Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Daredevil #111
Marvel Comics
Brubaker, Mann, Gaudiano & Hollingsworth

The start of a new arc gains a new reader: me. I read the freebie last month that explained the past four or five arcs of Daredevil and level set the field for new readers. I heard this issue was great so I gave it a shot and I liked it a lot. I didn’t think it was outstanding but I found it to be a really good start to a new arc.

The story appears to be simple enough. Matt and Dakota North, private eye, spend a little too much time together while Lady Bullseye watches Matt and some others reporting her findings to those who are ready to take them down. That’s really the whole story. However, the story goes deeper than just that.

Matt is unwittingly putting himself in a very vulnerable position both mentally and physically with his choices in this issue. He doesn’t know he’s being watched and faces a difficult foe down the road. At the same time he is softening himself up by complicating his personal life. He is basically breaking himself down to the point where the bad guys won’t have to work so hard to take him down.

Lady Bullseye is still a bit of mystery in terms of motive but she is established as a force to be reckoned with in her short amount of page space in this comic. She seems to be a compelling character with an interesting origin. I’m hoping she isn’t just Elecktra II, but we’ll have to wait and see.

The artwork has a very dull or bland feeling to it. I personally wasn’t a fan of it. I felt like I was reading an older comic. That isn’t to say it was bad artwork or sloppy, just that it was simple in its delivery and storytelling layouts. I guess I’m more high maintenance and like the art to overwhelm me. The flashbacks were presented in a different shade of dull which was helpful.

I liked the issue for quickly beginning to break down Murdock’s character. He already has a lot of complexity and this makes him slightly more snake-ish which is a great way to start off this kind of arc. The story direction is one that interests me and this first issue has held my interest enough to continue with the arc. A new reader needs to know very little to come into this story. This is a very good comic and story in of itself.

4 out of 5 geek goggles