Daredevil #36
And that is how Matt Murdock comes to live in San Francisco...
Daredevil has been one of the most consistent and purely enjoyable Marvel comics over the last few years and the conclusion to the current volume is no exception. The shocking cliffhanger of the previous issue, where Matt states emphatically that he is Daredevil, plays out here with incredbile storytelling ease.
The events in the courtroom are framed by a emotional and bittersweet opening scene between Matt and Foggy Nelson, as The Man Without Fear discloses to his cancer stricken partner what he intends to do in court. This scene encapsulates what I have always loved about this series; the emotional bond that Matt has with his closest friends and allies, especially Foggy, is what drives and pushes him forward. This has been key to Waid’s run throughout, and what gave this book heart. This allows Matt to be vulnerable not because of his blindness but instead because of how close he allows those he holds dear to become. The creative team of Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, and Javier Rodriguez have known exactly how to build a world where Daredevil does not need to be gritty and dark to be emotionally heavy.
When the slow burn of the courtroom scene reaches its denouement, and the Serpents attack squadron busts in, Matt and the readers knows the fix is in. Daredevil has won and therefore so has the justice system. The cleansing of the Serpents is complete and Matt happily deals with the consequences knowing that he has done his duty.
While this final issue was a nice cap on an outstanding run it does still seem to read quickly. Plowing through a lackluster fight scene with only Serpent thugs made it seem all too easy for Daredevil. Not to mention the biggest problem with this book; it does not feel like a final issue to a series. Instead, it feels like the end of the Sons of The Serpent story line. The renumbering of Marvel titles is something that could beneficial to new readers if the stories were brand new, starting from a fresh spot or with a new creative team. Instead, Marvel has decided to renumber Daredevil to a number one while maintaining the same storyline and talent. While Waid, Samnee and Rodriguez aren’t finished and current readers are better off for it the problem is that new readers coming in, even with a recap page or back material, will still be underinformed about the significance of the the past. Furthermore, keeping the numbering would encourage new readers to go back to and pick up the trades of the previous arcs, with a new series there is no motivation to do so.
So with that we have the end of Daredevil. It will be back, mostly the same, in a few weeks only with a new setting. We will have more Waid plotting to devour, Samnee layouts (like this week’s I AM DAREDEVIL page) to fawn over and Rodriguez colors to indulge in. It is not the end of an outstanding series, it is a shift. Not that you’d know by looking at the numbering.
7.5 out of 9 Panels
(W) Mark Waid
(A) Chris Samnee
Marvel Comics
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Steven DeFeo
@Stevezie
