DAREDEVIL 321 cover

This cover utilizes the neg stat radar. Also, notice that the Doppleganger is not glowing in radar, but rendered normally. That's because DD can't sense him! When you view the cover in the dark, the Doppleganger disappears and the building glows, giving you DD's point-of-view!

Chichester: I didn't quite geek out in the awesome fashion that Mr. McDaniel did, but I do admit to admiring the gritty texture of the glow in the dark ink. And holding it up to a hot lightbulb to then turn out the lights to check out the cool glow. The negative space really did look pretty cool. And while I absolutely detested gimmick covers -- well, when it was on one of MY books, then it suddenly seemed okay!

From a storytelling POV, the cover also works really nicely to communicate the whole "You can't SEEEE me!" nature of the Hellspawn in a purely visual fashion. Which in a way I think is geekier-cool than the glow in the dark deal.

DAREDEVIL 321 pg. 2

Chichester: I struggled pretty long and hard wondering about the pidgin-creole, voodoo cadence of Hellspawn. Not only how to write it, but whether to do so at all. Would it seem overly contrived? Would I get it more wrong than right? Obviously, in the end I convinced myself the advantages of a particular voice outweighed whatever shortcomings I feared in my writing.

And while I think the "dee" and "wit" and fractured syntax are somewhat affected, I do dig the overall vibe of the Hellspawn's attitude. Belitting. Calling Matt's motivation's into question. It's an interesting, layered counterpoint to his drive to the new duds. It's evil. But also kind of legit.

DAREDEVIL 321 pg. 11

Chichester: There's a lot to like in this page's story. The byplay between Ben and his wife. How the politics and business at the Bugle distracts Ben enough for Sara to get her in. Unfortunately, it's all too, too hard to find and follow. I don't think either me or Scott are at the top of our game here. The panel layout seems more arranged for effect, rather than organically flowing one to the next. And the balloons are struggling in that space. It's a tough journey to be sure which is next in the sequence.

It's the writer's job to place the balloons in this kind of plot-then-script arrangement. So I take responsibility for making those choices. And by rights I should have written and placed more to the grouping I was given, then to the one I'd have liked. But that would have meant I recognized the problem at that point in time. And I never felt anything but grateful and inspired by Scott's pencils. As much as anything, he brought out the good stuff in the page.

So while our combo ultimately doesn't gel here as nicely as it does in some other instances, that observation is a massive retcon on the positive energy from the moment.

DAREDEVIL 321 pg. 13

Chichester: I read in an interview with a really cool artist that you should NEVER stack a series of panels on the left to lead into an image on the right. ;-)

This isn't quite in line with some of the other instances of dialogue competing with the art. It's not like the words are trying to tell a story about ancient Mesopotamia while Scott's moving the panels forward in modern day NYC. But it's a pretty dense chunk of info I was trying to get across there. There's what Eddie's doing to prep for panel 3, driven by Eddie's relationship with Kenkoy, and how Eddie's training gave him the tools for revenge.

I don't recall how I plotted it out, and what I suggested to Scott in terms of visuals. And ultimately, that's kind of irrelevant. I needed to do a better job of taking the images that did come back and attach those to captions or dialogue that told the story most effectively. I like what's being said here. But I don't think it's very clean. I was never a fan of thought balloons. I don't think I ever actually used them. But a more direct internal monologue from Eddie would have connected him to the history and what he was up to -- and made things simpler for the reader.

Even if he was muttering to himself...

"You taught me well, General Kenkoy. Covert ops. How to become someone other than myself.

"Steal me a maintenance uniform and supplies. No one notices the janitor.

"Then it's a quick stir of foam packing peanuts in flammable cleaning solution.

"A mix like napalm. But not as nice."

Is that the first panel we see the new costume? If so, bad plotting for the big reveal, Chichester! LOL.