Marvel heroes are often known for having a distinct flaw and that is certainly true of Daredevil. Not so much his blindness – though he does question why God would take away his sight – but his addiction to danger through his dual role as lawyer and vigilante, there are the signature internal monologues where he thinks about his own demons. As a Catholic, Matt Murdock has always been looking for redemption, especially at the start of Chip Zdarsky’s run, where he took the life of another and thus gives up being Daredevil.
Throughout this current run, Murdock has been trying to do good for Hell’s Kitchen without becoming Daredevil and yet through his rekindled alliance with Elektra, the sense of danger keeps coming back, for better or worse. Elektra has always been a divisive character, but Zdarsky writes her really well through her relationship with Matt where she is a mentor, as well as a partner in both crime and intimacy.
During the first issue, Matt and Elektra go Robin Hood as they sneak into the Stromwyns’s office building to hack into their digital finances. Proving to be the new David Mazzuchelli, Jorge Fornés fits well into the gritty world of Daredevil where shadows are everywhere and ninjas can be hired for top security. Considering that much of the narrative is done through dialogue and captions, Fornés always illustrates his environments with such vastness. One panel, in particular, that dominates most of the page, where the black-clad Murdock sits on the top of a building and just listens, whilst you read Zdarsky’s captions from top to bottom as you delve into the mindscape of Matt Murdock.
More so than other Marvel superhero comic, Daredevil has always explored crime and corruption as our flawed hero, along with other inhabitants, good and bad, trying to resolve or just adjust to the surroundings. A gang war is building in Hell’s Kitchen as Hammerhead, the Owl and the Libris family are at each other’s throats, and how does Matt, Detective Cole North and even Mayor Wilson Fisk are trying to prevent this inevitable war. Very much a crime epic, Zdarsky does not hold back on the consequences of one’s actions with some unexpected deaths along the way.
Issue #18 leads to one of the intense sequences in the run where Mindy Libris’ daughter gets kidnapped and despite the police being ordered to stay away from Hell’s Kitchen, that won’t stop the masked vigilante and the detective to team up and save a child. It is a truly fist-pumping moment, especially when their destination that takes place in a traffic jam during a rainy night, stunningly drawn by Fornés. Although I’m excited to see what he does with the twelve-issue Rorschach comic with Tom King, this seems like the artist will take a break from Daredevil, which is sad.
However, this does not negate Marco Checchetto, who is doing excellent work as the book’s regular artist as he draws the last two issues here, where all hell breaks loose in the streets of Hell’s Kitchen. Hired by the Stromwyns, five supervillains are hired to cause mayhem and so the people of Hell’s Kitchen fight back, some of which wearing their own Daredevil mask to symbolise a form of rebellion. Considering the recent actions that Matt made as Daredevil, he realises the people are carrying his own burden, even though they shouldn’t have to, leading to a recreation of the iconic Born Again splash page.
Through Checchetto’s artwork, New York has always a stunning combination of detail and vibrancy, but what happens when it comes Hell’s Kitchen becomes a war zone? Being the most action-heavy that the run has ever been, this feels the culmination that the creators have been building towards with multiple characters entering the war zone, presenting alliances and revelations that are unexpected. With villains like Bullseye, Rhino and even Stilt-Man, Checchetto draw them as menacing figures that revel in the carnage.
Twenty issues, Chip Zdarsky continues to do his best work with a run that is an instant classic. Ending on a huge cliffhanger, Zdarsky’s Daredevil is always changing things up, so it’s exciting to see where it goes next.