Greg Land is to the 2000’s as Rob Liefeld is to the 1990’s.  Most of what he does looks awful to me, and I think comic history will look down on their work in the long run.  But, as Liefeld’s work influenced an art style that surpassed his talent, many of whom went on to work for Wildstorm and Image, so has Land’s technique been mastered by people with more flare for his technique.

There is a lot of background tracing involved in this issue of Daredevil.    But unlike Land’s overly epic poses and too realistic set pieces, De La Torre and Checchetto have made a stark, realistic landscape that works in the context of the story.  Maybe it’s that Matt Hollingsworth colored this issue beautifully, but I am not the least bit bothered by the polica cars that were clearly traced over in photoshop and placed in the background.    This creative team falls somewhere between the Maleev era and the Dave Mack era of Daredevil, and I love it.

And Diggle is starting to make a believer out of me.  This is the first of his Marvel titles that I’ve enjoyed, but I’m doing more than just enjoying it.  This may be his finest work.  Possibly even better than his Hellblazer.

Really, the only thing bad about this entire issue was the cover.  Luckily, I didn’t judge the book by it.