#aaahh!

@isolde-the-tiefling, @holidayhippo and I decided after the Drawing Duel that we wanted to do some art collabs, so we all drew a sketch, then sent it to the next person to ink, and the next for colouring. it was super fun! and the results look amazing!

Jordann’s sketch, my lines, Mikael’s colouring

My sketch, Mikael’s lines, Jordann’s colouring

Mikael’s sketch, Jordann’s lines, my colouring

Daredevil vol. 6 #1, “Sense of Self” by Chip Zdarsky

    I want to start discussing the new #1 with this short back-up story both written and illustrated by Zdarsky, because it’s the most revolutionary part of the issue and a sign that DD is in really good hands. Past creative teams have discussed it, but Zdarsky came through and actually gave us a story shown entirely from Matt’s sensory perspective. Okay, it’s only four pages long, and two of those pages are translations of what’s going on (which I haven’t included here), but still! Credit where it’s due; this is phenomenal. 

    I am very picky about this sort of thing, and I have no complaints. It’s fantastic. This is clearly shorthand-- Matt would be perceiving a lot of extraneous sensory input that isn’t included here-- but that’s okay! It is implied, and this is an excellent way of paring the story down to the relevant details, and doing it in such a way that it’s easy to understand. I get why Zdarsky included two versions of this story (one from Matt’s perspective and one with “normal” illustrations), but I feel like it’s also possible to follow what’s going on without the help. This depiction hits that sweet spot of being clear without being too clear. Matt’s sensory experience should be abstract. It shouldn’t look like sight. But the reader should still be able to tell what’s going on. This nails it. 

    I was going to pick a few details that I particularly love, but heck, I love all of it. The first panel, which depicts Matt reading a newspaper, and the fact that the words he’s currently reading are brightest and only the print immediately before it is “visible” is so clever. I love the little dots that represent smells. I love that Zdarsky is using the wire-frame radar effect that Paolo Rivera designed for Waid’s run, and which I’ve missed these past few years. And not only that, but it’s not a constant thing! The radar effect only appears when Matt makes a noise... which implies that in this story, Zdarsky is treating it as echolocation. I and other DD fans have been lobbying for the radar sense to just become echolocation, and even if it doesn’t cross over into the main comic (which it seems like it won’t), seeing it used that way here is really exciting.