Daredevil #11
Writer: Mark Waid
Art: Marco Checchetto, Matt Hollingsworth [Colorist]
Mark Waid wraps up his Avenging Spider-Man/Punisher/Daredevil “Omega Effect” crossover with Greg Rucka in Daredevil #11 with all of the elements that made the first two parts of the story so damn good intact.
Daredevil, having the Omega Drive (a nigh-indestructible drive made from unstable molecules and possessing intel on all of the Marvel Universe’s “Megacrime” cartels), teamed up with Spider-Man and the two formed an uneasy alliance with the Punisher and his ally, Rachel Cole-Alves. The goal of this alliance was simple–they would all lure out members of A.I.M., Hyrdra, Agence Byzantine, the Secret Empire, and the Exchange so that they could destroy the Omega Drive in front of them. Also, Punisher and Alves had to promise to use rubber bullets and not kill anyone because killing isn’t really Spider-Man or Daredevil’s thing.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go according to plan. Alves, a former Marine whose husband was murdered by the Exchange on her wedding day, double-crossed Daredevil as he was about to destroy the drive–giving him a rubber bullet to the back and escaping with the drive herself. With Punisher covering their exit, Spider-Man and Daredevil split up to find Alves and retrieve the drive.
Waid does a stellar job of presenting the story from Daredevil’s perspective (it is DD’s book, after all), exploring how Matt Murdock feels that he failed the Punisher by never being able to pull him back from the proverbial ledge before he went all the way over. Feeling he can do the same for Alves, we’ve seen Murdock try to talk sense into her once before in this crossover (during Rucka’s Punisher #10). Whether or not he gets through in this issue remains to be seen.
Marco Checchetto and Matt Hollingsworth continue to deliver the goods artistically. There really isn’t much I can say about it that I didn’t already touch on in my reviews for Avenging Spider-Man #6 and Punisher #10, so check those out, too.
What are you still reading this review for? GO PICK UP THIS CROSSOVER!
STORY: 10/10
ART: 10/10
