By d. emerson eddy — The current volume of Daredevil could be considered a masterpiece. Every issue has delved deep into Matt Murdock's soul and lain it bare, while getting to the very heart of the complicated relationship between vigilantism, the police, duty, responsibility, and morality. I don't believe there's been a sheer force of nature driving this series since Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's “Born Again” arc back in 1986. Every single creator who has been working on this volume of Daredevil has been integral to delivering this story and elevating the heights of this series.

And it continues here in Daredevil #10 as Jorge Fornés and Jordie Bellaire step in for the art duties, taking over for Lalit Kumar Sharma, Jay Leisten, and Java Tartaglia, for this final chapter of the “No Devils, Only God” arc. Fornés has been amazing readers with his action-infused art and impressive layouts for a while now, wowing us with his artwork on Hot Lunch Special and Batman, his Mazzucchelli-inspired art like a revelation. Gorgeous use of panel transitions, pacing, and shadow that elevate every beat of the action.

Added to it is almost a perfect storm of a creative team complementing Fornés style, as Jordie Bellaire's colors take on a flat, solid approach that emphasizes the action and helps clarity for the main ideas and emotions of the scenes to take hold. It's especially impressive in tandem with Clayton Cowles' letters and sound effects, presenting a fairly simple, but very effective show at Daredevil's enhanced hearing. The mix of shadow from Fornés’ art, the red of Bellaire's colors, and a background drowning in Cowles' letters is, to me, a near perfect visual representation of Daredevil's powers, as well as just great storytelling.

All of this on top of the deft and introspective dialogue from Chip Zdarsky. This arc has navigated some tricky territory, with Matt giving up being Daredevil, taking responsibility fro the others taking on the mantle, the guilt of lusting for a married woman, and more — and it pretty much comes to a head with this issue. Nothing is clean, nothing is simple, and it gets a whole lot more complicated between Matt and his affair, and between Matt and the cop who beat him, but it keeps you hooked to seeing what mistakes will happen next. And how much guilt Matt will carry going forward.

Overall, this is a mature and measured approach to superhero comics. Zdarsky, Fornés, Bellaire, and Cowles deliver a shining star of a story amidst an already sparkling series. Comics don't often get as good as this. Even as it ends an arc, if you're not reading Daredevil already, you should start now.

Daredevil #10
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Jorge Fornés 
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $3.99

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d. emerson eddy is a student and writer of things. He fell in love with comics during Moore, Bissette, & Totleben's run on Swamp Thing and it has been a torrid affair ever since. His madness typically manifests itself on Twitter @93418.