Writer: Charles Soule / Artist: Mike Henderson / Marvel Comics
From the holy prophets Charles “Goddamn” Soule and Mike Henderson, we have been blessed with the six hundred and second issue of Daredevil this week. If you read my reviews (and let’s be honest, of course you do because I’m delightfully charming), you know that I’ve been loving the politically motivated action that they’ve laid down in the “Mayor Fisk” storyline leading into “Mayor Murdock.” I’m a politics nerd who grew up reading comics in the Bendis-era of Marvel. A story of working within a mayoral bureaucracy to defeat a villain with the assistance of New York’s street level heroes is pure bliss. Throw some ninjas in the mix, and I’m all about it. This issue has Mayor Daredevil handling this Hand attack on NYC and bringing in Foggy Nelson as Chief of Staff. The first pages of this book read like the West Wing. I got the same feeling of “Can’t Matt Murdock be our president?” until he fucks it up and tries to get Foggy to cover for him while he goes out to fight. Foggy steps it up in a glorious scene that’d only be more powerful if he literally slapped Murdock. “You are NOT the only hero in this city.” Yea, Matt. This is accompanied by a great page of panels showing Moon Knight, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, a couple Spider-Men, Echo, Misty Knight, and Ms. Marvel giving the Hand the business. This sentiment is powerful and reveals Daredevil’s crippling sense of guilt and responsibility that if he’s not punching someone in the face that there’s more he could do. It was great to hear Foggy tell him to put his big-boy pants on.
But alas, the issue continues and due to proximity and an entrance by one of Daredevil’s associates he’s required to go out and punch some ninjas. I don’t think I’ve ever been more disappointed with a hero’s decision to punch ninjas. Questionable life choices aside, this book continues to be a treat. Aside from hitting a bunch of my particular brand of sweet spots, Soule does some good dialogue. He shows particular skill displaying Murdock’s complexity. How he can calmly and cockily direct the city’s resources in response to a threat but a minute later dissolve into his impulse to physically fight is classic Murdock, and Soule articulates that part of his nature well.
Mike Henderson is showing his capability to do some solid art. Oddly enough, I couldn’t stop admiring Murdock’s scruffy chin. My inner Hank Hill kept being drawn to it thinking, “Now that’s a good, manly jaw-line I’ll tell you what.” This book was much more focused on the details of the characters than the landscapes but not in a lazy, distracting way. This is credit to the colorist, Matt Milla. Even with lack of detail, the color of the backgrounds are appealing and smooth. This book continues to kick a blinding amount of ass, and I recommend it to any and all Daredevil fans.
9 “Grisled Chins” out of 10
Reading Daredevil? Find BNP’s other reviews of the series here.
Want to get Black Nerd Problems updates sent directly to you? Sign up here!
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook,Instagram, Tumblr, YouTube and Google+.
Show Comments