DAREDEVIL #9 & #10

There once was a brand new hero, who decided to count down to zero. But after number two, he wanted to have a poo, because his stomach was as toxic as De Niro. Want to know more? Then please ignore the following adventure created by Chip Zdarsky, Lalit Kumar Sharma, Jorge Fornes, and published by Marvel Comics in September, 2019.

TO QUOTE St. Jerome: ‘Love is not to be purchased, and affection has no price’.

THE STORY:

Did you know that Matt Murdock spends most of his days going around town and talking to whoever he meets? Heck, just the other day, he spent his morning and afternoon speaking to Reed Richards about the existence of God, Mindy Libris about her current family situation, as well as Sister Elizabeth about hope, despair, and a possible new direction.

Although, to be fair, Matt doesn’t only talk about this, that, and the other; because he also finds some time to retrieve lost children, shag someone he fancies, and save Detective Cole North from being killed. Want to know more? Then please pick up issue 9 and 10 of Daredevil today! In the meantime though, here, have a look at this…

THE REVIEW:

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed reading these two episodes of Daredevil because the art was dark, moody, and easy on the eye, whereas the story in itself was one part conversational, one part suspenseful, and one part rooted in reality. In many ways, certain sections of the story reminded me of a Parisian melodrama made in the early seventies, like ‘Le Boucher’, for instance, where characters would have these in-depth discussions about life, death, and the meaning of existence, before they each go their separate ways and get into some sort of mischief. In fact, the parallels between the two are so-so similar, I’m now going to give you my opinions on this ongoing saga, question and answer style!

1) Can you still call a hero ‘a hero’ if they’re willing to sleep with someone who’s married? Well, I suppose that all depends on your point of view. If you can't connect with any of the culprits, no, probably not, simply because a hero is meant to stand for something pure and innocent! But if you can connect with them on an emotional level, then in that case, yes, you’d most probably base your judgment on their personality rather than their transgression. Either way, cheating is bad, deceitful, and should never be applauded, which is why I was very surprised when Matt Murdock slept with Mindy. Well, let’s face it; even though he’s been known to make mistakes from time to time, by and large, he normally tries to think with his head -- his top head -- rather than with his heart. Now, though, he’s thinking too much, far too much, and that explains why he’s spending most of his time therapeutically speaking to friends and colleagues about his bipolar predicament. On the one hand, he wants to be Daredevil and he’s trying to find a way of becoming him again. Whereas, on the other hand, he hates violence and is ashamed of his actions within the confines of his faith, a faith that is known to be morally judgemental towards sinners and those who fight fire with fire.

2) Is Detective Cole North doing the right thing? Well, just like Matt’s predicament, it’s pretty difficult to determine if what he’s doing is the right thing or not. After all, he’ll be damned if he goes up against the crooked cops and he’ll be damned if he doesn’t. So, no matter what way you want to look at it, he’s doomed to die, fry, or get spit in the eye! Although, I do see two possible ways of getting out of this mess! Firstly, he could just ‘go with the flow’ until he can compile a team around him in order to fight back. And secondly, he could ‘do a Daredevil’ by disguising himself as someone else before attacking his foes from behind the scenes. Besides, what else can Cole do? It’s not like he has enhanced abilities or a team of metahumans at his disposal! Unlike Matt, of course, who does have all of these things (if needed) and would be an ideal person to go to for either advice or help! So, you know, maybe a team-up is on the cards between the two? And no, I’m not talking about the team-up that happened at the end of issue 10. But rather, a meeting of the minds so they can hash out their differences and come to some form of resolution!

3) Was this story any good? Yes, yes it was, because both of these episodes were crammed to the hilt with so many juicy details I’m not entirely sure which one I should praise first! I mean, should I start off by saying how much I loved reading Matt’s discussion with Reed in issue 9? A discussion that basically summed them both up in terms of personality and perception! Or alternatively, should I applaud that fast-paced, action-packed, fight scene instead? The one featuring Matt and Cole at the end of issue 10 where the two of them go all ‘John Woo’ on a gang of crooked cops! Or better yet, should I mention its biblical subtext (Amen), Matt’s new secret identity (Hallelujah), the possible connection between the bookshop fire and Mindy’s infidelity (Ouch!), or the predicament Matt now finds himself in with Joe? (The brother of the man he accidentally killed) Well, whatever one I want to praise first, I must say that I loved reading these two issues! But not as much as loving the dramatic direction this series is currently taking! Onwards and upwards, down and dirty, and love and death!

4) Which artist is more appropriate for this book: Lalit Kumar Sharma or Jorge Fornes? Well, that’s a difficult question to answer because both men really know how to draw! Lalit, for instance, is great at depicting down to earth characters, emotions, and situations that range from the urban to the mundane. Whereas Jorge, on the other hand, seems to specialize in hard-boiled noir where mood takes precedence over plot! Although, if I had to pick one out of the two, I suppose I would select Jorge due to his prior association drawing non-powered heroes -- namely, Batman -- plus his style of art does seem to suit Daredevil’s style of crime-fighting, both in tone (dark) and subject matter (crime). I would also like to give a shout out to the colorist, Jordie Bellaire, because she smartly painted each scene with a flat range of unified colors based on the environment and the surroundings: red, cyan, and purple for the dark scenes, and peach, lime, and sandy for the lighter scenes. So, on the whole, good job!

THE MUSIC:

For this month’s musical match-up, I’m going to align this adventure with the Taylor Swift song, ‘Should've Said No’, mainly because of Matt’s extramarital relationship with Mindy.

THE COMPARISON:

I’ve previously compared these two episodes to a seventies Parisian melodrama and a film made by John Woo! So, no matter what I say here, my final comic book comparison has to be a combination of the two film genres mixed together. Something like this, for instance...

THE CONCLUSION:

At the end of issue 10, Matt Murdock suddenly comes face to face with one of his old, coff-coff, lady friends! So, out of the following eight options, let’s see if you can guess who she is? I mean, could it be…

Karen Page: His first ex-girlfriend.
Kirsten McDuffie: His previous ex-girlfriend.
Milla Donovan: His ex-wife.
Dakota North: Boy, Matt sure gets around!
Elektra Natchios: Is this why they call him the ‘man without fear’?
Natasha Romanoff: Or ‘hornhead’, for that matter!
Becky Blake: He’s a slag!
Foggy Nelson: Well, there was that one time in Vegas when...