Saladin Ahmed and Aaron Kuder did not miss a beat from where Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto left off with their run on Daredevil. As many of their predecessors have done before, Ahmed and Kuder accepted the challenge of utilizing all of Daredevil’s history. They did not run away from what happened to Matt Murdock as we saw him become a priest after his rebirth. What direction will Ahmed and Kuder go from here? Find out with our review of Daredevil #2.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Saladin Ahmed
Artist: Aaron Kuder
Colorist: Jesus Abutov
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
SOLICITATION
“THE NEW ERA OF DAREDEVIL CONTINUES! Industry stars Saladin Ahmed and Aaron Kuder’s next exciting chapter of DAREDEVIL’s new era continues following Daredevil’s shocking status quo revealed in issue #1! Corruption is tearing Hell’s Kitchen apart! Those who have sworn to protect the city have betrayed their oaths, and Matt Murdock is seeking righteous retribution, one billy club to the face at a time! Daredevil’s losing allies left and right…so what does that mean for the love of his life, ELEKTRA?!” – Marvel Comics
REVIEW
The opening of Daredevil #2 is a tone setter of the type of person Matt Murdock is now. Gone is the lawyer of Hell’s Kitchen or leader of The Fist. Matt has found a new calling for himself that is deeply rooted in Catholic beliefs. This new status quo creates an even more intriguing dichotomy between his life as a priest and Daredevil.
Tapping into the inner battle between Matt’s new and old life is what pushes everything that happens in Daredevil #2. Matt shows much greater control as he places importance on a priest running a youth home. At the same time, who he once was as a lawyer and superhero are things he can’t shake. That person won’t simply go away just because Matt had his rebirth. Matt’s lawyer and Daredevil instincts are forever a part of him.
While Matt is clearly battling this previous mentality Ahmed does a good job of using the kids at the youth home to ground him. Matt is now thinking of things with how his choices could impact the lives of young kids who trust him. They are all reminders of himself and knows that he can help them have a better life. But to do that he can’t go back to being the Matt Murdock he was. Seeing Matt embrace this new life is what helps make you want to see where this direction goes next.
Thanks to this new life purpose for Matt it also has an impact on his return as Daredevil. We get scenes drawn by Kuder that show Matt still has all his skills as Daredevil. Combining his current life with his previous experience, we see Matt fighting much more efficiently than Daredevil. He appears to be maximizing his skills and powers in a way that shows he has learned from his time as The Fist leader.
Though Matt seems to be a better Daredevil he has a lot of big things to overcome. On a grounded level, someone is clearly targeting the youth home he is in charge of. Then there are the bigger mystic elements that continue from his time in The Fist. The latter creates even more questions about his rebirth as it was clearly not a clean one. Now with the end of Daredevil #2 we have Ben Urich also turning into an antagonist. All these things happening at the same time can’t be a coincidence.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Daredevil #2 carries the momentum from Saladin Ahmed and Aaron Kuder debut forward. Matt Murdock’s new life combined with his return to being the Man Without Fear is given a lot of intriguing layers. It all gets you further invested in the bigger plans the creative have in store for their run.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10