Daredevil #7 Review

An Original Sin Daredevil tie-in issue starts off with an over the top superhero fight, but quickly becomes a surprising and thoughtful real-world tale.

Daredevil #7

Written by Mark Waid

Art by: Javier Rodriguez & Alvaro Lopez

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Cover Price: $3.99

Previously on Daredevil: Three nuns have been kidnapped by Wakandan officials, and one of them is Daredevil’s mother! With his mother in danger, how will Daredevil ever find the answer to these memories from his childhood that keep popping up?

WAKANDA AGO-GO

Last issue’s cliffhanger brilliantly leads us into the beginning of issue seven. Which starts with Daredevil leaping blindly (no pun intended) out of a plane into the heart of the Wakandan jungle. What makes this sequence so brilliant is the fact that this is taking place in a Daredevil comic book. Eight years ago, if you had told me that Mark Waid would have Matt Murdock fighting Doctor Doom, The Spot, and the new Black Panther, I would have called you crazy. Daredevil belongs on the streets! Fighting ninjas, the old me would have shouted from rooftops. The fact that this sequence can take place in a Daredevil comic book is a shining example to quality of Mark Waid’s top notch scripting.

So Daredevil hops into Wakanda, and is quickly captured. Brought before the queen, he has only one skill that can win the day, his lawyering techniques. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, he wins this battle not with brawn but with a knowledge of courtroom procedure. Soon, the issue takes a hard shift. Settling on a single scene between his mother and himself, it’s here where the real story begins.

It’s also where the issue shows its flaws. Matt’s mother reveals the real reason why she left so many years ago. It doesn’t nix or contradict anything of Frank Miller’s run, but  actually deepens and adds another layer to it. This scene really sticks as this book which started the story embroiled in big superhero theatrics deals with an issue that is very prevelant in our world. It makes us care for Matt’s mother. It also makes the opening of the book feel very tacked on, and silly in comparison.

The second half of the issue is quite strong, and finally settles a mystery that has been lingering in Daredevil’s fictional life for years. Where Waid decides to go with this juicy story nugget could lead to a lot of excellent Daredevil stories in the years to come.

JUNGLE FEVER

When your character has a radar sense and can only see in shapes, the art team has to be top notch. Thankfully, Rodriguez and Lopez do not disappoint. Lopez’s inks are heavy and tight. Letting us see every impact and move of the fast and furious Wakandan soldiers. Rodriguez brings in the colors as we see a plenthora of foilage and fauna in the jungle come to life. Every location and every scene, no matter how small, is brought to life in a great way.

THE BOTTOM LINE: SKIP WAKANDA, GO STRAIGHT TO MOMMA

Daredevil #7 is the perfect mix of a Daredevil book. We have the out of the world superheroics which seem to be the course of the Marvel Now Daredevil book. We also have the small dramatic real world scenes that were the hallmark of Daredevil books of the past. Combine the two and you get a solid issue. If you are any kind of a fan of ol’ hornhead, you owe it to yourself to pick up this book.