With Wilson Fisk out of the hospital, Matt has to fight on two fronts to keep New York safe!
Back with the final issue of Mayor Murdock, Charles Soule and his co-conspirators, Mike Henderson and Matt Milla, have created one devil of an ending to this remarkable storyline.
While Wilson Fisk confronts Deputy Assistant Mayor Foggy Nelson over taking his job back, Daredevil and the Order of the Dragon are trapped in NYPD headquarters. Taking advantage of the chaos, the Hand’s Beast comes to City Hall to claim the life of Blindspot…and a final confrontation ensues.
This issue is nothing short of fantastic, with Soule and company perfectly capturing the intimidation of Wilson Fisk, despite him spending most of the issue in a hospital gown dragging an IV with him into his office. The narration provided over combat sequences by Daredevil himself are also great, amping up the tension without lending itself too much to cliche. There’s even a wonderful scene of the remaining cops of New York and Blindspot deciding whether or not to have a last stand against the entire forces of the Hand in front of City Hall. All of these could have been stories on their own, and it could have made for a chaotic mess under another writer. Many recent stories by Soule outside of Daredevil have had problems with pacing, characterization and their respective ending. Luckily, this is one that was worth reading through from start to finish.
An already great story is improved by Henderson and Milla’s hard work, especially in the fight with the Hand and the Beast, which is chaotic, messy, and beautiful all at the same time. There’s just something about Daredevil fighting off demonic ninjas with a broadsword that hits all the right buttons for a Daredevil comic while being something completely out of left field, and it really works. However, Henderson isn’t slacking on the character side of things either. There’s an entire second dialogue between Foggy Nelson and Wilson Fisk that’s all in the body language that wonderfully underscores Soule’s dialogue and also mirrors the situation Matt Murdock himself is in at the same time. As a last note, kudos again for the designs of the Order of the Dragon. The literal white holy knight aesthetic should look entirely out of place in a more grounded comic like Daredevil, but the execution and use of pragmatism in their armament helps solidify them in Matt’s world nicely.
Soule is in his element in this book, and the art crew he’s picked are perfect for Daredevil. This was easily one of the better stories Marvel has published in years, and is one of those rare times where a big character story could have easily been expanded into an event comic. It’s like a fantastic dinner date: Strange, exciting, and with the promise of better things to come that will keep you coming back for more.