Daredevil #11 Review (Omega Effect crossover)

Previously, on Avenging Spider-Man #6, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Punisher, and Punisher’s new ally, Rachel Cole-Alves, agree to work together to lure out all of megacrime and destroy the coveted Omega Drive in Matt Murdock’s possession.  Then on The Punisher #10, the plan is put into motion, but Rachel betrays the team at the last minute and steals the Omega Drive.  Daredevil is now at the mercy of megacrime.

Daredevil ( Vol. 3 ) #11

Writer:  Mark Waid
Artist:  Marco Checchetto
Color Art:  Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer:  VC’s Joe Caramanga
Cover:  Marcos Martin
Variant Covers:  Adi Granov & Steffi Schuetze
Special Thanks to Greg Rucka

***WARNING:  SPOILERS AHEAD***

PLOT:  Daredevil is shot from behind by Rachel and falls to where members of megacrime (A.I.M., H.Y.D.R.A, Secret Empire, Agencie Byzantine, and Black Spectre) are standing.  Spider-Man pulls him out to safety, and once they realize that Rachel has betrayed them and taken the Omega Drive, Spidey and DD chase after her while Punisher takes care of megacrime.  The two costumed heroes split up, and Daredevil successfully lures Rachel out from hiding.  After a long chat, he convinces her to hand over the drive, promising to show her a better way than the Punisher’s, but moments later she’s seemingly gunned down by H.Y.D.R.A.  After our three protagonists take care of the remaining bad guys, they realize that Rachel is still alive but gone.  Being right back where they started, the three go their separate ways, with Daredevil happy that he had a second chance at pulling back someone from the edge.

THOUGHTS:  For this third installment of the Omega Effect, we are greeted once again with a fantastic-looking cover, this time by the always-amazing Marcos Martin.  Every element playing a major role in the story is uniquely represented, and the cover definitely has a sort of “pop art” feel to it.  The first time I was treated to Martin’s art was in the “No One Dies” ASM two-parter.  He also did covers for Batgirl: Year One, so I think Ms. Stella Bowman will agree with me that Martin has a great sense of style.

Speaking of covers, Avenging Spider-Man, Punisher, and Daredevil all had a variant cover by Adi Granov featuring that book’s corresponding main character.  All three covers put together form a pretty cool image that can also be found in poster form.  It’s really up to you what covers you want to get, though I personally prefer the original covers.  The Steffi Schuetze cover is promotional material for the Avengers movie.  It’s nice, I guess, though it’s just a sketch with no colouring, the art is that “deformed” style that does not usually appeal to everyone, and, really, what’s the point of these covers featuring completely unrelated material, anyway?

Getting into the actual story, the reader will notice a definite tonal shift from the previous two installments.  Almost the entire issue has a very serious, dramatic tone, with very little of the humour prevalent in Parts 1 and 2.  Whereas in Avenging and Punisher the three featured characters share an even amount of the spotlight, here Spider-Man and Frank Castle have very minor roles, basically only fighting bad guys in the background and bailing out Daredevil a couple of times.  It’s unfortunate because up until this point Rucka and Waid had done a good job of balancing all three characters and making them all important components of the plot.  What little characterization Spidey and Castle do get is still perfectly in line with what we know about them: Spidey cares for DD’s safety, abhors Castle’s methods, and makes sure that no one dies; Castle is content to remind megacrime that they should be afraid of him and honours to the end the deal he made with the other two.

However, where this issue succeeds greatly is with the confrontation between Daredevil and Rachel.  His inner dialogue and the accompanying art make the initial chase scene very fascinating.  Throughout this story arc, Waid has made excellent use of DD’s abilities, and the same is true here, as DD uses his radar and heightened senses to track her down and then lure her out of hiding (the way he does this is smart and very impressive).  DD has some great lines during the verbal exchange, very fitting of his attorney background.  The scenes where he loses his patience with Rachel are made even more awesome by Checchetto and Hollingsworth, who make DD look very fierce, with his face obscured but his eyes glowing red.  I also loved every panel featuring the radar sense.

ARC ANALYSIS:  What began as a story about dealing a blow to megacrime and destroying that blasted Omega Drive turned into a story about a second chance for Daredevil to save a soul from a life fueled by revenge (since he feels he failed Castle in that regard).  I definitely wasn’t anticipating this turn of events.  Despite the fact that at the end of the day everyone was back to square one, that personal victory for DD is a satisfying conclusion to this crossover.  Overall, the Omega Effect made for a wonderful tale, and it’s definitely one of the better Spider-Man stories in recent time.

FAVORITE LINE:  When DD tells Spidey that he’s got a new plan, this is his reaction:

SPIDER-MAN:  I like it when Captain America says that.  Fills me with confidence.  You, not so much.

VERDICT:  As the third installment of the Omega Effect, Daredevil #11 is not quite up to par with the other two.  As a Daredevil story, however, it’s a very well-done issue, with great dialogue and magnificent art.  4 Webheads out of 5.  Arc rating: 4 Webheads out of 5.

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~My Two Cents