The X-Axis by Paul O'Brien (paul@esoterica.demon.co.uk)

Daredevil #16

DAREDEVIL #16 - Ben Urich investigates the disappearance of ultra-minor supervillain the Leapfrog, and the bizarre mental condition of his son (who keeps babbling about the same superhero cliches in an endless loop). We'll skim over the fact that, unfortunately, somebody's already done a story involving Leapfrog's wife and child, and indeed that the wife's meant to be dead, since really it could be any old throwaway villain. David Mack's artwork is probably the most unusual thing the Marvel line's seen in years, which is clearly a plus. Since Mack's doing a story that's deliberately screwing about with superhero conventions anyway, it makes sense to adopt an art style that's so distant from the house style (even going so far as to give us three pages of bad superheroics to start with, in order to emphasise the point). The art isn't just stunt casting of an unusual artist, it's a genuine part of the story's themes. And it looks great. Now, let's see if they can actually publish the damn thing on time.
Grade: A