Another New Character Takes a Turn for the Worse: A Review of Daredevil #27

written by Charles Soule
drawn by Ron Garney
colored by Matt Milla

As Matt Murdock discovers that his old protege, Blindspot has turned to questionable means to restore his eyesight, which was taken from him several issues ago by the Inhuman serial killer muse, we readers get a glimpse at the character's "secret origin."

The Soule/Garney team delivers a story that, finally explores the character they introduced to this series when they relaunched it in 2015. It's a little disappointing to me that Sam only has a three-issue story arc devoted to his back story considering that when Garney rotates back onto the book it's usually for a four or five-issue story arc, and perhaps even more disappointing that Sam seems to have made a somewhat poor life choice. I will grant that there's probably a twist somewhere lurking in the next issue, and I certainly hope so because otherwise I'm not a fan of the direction in which they're taking this character.

When Chris Samnee and Mark Waid took on Black Widow last year, they introduced a new character called the Weeping Lion, who had a fairly interesting back story in that he had actually witnessed Black Widow murder a loved one. There was potential for the character, but it was squandered when the creators killed him off just before they ended their run. It was a shame, but no great loss.

Soule's Blindspot deserves better than this, though. There are precious few non-white-male characters in superhero stories, and even fewer Asians, so it would really be nice for Sam to stick around. While I remain optimistic that Soule has better plans for this character than to discard him summarily, I honestly wish he'd given his origin story at least one extra issue to breathe a bit. Sure, Sam may have started off life as a sidekick, but with his skills and tech he could yet become so much more.

Garney's art tapers off a bit; his work last issue was stronger than what we see here, though not much. I am hoping for a nice, bombastic throwdown next issue between Matt and his newfound enemies.

Anyway, there's but one issue left in this story arc before Soule launches into his somewhat-hyped Kingpin storyline, which will see DD's longtime nemesis ascending back into power, and while I'm fairly certain this isn't the last we'll see of Blindspot, I hope they at least end this story well.




7/10