I ordered this books with such high hopes. After all, it was by Brian Michael Bendis, whose run on "Daredevil" has taken the comic to heights not seen since its glory days under Frank Miller. I was expecting the gritty film noir realism that dominated Bendis' run on the book, or some of the intelligent wit that has underpinned his work on "Ultimate Spider-Man."
Alas, sometimes our hopes are not to be met. The story told in "Daredevil: Ninja" is an uninteresting one that draws on Miller's work solely for supporting characters like Stone; references to Matt Murdock's mentor, Stick; and a return of the Hand that seems nowhere near as menacing as it did when Elektra was mixed up with it. If Bendis' seminal run on Daredevil is dark, then this can only be described as Daredevil Lite.
The book enjiys the clean art style of David Self. Light on blacks and keen on the smooth, his work uses the clean lines that once were emblematic of American superhero comics.
The story is simple enough -- Daredevil has to help the Seven find a reincarnated hero of Japan before the Hand does -- but it never really engages, and as the story works its way toward the conclusion, it leaves too many loose threads resolved, too many stones upturned without regard for what lies beneath, and too many initimations of something greater that go unexplored. There are places where Bendis' wit and gifted writing do peak through, but they are too few to save the story.
Alas, sometimes our hopes are not to be met. The story told in "Daredevil: Ninja" is an uninteresting one that draws on Miller's work solely for supporting characters like Stone; references to Matt Murdock's mentor, Stick; and a return of the Hand that seems nowhere near as menacing as it did when Elektra was mixed up with it. If Bendis' seminal run on Daredevil is dark, then this can only be described as Daredevil Lite.
The book enjiys the clean art style of David Self. Light on blacks and keen on the smooth, his work uses the clean lines that once were emblematic of American superhero comics.
The story is simple enough -- Daredevil has to help the Seven find a reincarnated hero of Japan before the Hand does -- but it never really engages, and as the story works its way toward the conclusion, it leaves too many loose threads resolved, too many stones upturned without regard for what lies beneath, and too many initimations of something greater that go unexplored. There are places where Bendis' wit and gifted writing do peak through, but they are too few to save the story.
