In full honesty, this run of Daredevil– the second part of Chip Zdarsky and Marco Chechetto’s take on the character– has been a hit-or-miss. But when it’s good, it is so incredibly great that it immediately reminds you why this killer creative team has been on this run for as long as it has.
In the last issue, we see our protagonist Matthew Murdock- Daredevil- find purpose in his mission again, and this issue has him take the first steps for that final mission. We’ve been dragged on a ride for the past 11 issues through the “Red Fist Saga”, and it finally ends here before going on its final bout on its last two issues.
It’s an issue of surprise, the first quarter of which I’d be doing a disservice to if I spoiled it. But it’s incredibly good, and I’m glad we get an answer to a mystery that was posed in a Daredevil book prior to the start of Zdarsky and Checchetto’s run. It’s a very heartfelt moment, coupled with gorgeous art and colours by Matthew Wilson, and it really had me feeling for what happens.
The remainder of this issue keeps building on that, pulling your heartstrings while delivering what is honestly one of the best– if not the best issue of the run so far. Throughout this entire run, one of the cruxes of it has always been the tragic romance between Daredevil and Elektra, and if you didn’t already get it from the cover, this is where we see everything that’s been built up on their messy relationship finally pay off, and it does so spectacularly.
Zdarsky’s scripting is so good here it feels like the paper was on fire when he wrote it, and then that fire slowly grew into a giant inferno by the time Checchetto’s pencils and Wilson’s colours brought it to life. Within the dusk, with a faint light between them, it’s a beautiful marriage of a dance and a fight between the two lovers here – one that pays respect to their history, history before this run, and history within this run, while paying off setup that’s been cooking for a long time now. It’s an ending that’s more than earned, and I am very excited to see what this team does with that within the last two issues of this book.
What a phenomenal issue, one that really shows what a creative team is capable of when they know everyone’s exact strengths and play off it in the best possible way. This is an issue that should be celebrated, and we as fans of Daredevil and fans of comics should be grateful it exists.
