Stephanie Phillips and Lee Garbett have marked their run on Daredevil with some pretty seismic shifts, including putting Matt Murdock in a new career and giving him a creepy new foe in Omen. Now, the duo introduces a new wrinkle into the Man Without Fear’s life: the paranoia of Omen’s pursuit has sent his hyper-senses spiraling, rendering him unable to focus on the world around him. The cure? A visit from a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Spidey and Daredevil’s interactions are often a joy to watch because, more often than not, writers realize the two have a lot in common. Both of them were given power at a young age, and both have suffered immense tragedy yet continue to fight the good fight. Phillips has a great handle on this dynamic, not to mention Spidey’s trademark quips. She also shows Spidey retraining Daredevil to focus his hyper-senses, which comes in handy in the battle against Omen. Considering that the Man without Fear helped Spidey hone his spider-senses to a new level in the pages of Joe Kelly’s Amazing Spider-Man, this is a perfect parallel.
Speaking of Omen, Garbett doesn’t hold back on showcasing just how creepy a character he is. Readers will finally get to see under his mask for the first time, and it’s just as unsettling as they might have thought. So are the injuries he inflicts upon his victims, which come back to haunt Matt at the absolutely worst time. When he’s not drawing gruesome murder scenes, Garbett excels at depicting imagery of Spidey and Daredevil swinging through the air. He also has a unique way of displaying Matt’s radar senses going haywire: whole pages feature echolocation pinging wildly before focusing on certain items as Daredevil learns to once again fine tune his senses.
Marvel
These images hit hard thanks to Frank Martin’s color work. Martin uses a mix of red and white to display Matt’s radar sense, with entire panels drenched in a blood red hue and white rings of sound. This puts the reader in Daredevil’s shoes, letting them see what it’s like to have his hyper-senses. Not since Mark Waid and Chris Samnee’s run on Daredevil have I seen such a perfect display of this power, so kudos to Garbett and Martin for pulling it off. Ariana Maher also deserves plenty of praise, as her lettering shrinks and grows as Matt’s hearing begins to adjust throughout the issue.
The only thing I wish Daredevil #3 had more of was Ben Urich, especially considering his relationship with Daredevil. While I do appreciate that Phillips and Garbett are trying to shake things up, Matt doesn’t have that many stable relationships and I’d love to see the ones he does have flourish. To their credit, the creative team actually has a great use for Urich, which leads to the issue’s final fight and a showcase of how Daredevil’s got his metaphorical groove back.
Daredevil #3 pushes the Man without Fear to his limits, while also featuring a welcome guest spot for Spider-Man. It also ramps up the horror elements surrounding Omen, a foe who will haunt both Matt Murdock and readers alike.
You must be logged in to post a comment.