SPOILER-FREE REVIEW: Daredevil #31: Turning it Up to Eleven

Just when you think this book can’t get any more intense, writer Chip Zdarsky goes and make it more intense than I’ve ever seen it. To say there’s a lot going on in this title already would be the understatement of the year: You’ve got Daredevil in jail (AS Daredevil), Elektra taking over for Matt as the new Daredevil, and protecting Hell’s Kitchen, Matt’s twin brother Mike pretending to be Matt (and pulling some shenanigans on a group of gangster bosses), and Wilson Fisk is the mayor. That should be enough, right? Not so fast. Because in this issue, which is the first part of the “Lockdown” story arc, Zdarsky goes ahead and starts lighting matches in this barrel full of gun powder. How do you turn a book that’s already a twelve “up to eleven?” I’m not telling, but trust me, Zdarsky knows how to and does. The status quo of this already shaken status quo is shaken to its very core this issue and every page is a nail-biting, butterflies in your stomach, good time. 

I just wish the art were better. PSYCHE!!!!! The art can’t be any better because Mike Hawthorne is laying the pencils down on this issue. He does his usual award-worthy job, and as always it’s a feast for the eyes. Hawthorne is the guy that no matter what style of art you prefer you can always find a hint of it in his work. It’s a combination of everything, yet it’s a very unique style. In this issue, there was some outstanding detail and expressions in his facial features. These were real expressions that I’ve seen people make, just made more vivid by Hawthorne and inker Adriano Di Benedetto.  Artistically, Hawthorne sets the bar for any other artist.