Daredevil by Brubaker & Lark: Ultimate Collection, Book 3

Daredevil by Brubaker & Lark: Ultimate Collection

by Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark (Illustrator), Ann Nocenti

Critically acclaimed, award-winning creators Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark conclude their explosive run! The Hand is back in New York, and Lady Bullseye is in league with them! The Kingpin has also returned, forging a surprising pact with Daredevil to target the ninja cult - but what is the former crime boss's true plan? Plus: An old friend brings Matt Murdock the last-minute appeal of a Marvel villain sitting on death row. What will he do when confronted with a convicted bad guy who's completely innocent? Nominated for three Eisner Awards: Best Continuing Series, Best Writer and Best Penciler-Inker Team! Collecting DAREDEVIL (1998) #106-119 and #500.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Superheroes, Fiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 2012

About the author

Ed Brubaker (born November 17, 1966) is an Eisner Award-winning American cartoonist and writer. He was born at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.

Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.

In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.

Reviews

[Molly™☺ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brubaker's Daredevil run has come to a close, and it's ended on a bit of a low. Sadly, this book feels like a bit of a slog. Matt really doesn't feel like a superhero in this one, probably due to the extremely self-centered, self-loathing interpretation. Whilst this works in places, it doesn't help to make Daredevil a likeable character, and this is especially apparent here. The titular character spends more time depressing everyone around him, including the audience, than doing anything that is remotely inspiring or heroic. Furthermore, the female characters deserve a lot more than just serving no other purpose than dying or being injured in order to serve Matt's character growth. A lot of these flaws are less apparent in the previous entries due to the story managing to eclipse many of the characterisation problems, but the narrative this time around doesn't manage to follow in its predecessors footsteps. It's a run that has many good qualities, but one that loses its touch a little the longer it goes on.

MORE ACCURATE RATING: 2.5 stars

[Vinicius · Rating 5 out of 5]

E assim, chego ao fim da fase Marvel Deluxe do Demolidor publicado pela Panini Conics. Portanto, se tratando de Demolidor e Ed Brubaker, não poderia ser diferente se não encerrar de maneira magistral - e foi o que aconteceu.

Nesse encadernado, temos 2 arcos principais, sendo o primeiro voltado para Matt retomando a atuar como advogado em um caso extremamente complexo; enquanto que o segundo arco foca no retorno do Rei do Crime à Nova York.

No que tange o primeiro arco, temos o Matt colocando sua vida nos trilhos - ou tentando - mas sua frustração com a situação de Milla, faz com que o personagem desperte uma ira descomunal, resultando em uma atuação muito violenta como Demolidor, fazendo até a polícia questionar os métodos utilizados pelo herói.

Assim, visando ajudar Matt, seus amigos fazem com que ele aceite um caso para defender um homem acusado de matar crianças, e que o mesmo era inocente, mas admitiu a culpa do crime.

Esse caso de assassinato mostra-se complexo a ponto de envolver o FBI, a mafia, o governo e outros agentes importantes, mas além disso, serve como um rumo para a vida de Matt tentar voltar aos eixos.

Mas como sabemos, o Demolidor nunca tem paz, e paralelo a todo esse caso, e introduzindo o próximo arco do encadernado, o Tentáculo começa a agir em Nova York, inclusive envolvendo os pais de Milla no processo.

Dessa forma, a vida de Murdock que já está uma bagunça, só se agrava com o envolvimento dos pais de Milla e seu novo caso amoroso.

Em sequência, com a solução do caso, seguido do retorno de Wilson Fisk, temos um Matt com a falsa sensação de ter resolvido os problemas que enfrentava, mas sua cabeça ainda era um turbilhão.

Com o retorno do Rei, Matt faz algo inusitado, tanto para ele quanto para seus amigos, que nesse ponto já discordam de Matt e estão de saco cheio de suas atividades.

O principal desse arco, é mostrar como o Rei tenta retomar o controle de Nova York manipulando o Demolidor e tentando adentrar no Tentáculo. Porém, os resultados são bem diferentes do que Wilson pretendia.

Ademais, o encadernado é cheio de investigação e ação, deixando o leitor preso na trama do início ao fim, só esperando o que Matt irá fazer para solucionar os problemas ou piorar ainda mais sua vida. Vemos um Demolidor quebrado, que no fim, abre mão de sua vida em prol da proteção de seus entes queridos.

[Sud666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third volume of Brubaker's run was the best one yet. It didn't start strong, thus depriving it of 5 stars, but half way through it really improved and ended with a bang. Before we begin, the art of this Lark guy is not one that I cared for. Strangely, in the last half of the story it seemed to work better but that was mainly due to the color scheme and the preponderance of reds and blacks hiding the deficiencies of this overly lauded artist. Sorry, it's not my thing. It does work well for the ninja story parts though.

So the volume does not start off well as it is one more long "Matt Murdocks and this Stupid Loves Tell a Tale of Woe" bullcrap. Look, if you have not realized by now Matt Murdock is a complete idiot when it comes to females. Every. Single. Time. It's a walking cluster fuck and I tend to agree with the Ninja Master Izo muttering under his breath "There goes the whiniest superhero". If Murdock could just keep his dick in his pants, focus on law and fighting crime I think his comic would end. But this is what occupies the first half. His idiot wife Milla has a shitfit, is set up for murdering Matt's dumber ex-lover, and then proceeds to go bonkers and confined to a mental asylum as Matt blunders into another relationship. Jesus. H. Christ. Is he a crime fighter or a condom?

Thankfully half-way through the story/focus changes. It's goddamn amazing! Am I reading the same writer? Yes. Yes, I am, because every once in a while one of Murdock's various loves will have a brief scene, but the story is much better.

Wilson Fisk is returning to NYC. He intends to be the Kingpin again. The Hand is also moving into NYC, led by Lady Bullseye. The Hand seeks a new Lord to lead them. This entire story, including the art, seemed to be written/drawn by a new pair. The story was tense, mysterious, violent, and full of cool characters. I loved the Fisk character, I think Brubaker's version to be interesting. I am not as sold on Lady Bullseye as I despise the sheer hackery of "creating" a character by mimicking an established character without them having 1/10 the background. At least Lady Bullseye had the training that could credibly argue for her skillset. But still.

This third volume had Daredevil #500. This ends with Daredevil making an epic choice with the Hand. This part of the story, which is the conclusion to the volume, looks to be very interesting and I look forward to finding out more about Daredevil's time with the Hand.

Great volume. A must for any Daredevil fan.

[Danny · Rating 5 out of 5]

(This review is really for the entirety of Brubakers run) Following the foot steps of Brian Michael Bendis' extraordinary run on Daredevil is a huge challenge. Yet Ed Brubaker was more than up to the task. He follows suit with an equally dark and crime infested superhero story that involves gangs, prison, infidelity, coercion, and betrayal. All the stuff found in classic film noir and pulp stories. Both Brubaker and Bendis are clearly students of Frank Miller's legendary run of the 80's but it never feels like a retread of older stories. They work in the modern context of a post 9/11 New York. Which is particularly interesting seeing how Miller wrote Daredevil in a pre Rudy Giuliani New York. I remember when I first read the Brubaker run about 6 years ago and I felt a huge sense of disappointment. Mainly because I was so enthralled by Bendis' dialogue, slow pacing, and quiet character moments. So to read a continuation of the original, to me it felt like the music was a bit tone deaf. I couldn't focus, because of my annoyance that it wasn't Bendis. It would be like if Tarantino made a sequel to Fargo. Or if Nolan made a Gone Girl 2. But now I have a newfound love for Brubaker over the years. Some of his comics are criminally (no pun intended) underrated. And this book is no different. I adored nearly the entirety of this epic run. You would think he would make Matt Murdock's life a tad bit easier after Bendis destroyed him. Nope. He gets put through the ringer and through it all you see the ultimate test of character. Matt stumbles and falls but learns to pick himself up again even with his mind clouded in self doubt. I love the layers of his characters and the new ways he made a superhero book that was very adult while still addictive and cool to read. Lady Bullseye is such a great villain. And I'm gonna say it right here and now...Milla Donavan is the most tragic girlfriend in Matt Murdock's life. Karen Page is fine and Elektra is very cool...but I rarely felt an emotional gut punch for them the same way I did for Milla's arc. My one complaint is that on occasion the dialogue does occasionally fall flat. Some lines....you just see coming a mile away. He does have instances of brilliance, but overall...let's just say he's done better. Also his run was nearly devoid of humor. Bendis at least showed a lot of humility in his characters through brilliant humor and Brubaker is more concerned with what makes a man tic after losing it all. I adore this comic very much. And am now so glad to own it.

[Kyle Berk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daredevil by Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark was amazing. I loved all three collections and the run as a whole.

The last few stories I love in their own way.

The first one is where when Matt's at another low so the investigator Murdock and Nelson have hired pulls him in on a case that comes from Luke Cage with a man confessing to a brutal murder he didn't commit and the intrigue only goes deeper as the web spins and spins.

The second is Lady Bullseye. A member of the hand inspired by Bullseye who's taken with superheros as the hand is reforming itself.

And the last and very likely my favorite is The Return of the King. Wilson Fisk comes back in a big way and major consequences stem as a result of him and Daredevil coming at each other again.

The art is really good throughout. I appreciate the lack of two page spreads even if I miss them. It uses shadows very well and the stylized lack of detail at times is striking.

And the writing is concentrated and taking no prisoners. You'll feel the grief and weight of Matt's life and you'll so deeply want him to win but the cost of that is great and Matt will hit another lowpoint at the very end leading into Shadowland before Mark Waids run.

All in all fantastic and it may be my favorite work on the character as I loved each issue and each story gave me new thing and more appreciation for hornhead.

5 stars.

[Aron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent finish to Brubaker's run. DD's put through the ringer, but the story comes to a very satisfying conclusion. I had a great time reading all three of the big Brubaker book's,...it's just a great, great story.

[Tim Nash · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ed & Michael wrap up their run with a great story, that perhaps could have been told a little better.

I absolutely adore that STILL all these years later (publication-wise) Matt's 'secret' identity crisis has still not been reversed, undone, nor fixed. Kudos to Bendis, Brubaker, and their editors for letting this ride.

Where Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark take Daredevil in this collection is really cool, and I really liked the broad strokes of this story. Art was still good, and the writing was certainly not bad in anyway, but I just found myself less invested than at any time since Bendis' run.

The first half I quite liked. Equal parts lawyer Matt and Daredevil Matt, and again involving law enforcement agencies and organized crime in super interesting ways.

The second half was a more impactful-to-Matt's-life sort of story, and I always dig stories with The Hand, I just felt like there was perhaps a little filler in there to drag the collection to a full 12 issues!

Makes sense that it was time for someone new to take over, and Ed has left the character at a really interesting turning point.

Look it's still better than a lot of superhero comics, and I'm probably just feeling the effects of having been spoiled by what has just come before. It's only 3 stars because the last couple got 4 stars.

[FortressOfBookitude · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*

Now that I finished Brubaker's Daredevil run, I can say that it is overall great.
He knows how to work with these characters which makes the sometimes contrived plotlines I'd otherwise be annoyed by totally acceptable. Nevertheless, writing an independent, strong female character seems to be a challenge even the best comic book authors struggle to succeed in. Luckily, I ended up enjoying Dakota's arc.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit that I got an attitude against this book at first. I mean, Lady Bullseye? I was groaning. It is so DC, and I mean that in the most derogatory 1980s teenager Marvel zombie way possible. It felt like Superdog or something equally stupid. The quality of the writing and artwork saved it, and Lady Bullseye even grew on me by the end of the book.

So these issues were originally published when Secret Invasion was the latest event crossover. I like how Brubaker took one snippet of this crossover, namely Elektra being a Skrull (5-6 year old spoiler alert!) resulting in the ninja clan The Hand being thrown into disarray without a leader, and spun a series of events into motion as a result of this while keeping Daredevil out of the thick of said crossover. This feels organic and less gimmicky than many of the repercussions found in so many of these crossovers.

Growing up in the '80s, I was there buying Dakota North off of the spinner rack for a few issues, so seeing her as a part of this series is of course a treat. I am going to guess that since we didn't see a collected edition of that run when she was featured in a high profile series like this that we stand little to no chance of ever seeing it collected. Oh well. I guess I could go and wade through some 50 cent boxes and look for them if I really cared that much about it. Having said that, I found the fling between her and Matt Murdock to be uncharacteristic for him. I realize that it was a plot device, and it worked, but it wasn't much to my liking.

Master Izo, in spite of the Stick ret-con toward the end, is an enjoyable supporting cast member throughout this book. I enjoyed seeing Iron Fist pop in for a minute. Has Iron Fist ever had a prolonged solo battle with The Hand? I can't recall offhand and am too lazy to look it up. I feel that Brubaker effectively dealt with Matt Murdock's marriage. Marriage works for some comic book characters, such as Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, but it does not work at all for others, like Daredevil.

Issue 116 is a great story about the Kingpin trying to put his old life behind him. Of course nobody believed that he would ever give up crime for good, but it was sad to see his attempts fail all the same. The return of the Kingpin brings all of the threads together. The Owl, The Hand, Lady Bullseye...the elaborate trap is set, and Brubaker's twists and turns make this a fun, if dark, read. Issue 500 is great, and it was nice to see Daredevil's original numbering restored, even if it only lasted for 12 more issues.

So there we have it, Bruabker's run cemented in various formats (single issues, trade paperbacks, Omnibus hardcovers, and Ultimate Collection trades) for the ages. I was shocked to see this book had already fallen out of print. One would think with Brubaker's Fatale doing good business over at Image that Marvel would keep this in print as a sort of “evergreen” bookstore product. You know, like how V For Vendetta and Watchmen keep selling because Alan Moore is still doing other stuff. I don't know, I'm not a marketing expert, just speaking as a fan who stumbled into this run late himself and was glad to find it still available in book form.

Daredevil has tended to skew dark ever since Frank Miller helped make that flavor fashionable, but Brubaker's run has been really dark. I had to read some Silver Age Marvel as a sort of raw juice cleanse just to get my head out of that space. There is no happy ending here.

[Christian Oliverio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: This review is for Daredevil by Brubaker & Lark: Ultimate Collection, book 3; Daredevil: The Devil's Hand, Shadowland, and Daredevil: Shadowland

This is one of those longer arcs that starts off great. Brubaker's opening two acts really made me like the Hand... then the last two sections reminded me why I think the Hand is corny. If my star reviews are any indication, you can see how quickly it dives in quality.

Let's start with the negative and work our way backwards towards the good stuff, whilst avoiding as many spoilers as possible. Shadowland made no sense. You could tell the executives came to Diggle and made him do a crossover with all the street level heroes centered on Daredevil. He clearly set up the individual writers for some good stuff, but it didn't go anywhere (looking at you Moon Knight and your glorious 5 pages of screen time). And a few characters popped out of nowhere with no explanation just to be thrown in because the producers said so (Punisher and Wolverine). Worse yet, the character work in the Daredevil tie-in is VERY important to the main story, but is so disjointed and not easy to read, even when jumping between the two in release order of issues. The whole thing was a mess of loosely connected cool scenes and rushed character work with little payoff. Thankfully, it was short. Best part that came out of this was Daredevil's black suit. Loved it!

Now, the set up for Shadowland, Devil's Hand was fine. It had excellent set up in Brubaker, set up Shadowland's story well, and had some fun fight scenes. It also had some great twists along the way. Overall, it was just fun ninja pulp. Also it gave us the leaders of the Hand known as the Fingers, which is simultaneously stupidly hilarious and amazing; which summarizes my thoughts on the Hand as a whole. Sorry, but Ra'as will always be cooler and taken far more seriously.

But, despite the terrible ending and decrease in quality; the first half of this story (which is collected in Brubaker's run (specifically book 3)) was spectacular! They did a great job of actually making the Hand cool (as much as they could), introduced two great characters (Izzo and Lady Bullseye), and did a phenomenal job of balancing different street heroes and making them feel important to the overall story. I loved the buildup to figuring out what the Hand and Izzo wanted. I loved Izzo's drunken shenanigans. I loved Lady Bullseye countering Matt's enhanced senses via cool kungfu bullcrap. I loved Foggy (the friend we all need). I liked Dakota, despite her and Matt making a VERY poor choice together. Plus, Fisk's part in this whole story was great. He is easily my favorite Marvel villain for the insane amount of layers this man has. And that ending (Brubaker's, not Shadowland)! Holy cow, 'twas fire!

So in short, Diggle was pretty clearly screwed by the executives. He had great set up, was going fun places, and once Shadowland is over, he told a great story in Daredevil: Reborn. Still, despite the convoluted mess that was Shadowland; Brubaker's opening makes this story worth the read.

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ostatni taki tom... Jak na razie w mojej prywatnej kolekcji i kolejna perełka, a która składa się z trzech części. Pierwsza, znakomita skądinąd historia o zabarwieniu kryminalnym skupia się na śledztwie w dziwnej sprawie dzieciobójstwa. Znajomy Cage'a przyznaję się do zbrodni, ale nie ma dowodów na to, iż on dokonał tego okropnego czynu. Całość wciąga jak odkurzacz i trzyma w napięciu. Potem na arenę wkracza Lady Bullseye i historia przyśpiesza zmierzając do stonowanego finału, który kończy run Brubakera, jak i pewną epokę dla Daredevila.

To co wyróżnia DD od innych tytułów to położenie nacisku na jego prywatne życie, bez ominięcia bohaterskiej otoczki, aczkolwiek w tym tomie Matt to wyjątkowy dupek. Cała ta otoczka wokół jego żony, a do tego romans ze znajomą. Rozumiem, że przeżywa trudne chwilę, ale raczej go to nie usprawiedliwia. Poza tą niedogodnością mamy tu wszystko to, co powinien mieć komiks z najwyższej półki. Można brać w ciemno, tym bardziej, że warstwa wizualna utrzymuje świetny poziom całej serii, a duża zasługa w tym Panów Lark czy Azaceta. Godne zwieńczenie świetnej serii.

[Nate]

Greg Rucka joins Brubaker for the first arc, about a guy on death row who Matt tries to prove is innocent, and I’m immediately brought back to Gotham Central. This is probably my favorite story of Brubaker’s run. Because the story’s good, yes, but also because it doesn’t have much Brubaker narration, which has been irking me as of late. We’re shown, not told, what happens. The other two stories introduce a new character and bring back an old one. Fighting happens, Matt suffers, people are in danger, the end. Blah.

I found Brubaker's Daredevil underwhelming. It's well done on a technical level (Michael Lark does great work throughout), but I never felt a huge sense of drama. I think I've used the word "predictable" in both reviews of the previous volumes, and the same applies here. Just couldn't bring myself to care much about the stories. Miller and Bendis made me invested in Matt Murdoch and his world, but I felt virtually nothing with this.

[José Ignacio · Rating 4 out of 5]

A logical and fitting conclusion

While I do feel Brubaker may have lost his own plot a little bit towards the end, this does feel like the logical conclusion to everything Matt's been through not only throughout Brubaker's time, but since the start of the Marvel Knights era with Guardian Devil.

While it is frustrating to see that the Hood subplot in the previous volume was completely forgotten about and that Milla is unceremoniously kicked off the book without much resolution to her situation, I think that what Brubaker does do and plays around with more than makes up for those somewhat lose ends.

The stuff he introduces into play is exciting, fun and damn well drawn, even if Izo is very clearly meant to be Stick but he couldn't be bothered to come up with a way to bring him back to life.

Aside from those complaints, the book is still solidly written and drawn and a fitting end for this era of DD.

[C.T. Phipps · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the Mr. Fear arc of Ed Brubaker and felt that he did an excellent job making a minor villain genuinely terrifying. Here, we go back to the Daredevil staple of the Hand. We also introduce the excellent character of Lady Bullseye. My only issue with her is that I wish she'd chosen her own name as she has a fantastic design and is a character that doesn't need to be linked to that monster. We also have the Milla Donovan storyline wrapped up with her parents wanting to claim custody. Matt's relationship with Dakota North doesn't last long, sadly, but I loved her throughout this story.

[B]

I've only seen later appearances of Lady Bullseye, and she's fallen on some pretty hard times. She's often used like a Shocker or an early Ox: someone threatening enough to be a threat, but not interesting enough to have her own motivation or to be a big bad in even a small arc.

Here, she's actually pretty fully realized. And she owns the "Lady Bullseye" things as more than a gag.

I don't really buy Fisk and Daredevil both agreeing to lead the Hand after the Hand destroys their lives. I see them as the type to fight for revenge, but Shadowland calls, I guess.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my least favorite superhero tropes is a female hero or villain that is identical to a male counterpart but can seduce the men in the story. We get that here with “Lady Bullseye.” She’s exactly what she sounds like except she’s a ninja that works with The Hand.

Lady Bullseye and The Hand come after Murdock and Fisk, so the two decide to team up.

Most of this volume is about Murdock being a selfish jerk. Who cheats on their wife while she is in a mental institution?! And he screws over his best friend Foggy time and time again.

I love Brubaker but his run of DD isn’t my favorite.

[Bryan Fischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this wasn’t my favourite book plot wise, it was still fairly solid all around.
Like the Bendis run, Brubaker did a nice job unfolding a story to hand off to the next writer while wrapping up their current stories.
The final issue was quite good and included some great bonuses including a Aja illustrated comic that had some great touches to it.

P. S. David Aja is definitely becoming one of my favourite artists along with Jim Lee, David Finch, Lee Bermejo, Ryan Stegman, and more.

[Romulus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chyba najbardziej superbohaterska część spośród sześciu. Dobrze, że ostatnia ponieważ chyba dalej mogło być gorzej. Z drugiej strony doskonali scenarzyści nie pozwoliliby chyba runąć tej serii w superbohaterskie cekiniarstwo. Finał o tym świadczy. Choć trochę szkoda tego co można byłoby wykrzesać z ewentualnego ciągu dalszego.

[Adam Šilhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zpátky k čistě superhrdinskému pojetí. I když mě to už moc nebralo, tak Brubaker asi neumí napsat špatný komiks.

Navíc to ukončení je téměř tak dobré jak Bendisovo - mám velkou chuť si přečíst pokračování.

[MyKey Rusz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just...wow. Necekal jsem, ze by me Daredevil mohl bavit, ale od momentu, kdy jsem otevrel prvni kolekci od Bendise, je to jedna velka jizda. Bravo!

[gemma · Rating 2 out of 5]

matt is so insufferable in this goddamn run and the way the women are treated (specifically milla) is just so bad that it makes this thing painful to read

[Diego · Rating 4 out of 5]

que final tan inesperado :/

[Rockito · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not reaching the same heights at Bendis and Maleev did, Brubaker and Lark do a fine job with the title.

[Jordan Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cannot tell if I liked this volume or hated it…

[Matthew Smith]

Solid DD stories, not as good as the Bendis run though.

[Miguel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Completando a coleção Marvel Deluxe 💙

[Michael Emond · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this is the third (and last) part of the Brubaker/Lark Run and I have to say it ended on a wonderful note. The first third is Daredevil in prison and I loved it. The second part is VERY forgettable (too much Milla and too much angst). This third part starts with a nice simple story of Daredevil fighting to clear a man wrongly accused. It is co-written by Rucka and while it feels like a been there done that it is a relief to just have Daredevil stop with the angst and self-doubt for a while (geesh - I prefer my heroes to be heroic). Then the hand and Lady Bullseye come. What saves the storyline is Master Izo who happens to be Stick's (Daredevil's old teacher) teacher. His teacher's teacher. Brubaker is at home with the Ninja elements. As is Lark, whose art is so amazing but suffers from being a bit too static at times. In the end, I still feel Matt was too whiny for my tastes and there's a lot of been there done that elements but there is enough new and a great ending for me to say this was a wonderful end to a great run of the character.

[Kevin Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big ed brubaker fan, mostly of his NOIR work, which i have plowed through for the past few years, desperatly trying to catch up. .... I am just now digging into his superhero stuff, thought i would save that for last. I have to say this has a noir tinge to it, much like "gotham central" which he also did with Lark, so it blends in well with his career's body of work. The good news is this was a very quick & easy read. I marvel at how well brubaker tells a story, even a multi-part arc , without much of the story detail being confusing or lost. Most writers of superhero titles in this era do not possess that gift. I was a fanatic of the Miller Daredevil , growing up in late 70s/early 80s, i was lucky enough to be in on that ride as it was new and happening.- This in no way compares to that, but is extremely entertaining and well worth the money. I hope to backtrack and buy vol 1 & 2 in this series of Brubaker-lark DD TPBs.

[Kyle Burley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark's run on Daredevil is the perfect follow-up to Bendis/Maleev and somehow manages to go even darker by amping up the violence and adding a palpable (and somewhat depressing) sense of fatalism.
These are great stories but thank goodness Mark Waid came along in 2011 to finally bring some levity back to the book.

[Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn this was a great run of Good ole horn head. Just when you think Matt has nothing more to lose, Brubaker takes more and more taking Matt to the darkest place he's ever been. This run also introduces a new character Lady Bullseye, she is as deadly as Bullseye, only hotter. Overall it was a fun, dark, depressing, and Murdock changing run. 5 Hand ninjas of 5.