It appears that Daredevil made a powerplay killing Master Izo in order to take control of The Hand. What will he do with all those assassins?
DAREDEVIL #502
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Andy Diggle
Artist: Roberto de la Torre
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover: Esad Ribic
Summary: Matt Murdock’s spiral of self-destruction spins out of control and threatens to consume everybody! After painting a target on his own back in DAREDEVIL #500, Matt’s got dozens of new enemies…including some old foes and familiar faces! The scorching new arc by the creative team of Andy Diggle (THUNDERBOLTS) and Roberto De La Torre (IRON MAN) intensifies…now’s the time to jump on!
Review: Marvel was correct in recommending #502 as a launch point for new readers to jump into the Daredevil series although you probably would do even better going back to #500 or #501. Nonetheless, all you need is some basic information about the cast of characters to start picking up Daredevil from this point: Matt Murdock is the blind lawyer by day and superhero by night who has undergone some personal tragedies leading him down a dark and dangerous path. He is haunted by past loves and seems to be losing bits of his true self each moment as the days go on. Murdock fights alongside the White Tiger and Black Tarantula. Kingpin is still the major player in the crime world of New York City and he’s making a push to take over yet another piece of the pie in Hell’s Kitchen as another criminal suffers from being paralyzed. Foggy Nelson still leads the court room proceedings in a city full of corruption and injustice.
Writer Andy Diggle and artist Roberto de la Torre have restored my faith in Marvel Comics. I was getting disappointed with other titles and couldn’t understand why Marvel always came out on top of the monthly Diamond Distribution figures. Daredevil might not be getting as many printings as Wolverine or the X-Men titles, but it’s a series that gives a full bodied taste of gritty noir storytelling. Considering how dark and brooding this regular monthly title is, I can’t see why Marvel even bothered with their “Daredevil: Noir” special miniseries earlier in the year.
It’s easy to point out the similarities of Daredevil to plenty of other comic book heroes, however Matt Murdock has reason to stand out on his own as man of interest. His blindness is certainly the most intriguing part of his back story because he overcomes the challenge to lead an incredible life. His training and drive to clean up the crime of his city builds him into something worth reading about; but then there’s the fact that writers have not hesitated in giving Murdock a love life, something many other heroes feel the need to sacrifice. The story has begun to intertwine with the Dark Avengers since Daredevil’s old enemy Bullseye/Dark Hawkeye had been sent to kill him but instead killed hundreds of innocent people when he blew up a building. Daredevil has had to adapt every day to make life work for him and now he’s adapting his crimefighting to deal with Norman Osborn, a man who makes the Kingpin look like a small time crook.
You’ll get the sense of spinning and falling during the personal torture of Murdock’s dreams due mostly in part to de la Torre’s heavily shaded panels. You’ll feel the wind rushing by as Daredevil leaps into action with an entire army of assassins at his back. Be sure to duck when you see those shurikens coming at you.
