Daredevil Month: Matt Murdock v. The People

Image taken from marvel.wikia.com

WARNING: Spoilers will follow.

Welcome back to Daredevil Month everyone. After yesterday’s review of the Trial of the Incredible Hulk movie, I decided to start taking a closer look at the courtroom side of DD’s life for at least the next day or two. To kick this off, I decided to talk about some of my old Daredevil back issues from 2004. Issues #38, #39, and #40 focus on Murdock’s attempts to save the superhero White Tiger from trumped up charges.

The Plot

Image taken from marvel.wikia.com

The three part story begins with two men stealing from a hardware store in the Bronx. After a cop busts in and attempts to take them down, one of the men kills the cop before fighting a just arriving Daredevil. When police reinforcements arrive, the find the male version of White Tiger, Hector Ayala, standing near the body of the dead cop and holding a TV.

Murdock initially refuses to take Ayala’s case, but eventually relents after a visit to see the man at Ryker’s. Meanwhile, Luke Cage and Danny Rand are investigating the cop killing on their own. They start to put together a few of the pieces by the time Murdock and his friend Foggy Nelson are preparing their case. Issue #38 ends with Murdock and his rival lawyer exchanging words before going their separate ways.

Issue #39 starts the trial of Hector Ayala, with both the prosecution’s lawyer and Murdock making their opening remarks. Witnesses are then called to the stand, including police officers and forensics scientists, all of whom were admittedly well written witnesses within the confines of the story. By the time the story shifts to Murdock, Foggy, and Ayala in the latter’s cell, the case seems pretty evenly matched.

The next day, Murdock begins to call in superhero witnesses, including Reed Richards, Stephen Strange, and both members of Heroes for Hire, in an attempt to appeal to the public’s trust in super humans. The prosecution gets desperate enough to make a personal dig at Murdock by calling for Daredevil to appear on the stand, before Ayala is called to the stand.

Although he makes a strong case for himself initially, even stating that the police seemingly arrested him without trying to find out if anyone else could have been responsible for the crime, the prosecution makes a case that Ayala became White Tiger that one night just to make a quick buck. The questioning drives Ayala’s wife out of the room in tears before growing increasingly hostile. The issue ends with Ayala finally breaking and shouting at the prosecution, leaving Murdock looking troubled.

In issue #40, we see the lawyers making their final remarks before the jury reaches their verdict. On the charge of first degree manslaughter, Hector Ayala was found guilty. As he was being dragged away by bailiffs, Ayala fights them off before going on a mini rampage. Getting ahold of a gun, Ayala, sobbing, holds Murdock at gunpoint while crying about how he lost. He then tries to leave the courthouse, only to be gunned down by officers from inside the courthouse.

Daredevil visits a hooded figure who had been sitting in on the case, revealed to be one of the burglars at the beginning of the story, and convinces him to confess to the crime.

My Thoughts

This three part story was nothing short of amazing. Truthfully, I’m not the biggest fan of courtroom dramas, so I honestly didn’t go into this story with any kind of preconceived notions about what should happen, or who should appear. This ultimately made the story way better for me, because I didn’t expect anything and therefore didn’t have a bar set for this story.

The writing is superb all throughout each comic. Not a single character seems awkward or out of place, and the entire situation honestly will keep you on the edge of your seat.

I honestly can’t describe this anymore. Truth be told, I’m sorry for leaving such a spoiler heavy review on these issues, because I really want new readers to go into this with a fresh set of eyes. Go out and read this storyline as soon as possible. I promise you won’t regret it.

COMIC GRADE: 9.5/10

Daredevil Month: Sir Matthew, the Devil

Image taken from marvel.wikia.com

Welcome back to Daredevil Month everyone. For today’s multiverse trip, I thought it would be fun to borrow the Fantastick from Captain Benjamin Grimm, Sir Richard Reed, his wife Susan Storm, and her brother Jonathan, and go seek out the balladeer Matthew Murdoch on Earth-311, who is usually more than happy to “play the Devil” in this story.

In the 1602 universe, Matthew was a head strong child, who often claimed to have no fear at anything in his way. Exploring a cave one day, the boy found a bright green and glowing substance dripping from the walls. Naturally, his first reaction was to taste the substance, which he promptly gagged on. After emerging from the cave, Matthew realized that, by eating the green substance, he had dragged the darkness of the cave out with him. He was forever made blind by his actions.

In the present, during issue #1, we see Matthew working openly as a balladeer, singing songs in taverns and presenting himself as a drunken fool. In reality, he is as highly skilled as he is in the 616 universe, showing off impressive acrobatic feats when meeting with Sir Nicholas Fury and Peter Parquagh. Nicholas gives him an assignment: to meet with an old man who claims to have the treasure of the Templars. Murdoch rushes off immediately, assisted in his sea travels by Captain Franklin Nelson.

‘Tis Matthew, the balladeer. Image taken from comicvine.com

Once back on land, Matthew and his teammate Natasha are attacked by European soldiers in issue #3 after asking to buy their horses. Matthew easily dispatches the soldiers and steals their horses, allowing the pair to continue their trip. While crossing a bridge in issue #4, getting closer to the treasure, Matthew is seemingly killed by Natasha, who is actually a double agent for Count Otto the Handsome.

It turns out later in the issue though, that Matthew survived the assassination attempt by Natasha, later arriving to save the old guardian of the Templar treasure. In issue #5, Matthew and the old man are captives of Count Otto, who attempts to pry the secrets of the treasure, seemingly a glowing orb, from the latter. Gaining nothing, they are both locked up in the count’s tower.

In issue #6, Matthew escapes Count Otto’s tower with the old man, while the crew of the Fantastick escape their individual prisons. After the old man uses the real treasure of the Templars, a seemingly ordinary stick, he transforms into Thor and helps everyone escape Otto’s forces. In issue #8, we’re also treated to an old man Daredevil in the future that the Indian Rojhaz (actually a time displaced Captain America) comes from. He, along with every other hero, is presumably put to death by the President for life (who seems to be the Purple Man).

Matthew appears one final time in the series later in issue #8. He travels to the castle of King James, threatening the king from ever tampering in the affairs of Sir Nicholas again. Before leaving, Matthew also warns the man from ever going anywhere Ireland.

Do you think this version of Daredevil works, or should there have been some changes? How do you think this version of Matt Murdock will be able to deal with a man like the Kingpin in this universe? Leave a comment below, follow me on Twitter, and don’t forget to check out the Comic Books vs The World Youtube channel. Keep returning to the blog to enjoy daily content during Daredevil Month!