DAREDEVIL #21

Within my possession I have a plan of the utmost importance, a plan which involves Charles Soule and Goran Sudzuka breaking into the offices of Marvel Comics, and then stealing from them a big cake full of cream, chocolate, and, you know, calories-a-plenty. Hopefully we'll be able to serve it up in June, 2017, along with the following review.

TO QUOTE Julius Caesar: 'If you must break the law, do it to seize power: in all other cases observe it'.

THE REVIEW:

Over the years Matt Murdock has done his best to eradicate crime from the streets of New York City. Not only has he done this in a legal capacity, but he's also done this in a physical capacity, too: Hence, his reasons for carrying out a top-secret plan for stopping organised crime, once and for all.

Now the way in which this story goes about showing this isn't made quite clear in the first part of 'Supreme'. From what I can tell so far, Matt's plan involves him carrying out a two pronged attack. The first part seems to be focused on him discussing a legalized proposition with his boss, Mister Hochberg, where as the second part centers on Daredevil and a group of heroes stopping a team of villains from distributing some super-powered weaponry.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, what ties these two story-strands nicely together is finally revealed on the very last page. Of course I don't want to tell you too much or else I may spoil the surprise. Although, what I can say, is that during the first stage of Daredevil's plan he has to stop these gun wielding villains without laying a single hand on them, which, in many ways, explains why he hired Luke Cage and Echo (two great characters) to help him out with this, as well as justifying why his final revelation needs to be shrouded in secrecy.

Another surprising element sown into this adventure is how Charles Soule managed to link it with issue 9 of Daredevil, the issue in which he teamed up with Spider-Man in Hong Kong. Honestly, this aspect was so cleverly told, it almost seems like Charles is now starting to hit his stride, indirectly elevating this series to appear more cohesive and less fractured by design.

I must also applaud Goran Suduka for the artwork he provided for this book. On the whole I felt that his bold and clean visuals allowed the simplicity of the story to flow in a very pedestrian fashion, despite it being a two-sided plot-line. Unfortunately, I wasn't too keen on how this said-same-style impeached its four main villains, Ammo, Steeljacket, Tracer, and Slug, as it's pedestrian nature didn't quite aide their imposing stature. Yet having said that, it did lend itself to the more action oriented scenes as well as the more dynamic set-pieces, particularly the fighting sequences and the final chase with the garbage truck.

Oh! And while I'm on the subject of that scene with the garbage truck, boy-oh-boy, wasn't that a great scene to follow! More or less I felt that the whole scenario came across like an 80s buddy cop movie with both Luke and Daredevil playing the proverbial roles of Murtaugh and Riggs, Lethal Weapon style, especially when it ended, when the two of them had to bail out!

So yeah, all in all I'd say this issue of Daredevil was a nice one to read. The art was good, the story was compelling, and hands down, I would love to figure out what the hell Matt is going to be up to next month.

THE MUSIC:

This story is essentially about someone who wants to manipulate the law and provoke a positive outcome. So, when I put it in those terms, how could I not musically match it up with the Bobby Fuller classic, 'I Fought The Law (And The Law Won)'.

THE COMPARISON:

Still sticking with this legal-based theme, and I'd say this issue is the visual equivalent of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Please click here for more details.

THE CONCLUSION:

At the very end of this book Daredevil does something that's rather shocking to behold. So, for the sake of all things legal, let's see if you can guess what he does out of the following eight options? Could he...