With his powers fading again, Daredevil has to muster everything he has, one last time, to save the city from Bullseye’s plot. Your Major Spoilers review of Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell #3 awaits!

DAREDEVIL: COLD DAY IN HELL #3

Writers: Charles Soule and Steve McNiven
Artist: Steve McNiven
Colorist: Dean White
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Editor: Nick Lowe
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $6.99
Release Date: August 6th, 2025

Previously in Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell: In the future, in a version of NYC that’s been ravaged by war and disease, Matt Murdoch is suddenly given his powers back in a freak accident. A young girl named Tyra has also displaying powers. Matt’s old nemesis Bullseye is also looking to come out of retirement, and he has all the arsenal he needs to make it a big problem for everyone.

PUTTING ON A SHOW

Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell #3 starts with Bullseye reacting to reports of a man in red swinging about the city. He’s also in prep mode and begins to inject the chemical that he’s been hording. With his shakes gone, he heads out to enact his big plan, leaving his henchmen behind to take care of the remains of Frank Castle, who he’s released from his restraints. Frank is able to drag himself to a cybernetic suit and utilizes it to take out the grunts and release the girl, Tyra. Elsewhere, Daredevil is struggling with his powers, they keep glitching in and out. Suddenly Bullseye appears on the large screen and begins to speak his manifesto to the people. Daredevil then shows up on the scene and the two get ready for their final showdown.

GOING RIGHT TO LEFT

Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell #3 is one of those books that has the appearance of being written backwards. Throughout the issue there’s a lot of strange character decisions and convenient sequences. It’s when things come to a head in the final fourth of the issue that it becomes clear that all these odd story choices were put in place to make sure a very specific ending happened. There is a throwaway explanation for some of these choices, it’s hardly satisfying enough. While this does make the conclusion of this series feel forced and unnatural, it’s still a pretty entertaining ending. While the specific sentiments expressed in the ending aren’t exactly new, they are delivered in a way that feels like it would only make sense in a Daredevil book. It’s ripe with Catholic guilt and ponderings on faith, with plenty of religious imagery, but also brutally violent and unafraid of grit. Also, while we do get some definitive endings for some of the characters here, the world is left in an ambiguous place, with just enough hints to suggest a path it will take, it’s a clever conclusion all around.

SOME DIMINISHED IMPACT

While this series hasn’t shied away from some grotesque and bloody imagery, Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell #3 ups the ante a bit and it’s not for the best. The problem is that it becomes distracting in pivotal moments and makes dramatic scenes have an air of silliness to them. Like, it’s very hard to take a moment of fatal defiance seriously when the person speaking it is missing the skin from the bottom half of their face. Other than that, the art works well here. Daredevil looks spry and limber, the fighting feels like it has real impact, and the final pages are gorgeous with a poetic touch.

BOTTOM LINE: A BIT TO SOLDIER THROUGH TO GET TO A SATISFYING CONCLUSION

I don’t blame the creators for wanting readers to get to the last quarter of this book as quickly as possible. The story wraps up in a satisfying way and visually the best work of the series happens here too. The unfortunate side effect of this is that the pages that lead up to this aren’t nearly as enjoyable. The early part of this issue has a few awkward moments and odd lines of dialog that only make sense by the end and even then, it still feels off. Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell #3 is a fine wrap-up to this series and while it is hardly a definitive conclusion for the character, it’s a fitting one. 3 out of 5 stars.

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