Daredevil Message Board

[Kuljit Mithra]

DAREDEVIL #602 by Soule, Henderson and Milla ships May 16th and here's a preview! Cover by Sprouse.



http://www.manwithoutfear.com/gallery/Daredevil-V5-602

Please use this thread for all discussion when the issues ships.
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Kuljit Mithra
www.manwithoutfear.com

[Dimetre]

I have quite a few problems with this issue, but I'll focus on positive points first.

I like that Matt is taking the threat posed by the Hand seriously. I like that he is willing to impose a state of emergency to keep people at home, and I like that he's not interested in getting re-elected as mayor, so he's not bending to political whims.

Now on to negatives.

Soule and Henderson open this issue with a scene of Foggy receiving a call from Matt, who says he needs his help. That turns out to be incredibly anti-climactic. So Matt needs Foggy to be his Chief of Staff so he can run interference while Matt does his Daredevil act? That deserves a suspenseful opening? I don't think so.

Also, I found Matt to be a jerk again this issue. I found his remark about being seen as a super-hero by the children who get to stay home from school kind of crappy. I found the way he treated Foggy once he got to the mayor's office crappy as well, especially when he mimed the devil horns. His friendship with Foggy has only just emerged from the wringer, so you'd think he'd place more value over his time with him, and not disregard Foggy's previously-stated feelings about Matt's actions as Daredevil. It's as though Matt called Foggy assuming he'd just do his bidding with no reservations. I didn't like that.

Sam tells Matt about the deal he made with the Beast of the Hand, and Matt answers, "It's all right, Sam. You made the right choice." Any other reaction from Matt would have been way more interesting. That is the most boring way Matt could have reacted, resulting in a dull scene. The Hand have been making Matt's life a living hell for years. Why not have Matt angry with Sam for even entertaining making a deal, let alone going through with it? Can't Sam do any wrong in Matt's senses?

By the time Daredevil and Blindspot finally catch up to the Hand, we have gone past the halfway point in the issue. Up until this point everything has been about the havoc wreaked upon New York City by the Hand. So the two heroes go to Police Headquarters and put down a Hand attack in three panels. Three panels. They didn't even make it look hard.

Now the two heroes have to storm the Headquarters, which is heavily fortified by the Hand. This scene would have actually been good if the panels had been laid out in a way that told me I was supposed to read over two pages instead of one at a time. There are three rows of panels, but only the third row has a panel that crosses over both pages, so I only figured out my mistake once I got to the third row. Couldn't there have been a way to have a panel cross both pages in the top row? Still, if you read it correctly it's actually well done...

...Although is Daredevil so skilled that he can snatch ninja stars out of the air without slicing up his hand? I'm not so sure. I wish Soule had tried to show how he did that. I imagine he could do it somehow with his billy club, but nothing like that is shown. I count it as a missed opportunity.

The cliffhanger is right out of the Netflix show. I have mixed feelings about that. I've been a Daredevil fan for decades, so obviously I'm protective about the character and his fifty plus years of heritage. I also feel like the Marvel Comics Universe should be separate from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. On the other hand, I realize that the Netflix show has brought a whole new audience to the character. So when the comic displays the Hand creating a big hole in the ground like they do in the show, I can't help but think, "That's a show thing, not a comics thing." But then I remember that kryptonite was created in the Superman radio show, not the comics, and that it was the Max Fleischer cartoon that introduced Superman flying, not the comics. Characters would never evolve if comics purists had anything to do with it. So I'm okay with the big hole.

But I'm not excited by it. I can't imagine after the second season of the Netflix show, plus the Iron Fist show and the Defenders show that anyone was hungry for more Hand action. However, I don't think Soule left himself much of a choice considering how he's developed Blindspot. All I'm suggesting that if the comics are going to deal with the Hand, perhaps it would be for the benefit of everyone if you did it more like the comics and less like the shows, since everyone is kind of worn out by the Netflix version of the Hand right now.

As a result, the cliffhanger doesn't excite me at all. I would much rather find out where Fisk is than deal with the Hand again. As pointed out before, the Hand have historically worked best when they're the threat in the background of a larger story, like Elektra's return to Matt's life or Elektra's resurrection from death. In this story it seems like Soule is saying that the Hand attack on New York is the main plot. I could be wrong. Maybe Soule is intending that Matt's ascension to the Mayor's chair is the main plot, but I don't think it's being executed that way. All of the dialogue from all of the characters is about the Hand attack. All of it. If anything, Matt as mayor is itself the background plot.

Before I started writing this, I gave this issue a three. I think I may have been a little generous. I think this issue is a mess, but I don't think it's awful. Mike Henderson's art has notably improved from the previous issue. I'm hoping Marvel gives this series to a new team, but I haven't heard anything. Fingers crossed.

[Mike Murdock]

I'm much happier seeing Matt in charge in this issue than I was with the gloating way he seemed last issue. Plus, it's great seeing Foggy back. Foggy has Matt in the red suit and tie as his picture for when he calls. I'm not sure that's tonally appropriate right now, but I'm still amused by it. Particularly since he's the only person who knows the significance of that image.

I also liked the action in this issue. There was a sense of thrill, intensity, and mortal danger. I would have preferred Matt to have to be Matt rather than Daredevil to solve this problem, but I at least appreciate Foggy calling attention to that fact.

Also, the ending of this issue might be familiar if you're a Netflix fan

Four and a Half Stars.
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Matt Murdock's cooler twin brother

Not sure what to read next? Check out the Book Club for some ideas!

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

[Daredevil24]

Well to my fellow DD fan above, I don't see it as a big deal that Matt is acting like a jerk from time to time. It's well within the character's history. As for how the Hand was dealt with, the Hand has always been fodder, especially after their initial debut. Matt routinely beats up armies of them alone so it doesn't surprise me that he can do it with Blindspot. I will say that for the narrative of the story it wasn't a good look for a supposed threat.

I enjoyed the issue. I like the new status quo and I love seeing Matt take charge. I wish it was Elektra partnering with Matt during all of this but so far I enjoyed the last two. I still don't like how every interesting story involves Blindspot at the center of it. I'm betting his mother is the villain.

[macjr33]

Overall, I enjoyed the issue.

Some of the positives for me:
- Happy to see Foggy back in a more prominent role with Matt. I actually like him as his Chief of Staff. It's a different play on when they were law partners. I know we have talked about this before; however, given the lack of supporting characters for Matt (other than Blindspot) seeing Foggy back is quite welcome. Enjoyed the back and forth between them and I loved that the picture of Matt on his phone is a call back to the Waid run. I think those kind of subtle nods are nice.
- I enjoyed the art on this issue and may be my favorite in recent memory. Particular call out to the page with the other heroes.
- Like some others posted, I like Matt taking charge too. Is he being a bit of a jerk? Maybe, but as others have highlighted it's within his character history and he has frankly been much worse at other points in his history.

Some of the negatives:
- Feeling like a broken record, but Blindspot needs to go. Agree with Daredevil24, wish it was with Elektra or someone else that joined him in fighting the Hand. Also, while they have had the other street level heroes around, I wish Matt was interacting with them more. I would love to see some panels similar to when Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Spider-Man went after the crime bosses during the Bendis run.
- I did think Matt's reaction to Blindspot around the Beast was a little odd.

Curious to see where this is all headed.

[Daredevil24]

[macjr33]

[Mike Murdock]

There's a future solicit. For those who don't follow those, it's probably a bit of a spoiler. I would recommend reading Hunt for Wolverine: Weapon Lost in the meantime.
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Matt Murdock's cooler twin brother

Not sure what to read next? Check out the Book Club for some ideas!

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

[Sunni]

Four stars, I liked this issue a lot more than I thought I would. It’s awesome that Foggy is going to be Matt’s Chief of Staff, and Blindspot is slowly working his way back into my good graces. I didn’t think Matt was a jerk in this issue, but, yes, sometimes he can be a jerk, and that’s a good thing. Perfect characters are unrelatable to the reader and make for boring stories.