When I think of Daredevil bleeding in the snow, I expect ninjas to be involved. I expect brooding. I expect sentence fragments. I do not expect a touchingly sad tale in which blind children save Christmas. But I’m happy that’s what we got. Not going to lie: This could be my favourite single-issue Christmas story told in superhero comics. As a Christmas story, it tugs at your heartstrings without trying to yank them out; as a Daredevil story, it shows off Matt’s fearlessness while still working in the hopeful, merry tone that Mark Waid is bringing to the character. Like the last issue, it also shows Daredevil solving problems with more than just his super-senses and his fists. Here, he has to motivate frightened children to stay positive in the face of a life-threatening disaster, and fails at it pretty badly at first. It’s not played for laughs. These kids are in real danger, and Daredevil knows it. The best, most chilling panels are the ones where characters are in silhouette and you see their heartbeats skip, another one of Paolo Rivera’s clever tricks to show what his super-senses feel like. Between art and story, it’s just a fantastic balance of tone. As refreshing a holiday treat as a warm glass of eggnog.