Daredevil #11
Written by: Mark Waid
Art by: Marco Checchetto
Coloring by: Matt Hollingsworth
Lettering by: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Published by: Marvel
Cover Price: $2.99
Note: This review is for the digital version of the comic available from Marvel Comics on Comixology
Warning! This review contains quite a few spoilers!
Summary (contains spoilers): Last issue ended with a cryptically drawn scene with Daredevil suddenly falling into the clutches of the Megacrime groups, and Punisher’s parter Cole grabbing the Omega drive. As I predicted, it was revealed that Cole shot him in the back with rubber bullets. The device he needed to destroy the Omega Drive ends up destroyed in the fray.
Spidey and Punisher help rescue Daredevil, and they quickly realize what happened. Daredevil takes off in pursuit of Cole. DD realizes that Cole has no idea how to get the data off the drive, so tricks her into an abandoned warehouse to talk to her about her decisions. Daredevil talks to her about trying to help Punisher through the dark times in Frank’s life, and seems to convince Cole that she’s on the wrong path.
Before Cole can reply, the Megacrime groups burst in and shoot her. She is wearing the armor Punisher gave her, so is able to slip off unnoticed. She leaves behind a rubber bullet, showing to Matt that she was bluffing after all.
In the end, the Omega drive hasn’t been destroyed, though the heroes did a great deal of damage to Megacrime. Matt seems to have a new plan in mind. Which worries Spidey since planning isn’t always Matt’s strong suit.
BTW, it’s never really clear why Spider-Man couldn’t have just built him another device to destroy the Omega drive after the first one gets busted. Slight plot contrivance there.
Review: I’ve written a lot of reviews over the years, and I am almost positive this is the first time I am going to actually talk about the letter column of a comic.
Two things really stood out to me about the letter page to Daredevil 11:
– 1) Someone sent in a letter complaining about crossovers, and editor Stephen Wacker gave an honest and pretty thoughtful answer on why comic companies do so many crossovers. I love his comments that the problem are not crossovers, but BAD crossovers, and also his explanations on Daredevil’s artist situation and as the “two books a month issue” (Daredevil 12 comes out next week, something that never fails to annoy me). But this response really gave me some perspective on some of these issues.
– 2) Mike Allred sent in a letter talking about how much he loves Waid’s run on Daredevil and would love to do a guest artist spot. SOMEONE MAKE THIS HAPPEN NOW!
As much as I enjoyed the letter page, there was a lot more to enjoy about this comic. I was actually surprised that part 3 of The Omega Effect manages to continue all the great characterization started in the first two parts. Hearing that Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Punisher were going against AIM, Hydra, Agence Byzantine, and the Secret Empire, I was kind of expecting three straight issues of action scenes, but instead Waid and Rucka both brought these characters to life in great detail.
Daredevil’s confrontation with Punisher’s “sidekick,” Cole, was just perfect, giving us a deeper understanding of how Matt sees the world these days. In the end, where we see that Daredevil seemed to at least mostly get through to Cole, it really made the whole crossover come together nicely. These was such a great push and pull with all four characters over the course of these three issues.
I do think it was a little lame that the story didn’t really come to much of a conclusion here. Sure, the heroes did some damage to the Megacrime groups, but the Omega Drive is still active, and it seems strange to me that Punisher and Spidey would be satisfied with the current status quo after Omega Effect.
It would have been nice to get a little more resoultion here. The characterization and awesome dialouge and pacing make up for a lot, but I still did feel a little let down. It’s not so bad for me as I buy Daredevil anyway, but I can imagine someone who picked this up just because they normally read Punisher or Avenging Spider-Man would be even more pissed.
I’m sure you guys are sick of me saying it, but once again, huge props to Marco Checchetto who drew all three parts of Omega Effect perfectly. I especially love all the expression we got on Cole’s and Daredevil’s face during their confrontation. There is never any doubt exactly what these characters are feeling in these panels.
There was a lot to love about Omega Effect: great action moments balanced out by terrific characterization and a story which constantly seemed to have high stakes. It would have been nice to have some more closure, but Daredevil is a great series, and it is worth picking it up to see how this story continues. I know that for me, reading about Matt Murdock’s struggles with Megacrime was a lot more appealing that the “end of the universe” stuff going on in Avengers Vs X-Men. I love stories that are intimate and character driven, and that is something Waid does brilliantly.
Unfortunately, this crossover didn’t quite convince me to pick up Avenging Spider-Man or Punisher (though I did love what Rucka seems to be doing over there), but it did reaffirm my love for Waid’s run on Daredevil. It really is one of the best runs on the character I’ve ever read (and I’ve read a lot of great Daredevil over the years). Definitely worth checking out…in fact, we have another issue coming out next week if you’re interested.
Final Score: 8.0 – Omega Effect was a strong character driven story that really showed Spider-Man, Punisher, and Daredevil in a very good light. All three characters are so different, but really show the more human side of the Marvel universe, which I always considered the real strength of Marvel.
