Daredevil #107 hits stands this Thursday, and here’s an advance review of what you can expect from the first installment of the new “Cruel & Unusual” arc. Beware of spoilers after the jump.
Daredevil #107
Writers: Ed Brubaker & Greg Rucka
Artists: Michael Lark & Stefano Gaudiano
What’s Going On:
Matt Murdock has had to commit his wife Milla to a mental institution after she was exposed to Mr. Fear’s crazy-making drugs, and he’s coming to terms with the fact that there’s no cure. Or maybe he’s not. In fact, Matt’s fallen apart and is taking his frustrations out on street punks by going out as Daredevil and beating them half to death every night.
Back at the law firm, Foggy and company want to help bring Matt out of his destructive spiral by interesting him in a new case, and they have just the one to do it. A former attorney named Big Ben Donovan is set to be executed in six days for decapitating three kids, and it’s going to be up to our intrepid legal eagles to prove his innocence and save him from Old Sparky.
Lessons Learned Here:
- You don’t try to gut punch Luke Cage, like, ever.
- Expect to be beaten up, driven insane, and / or killed if you’re friends with Matt Murdock. Or work with him. Or married to him. Or passed him on the street.
How It Ends:
Prompted by Dakota’s getting sucker punched after recording Donovan’s confession, Matt listens to the recording and decides the guy might not have killed the kids after all. He cleans himself up and goes to meet with Donovan in jail.
Thoughts:
Of all the Marvel heroes who haven’t been replaced by Skrulls or killed, Daredevil probably has had the roughest past few years. His secret identity was outed by the FBI, he’s been locked up in jail with the Kingpin and the Punisher, Milla’s irrevocably insane and stashed away in an asylum, Foggy had a fake death, and Elektra is either dead or trapped in a Skrull detention facility. Not fun times for the Man Without Fear. With all this craziness going on, Daredevil has been a fairly dark book for a long time now. The end of this issue brings a little hope that Matt’s going to get his life back on track and will go back to his ace attorneying, but knowing Brubaker he’s probably going to lose the case. And really knowing Brubaker, Daredevil will end up in a worse place than he started at the beginning of this arc.
