This wasn’t a light week by any means for me. I have a lot to read and I have no time to purchase anything else outside of my pullbin. Then again, ever since the annoucement of Black Panther as the new ‘Man Without Fear’ I have been intrigued to read this ‘new’ series. I say new, even though this is still technically Daredevil’s book with the original number. Sort of like the Incredible Hercules approach after Hulk left the title. Anyways, with the names listed on working with the book (Liss and Francavilla) it left me wanting to actually try this new run out. Big week be damned! There can be some room for another book.

Maybe I should’ve left it back on the shelf….No I’m sorry that sounds a bit too harsh. This isn’t a bad issue by any means. We see everything put into place from T’Challa setting a foot into Hells Kitchen to getting introduced to the (I think) main villain for the run. Now I like David Liss and I think him doing this series could be a good thing in the long run. He’s known to do a lot of pulpy work (both in comics and prose) and even if it is Black Panther and not Daredevil, it could work. The problem is that this first issue is plagued like all other runs usually start: too wordy and somewhat boring. It’s not like there isn’t any good ideas in here, it’s just that it’s just too much to read in one sitting. That and it doesn’t help that the lettering is really small making more of a chore to read.

If there’s one thing that makes this issue stand out is Francesco Francavilla art. If you loved what you saw in the back up for Detective Comics, then you’ll love this issue. I really enjoyed seeing Francavilla’s art throughout the entire issue. It fits with the pulpy, detective style that Liss has going throughout the comic. The lighting techniques are spot on and the muted colors (like red and orange) really make it stand out. Again, if you’ve seen Francavilla’s work on this website and in Detective Comics then you’re going to love how this comic looks.

Even though this wasn’t the best in terms of story, Liss puts a good amount of ideas to make this run hopeful for the future. The only reason I would want to stay on this series would be for the amazing Francavilla art. The only thing I can really say is that this might be a better read in trade then in single issues. Hopefully Liss gets past the wordy dialogue and make it a much more fun book I was prepaired to read.