If you haven’t already read them, this is my third and final review of Marvel’s new accessible digest-size reprinting of Charles Soule’s incredible run on Daredevil. I loved the first and second volumes, and this third volume is no different. Daredevil: Death of Daredevil beautifully depicts the inner workings of Matt Murdock’s guilt-addled brain, and sets up his monumental conflict with Wilson Fisk. The second volume of Soule’s run, The Dark Art, ended with Fisk elected as Mayor of New York, and this volume follows up on that cliffhanger in a major way, and also includes conclusions to Soule’s arcs surrounding Blindspot, Muse, and his relationship to the Daredevil costume.
I think the best compliment I can give Death of Daredevil, and really Soule’s entire run, is that at the end of this collection, I immediately downloaded the debut of Chip Zdarsky’s run on Daredevil, because I was hooked. I have really never read Daredevil consistently before, but I am a changed man, a Man Without Fear, and I am diving headfirst into the Daredevil mythos thanks to Mr. Soule. This collection consists of 19 uninterrupted issues of Daredevil, Soule’s final issues, and takes some major swings to set Zdarsky up for an epic run, including the legitimacy of Fisk as Mayor of NYC and the debut of Matt’s “brother,” Mike Murdock.
Marvel
With gorgeous art from Phil Noto, Matt Milla, Stefano Landini, Ron Garney, and Mike Henderson, the battle for New York City, and more specifically, Hell’s Kitchen, is rendered in gorgeous detail. I really loved the last few issues of the collection, which feature Noto’s artwork, which I think work really well for the movement and emotion of Daredevil. Plus, Milla’s coloring continues to be top-notch, and I love that Soule has partnered with Milla throughout his entire run of Daredevil, meaning even if line artists and inkers change, there is a consistency of coloring tone that grounds the diverse art.
Honestly, the only major story beat that I would critique from this collection would be Muse’s defeat. Muse’s “suicide” happened so quickly and was not gratifying, but maybe that was the point? He was a sociopathic narcissist and wanted the story to be his, but because of that, it just didn’t feel very satisfying for me as a reader. On the other hand, I was impressed by Soule’s use of the classic and often overused “It was all a dream” trope. The last few issues of this collection are all revealed to have been a dream Matt was having when he was basically in a coma, and it let Soule show he would have had Daredevil defeat Fisk as Mayor… but in reality allowed the Fisk plot to continue, giving Zdarsky free rein. I am sure this was a controversial decision when this was first published, but damn, I enjoyed it.
Marvel
Other things I enjoyed: Murdock working under Fisk and then becoming the temporary Mayor after Fisk was injured by the Hand’s invasion of New York City. Hilarious. I loved it. I also thought that the creation of Mike Murdock was fascinating. As Matt explains in the comic, Mike was a fake twin brother persona he had used years ago to do crazy things… but somehow Mike was now alive and breathing! Eventually, it is revealed that the powerful reality warping Inhuman called Reader accidentally manifested Mike in real life, leading to incredible twin hijinks, except this is Daredevil so the “hijinks” are them assaulting each other and being really rude.
I can’t express enough how much I loved these digest-sized versions of Soule’s run on Daredevil. They were way more readable than a thick hardcover omnibus, and even more manageable than Modern Era Epic Collections. They’re so easy to handle that I just gave them to my friend Alan to borrow in one easy handful! Love it. This volume of Daredevil was a joy, with some major twists and turns, an epic cliffhanger, and the resolution to many of Soule’s biggest plot points. Soule clearly understands the inner workings of Matt Murdock’s complicated mind, and if you’re a fan of Daredevil, Daredevil: Born Again, or Soule’s other work, I would highly suggest you get this collection as well as the previous two.
You must be logged in to post a comment.