Things went from it looking like Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios were close to eliminating The Hand once and for all to that not even being close to being true. That was shown by how Aka and he Hand revealed they’ve been using Foggy and Stick as their puppets ever since those two mysteriously returned from the dead. That revelation was just the start of things going south for Matt and Elektra as the Avengers confront the Daredevil duo. Let’s find out how things go with Daredevil #10.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Chip Zdarksy
Artist: Marco Checchetto
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
SYNOPSIS
Elektra Natchios immediately distracts the Avengers, giving Matt Murdock’s Daredevil an opening to retrieve the Book Of The Fist. Outnumbered Elektra is eventually overpowered and captured by the Avengers.
Meanwhile, after an extended fight, Daredevil defeats Spider-Man by stealing and using a web cartridge to trap Spider-Man in a tree.
Daredevil then finds Robert “Goldy” Goldman with the Book Of The Fist. Matt begrudgingly agrees to find out what “God’s plan” that Goldy keeps talking about.
Goldy causes an avalanche that forces the Avengers to escape with only being able to capture Elektra.
Matt then takes the Book Of The Fist and dives into the large fissure created by the avalanche. End of issue.
REVIEW
Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto ensure that when experiencing what goes on in every panel of Daredevil #10 you feel like you are on an intense ride. The stakes are high at every point in this latest issue of Daredevil as Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios deal with the fallout from The Hand making their lives hell.
In many ways, part 10 of “The Red Fist Saga” is a culmination of everything that has happened up to this point. The way everything turns out as our Daredevil pair fights the Avengers shows the difference in approach Zdarsky and Checchetto are taking with this story. Rather than going with the typical comic book storyline framework, they are truly treating “The Red Fist Saga” as just that, a saga. This is all one big story with each issue of Daredevil telling a complete narrative that pushes the greater Red Fist Saga forward.
Daredevil #10 as a whole builds off the chaos created by The Hand and Stromwyn siblings by adding in the Avengers. With the Avengers finally confronting both Matt and Elektra the story of what the pair have been doing as leaders of The Fist is given a different perspective. Because so far we have been so entrenched in The Fist vs The Hand that the consequences for what both groups have done in this war have been a sub-plot. But that was no longer the case as the Avengers forced our Daredevil pair to answer for the Mymido supervillain jailbreak and Elektra being caught on camera “killing” the President of the United States.
While the Avengers are the antagonist in Daredevil #10 Zdarsky and Checchetto do a good job showing how they aren’t suddenly being positioned in a bad-guy light like we’ve seen in Marvel’s Civil War. Up to this point, Matt and Elektra have been keeping what they’ve been doing close to their chest. All the Avengers know is that Matt and Elektra appear to have become supervillains themselves.
Even during the fight, Zdarsky highlights a lack of proper communication from both sides. Elektra and Matt, are so focused on their mission to take down The Hand that they think trying to explain things to the Avengers is a waste of time. Meanwhile, the Avengers went in with a perception based on both Daredevils’ actions and the current chaos on The Fist’s Island that the only option was to bring in both Matt and Elektra.
Through all this Zdarsky does an excellent job of using Matt Murdock and Peter Parker’s friendship to utilize soap opera-style storytelling in Daredevil #10. No matter the intentions either had both Matt and Peter were fighting with their friendship in mind. We see this with how Matt continued to have a high perception of Peter as Spider-Man being among the best of the heroes. For Peter, he was just trying to understand why Matt has done everything he has as part of The Fist. This friendship is ultimately showcased in how Matt had to use their friendship to have Peter drop his guard for just a brief moment so he could win their fight.
Which all makes Aka and the Stromwyn siblings even stronger antagonists as a result of how things went down in Daredevil #10. Because, without even appearing in this issue we see that their plans successfully destroyed The Fist’s current organizational structure and were able to separate Matt and Elektra. The fact they were able to use the Avengers without the heroes knowing this elevates Aka and the Stromwyn siblings as even bigger threats than before.
With all this going on Matt is now pushed into a corner where he is on his own again. Goldy’s role in the story further emphasizes how everything Matt is doing is a man of faith. Now because of how things went south for him and Elektra, Matt can only really on that faith to go along with what Goldy is pushing as “God’s plan.” Given the extreme lengths Matt went through to take part in “God’s plan” by seemingly letting himself be buried alive by an avalanche you are left wondering where the story goes next.
None of what goes on in Daredevil #10 would work as well as it does without Checchetto’s stellar artwork. Throughout Daredevil #10 you feel as though you are reading a chapter from a blockbuster comic book event. That is all thanks to Checchetto’s artwork which is as good as it has ever looked in his run on Daredevil. All of the action has a fluidity to the choreography that makes great use of the chaotic setting of The Fist headquarters being covered in flames.
All that said, the fight between Daredevil and Spider-Man was by far the highlight of Checchetto’s artwork in Daredevil #10. Checchetto captures how neither Matt nor Peter wished they were fighting one another but they had to given the situation at hand. Even with both wearing masks that covered their expressions, you could feel the emotion they were both fighting with by the way things went down between them. It all made how Matt got Peter to drop his guard with an emotional hug hit hard.
FINAL THOUGHTS
From beginning to end Daredevil #10 is a phenomenal comic book. Chip Zdarsky does a great job having Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios dealing with the consequences of all their actions up to this point in “The Red Fist Saga.” The way the Avengers are used further builds up the story’s villains to be the biggest threats Daredevil has ever faced. Everything that goes on is elevated by the masterful artwork by Marco Checchetto that gives Daredevil #10 a big event feel. All of this comes together to create another must-read issue of Daredevil.
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 10 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9.5 Night Girls out of 10