DAREDEVIL #1

[ DARE TO BUY ] 

Despite starring in a hit TV series brandishing his own name, Matt's back. That's Matt Murdock of course. Yet this time his comic book adventures are being chronicled by Charles Soule and Ron Garney. Marvel Comics, I hope you know what you're doing this December, 2015. Because if you don't, ouch, you'll be sorry!

TO QUOTE Lady Gaga: 'I am my own sanctuary and I can be reborn as many times as I choose throughout my life'.

THE REVIEW:

The first thing you'll notice about this brand new Daredevil series is how different it is compared to Mark and Chris's previous incarnation. Stylistically it adheres to a red, white, and black, muted color pallet, offset by an occasional de-saturated olive hue, thus making the overall narrative seem more hard-boiled in stature and timely in tone. This is then complemented by a number of additional story and character elements, showing to us regular Daredevil comic book readers that this is definitely, and positively, a brand new take on old horn head.

Now where Matt's character is concerned he does now seem like a changed person. Rather than being a defense attorney he's a prosecuting attorney, implying that he'll become a more in-your-face type of a lawyer. His relationship with Foggy also seems to be slightly different too. At the moment their union seems more restrained than normal, intense even. And this fact is exacerbated even more so by the revelation that, shock-horror, only Foggy seems to know that Matt is Daredevil: The Man With Out Fear.

How this sudden turn of events has come to pass hasn't yet been revealed! And to me, as an avid Daredevil fan who was a big advocate of the previous series, I am very intrigued to know why Marvel has decided to take this sideways step with Matt's character. Does this have anything to do with the new Daredevil TV series? Is this just a way for Marvel to reset their universe without blowing anything up? And if either of these two scenarios are valid, how did people forget about Matt being his alter-ego so quickly? Plus will there be a 'get out clause' or any other 'exceptions to the rule', as there is in Foggy's case?

Another thing I'm not too sure about is the addition of this Blindspot character. Presently Matt appears to be mentoring him in some sort of an 'on the job training scheme', showing him the ropes, so to speak, when he's not talking with his present day client, deep down in the elevator shaft of his new law office.

Oh! One minute. I almost forgot to tell you about the basic crux of the story, haven't I? Well, story-wise I did enjoy reading this initial issue because of its enveloping nature. Conceptually its about a snitch called Billy Li (who I presume to be a homage to Billy Lo, a character Bruce Lee played in 'Game Of Death', and Bruce Li, the most popular of the Bruce Lee clones), who Daredevil saves from a gang of Asian street thugs that has some sort of association with an as of yet undefined religious order. Once he saves him from a fall off of the Manhattan Bridge, Daredevil and Blindspot beat up the street thugs who threw Billy off in the first place, before taking him back to Foggy's apartment (for safe keeping), so he can discuss Billy's snitching with him at his law office the following day.

Yeah. That's basically it where this episode is concerned. Not that this is a bad thing of course. Charles and Ron had to do quite a lot in this comic as it is. They had to set up the story. They had to set up the new status-quo. And they had to make it entertaining for us as well.

Good job all round guys. Let's see what you have in store for us next month.

THE MUSIC:

If you like to know why I'm musically matching up this tale to the Street Fighter 2 sound-track, then if I was you, I'd read the following section...

THE COMPARISON:

On the whole I'd say this comic book is about redefining someone's personality traits from being proactive-defensive to being proactive-offensive. And to me, this change of attitude can easily be seen in Matt's new take on life as well as the way he coerced Billy to take a stand against those thugs who did him wrong.

So, that is why I'm comparing the book to OJ Simpson: Offensive attitude, defensive lifestyle. Think about it. You know it makes sense. Ish.

THE CONCLUSION:

Now before its revealed why no one can remember that Matt Murdock is Daredevil, I thought it would be a fun idea for me to take a guess at what happened and why. So, wait for it, wait for it, how's this...

• Doctor Strange waves his magic wand and blah-blah-blah, snore-snore-snore, Shazam.
• Matt Murdock hosts a new reality based TV show where the general public gets to choose who will be the next superstar superhero. However, the show is so bad everyone forgets about Matt and his secret identity as soon as it's pulled off the air.
• Batman and Superman team-up to fight Iron Man and Captain America. Dinner at eleven. Forgetfulness at twelve.
• Matt goes to everybody's house, one at a time, and politely asks if they can forget that he's really Daredevil.
• Iron Man has a fight with Daredevil that's so brutal and so harrowing, the whole world gets shocked, stunned, and amnesia during the aftermath.
• The powers that be at DC Comics sneak into the offices at Marvel, and changes Charles' script before Ron gets to pen it. Afterward, something bad happens, blah-blah-blah, snore-snore-snore, Shazam.
• The world blows up in a galactic crossover event involving ten one-off-specials, eight four-part mini-series, a potato, five packets of packets, four French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Nuff said.