Review: Daredevil #33 (Lgy #645)

Gender swapping heroes is not a new phenomenon. Way back when, not to be surprised by a female Hulk cartoon, Stan Lee rushed She-Hulk into production. Spider Woman and Ms. Marvel soon followed. Of course, the habit of female instead of male characters hit a new high a little while ago, with Lady Thor seemingly the main focus. Whilst lampooned at the time as a PR stunt, Marvel proved they knew what they were doing by giving Jane Foster a sense of nobility worthy of Thor. More recently, Elektra has replaced Matt Murdock as the Devil of Hells Kitchen and has given a cult followed book a huge shot in the arm.

With Matt still in prison, Elektra has decided to stop the assassin Bullseye from killing more innocent people. To her surprise, she faces off against not one, but three clones, all out for her blood. Using guile, skill, an Avenger and a friendly neighbourhood kind of guy, she survives to fight another day. Whilst in prison, it seems that Daredevil red is the new black!

I may have said this before, but I was never a huge fan of either Chip Zdarsky of Daredevil. Things have recently changed! Zdarsky has spent time building up Elektra whilst knocking down Matt. Now in this something of a transition type of issue, we see Elektra brought low and Matt rising once again, though their situations and circumstances are greatly different. There is a terseness to the dialogue that I really appreciate, that makes it stand out from the majority of Marvel’s superhero books. Daredevil is by nature an insular character, so having a couple of guest stars is a tad jarring, but is done so in a logical way, having been teased last issue. Zdarsky, perhaps in a may to elongate the main arcs, spends sometime showing how Kingpin and the Bullseye’s got to this place in time. Additionally, Zdarsky has handled the Kingpin well throughout, in a better way than Fisk’s appearance in Nick Spencer’s Spider-Man.

The art is provided by Marco Checchetto who does a great job in the action pages after the credits. The fight scene is well choreographed, with Elektra feeling in real danger. Her movements are balletic, in way that exudes graceful, even when she is falling in style. The rest of the book, at times possibly a talking heads book, is equally up to the task of keeping the reader engaged. Checcheto’s style reminds me of a more detailed Mikel Janin. The only downside, is how Tony Stark looks, though it kind of tracks that someone who can draw poetic fight scenes, may not feel comfortable in the clunky techno world of Iron Man. Marcio Menyz’s colors look a tad more washed out in places than the usual Marvel book. There are still bold colors in play, though the smokescreen and the fire covered prion are the highlights for me. VC’s Clayton Cowles delivers a brisk font and has fun with coloured monologue boxes. But what would you expect from one of the premiers letterers in the business? Finally, the main cover from Checcheto and Matthew Wilson uses the Charlie Cox iteration from the Netflix show.

It is fair to say that the devil switcheroo may have given this book some traction. However it s Zdarsky that has kept the book moving forward, giving us characters in both Matt and Elektra to root for. Zadarsky has managed to utilise the villains of the most classic Daredevil stories of Frank Miller’s run and given them a role that feels like a real threat for the first time in ages. This run could be this generations of readers Born Again!

Writing – 5 Stars
Art – 4.5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars

Overall – 4.5 Stars

Written by; Chip Zdarsky
Art by; Marco Checchetto
Colors by; Marcio Menyz
Letters by; VC’s Clayton Cowles
Published by; Marvel Worldwide Inc.

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network