Hands. Could this be a job for Daredevil? Fighting crime in the shadows, prosecuting bad guys in the light – it’s a whole new chapter for the Man Without Fear, and it comes with a protege. Welcome to Hell, Blindspot – you’ll soon find out that life with DD comes with a heaping helping of Hand ninjas out for your blood!

Collecting Daredevil (2015) #1-5 and material from All-New, All-Different Point One #1.

It’s been a while since I checked in with Daredevil. The last I’d read, he was out in San Francisco, and the scripts were by Mark Waid. I enjoyed the first graphic novel because Waid is always entertaining.

So I was curious about the new “Back in Black” look that had Daredevil once more in NYC. The black and red costume really caught my eye, too. So I picked up the graphic novel and dug in.

From the first page, Ron Garney’s edgy art and Matt Milla’s colors captured me. I was swept into the story as the action unfolded. Daredevil diving off the bridge into the water is spectacular, done in a cinematic way that completely immersed me.

Milla’s use of filtered color (sepia tones and monochromatic) is just awesome. I had to look a little closer to get all the detail, but when it came into focus, it was like getting slammed by 3D.

Charles Soule’s take on Daredevil is really good, too. Daredevil “feels” right even in the midst of potentially breaking up with Foggy Nelson, the friend who has had Matt Murdock’s back throughout everything. The switch to the DA’s office is kinda cool, allowing both sides of our hero to merge, more or less, though pursuing felons who get off on technicalities is still illegal. So there’s a line to tread. Interestingly enough, that kind of comes up but doesn’t leave much of an impact in some ways.

Daredevil’s protégé is interesting. Blindspot is cool and (after the reveal, one that I admit that I caught onto pretty quickly) comes with a lot of baggage of his own. I liked the two of them together in this adventure, but I don’t know if the duo has that much longevity. Training has pretty much come to an end when this adventure closes.

I enjoyed the reappearance of the Hand as well. Somehow I’d missed some of the history so some of the story was new to me, and creepier than I would have thought. The whole Tenfingers thing was odd, and I couldn’t help counting fingers every time people showed up. Triggered my OCD, but the count kept turning up right.

All in all, I enjoyed the book a lot, especially the art. Murdock’s job with the DA seems to be on the line. His friendship with Foggy wasn’t really touched on again. And I wasn’t sure Daredevil had a clear focus in mind for his next moves. But when the next graphic novel shows up, I’m definitely picking it up.

978-0785196440

Collects Daredevil (2015) 1-5 and material from All-New, All-Different Point One # 1. Near mint condition, 1st printing.