Another very solid issue.

For about six months now I’ve been thinking that maybe I’d like to save a few bucks by reading DD in trade. Before reading every forthcoming issue, I think “Okay, if this one is subpar, that’ll give me a reason to stop my monthly fix.” But then, time after time, I find that Waid and Samnee provide a more-than-good-enough 20-page story with a unique-enough, upbeat-enough spirit to make commit to the title in floppy form time and again.

The selling point of the issue is a simple one: Would you like to see Matt Murdock team up with the new Spider-Man? Of course I would. That’s worth $2.99 to me.

About halfway through the issue I was worried that the remaining pages were going to run out before I felt satisfied enough, but that didn’t happen: Waid wisely includes weighty pages toward the end in which Matt talks with Foggy and learns some very relevant information. This wasn’t a filler issue. Nor was it all about Spidey and the obvious question of “Will Matt notice Peter isn’t Peter really?” Waid has gotten accolades for this series (early on, especially) based on his more innovative use of the medium and how it can be used to express DD’s powers. But lately I’m more impressed with Waid’s ability to make a fairly standard superhero comics feel meaningful in and of themselves: DD #22 is a typical guest-star issue that still feels exciting, interesting and meaningful.

Besides all that, Samnee’s art remains wonderfully lively. Here again too, though, I have to praise the creator for simply fulfilling more basic requirements: Not only can Samnee do REGULAR MONTHLY work, but he can do so without his art looking off-model or rushed. Is this the best Samnee art I’ve ever seen? No. Do I think Samnee was under pressure to get it done, and is this noticeable in his art? Well… barely.

Normally I’d give Waid and Samnee 4’s for their DD work. Admittedly, this isn’t one of their best issues. It’s still solidly good, however. It’s “filler” only because it happens between two longer storylines (and we do need breathers every now and then). It’s a “gimmick” only because it features a new version of a character that many people would want to see. That is to say, it isn’t really a “filler” or a “gimmick” at all. It takes the best elements of what a “filler” or a “gimmick” or a guest-spot issue and brings out the reasons why a reader might enjoy those things in the first place.

You’ve got me for another month. What’s that? Oh, this issue will be the first one collected in the eventual TPB? Okay, then, so you’ve got me for another six months, at least. Because no matter what I can’t really bring myself to switch to trades on this. It just makes too much sense to include this spot of sunshine in with my regular monthly reading.