DOWNWARD SPIRAL by ravkas
JANUARY 19, 2025

COVER I

ALT. VERSION

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COVER II

ALT. VERSION

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COVER III

ALT. VERSION

yayyyy daredevil: born again!! even though i don't trust disney+ with marvel tv shows (literally all of their attempts at making them have been bad, limited to she-hulk which was bad but enjoyable and falcon and the winter soldier which was bad but had sam wilson in it so it gets a pass) (don't @ me these are just my opinions) i am really really excited for dba. when i saw my dear emma post on her message board about potentially writing a ben poindexter / dex / bullseye fic... i literally jumped.

i don't typically like characters like dex but i relate to him a lot (not the murder-y stuff, or stalking stuff obviously 😭 mostly just the portrayal of his mental illness. i feel like i've just portrayed myself in a negative light by saying that since he is like, a serial killer and antagonist, but... if you know what i'm trying to get at, then you know) and he is actually probably one of my few comfort characters. i've never made a cover for him before, whether it be comic or regular, so this was really fun for me.

we've got a lot of meme-ing around in this update. let's get a couple out of the way first.

me listening to ankles by lucy dacus (new release; go stream if you haven't already!):

and kat inevitably reading this update and seeing me fixate on yet another white, blond man:

this was more of a surprise RUSSIAN DOLL present 🎰 than an actual request, so i didn't have too many parameters to follow. i wanted to give emma some options for DOWNWARD SPIRAL: make her both a simple or manip cover, and at least one (1) comic cover.

cover i. is the simple / manip one, using her oc's faceclaim monica barbero and wilson bethel as he appears as dex in the original daredevil series. the main version comes in classic bayports red, while the alt. is darker, more intense.

cover ii. is the first of two comic covers. i used lois lane from dc as emma's oc's comic faceclaim, as she is a psychotherapist and i had seen some lois art previously that evoked the same vibe. (it's tricky to find high-quality art of civilian characters that work visually for comic covers.) i used art of bullseye that had his iconic target radiating outwards, to further run with the title DOWNWARD SPIRAL. the main version of this cover features red, blue, black and white, while the alt. version is black and white with a red accent. because of the detail in the art, i kept the title and all other miscellaneous text in a simple, easy-to-read fixed-width font.

          meme break!

for cover ii. i wanted dex to be more menacing, so i chose bullseye art that matched my vision. a lot of the comic covers he's featured on depict him very unhinged, which is accurate but also not what i was going for (i am not ashamed to admit that i wanted him to be sexy, first and foremost.) he's kind of giving hat man, sleep paralysis demon, but i like it! it's not entirely out of character! the difference between this cover's main and alt. versions is minimal, but the latter is marginally more intense in its red.

          another meme:

          both the comic covers for DOWNWARD SPIRAL feature the daredevil logo, not the bullseye one, because the stories are set in the mcu and specifically in the scope of the original daredevil series. i did envision these covers with the bullseye logo and associated branding, but most versions of the logo are quite complex; distracting, even. meanwhile the daredevil one is immediately recognisable and also flat and simple. it ended up working really well (in my opinion) so i'm glad i ended up compromising.

emma, thank you for letting me make these covers! 🤗🤍 as always, it's a pleasure making graphics for you (solicited or otherwise, hehe.) i'm so excited for this fic! thank you for reminding me how much i love dex.

i didn't *forget*, per se, but i might have repressed 🤣 add him to the list of blond, white men i adore.

          to everyone else, thank you so much for getting this book to 12k reads! i feel like i've already said something about this milestone but my sleep schedule is currently so cooked that i can't remember. regardless, i'd like to say it again 😚😚 thank you guys so much! i love you!

and because i love you, i leave you with this:

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!