After running three issues in, I am starting to become a little worried about this series. What started out as a promising concept, seems to have turned into a bad kung-fu movie. Lost in all the ninja fight scenes is the environment. Part of what gave this series its romantic appeal was the setting. Now that the heroes are inside Daredevil's fortress, the environment doesn't seem to matter anymore. They could be in Japan for all the story cares. And in glossing over this detail, I think Andy Diggle has forfeited some of the purpose of the original storyline.
Strangely enough, Billy Tan's pencils didn't seem to help rescue the book either. The usually reliable artist rushed the pictorial storytelling throughout the entire issue. Many of the action panels felt as though they were missing a panel (especially when Daredevil was fighting Iron Fist and Shang-Chi.)
I was also really looking forward to the appearance of Ghost Rider but I have to be honest, I don't understand his role in the story at all. Now maybe this confusion is intentional, but that still doesn't fill the holes in the Ghost Rider storyline. For instance, why does he head straight to the dungeon to free the prisoners? I thought Fisk set it up so he was there to exact revenge on Matt. The only reason I bring this up is a burning question that bothered me all throughout the read, "Why was Ghost Rider not involved in the big ninja throw down going on upstairs?" Maybe Johnny was just too slow to make it upstairs in time for the fight..... But even after the fight, Daredevil went to the cemetery, took care of some business, and still, no Ghost Rider! So somebody needs to explain this characters role in this story for me again, because with the introduction of Punisher, Ghost Rider and Electra it is starting to feel as though Diggle is just throwing everyone out there for face value.
So here is hoping that issues 4 and 5 are better. Oh, and once again, John Cassaday's cover art sucks. It is so bad, that I was really close to shelling out the extra cash for the variant cover. With the theme and gritty undertones they should be having someone like Djurdjevic rockin the covers!