Daredevil vol. 6 #1, “Sense of Self” by Chip Zdarsky
I want to start discussing the new #1 with this short back-up story both written and illustrated by Zdarsky, because it’s the most revolutionary part of the issue and a sign that DD is in really good hands. Past creative teams have discussed it, but Zdarsky came through and actually gave us a story shown entirely from Matt’s sensory perspective. Okay, it’s only four pages long, and two of those pages are translations of what’s going on (which I haven’t included here), but still! Credit where it’s due; this is phenomenal.
I am very picky about this sort of thing, and I have no complaints. It’s fantastic. This is clearly shorthand-- Matt would be perceiving a lot of extraneous sensory input that isn’t included here-- but that’s okay! It is implied, and this is an excellent way of paring the story down to the relevant details, and doing it in such a way that it’s easy to understand. I get why Zdarsky included two versions of this story (one from Matt’s perspective and one with “normal” illustrations), but I feel like it’s also possible to follow what’s going on without the help. This depiction hits that sweet spot of being clear without being too clear. Matt’s sensory experience should be abstract. It shouldn’t look like sight. But the reader should still be able to tell what’s going on. This nails it.
I was going to pick a few details that I particularly love, but heck, I love all of it. The first panel, which depicts Matt reading a newspaper, and the fact that the words he’s currently reading are brightest and only the print immediately before it is “visible” is so clever. I love the little dots that represent smells. I love that Zdarsky is using the wire-frame radar effect that Paolo Rivera designed for Waid’s run, and which I’ve missed these past few years. And not only that, but it’s not a constant thing! The radar effect only appears when Matt makes a noise... which implies that in this story, Zdarsky is treating it as echolocation. I and other DD fans have been lobbying for the radar sense to just become echolocation, and even if it doesn’t cross over into the main comic (which it seems like it won’t), seeing it used that way here is really exciting.
Finally, I love the way heat is depicted. There is danger in adding color to translations of Matt’s perspective. Many artists do, and often it just feels lazy and ends up looking too visual. There was a lot of unnecessary color in the radar/sensory depictions in Soule’s run, for instance. If you are going to use multiple colors, they have to represent something specific-- and here, the pink clearly indicates heat. It is used on the people, on the lights, and on the pipes and water heater. Not only that, but the vibrancy of the pink varies based on how concentrated the heat is (compare the water heater with the pipes). Zdarsky clearly thought every detail of this through, and as a sensory nerd I am grateful because that extra effort really does make a difference.