DAREDEVIL #601

Knock-Knock! Who’s There? Justin. Justin who? You’re Justin time to read the following review of Daredevil! It’s focused on issue 601, and it was created by Charles Soule, Mike Henderson, and published by Marvel Comics in May, 2018.

TO QUOTE Arnold Schwarzenegger: 'To restore the trust of the people, we must reform the way the government operates'.

THE REVIEW:

At the end of last months episode, Daredevil, real name: Matt Murdock, was arrested by the authorities as soon as he found out that his alter-ego has been appointed to be the new mayor of New York City. After all, Matt is the current deputy mayor, so it only stands to reason that he should get an upgrade since Wilson, the police, and nigh on everyone else living in the city, are being shot at, abused, and used as target practice by the nefarious Hand.

With that said, however, we still have to ask ourselves, how is Matt going to break free and accept this governmental post? Saying so while taking into account that the rest of his allies have also been arrested and detained! Want to know more? Then please pick up issue 601 of Daredevil today. In the meantime though, here, check this out...

Part 1) YES AND NO: Do you know what a ‘boolean expression’ is? If not, please allow me to explain: A boolean expression is commonly used by computer programmers in order to define and then execute either positive or negative statements. For example, if little Johnny is a good boy, emphasis on good, then he will get a pudding after his meal. But if he’s a bad boy, emphasis on bad, then he won’t. It’s as simple as that, really, and in many ways kind of sums up what I think about this straightforward adventure. It’s clean, it’s well thought-out, and it has an overreaching arc that’s firmly focused on one key event.

Well, we have to remember that at the very heart of this story is the fact that Daredevil needs to escape from his confinement: Because if he doesn’t, everyone is doomed, but if he does, he can become the new Mayor, release his heroic friends, and then they can all band together and take on The Hand, Bang-Pow-Slam-Boing! So do you see what I mean about this adventure hinging on one key event? It makes sense, doesn’t it? More or less, and goes to show how great a writer Charles Soule really is!

I particularly liked how he was able to enhance the overall plot by giving each of his characters a clear attitude and some much-needed depth, especially Matt, what with the way he carried himself during that scene near the end where he had to lay down the law and take control of the situation. I also enjoyed reading Charles's take on Matt’s cocky personality, particularly in those scenes where he slyly glances at ‘the camera’ and says something witty, Deadpool style, as it shows him as being fun, overconfident, down to Earth, and full of blatant humor.

That said, however, the one thing I wasn’t too keen on was how everything was nicely put in place last month only for it to be swiftly resolved this month. I mean, it was a little bit too on the nose for my own liking, although I am thankful for the wiggle room we still have left for next months episode, hint-hint!

Part Two) WILSON RIP: If we have to believe everything featured in this issue, then that would mean Wilson Fisk is going to be out for the count for quite some time. But hey, we know better, don’t we? A lot better, and I say this because over the years he’s been stabbed, shot at, pushed off of a tall building, and blinded, amongst others. So, from the looks of it: Dead doesn’t really mean dead in a comic book universe!

Seriously, try to think about the last time someone died in a comic book and never returned! There can’t be many, for that I’m certain, and that’s while discounting all of those heroes and villains from parallel-worlds and timelines which are no longer with us. Heck, once upon a time there was an old saying amongst us comic book fans that read, ‘No one will ever stay dead except for Jason Todd and Bucky Barnes'. But that’s no longer true, is it? Especially since one of them is starring in a major Hollywood movie whereas the other one has his own team and his own comic book series!

Still, that aside, what does any of this actually mean when it comes down to the self-titled Kingpin of crime, Wilson Fisk? He won’t stay dead, that's for sure, and at best he may be severely injured and in dire need of some extra recovery time. Apart from that though, what else can he do to pull himself back from the brink?

Well, I do have one idea, just the one, and it involves the very people who shot him full of arrows, The Hand. Or to be more specific about it, their leader, The Beast, the big bad Beast, who behaves like Fisk, who looks a bit like Fisk, and, given half a chance, could actually possess Fisk and use him as a vessel in order to do his bidding. What do you think, dear reader? Is this a good theory or something best left forgotten? Please let me know in the comment section below. Or alternatively, tell me what you think the final fate of Fisk will be!

Part Three) MIKE THE MAN: Mike Henderson is an illustrator from Portland, Oregon, and was once a student at the Joe Kubert School of Art. Since graduating he's worked on a number of different projects for such companies as Viper Comics, Arcana Studios, DC Comics, Aardwolf, IDW, Image, and of course, now Marvel, where he’ll be taking over from Ron Garney as the regular artist on this book.

Well, I thought it best I tell you this now, otherwise, you might be wondering who this new chap is and why Ron is no longer with us. According to Newsarama, a pretty popular website, after leaving this book Ron will be illustrating a few issues of Astonishing X-Men before moving on to pastures new. So this leaves the doors wide open for this new chap, Mike Henderson, to jump in his place, once completing his previous project, ‘Deadpool vs. Old Man Logan’.

So, now we’ve seen what he has on offer, what do you think of Mike’s work? Do you like it? Do you hate it? Or are you indifferent? As far as I’m concerned, yes, I love it, I definitely love it, big time, because I think his work is detailed, well-paced, pleasing on the eye, and I’m so happy that he’s now joined Charles on this ongoing series. Go on, just take a look at some of the images provided and see for yourself how good he really is.

From my point of view Mike’s style of art kind of reminds me of the work produced by Shawn McManus, best known for drawing such books as ‘Fabels’, ‘Legend of the Dark Knight’, and ‘Doctor Fate’, among others. Although Shawn’s brand of art does slightly veer towards the cartoonish side of things, the two of them do share a similar down to Earth tone and vibe, visually at least. I also appreciate how Mike has gone out of his way to maintain the tonal style previously established by Ron Garney, more specifically, the film noir style, and this can be seen during the opening sequence (see pictures provided) as well as in that smartly choreographed action scene that followed. So all in all, this is a great book, it has a promising future, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what we have in store next month. Great stuff!

THE MUSIC:

For fairly obvious reasons this story reminded me of the song harmonized by the Andrew Sisters, ‘The Cockeyed Mayor of Kaunakakai’, albeit a touch less topical and tropical, hint-hint!

THE COMPARISON:

From a structural point of view, this episode is very much like a stack of dominoes, each lined up, ready to take a fall. After all, all you really need is one simple push and you can see everything eventually falling down, one, by one, by one.

THE CONCLUSION:

Near the end of this issue, Matt Murdock does something fairly bad to Wilson’s chief of staff, Wesley Welch. So, out of the following eight options, let’s see if you can guess what he does to him? Does he...