After the milestone of 600 issues last month, Charles Soule is taking Matt Murdock and throwing him into the deep end. The pool he’s been thrown into this time is the mayor of New York City. Gulp. This further complicates his life since he also has to continue to sneak around as nobody knows he’s also Daredevil. Oh yeah, he’s also chained up in the back of a police wagon.
So what’s it about?
Read our preview.
Why does this matter?
Kingpin is off the board, at least for a little while, and the Hand is on a mission to take over Daredevil’s city. Soule has set our hero up for one hell of a fight as he’s not only now mayor, but capable of organizing the heroes for the big fight. This issue also features the tight art of Mike Henderson.
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
Wait, does Daredevil have x-ray vision?
This is a tightly paced issue, dropping readers in and catching us up for Daredevil’s great escape from the paddywagon. After some well-choreographed action the narrative dives into what it’s like for Matt Murdock to run the mayor’s office even at a time of crisis. Soule’s dialogue is quite good, never letting us forget Murdock is as cool as a cucumber even though there are magic ninjas all over New York.
Henderson is very good at using empty space. Take for instance a moment before Murdock takes up the mayorship and in this panel, we see a void of folks on one side of the desk and others crowding the other. It helps convey somebody needs to show up soon, or else. In an action sequence early on, Daredevil takes on some ninjas and the fight moves are honed as your eye is drawn perfectly from left to right or right to left. The scene leading up to this shows Daredevil in darkness, beaten and tired, and Henderson uses the dark shadows to help convey our hero is on his own and the odds are against him. Layouts are strong too, like one where we see the same open van and street lamp, but different stages of ninja assaults in each of the six.
Fight Matt.
It can’t be perfect can it?
The pace is fast, which makes this a quick read. It could have used another page or two of content, and the cliffhanger does leave you expecting more, but there’s still a lot to enjoy here.
Is It Good?
This is a great issue that anyone can drop into. If you like ninja fighting action and Matt Murdock at his sharpest you’ll love this.
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