Daredevil #31 is all about the ending. The last page, if the person involved is who it appears to be, could spell an entirely new dawn for the Man Without Fear. It all depends on where writer Mark Waid wants to go with it. As arcs go, this one begins a feud with DD’s old nemesis, The Jester – not exactly as crazy as the Clown Prince of Crime, but still a formidable foe. Like I said, if the end is real and Waid doesn’t play the nick-of-time card, things might get seriously sinister for Daredevil once again.
We open in the cancer ward, where a support group meeting is taking place. A pretty blonde candy striper hands out t-shirts with DD on the front. Enter Foggy Nelson, who tells everyone how Daredevil aspires to be fearless, and the fearlessness is contagious. I have a small point of order here in that I thought Matt Murdock was still trying to hide is secret identity. If so, wouldn’t this kind of be a big giveaway?
Moving on. Matt Murdock, back at the office he now shares with Kirsten McDuffie, the former girlfriend who once tried to organize a task force to bring Daredevil down. The Bainwood verdict interrupts the awkwardness of the situation. Bainwood is the case of a rich society woman with a long recorded history of bigotry standing accused of shooting a defenseless African-American honor student. As we know with these cases, Bainwood is acquitted, which is where things get interesting.
James Priest, a legal legend in New York, is prosecuting. As racial tensions mount due to the verdict, Priest appears on TV, and the public waits for his words of wisdom. Instead, he cries foul to the verdict and shows the city the names and addresses of the jury, urging them to kill those who returned the injustice. Problem is, it wasn’t Priest’s voice – it was a careful set up from the Jester by way of the Sons of the Serpent, a white power group recently dedicated to screwing with Daredevil.
So it goes. Daredevil gives chase, does battle, and saves the day. He even manages to involve Hank Pym in a bit of weather manipulation. Here’s where things get weird. The final page has Murdock about to stumble on a hanging body with a DD shirt on like the ones from the opening scene. Is this Foggy? Is it Powers, aka The Jester? What road is Waid about to take Daredevil down? This kind of tension is why Daredevil is one of the best books on the shelves right now.
Chris Samnee, this man is without failure so far. As lovely as it is to talk about his solid line work, his ability to pencil in great reactions, and the awesome way he combines the Silver Age with the modern, that’s not the real power of a Samnee. As grim and realistic as the story is, Samnee never allows the art to sink too far into that grime. Nothing here sacrifices the circumstances, or makes light of the real world issue that Daredevil faces, but Samnee allows the work to breathe, to open up and add a bit of pure enjoyment to the title. His balance against Waid’s story arcs is masterful.
Daredevil is the man without fear and the book without equal.
(4 Story, 4.5 Art)
