Daredevil Message Board

[train]

[Dragonbat]

I have been. Everything on MU and Comixology. And I can't agree more.

[DesignDevil]

Amazing finale to an amazing series. 5/5

The action and pacing are top notch. The last few pages are perfection. I love the page of Matt and Foggy in the coffee shop where Stick shows up. It was mentioned earlier in the discussions about how it seems odd or abrupt that Stick would abandon Matt if he was so important. I always read this this scene, and the scene from issue 3 where he warns Matt about Elektra, as Stick having not really abandoned Matt. He'd always been keeping an eye on Matt and making sure he stayed on the right path. Those last words from Stick, "Don't you get cocky." leading to those last gorgeous pages by Romita Jr. of Matt in full costume. Daredevil was born.

I really like that Miller isn't afraid to have Matt Murdock be willing to kill if there is no other choice. He gets it. Sometimes there is no other choice. I'm not saying I want Murdock to be like the Punisher, but there is absolutely a grey area between a character like Superman or Spiderman who never kill and the Punisher who kills or tries to kill all the time. He had to save Mickey and he gave Larks more chance than he deserved. Just like in Born Again, when he shot down the helicopter, killing the pilot. Or when he knocked Nuke into the power lines, which I always read as Matt trying to kill him, or at the very least not knowing if it would kill him or not, and willing to risk it. Every second he hesitated people were dying or could die. So he did what was 100% right.

The Man Without Fear by Miller and Romita Jr, to me, is easily the 2nd best Daredevil story ever told after the aforementioned Born Again. Bendis, Brubaker, and Waid on their best days can't touch the way Miller wrote Matt Murdock.

[Mike Murdock]

Last one! It starts off with quite a bit of violence. I agree it's more a caricature of Miller's 90's work than really Daredevil. That being said, there's always with just enough of an excuse to not be an intentional killing, but really just barely. This is Matt coming to life as Daredevil and acting in ways that are essentially superhuman. Still, in spite of my credulity at whether these killing are accidental, I do like the "I don't want to kill you" repeated over and over. Matt knows his strength and knows that one bad guy with a gun is no match for him. And with that, the day is saved.

The rest is basically a winding down. Setting things in order, establishing the rules of the universe that will follow. In that sense, it works pretty well as an origin story even though I imagine most people who read it knew the story anyway. I love the coinflip that decided that Nelson's name goes above Matt's. Overall, it did a good job of unifying the theme. Matt's inner demons can be a destructive force, but he discovered that he could let it out for good to beat back the bullies who prey on the weak. That was a nice thought. Throughout much of the story, his motives were driven by anger, revenge, or just venting steam. In the end, it was focused on doing good.

Plus, I can't help but love that last line as Daredevil jumps into the sky. I'll go Four and a Half Stars.
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Matt Murdock's cooler twin brother

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I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!
Thomas More - A Man for All Seasons