Murdock's Turn to Shine: A Review of Daredevil #25

written by Charles Soule
drawn by Alec Morgan
colored by Matt Milla

And so "Supreme" draws to a close as Matt Murdock makes his case before the United States Supreme Court for allowing confidential superhero testimony in criminal prosecutions. It's a tense moment; the most fearsome opponent Matt faces here are Wilson Fisk's lawyer and the ten justices of the Supreme Court, and the outcome of this confrontation has the potential to change everything.

The ending of Soule's courtroom epic, while quite straightforward without any special, last-minute twists, is nonetheless everything I hoped it would be, and is basically Matt Murdock's finest moment as an attorney in the character's fifty-three year history. Even without punch-ups (though a pretty funny symbolic one takes place as Matt Murdock argues his case) the issue is genuinely exciting, and ends on an extremely high note, something not often seen in this iteration of Daredevil, which has marked a throwback to the the gritty storytelling of the 80s. There's little more I can say about this story, even though I certainly would certainly like to sing its praises, without spoiling plot points, so I'll leave it at that. Soule has written a significant milestone for this character, and he managed it without having him throw a single physical punch. It's refreshing to see storytelling that doesn't involve the hero saving the day through feats of physical derring-do, and Matt's dialogue late int he issue about the difference between his work as Daredevil and his work as a lawyer is downright inspiring: as Daredevil, he gets to save the world, but as a lawyer, he gets to change it.

While I still am not a fan of Alec Morgan, who's been drawing this story for three issues straight, I will admit that he's a good fit for this type of story, and that the issues I had with him in his past work aren't really evident here.

It's nice to know that Marvel has some pretty big plans for this character as evidenced by their advanced solicitations, because with the work Soule's been turning in, especially with this specific story, it's good know that DD will be getting his moment in the spotlight again, and not just as one of the Defenders.


8.5/10