Does Daredevil #2/650 Hit The Milestone Highs?

Legacy looms large as a new villain stakes a claim to Matt’s past and future and a cavalcade of stars team up to celebrate 650 issues of horn-headed justice. Daredevil #2/#650 is written by Chip Zdarsky, drawn by Marco Checchetto and Rafael De Latorre, colored by Matthew Wilson, and lettered by VC’s Clayton Cowles. Featuring artistic cameos by Alex Maleev, Paul Azaceta, Phil Noto, Chris Samnee, Klaus Janson, Mike Hawthorne, John Romita Jr., and Scott Hanna plus a bonus story by Ann Nocenti, drawn by Zdarsky.

Anna Peppard: It’s true what they say—the pandemic has made time lose all meaning, because I could have sworn we were reviewing Daredevil #1 a few short weeks ago, and now we’re reviewing Daredevil #650? I’m not a mathmagician, but that doesn’t add up. 

I am, of course, referring to this series’ “legacy numbering,” which accounts for the mega-sized-ness of this month’s 50-pager, featuring cameo splash pages by a bunch of notable folks from Daredevils past, including Alex Maleev, Chris Samnee, and Klaus Janson. There’s also a vignette by Ann Nocenti (aka The Best Daredevil Writer), illustrated by Zdarsky. But I’m still confused about where all the time went, because I have apparently read 650 issues of Daredevil. I’m also still not a mathmagician, but I do own a calculator. So let’s do this:

Approx. 10 minutes/issue X 650 issues = 6500 minutes = 108 hours = 4.5 days

Meaning—I have lost at least 4.5 days of my life to reading Daredevil. Or, to put it another way—I’ve had the tremendous pleasure of spending 4.5 days watching Matt Murdock screw up and get up and occasionally save the city, or at least a New Yorker or two. No regrets, would do it again.

What’s your mood this month, Rasmus? Do you feel the weight of DD’s legacy bearing down on you like 40 tons of derailed subway car? 

Rasmus Lykke: Nope!

But then again, I haven’t actually read every issue (not yet, at least!), so my burden is much lighter. I’ve cherry-picked, only reading the good stuff. 

Like you touch upon, this is a weird one. It’s both an extra-sized 650 celebration of Daredevil… and issue 2. The creative team is trying to serve two wildly different masters and it shows at times. Though it’s not a bad issue!

Anna: Ooh, kicking off this review by damning with faint praise! Sure, this comic doesn’t live up to the glory days of Daredevil fighting a demonic vacuum cleaner. (Think I’m kidding? I’m not.) But I enjoyed it. Beautiful action, a little romance, and my worst fears didn’t come to fruition–what’s not to love? In any case, time marches on, and so does the bloody soap opera of Matt’s life in this issue that both honors and rejigs his history. Let’s discuss!

Origin Stories

Anna: We open with a flashback to the secret origin of Robert Goldman, aka “Goldy,” aka a former Columbia law school classmate of Matt and Foggy, aka the guy who recently prosecuted Daredevil for murder, aka this series’ new antagonist. As you’ll recall from last issue, Goldy has some kind of precognition-related powers and calls himself Matt’s guardian angel (much to Matt’s dismay, since Goldy’s “guardianship” seems to involve lots of death and destruction). Goldy’s origin is a mirror of Matt’s. We all know Matt’s origin: he saves a man’s life by jumping in front of a truck but loses his sight by saving him. In Goldy’s origin, a nail flattens his bike tire, making him fall off and have to walk his bike home. The delay means he misses being caught in a fire that seemingly kills his family. Like Matt, Goldy both was and wasn’t in the right place at the right time. Also like Matt—this really messes him up.

Rasmus: The way their origins mirror each other and the steady revelation of times Goldy has been involved with Matt’s life, I half expect it to be revealed that he shoved the man that Matt saved onto the street or hired the delivery company. It’s a lot of retro-fitting in continuity, but it mostly works in this issue. And it definitely looks good!

Anna: Marco Checchetto and Rafael De Latorre are once again sharing art duties on the main story this month, with De Latorre handling the flashback sequences, including Goldy’s origin. And I gotta say—he absolutely nails it (pun intended). Almost all the info in that wordy paragraph I just finished writing is communicated through one mostly wordless page. When comics art is good, it’s very good—tell your friends, spread the gospel. 

From the site of Goldy’s defining trauma, we jump ahead to the present, specifically, the immediate aftermath of last issue, when Goldy claimed a train explosion—seemingly caused by him—precipitated  the death of Matt’s former beau and continued love of his life, Kirsten McDuffie. Goldy jumps off a bridge, Daredevil follows, and then a subway car crashes off the bridge in a terrifying, beautiful symphony of sparks and glass, doing that thing comics do so well, which works particularly well for the impossible action spectacles of superhero comics—while the car is hurtling downwards, ready to crush our protagonist to a pulp, it hangs suspended in air, using the stillness and subjective nature of time in comics to monumentalize scale and speed. Or, to once again put it another way—Checchetto draws a really freakin’ cool picture of an out-of-control subway car. If you haven’t already looked at it—go look at it, it looks nice.

Thoughts on this set-up, Rasmus?

Rasmus: It’s a nice way to show that Daredevil’s a street level hero, connected with the people. He’s protecting and saving everyday New Yorkers, even if he’s fighting someone who claims to be an actual guardian angel.

A claim that loses quite a bit of its muster, when Goldy is causing so much destruction and death around him. In my mind, it opens future events to two directions: Either Goldy actually is what he says he is and it’ll lead to Matt having a crisis of faith (again, again, again), which would drive him further into the darkness with Elektra. Or Goldy is a lunatic with powers, whose delusions make him think he’s an angel and fixate on Matt, until he’s eventually brought low, but probably not before Matt undergoes some of what I mentioned in the first possibility.

Or something entirely different is going to happen, that’s a lot better than my inane guesses. My point isn’t even truly in trying to figure out what’s going to happen next. That’s just guesswork and not terribly interesting, really. What is interesting is how many storytelling avenues Goldy opens for Zdarsky and the rest of the team. He’s a fascinating character and him and Matt are undoubtedly going to have more fascinating conversations in the future. This is a good start.

Anna: There’s a nice back-and-forth between Daredevil and Goldy throughout this opening sequence, where Goldy’s effortless passivity is practically and thematically contrasted with Daredevil’s tireless activity. Goldy watches Matt saving people, then trying to save himself, and does nothing. He just watches. Having Matt jump in front of the train to save a woman from being crushed was also a nice touch, since it once again evokes Matt’s origin. Are all these origin callbacks intentional in this megasized legacy issue? I’m not sure, but it worked for me. 

Love and Marriage

Anna: In between Daredevil nearly getting crushed by the subway car and then rescued from the rubble by some regular New Yorkers who have clearly forgiven him for all that stuff that happened in the last series, we get an extended flashback, again drawn by De Latorre, to an incident most memorably recounted in Frank Miller and John Romita Jr.’s Daredevil: The Man Without Fear miniseries from 1993. It’s the thing where Elektra and her dad are hostages, and pre-Daredevil Matt tries to save them. But he’s not that good at saving people yet, and a SWAT team ends up firing into the building, killing Elektra’s dad, resulting in her fulfilling the daddy complex destiny of her name. The twist in this retelling is that it’s Goldy who says the line, “they’re killing the hostages,” which is what escalates the confrontation. 

This type of retconning is risky; sometimes it adds to the original story, sometimes it diminishes it by adding too many bells and whistles. What was your mileage, Rasmus?

Rasmus: As I touched upon earlier, I’m a bit wary of them. If there are too many instances, it’s too much. This specific one is small enough, and singular, that it’s fine by me. Who’s to say what would’ve happened if Goldy hadn’t shouted it? Perhaps the shooter would’ve been jumpy enough to shoot anyway.

I will say that it’s a good sequence though. It shows a lot of the history between Matt and Elektra, how good they both were even at that early an age and how they work together. It’s all background stuff to the Goldy story, but it’s very effective in showing this history to the readers, since it’s bound to be more relevant the further we get into the Matt and Elektra the Hand story.

Anna: I share some of your reservations about the retconning. There’s a lot of piggybacking happening here to build up Goldy, presenting him as a crucial player in all the major events of Matt’s life. For me, the saving grace is the possibility it might be bullshit. I don’t trust Goldy. I also don’t trust Goldy’s perception of himself and his powers. We’ll see how it plays out.

Among the bits I enjoyed is the scene where Goldy meets Matt for the first time, or rather sees him across the quad, in all his sun-kissed, floppy-haired youthful beauty. Goldy’s mind draws golden wings and devil horns on Matt as he stares at him, wide-eyed with rapture, and declares himself Matt’s disciple. Part of me doesn’t want to read this scene as queer because genre fiction has enough queer serial killers already. But… it’s pretty queer. Not to mention identifiable, speaking as someone who’s read 650 issues of Daredevil. 

While we’re on the subject of worship—I know I’ve already griped a time or two about the depiction of religion in this book. But I can’t help one more little comment, about a little comment that temporarily took me out of what was otherwise an enjoyable issue. Matt Murdock is a guy who’s friends with actual gods from multiple earthly and alien pantheons. He’s made out with Mephisto and spent a bunch of time possessed by a non-Christian demon. The idea, introduced here via internal monologue, that he’s never cursed or doubted the omnipotence of Catholic God doesn’t jive for me. Like my partner in crime alluded to above–Matt is a walking, talking crisis of faith. But Zdarsky and I clearly have different takes on Matt’s relationship with his faith, I’ll try to let it go. And hopefully, I’ll do a better job of letting it go than Matt does letting go of Kirsten McDuffie—who is not dead! Hooray! 

That’s the good news. The better news is that Matt tells her he loves her. The bad news is Kirsten doesn’t want to hear it because she still doesn’t remember or realize that Daredevil is actually Matt. Let her figure it out, Chip. Please. Giving Kirsten the agency that comes with knowledge would go a long way toward making her feel like more of a character again, as opposed to a generic love interest prone to fridging threats. I miss Classic Kirsten—the one who appears in the Chris Samnee flashback pinup in this issue, punching baddies at DD’s side with a smile on her face. 

The record-scratch news is that despite loving Kirsten, Matt plans to marry Elektra. I don’t have an opinion on that at this juncture, but I am sure the wedding attire will slay (perhaps literally). 

Rasmus: I was very happy to see Kirsten back as well. I say I haven’t read all 650 issues of Daredevil, which is true, but I’ve still read a pretty big amount. And Matt has had both a large number of flings, but also several long term romantic partners. I’ve been here for a large number of them. And Kirsten is by far my favorite. Smart, capable, funny and just generally more than a match for Matt, despite not being a superhero. Even if she can throw a mean punch.

And now Matt’s going to marry Elektra. That does seem like a bad idea. Like such a bad idea that a guardian angel with precognition powers would say that he doesn’t even need his powers to see that they’ll be the death of each other. Just to name a hypothetical situation, of course.

Honestly, both when I read the book for the first time AND on the reread, I thought the story ended on that cliffhanger. It’s both huge news for the character and it’s clear that it’s going to turn out badly for all involved. It’s a perfect cliffhanger.

But it’s not enough for Zdarsky. Instead we end on Goldy turning himself in and saying he needs to be in a prison for criminals with superpowers. And he’s being really clear about that’s where he needs to be. Looks like he’s got a lot more hardship in sight for Daredevil. Uh huh.

Golden Oldies

Anna: We also need to talk about the guest stars, meaning those legacy pinups I mentioned at the top, which are inserted into the sparring match between Daredevil and Goldy. I also want to touch on the short story penned by Nocenti. 

These types of retrospectives are always interesting because it’s a spotlight on which parts of a character’s history are considered most relevant at which times. And I’m up in arms about this one. I won’t stand for this Bronze Age Daredevil erasure! I demand more splash pages featuring Black Widow and Stilt-Man! I will not rest until the (first) San Francisco DD era gets its due!

Rasmus: I was honestly surprised how recent most of that retrospective was. Everything was post-Bendis, with the exception of Frank Miller/Klaus Janson’s run and Ann Nocenti’s run, represented by Bloody Mary via John Romita JR. It seems like Goldy only started affecting Matt when things took a darker turn in the series.

I might’ve just not been paying enough attention to the press surrounding the issue, but I was also under the impression that the artists would be contributing something more than just a single page, so I must admit I was a bit disappointed by that. It felt light, as a celebratory issue. The pin-ups, lovely as they were, could’ve been two pages of panels in the issue by De Latorre or Checchetto and then the story would’ve been a perfectly normal issue 2 of a book. It didn’t have the gravitas of a good celebratory issue, in my opinion. But, to be fair, that’s out of the creative team’s hands. The relaunch was undoubtedly pushed more by Marvel, as it makes good business sense to do so. And getting more readers aboard this very good run is always a good thing.

Anna: The format is a lot like Daredevil #500, an issue I deeply cherished when it came out. But you’re right–it’s not as good. It’s a smaller celebration that doesn’t hold together quite as well. Same holds for the Nocenti story, which I liked, but doesn’t live up to the quiet, profound beauty of her vignette in Daredevil #500, drawn by David Aja. That said, it’s definitely got Nocenti vibes. She loves pairing DD with kids and teens, along with a fondness for dark humor, irony, and exploring Matt’s connection to the community. This story checks all of those boxes. 

Rasmus: Vibes is the right word. It doesn’t so much tell a story. It’s more of a vibe, showing a small rooftop, the conflicted petty criminal family that lives there and how they come into contact with Daredevil. Figuring out exactly what happens, in what order and to whom is a bit of a struggle, but it does speak to the vibe of New York (and specifically Hell’s Kitchen), Daredevil’s role within it and the struggle of everyday people.

I’ll be honest and say it didn’t really work for me. Did it work better for you, Anna?

Anna: I will also be honest and say I had to read it five times to try and figure out what happened, in what order, and why. I’ll be even more honest and say I don’t understand the conclusion of the story, where Matt’s like, “the police know this guy was left-handed, but your boss doesn’t, how are you going to play it?” Everyone smiles like there’s a clever twist but I just… don’t get it. If the police know the killer wasn’t left-handed, why would giving them a gun with right-handed fingerprints even be on the table…? If there are readers who understood the ending and are able to explain it to me–please do! I am not too proud to admit I might have missed the point.

In any case, Nocenti’s Daredevil run is iconic and nothing can ever change that. If there’s anyone reading this who hasn’t read it–it’s never too late to change your life! Even if it takes you upwards of 4.5 days to finish it (you’re going to want to read slowly to enjoy the stellar JR JR art), I promise you won’t regret it.

Marvelous Musings:

• This comic features a “Marvel Remembers” page honoring the late Tim Sale. It’s always the right time to read or revisit Sale’s gorgeous art in Daredevil: Yellow.
• Some of these pin-ups are really gorgeous and it’s a real treat to see the artists drawing DD again. The Samnee page is especially jaw-dropping, in that classic Samnee fashion.
• Interestingly, no present day Elektra in this issue. It’ll be interesting to see how the split between the two Daredevils will be handled going forward.
• One aspect of these celebratory issues that did work well for me, was the Chris Giarrusso Mini Marvels strip in the back. A lot of fun parallels between DD, Elektra and Bullseye pointedly pointed out.

Anna Peppard

Anna is a PhD-haver who writes and talks a lot about representations of gender and sexuality in pop culture, for academic books and journals and places like Shelfdust, The Middle Spaces, and The Walrus. She’s the editor of the award-winning anthology Supersex: Sexuality, Fantasy, and the Superhero and co-hosts the podcasts Three Panel Contrast and Oh Gosh, Oh Golly, Oh Wow!

Rasmus Skov Lykke

Rasmus Skov Lykke will write for food (or, in a pinch, money). When not writing, he spends his time with his wife, their daughter and their cats, usually thinking about writing.