DAREDEVIL #20

[ DAREDEVIL DISCOUNT ] 

Hey buddy! Come over here for a sec because there's something I'd like to ask you. Can you keep a secret? Yes? Yes you can? Great! Then can you explain how you do this to Charles Soule and Ron Garney? As they can't keep a secret even if they wanted to! Especially in June, 2017, within the pages of a certain devilish comic book published by Marvel!

TO QUOTE Juan Rulfo: 'Nothing can last forever. There isn't any memory, no matter how intense, that doesn't fade out at last'.

THE REVIEW:

Issue 20 of Daredevil is the final part of this current purple hued story-line, and as such, it will be nigh on impossible for me to review it without being able to spoil it's conclusion. So, if you're okay with that, what now follows is a quick explanation about the first part of this concluding chapter.

Now as soon as he takes down the Purple Man, a.k.a. Zebediah Killgrave, Daredevil realizes that he has one last task to accomplish. He has to find his girlfriend, Kirsten McDuffie, because during his current adventure he experienced a very strange hallucination, and he isn't quite sure if it's connected to her or not.

So what he decides to do is to leave The Purple Children to watch over their father, doing so while he quickly rushes across town so he can pay Kirsten a visit.

Problem is, when he gets to their apartment he slowly realizes that she doesn't recognize who he is. Not his Daredevil persona, but rather, the fact that the man behind the mask is none other than Matt himself. The same can also be said for his best friend, Foggy Nelson, when Matt pays him a visit next. Although, in this instance, Matt does eventually decide to take off his mask and show Foggy his true face!

However, when this happens, as if by magic Foggy comes to the realization that Matt and Daredevil are one and the same person, almost as if the sight of Matt's face has unveiled many long and forgotten memories from the back of his mind! Upon seeing this, Matt then cleverly figures out that the Purple Children must have something to do with this 'mass memory wipe' -- most probably with the use of their father's top secret weapon, the Psycho-Prism -- even though deep inside he's pretty sure they did it with the best of intentions.

Unfortunately he's unable to get any clarification due to them not being around when he goes back to see them. Nonetheless, the fact remains that they've managed to make the whole wide world forget that Matt Murdock is Daredevil, be it the police, the criminals, and everyone else in between, which in someway has given Matt a new dilemma to deal with: Who should he reveal his secret identity to and who should he still leave in the dark?

And that, dear reader, is how issue 20 of Daredevil gradually plays out. Overall I thought that it was a very good story and I did enjoy the emotional parts of it more than I thought I would, especially those scenes involving Matt and Kirsten, plus the way in which he tries to justify to himself that leaving her was a good thing.

I also enjoyed following the artwork provided by Ron Garney. Even though some of his layouts looked fairly minimal in places, sparse even, what I appreciated the most was how a lot of his work appeared to be very 80s inspired, just in the way in which he drew people's faces and composed certain scenes. 

So yeah, all in all this is a great story and a smart stepping stone for things yet to come. I mean, what could Matt's plan be and how will he react when he catches up with Killgrave? Worst still, how will Electra react? It won't be good, for that I am fairly certain, ha!

THE MUSIC:

There's a scene in this comic book where Daredevil runs around town and beats-up a selection of hoods, muggers, and criminals. While he's doing this he also grabs them by the collar and asks them to 'Say His Name', which, obviously, they reply back to in a fairly truthful fashion. Although, I would've liked to have seen at least one quoting from the following song sung by Destiny's Child!

What? Too satirical?

THE COMPARISON:

In the 1947 Frank Capra classic, "It's A Wonderful Life", we see a man named George Bailey walking around town and meeting people who've forgotten who he is. Admittedly, he did make a bargain with a fallen angel to make this happen. Yet, that said, those feelings of loneliness and abandonment he had throughout this adventure, kind of mirrors what Matt is going through throughout his.

Comparison made.

THE CONCLUSION:

At the end of this issue Matt asks his pastor if he could assign him some sort of penance. So, for the sake of all things holy, let's see if you can guess what he assigns him out of the following eight options? Could it be…

• To beat up Donald Trump.
• To support saggy chested women by holding up their tits.
• To wear spectacles which are more angular by design, rather than those round ones he always has on.
• To instigate his top-secret plan for eradicating crime in the city.
• To be nice.
• To repeat 8 'Hell Mary's', 9 'Our Father's', and 754 'How much?'.
• To never molest a camel.
• To stop reading lists.

Nuff said.