Late Capsule Reviews: Daredevil #605

written by Charles Soule
drawn by Mike Henderson
colored by Matt Milla

Having been sidelined by the shingles for over a week, I've fallen a bit behind on my comics and therefore a bit behind on my reviews. I don't get paid for any of these but it is some genuine, cathartic fun to give my two cents on these things.

First off is Daredevil #605, which was out over a week ago but which I only just picked up. It concludes Charles Soule's and Mike Henderson's five-part story arc in which Matt Murdock finds himself acting mayor of New York City after a deadly assault on Wilson Fisk by the Hand itself, led by the Beast. It's a story that started off strong, and introduced an interesting new group of supporting players in the form of the Order of Dragons.

Following the cliffhanger of last issue, though, this issue ends on a fairly predictable note, without much by way of narrative flourish. Both Soule and Henderson tie the story up somewhat neatly, and even manage to address Wilson Fisk's avowed war on costumed vigilantes somewhat conclusively.

At a time when comics are floundering in the marketplace compared to their filmed adaptations, I was hoping for a finish that had a bit more pizzazz. Soule, in particular, knows how to deliver strong finales, as he did when Matt Murdock won his court case to have superheroes' testimony rendered admissible in courts of law, or even when he definitively explained how he was able to put Matt Murdock's secret identity genie back in the bottle. In short, while Soule's run may not have had quite the impact that Mark Waid's did, this guy has shown the ability to deliver some pretty strong finales to story lines, and yet, for some reason, this one just felt somewhat rote, as if Soule ran out of ideas and just decided to trot out whatever felt the most convenient.

Still, he definitely leaves room for more adventures starring the Order of the Dragon, who, to my mind, were the single biggest new element introduced in this story, and depending on who ends up writing and drawing that book, it may well be worth picking up someday.

7/10