Keep Your Friends Close...And Your Enemies Closer: A Review of Daredevil #596

written by Charles Soule
drawn by Stefano Landini
colored by Matt Milla

Following the shocking revelation that Daredevil's arch-nemesis Wilson Fisk, also once known as the Kingpin of Crime, has been elected mayor of New York City, DD, who ended the last issue with a harsh exchange of words with Mayor Fisk, quite literally finds himself in the crosshairs of the New York Police Department, having been (of course falsely) accused of attacking the mayor. It's a close call for Matt Murdock, who receives timely assistance from one of his allies. In the end, Matt realizes that to really take the fight to Fisk, he will have to do the unthinkable.

Charles Soule takes his ambitious storyline in a very interesting direction with this issue, and honestly has me wondering just what Matt will do next. What really gratifies about this story, and where it appears to be headed, is that whatever Murdock will do, his wits will be integral to his victory. Clearly, he's not going to be able to punch his way out of this one, and it's really interesting to see where Soule is headed with this. Bashing Marvel's printed output is quite en vogue these days, and I get that, but most respectfully, I'll have to submit that this title is an exception to that rule. Soule gets Matt quite well, and having reconciled his run and its dark tone with what came before it, using a device that is completely in continuity, he's really put his stamp on DD in the same way Mark Waid did. A pity Soule doesn't have a collaborator quite as capable as Chris Samnee was when he and Waid worked on this book together.

Speaking of the art, Stefano Landini delivers another well-drawn issue, and my only regret is that he apparently won't see the entire story arc through; series regular Ron Garney returns to illustrate the last two or three parts of this story. As much as I've come to appreciate Garney's work on this series, I'd really have preferred some consistency. As my reviews of Astonishing X-Men have made clear, I'm no fan of rotating artists, especially not within a single story.

Of all the comics I'm reading these days, this is the one that's got me waiting with bated breath for the next issue, especially now. This was a really good way to bring the character into his 600th issue, and I hope the payoff is every bit as good as it promises to be.


8.5/10