Daredevil #11

By Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, Julian Totino Tedesco, and Nolan Woodard

Daredevil #11 continues to make this series one of the best comics out there with a balance of down and dirty action coupled with complicated relationships and moral conflicts. Every character has well developed motivations for their actions, even if you may not personally agree with their decisions. This is especially true for Matt. It is issues like this that prove Daredevil should be on everyone’s pull list, and that Chip Zdarsky’s run may go down as one of the best eras of Daredevil.

Zdarsky really proves how well he knows the history of Daredevil. He understands not only Matt, but also how his supporting cast will act and respond to various situations. Spider-Man makes a wonderful guest appearance in this issue. Zdarsky brings with him his recent experience from “Spider-Man: Life Story” to properly display the web head in his funny, yet wise approach. An especially great scene in this issue revolves around Spidy’s use of his webbing’s one-hour expiration.  Zdarsky takes Matt into a new relationship, with a married woman, that will give long time Daredevil fans flashbacks to some of his more questionable relationship choices. This is true to Matt’s character who had an issue in the past of cheating on Karen Page with Typhoid Mary years ago. Along with the new relationship, Matt may start a new type of partnership with Electra that would be an interesting turn.

Another impressive aspect of this issue is the careful balancing act of all the characters being presented. This issue contains appearances from not only Daredevil, but also Spidy, Detective North, Elektra, Mindy, Kingpin, the Owl, and many more. If handled incorrectly, the sheer amount of characters may make the book confusing, but Zdarsky makes sure each character serves a purpose to Matt’s story. Even an old school villain like the Owl is getting a moment to shine and become a key player. It’s refreshing to see other villains take the spotlight when it comes down to the underground criminal element of New York and not always relying on Kingpin to serve that role. This does not mean Kingpin does not show up or is irrelevant to the story, but Zdarsky gives Fisk the chance to do something new that is within his character.

One of the first things readers will notice with Chip Zdarsky’s Daredevil #11 is the return of Marco Checchetto as penciler; these two really make the title click. Zdarsky’s run on Daredevil has been fantastic from the start, but Checchetto’s presence has been sorely missed since issue 5. Along with Checchetto, Woodard’s colors give this issue an excellent balance of darks, such as “Daredevil” fighting in a dimly lit hallway and lights, Spidy’s red and blues pop out with Detective North after a sunrise.

There is not much to complain about Daredevil #11, and plenty to praise as this story continues to build up more and more each month. Not only is the writing good in Daredevil #11, but the art by Checchetto and Woodard will keep readers hoping that they stay on for as many issues as they can.  Chip Zdarsky’s run on Daredevil is the kind of stuff that will get readers excited each month as this story continues.