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Best Shots Comic Reviews: DAREDEVIL, SUPERBOY, More

You'd have to be blind not to appreciate this book.

Not that Marvel isn't trying — they have an audio version of the last issue of Daredevil out, which is great — but the real strength of the Man Without Fear is the design strength of his art team. This book crackles more than most out of the Marvel universe — in fact, I might even go as far as to say this is the Detective Comics of 2011, with Paolo Rivera drawing some of the best work of his career.

Rivera starts with the excitement early, and really keeps the pressure up throughout the issue. If you've seem the previews or even read Issue #1, you know what I'm talkin' about — it's red, white and black-and-blue, as Daredevil squares off against Captain America himself. There's a great sense of layout to this sequence, particularly when DD steals the world-famous shield. When he describes it as like holding a Stradivarius, it's a great insight by Mark Waid — but to be honest, it's just as impressive to watch Rivera's craftsmanship at work.

Waid, meanwhile, has a great skill — he gets out of his art team's way, gives them plenty of fun stuff to draw, and then gives a great line here or there to send the package home. Even Daredevil's response to Cap's summons — "Objection," he deadpans, as he tumbles off the roof with shield in tow — is a great moment, perhaps because it subverts so many expectations with its sense of humor. I'm not sure I buy all of the explanation he gives for Cap's hard-nosed attitude, but the pacing and choreography is a great way to get readers invested and up to speed on DD's recent adventures.

So where does this story stumble? Well, as fun as Cap's inclusion is, it ends up making the second half of this book feel a little disjointed. Daredevil's got a case to investigate, and tonally, moving from high-flying acrobatics to CSI-style interviews to the surprise villain at the end feels a little inorganic.