Matt’s fighting in a church. (It’s okay. He’s done this before.) He’s not familiar with this particular kind of fight, though. His opponent is a bit more powerful than what he’s traditionally been up against in the past. He HAS got a relatively new partner to fight alongside, but under the circumstances, that might not help in Daredevil & Echo #2. The writing team of Taboo and B. Earl continue a new direction for the devil of Hell’s Kitchen. Artist Phil Noto delivers darkness and action to the page. The darkness being brought to the page lacks the depth of Daredevil’s most provocative adventures, but there’s definitely a gravity to the second issue of the new series. 

The villain in question is a bit more supernatural than what Matt’s traditionally faced. It’s called Demogoblin. It’s made a trip to the church in question because it believes that a gate to Hell is going to open there pretty soon. Daredevil and Echo are dealing with a rather nasty case of breaking and entering. Considering how powerful and agile the thing is, it’s not going to be an easy fight. And someone with the lack of experience that Echo has might turn into a liability...especially if Daredevil is already in over his head. 

Daredevil has shared his title with others over the years. Echo is a relatively new character who serves as an interesting contrast to the veteran vigilante. She’s not a sidekick, though. She’s clearly very much her own character. The problem with the script for the second issue of the new series is the fact that the supernatural has never quite fit into the strengths of Daredevil. He’s always best with street-level crime. Bringing him against a magical evil compromises the sophisticated sense of moral complexity that is Matt Murdock’s greatest narrative strength. To their credit, the writing team focuses on the street-level aspects of the supernatural as Daredevil consults with a priest on the history of the church where they encountered the monster. It still feels pretty far removed from the character’s strengths. 

Noto’s clean lines and bright colors serve the magical nature of the conflict. There’s a strong sense of impact about all of the action. Everything seems to be moving across the page with great speed and force. The color effect on Daredevil’s power works in a way it hasn’t always been able to do on the comics page. Some of the action that the writing team is directing at Noto is a little difficult to bring to the page in a way that looks compellingly kinetic, but the artist does a solidly respectable job of keeping the action moving from cover to cover. 

People have tried to pit Daredevil against more traditional devils, but outside of Ann Nocenti’s brilliant run with the character back in the 1990s, it’s never worked all that well. Combine the supernatural with a relatively nuanced new ally, and the new series is encountering a bit of a challenge right away. Things should settle down once the series has built up enough narrative momentum to really get going. For now, though...it’s still faltering in a mix of different elements that aren’t exactly common to Daredevil.

Grade: C+