Review: DAREDEVIL: THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR by Frank Miller and John Romita, Jr

This is a limited series, meaning that it was a comic book only meant to last a few issues. (At the time, I think the regular Daredevil series was up to around 250 issues.) This is the character on which Miller made his name as a writer and artist back in the early 1980s, and he was the first creator to really give the book its own identity, playing up the noir and crime elements. He's a very talented writer, and this is a very well- written book.

It's the art, though, that was the real revelation for me. I've always liked John Romita, Jr's blocky, massive figures, but I'd never paid attention to his backgrounds. Since the stroke, my eyesight isn't as good as it was, so I've had to read most comics a panel at a time. Enlarging them this way makes them easier to read, but it also reveals details that are unnoticeable at regular size. Not every artist's work can stand up to this kind of scrutiny, but JRJR's can.

Between the story and art, this is possibly the best-produced comic I've ever seen. I still can't recommend it, though. There's some sexual content, which isn't explicit but isn't necessary either. Mostly, though, it's because off the violence. This is a very bloody book, and not one I'd recommend.