Daredevil #64 Review

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Reviewer: Matt Morrison
Story Title: The Widow: Part 4

Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciled by: Alex Maleev
Inked by: Alex Maleev
Colored by: Dave Stewart
Lettered by: Virtual Calligraphy’s Cory Petit
Editor: Jennifer Lee
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Some guys get all the luck. Take Matt Murdock. He’s a respected lawyer. He’s a superhero. And he’s gotten it on with a lot of really amazing women. Sure, there’s the whole “blindness” thing. And there’s the whole “not-so-secret identity”. And the problem of his being disbarred and probably jailed with all the guys he spent a lifetime putting away if anyone can ever actually prove that he IS a superhero.

Come to think of it, it really sucks to be Matt Murdock right now. Even if he does get more booty than Blackbeard and his little black book features an ex-porn star, three gorgeous professional assassins, a psychotic multiple-personality actress and nowâ?¦ an ex-wife.

If you haven’t been reading Daredevil lately, you’ve been missing out. Brian Michael Bendis has taken the book down a twisted path and every issue is an actual, honest to gawd surprise. Granted, this is nothing new as Daredevil has frequently been one of the most mysterious and certainly one of the most consistently well-written titles within the last five years. But Bendis has proved his metal and certainly stands worthy of standing on the platform with Miller and Nocenti. Daredevil is also easily one of the easiest books to jump on-to, as the plot thus far is recalled handily at the start of every issue so that newbies have no trouble hopping into the middle of a storyline.

The artwork is suitably dark and has a neat grittiness to it even as approaches photo-realism at some points. Maleev is a master at weaving shadows together and the book is dark without ever feeling overly inked. Indeed, colorist Dave Stewart managed a wide variety of lighting effects that covey mood very well. The blue coolness of evening as Natasha and Matt talk on a rooftop, the bright yellow light of a sunny autumn dayâ?¦ even the flashing red and blue pattern of a police car light are all captured perfectly within the colors of this book.

He stands at the center of the universe, old as the stars and wise as infinity. And he can see the turning of the last page long before you’ve even started the book. He’s like rain and fog and the chilling touch of the grave. He is called many names in a thousand tongues on a million worlds. Heckler. The Smirking One. Riffer. The Lonely Magus. Wolf-Brother. The God of Snark. Mister Pirate. The Guy In The Rafters. Captain. The Voice In The Back. But here and now, in this place and in this time, he is called The Starman. And... he's wonderful.