1. Andy Diggle hasn’t been a radical departure from Brian Bendis and Ed Brubaker before him in terms of the character of Daredevil, a tone set by the Frank Miller run, but while the tone of the character and book are the same, the set up has been turned on its head. Daredevil as the leader of the Hand is brilliant and makes full sense. This slow corruption is the best kind of villain turn.
2. Shadowland, the new Hand headquarters in Hell’s Kirtchen, is fully built in this issue, but besides being told it’s a castle, we don’t get any really good shots of it. Billy Tan does do an awesome Javits Center, and the art throughout is quite effective at telling the story.
3. While the art is great, the shadowy inking and coloring are quite murky. I know it’s called Shadowland, but come on.
4. The scene with Captain America, Thor and Iron Man being concerned with what Daredevil is doing and sending Iron Fist and Luke Cage to figure out what’s going on is perfect. The departure from the murky style and the conversation, with who says what, are phenomenally done. I now want Diggle on Iron Fist regularly, as well.
5. Spider-Man, Punisher, and Moon Knight are on the cover and do not appear in the issue. That’s pretty annoying. I know they’ll be in the crossover, but come on! Kids will buy this book for the cool people on the cover, then not get what they pay for. Oh, who am I kidding… kids don’t read comics anymore…
6. I love recap pages. I read Daredevil in trade usually, so I was a bit behind on what’s going on. That was really helpful information.
7. Everything Bullseye does here is pretty awesome, from killing his guards and escaping, to his usual taunting of Daredevil, to well, that’ll need a spoiler post.
8. So, did Daredevil take the final step in corrupting his soul for the Hand to use him here or were they expecting a different act of damning himself?
9. Daredevil’s new costume is ridiculously cool.
10. Rating: 8.5/10 – This is an excellent story. The entire event is character driven, with Daredevil taking over the Hand for a good reason, then the heroes reaction making sense, and ultimately, them having to stop him before he goes to far. Still, his powers, personality, league of ninjas at his beck and call, and ability to persevere through all odds make him an ideal antagonist and tragic figure. This is how it’s done.
