The Daredevils #9

 Now we are up to September 1983. There's no sense here of a title that knows its on its last legs and going through the motions. I reckon this is probably one of the best issues of Daredevils - it knows exactly what it's doing and its doing it brilliantly. 

Firstly - we've got the instalment of Captain Britain where Moore is literally lining up the chess pieces in the story and bringing them into play. It's a treat to see, and its nice to see supporting characters from the US comics (Shaw and Gyrich) appear - it helps to sustain the conceit that the stories are taking place in one big shared universe. 

The art by Alan Davis is immaculate - he really has come on in leaps and bounds since the first issues and the twist on the last page, as the Fury make his return to this universe, is spectacular. 

Then we've got Daredevil which this month includes the first appearance of Elektra. It's a marvellous piece of continuity mangling, Miller managing to convince us that Matt has a first intense love that almost broke him, and that he's never spoken of before, and that she then turns out to be this incredible killer / bounty hunter. When they are at their best, there's a grace to the art of Miller / Janson, and it's in full effect here with the scene where Elektra dispatches of the crew at the seafront. Almost wordless, she takes them out in a sequence that's both brutal and balletic. Lovely stuff. 

There's the usual text pieces as well - an article about Knockabout Comics and a 4 page Night Raven story, as well as a colour poster of the X-Men that I can't see a credit for but which may be Mick Austin. I know there's only two issues of the title left but I'm really looking forward to seeing if the mag goes out with a blast. 

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