Daredevil 2, Elektra 1

Daredevil 2
Waid (w) and Samnee (a) and J. Rodriguez (c) and Caramagna (l)

Matt Murdock's arrival in San Francisco, particularly an arrival that brought him out as Daredevil, has gained some attention from the wrong people, including San Francisco's own vigilante, the Shroud. Though the Shroud has often worked on the side of the law in his own way, he's certainly gone crazy on more than one occasion and seeing a new and well-liked superhero on his turf doesn't really thrill him. Just as Matt and Kirsten are meeting with deputy mayor Charlotte Hastert (from the first issue!) about the problems facing San Francisco, including the emergence of old Daredevil foe the Owl, Shroud turns up on the roof to threaten Daredevil off. When Daredevil overpowers him, Shroud offers to take DD to the newest crime boss in town, only to bring him directly to his own hideout where he has four men from the different crime families tied up and beaten.

Story
Matt's transition to San Francisco continues to be an interesting one and one fraught with its own perils and problems. Shroud dreams up a news report that conflates Daredevil's and his own origins in order to make it seem like he's jealous or annoyed by the amount of attention and respect Daredevil's already getting, which is all probably true but adds weight to the idea that Matt's facing an all-new sort of scrutiny when it comes to his superheroing (I'm surprised this book isn't called ALL-NEW DAREDEVIL). On top of that, we have seeds about the Owl and a new story with the Shroud that will prove interesting. 5/5

Character
All the characters come across excellently here as we get a good sense of Matt finding his bearings here (and really seemingly to enjoy himself in his new and more open life) and Kirsten's strength as she deals with Matt and Charlotte and everything else but, as we see through Samnee's extraordinary art, worries about the state of everything. The Shroud too gets instant characterization with the aforementioned dream sequence and with the way he interacts with Matt, who fights energetically with quips abound. Plenty to like here and plenty to do with these guys going forward. 5/5

Writing
Matt's new life is fun and exciting and the writing is matching that. There are a lot of light moments and moments that actually made me laugh out loud (GUYS, I'm not bragging but I don't laugh out loud TERRIBLY often, I tend to think things are funny and KEEP IT TO MYSELF, like a GENTLEMAN), though it's balanced nicely by more tense moments and a powerful story. This is never going to be a funny book in the same sort of way that something like SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN is; it's more akin to the humor of HAWKEYE but the humor isn't usually at the expense of our protagonist so it's not as dark as HAWKEYE can sometimes get. Still, it's carved out a great tone for itself and MAN, I THOUGHT THIS LITTLE SECTION WAS GOING TO BE SMALLER TODAY. 5/5

Art
Samnee's art and Rodriguez's colors continue to be absolutely amazing and to work so fluidly together that it remains one of the most easy-to-read books out on the market. Everything is so well-covered from emotion to action to tone to scenery to atmosphere. Just everything, you guys. I also particularly love a nice large panel where Daredevil and Shroud are leaping forward together in a dark blue and a vibrant red team-up. It's stunning, you guys. 5/5

Miscellaneous
What are you gonna do, not give this a 5/5?

Total score: 5/5


Elektra 1
Blackman (w) and Del Mundo (a) and Del Mundo w/D'Alfonso (c) and Cowles (l)

Elektra, tired of being defined by her past and by those who would seek to define her, returns to her roots as an assassin, visiting the Matchmaker, a woman who gives her and other assassins contracts when they want them. The Matchmaker has a special contract for Elektra, putting her on the trail of another assassin, a phantom-like hitman named Cape Crow who had turned from killing high-profile targets to killing other assassins to take their contracts. There's a big enough reward that many other assassins have gotten in on the game, apparently including a rather crazy one named Bloody Lips (who we get some rather crazy narrative from in this issue as well as he hunts down Bullseye to steal a piece of him, as per directions from a voice in his head called the Serpent), but Elektra has been tasked by the Matchmaker to bring Cape Crow in alive for an enormous bounty. Elektra takes the job, simply wanting to get out of New York, and is quickly transported to Monster Island, home of a safe house of Cape Crow's.

Story
Certainly a compelling enough story to kick things off here for Elektra's solo title as Elektra gets back to her roots as an assassin and instantly gets embroiled in something of an assassin-off (is that something that happens in the world of assassins? I sure hope so) which, as my parenthetical's just showcased, is a really engaging story. 5/5

Character
Elektra is, I would assume, a fairly easy character to write on a short term basis (she's cold and she's brutal; it means a lack of colorful language and an efficiency to her that makes her a worthy adversary and a hard-to-trust ally) but a very difficult character to write long term. Her book, then, sort of mirrors BLACK WIDOW in the "not too hard to write for a one-shot or with a team but hard to write as a driving vehicle." Still, Blackman does a phenomenal job here matching the character we know with a bit more personality, though clearly still held pretty tight to the chest, and a story that fits her well. Del Mundo does an equally great job characterizing her through the art with her movement and her expressions but we'll talk about that LATER guys. 5/5

Writing
The character and story all come together well in this first issue, one of the stronger first issues we've seen lately, and it's thanks in large part to the writing of this book, including the dark/grey tone of the book so far. I have a feeling I'll be comparing this one to BLACK WIDOW somewhat often but that's not a bad comparison to make. These two characters are more alike than they are different and their struggles in finding a rhythm in a solo title are also not so different. If this book keeps up like this, though, and if BLACK WIDOW keeps up like it's kicked off, it's hard to imagine that either of these books won't enjoy a long run. 5/5

Art
The art in this book is outstanding and it's hard to ignore that. There are times where art like this, free-flowing art with numerous double-page spreads and ink and color running from page to page, can feel like it's distinctly trying too hard. You can often see when an artist isn't particularly comfortable with that sort of style but knows how well it would match the book so they give it their all. Here, Del Mundo knocks it out of the park so that it doesn't look at all forced, it just looks spectacular. The style isn't that far from Phil Noto's (I'M SORRY, I really like BLACK WIDOW and I think these books are similar and, frankly, should be) and it's working out really well. 5/5

Miscellaneous
Really solid opening for ELEKTRA. Great cover too. Like I kind of danced around before, she's a great character to write for a one-shot but it's far harder to write her for an extended time and particularly for an extended time when she's the sole protagonist. I have high hopes for this series but we are just one issue in. We'll have to see how it plays out.

Total score: 5/5