Now I know there is mixed feelings on this site towards Brian Michael Bendis and some of his work. Personally, I enjoy the majority of his writing but I will admit, like many, many writers in the comicbook realm, he has his good stories and he has his stories that seem like he was meeting a deadline. After reading issue #1 in this series, I can honestly say the writing is decent and the story is well put together and I'm already anticipating the next issue to see how this story continues to unfold.
I purchase the majority of my comics digitally now as where I live we don't have a real comicbook store anymore so obviously my review is of the digital form and not a paper copy (not that it matters).
Obviously it isn't is a spoiler to say that Daredevil is dead, but the opening pages show us just how he died and by whose hands.
The Artwork....
The artwork is dark and gritty and and well drawn and is what I expected it to be when scrolling through the first couple of pages. It captures the brutal, bloody fight to the death brawl between the two characters and even the actual death panel was a little shocking when I got to that point (maybe not as shocking as Deadpool killing Spider-man, but still different from the usual way heroes die). It stays away from rich, vibrant colours and showcases more grey, dull colours, which helps keep the solemn tone that Ben is feeling as the book progresses. With any luck, the reader is supposed to feel it too and to a certain degree it accomplished that for me.
The Story...
The story is told from the view of Ben Ulrich as he tries to make sense of why this happened and understand the events that led up the death of this iconic character. We are given insight into Ben's mind and his thoughts and why he feels he needs to write this story and investigate it - not because he is a reporter and it's his job, but more of his personal motivation. In a world where comics are more often written from the perspective of the hero, it's a nice change and I like the way they have (so far) written this book. As any good comic should do in a multiple part series, it left me with some questions and got me engaged in the book so that I am eagerly anticipating issue #2 and finding out where this story is going.
If you are a Daredevil fan I'd definitely consider adding this one to your reading list. Even if you aren't, seeing how a hero's life ends is always interesting and killing a hero often means sales - even if we know that death in comics is temporary unless of course you're the hero's parents, girlfriend or sibling.
3.5 stars out of 5
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