"Where Do You Even Begin?" in Daredevil (vol. 3) #20, by Mark Waid (writer), Chris Samnee (artist), Javier Rodriguez (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer)
As Martin and Rivera were moving off the book, there's a brief lull punctuated by some random crossovers (with Amazing Spider-Man, and the a 3-part crossover with Greg Rucka's Punisher book and Avenging Spider-Man), plus a couple of issues drawn by Khoi Pham, before the book lands Chris Samnee as the regular artist. Samnee would remain the artist for most of the last 23 issues, minus roughly four covered by Mike Allred, Javier Rodriguez, and Chris Copland.
During Samnee's time as artist, Matt faces the repercussions of stealing an enormously valuable data drive from the five groups seen in last week's selection, and has his perceptions and grasp of the world around him called into doubt. The latter leads to a brief falling out between Matt and Foggy, who has been harboring suspicions Matt is faking being cheerful and well-adjusted a little too much.
At around the two-year mark, Daredevil confronts the old foe behind all the challenges he'd faced up to the point, which included an evil version of himself in a knockdown drag-out fight issue Samnee and Rodriguez illustrate beautifully. One that turned on a surprise revelation that worked as an excellent "oh shit!" moment.
After that, the creative team shift gears to a few intertwining narratives. Matt realizes the justice system is rife with members of the racist hate group the Sons of the Serpent at all levels, and tries to root them out through avenues both legal and supernatural. There's also Matt trying to help Foggy cope with his illness, and Matt and former Assistant D.A. Kirsten McDuffie trying to figure out what they want to be to each other.
(While I think McDuffie downplays the danger inherent in dating Matt Murdock, I do appreciate her desire to maintain distance so her life isn't entirely swallowed up by his life.)
I've seen Samnee's work get compared to Alex Toth's frequently, and while I'm not expert of Toth's work, from what I've seen it's not a bad comparison. Samnee has a good handle on all the necessary aspects of being a comic artist. Conveying whatever information is needed, drawing fight scenes, emotional scenes, just cool or weird shit. He incorporates sound effects into his layouts in clever ways. The shadows in his story are much deeper, heavier than either Rivera or Martin's, but he also takes over as artist at the point when Matt's attempts to remain positive run up against a series of difficult challenges. Remaining upbeat is harder when your best friend thinks you've gone nuts and you're starting to wonder yourself.
During Samnee's time as artist, Matt faces the repercussions of stealing an enormously valuable data drive from the five groups seen in last week's selection, and has his perceptions and grasp of the world around him called into doubt. The latter leads to a brief falling out between Matt and Foggy, who has been harboring suspicions Matt is faking being cheerful and well-adjusted a little too much.
At around the two-year mark, Daredevil confronts the old foe behind all the challenges he'd faced up to the point, which included an evil version of himself in a knockdown drag-out fight issue Samnee and Rodriguez illustrate beautifully. One that turned on a surprise revelation that worked as an excellent "oh shit!" moment.
After that, the creative team shift gears to a few intertwining narratives. Matt realizes the justice system is rife with members of the racist hate group the Sons of the Serpent at all levels, and tries to root them out through avenues both legal and supernatural. There's also Matt trying to help Foggy cope with his illness, and Matt and former Assistant D.A. Kirsten McDuffie trying to figure out what they want to be to each other.
(While I think McDuffie downplays the danger inherent in dating Matt Murdock, I do appreciate her desire to maintain distance so her life isn't entirely swallowed up by his life.)
I've seen Samnee's work get compared to Alex Toth's frequently, and while I'm not expert of Toth's work, from what I've seen it's not a bad comparison. Samnee has a good handle on all the necessary aspects of being a comic artist. Conveying whatever information is needed, drawing fight scenes, emotional scenes, just cool or weird shit. He incorporates sound effects into his layouts in clever ways. The shadows in his story are much deeper, heavier than either Rivera or Martin's, but he also takes over as artist at the point when Matt's attempts to remain positive run up against a series of difficult challenges. Remaining upbeat is harder when your best friend thinks you've gone nuts and you're starting to wonder yourself.
2 comments:
You chose the image well there. So many questions!
It was a hard choice. I had like two or three others I was strongly considering, but that one was just too bizarre to pass up.
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