Daredevil, Vol. 2: West-Case Scenario

Daredevil by Mark Waid #9

by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee (Artist), Javier Rodriguez (Artist)

Original Sin tie-in!
When Matt learns something about his past that's too terrible to accept, he seeks out his mother- only to find her in more trouble than he could possibly have imagined. It's the untold story of how Matt Murdock's mother became Sister Maggie, as her biggest sin is finally revealed! Then, Daredevil braves the wilds of Wakanda, takes on a new case with a killer opposition, and faces the Purple Children! One of DD's oldest foes has unleashed a force that he can't fight without being swallowed by his darkest moods and thoughts. Is this the beginning of a new, grim chapter in Daredevil's life? Plus: celebrate Daredevil's fiftieth anniversary with a look at the future! See if you can spot all the clues we've planted for upcoming stories!

Collecting: Daredevil 1.50, 6-10

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

152 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2015

About the author

Mark Waid is an American comic book writer widely known for shaping modern superhero storytelling through influential runs on major characters at both DC Comics and Marvel Comics. Raised in Alabama, he developed an early fascination with comic books, particularly classic stories featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes, whose imaginative scope and sense of legacy would later inform his own writing. He first entered the comics industry during the mid 1980s as an editor and writer for the fan magazine Amazing Heroes, before publishing his first professional comic story in Action Comics. Soon afterward he joined DC Comics as an editor, contributing to numerous titles and helping shape projects across the company. After leaving editorial work to focus on writing, Waid gained widespread recognition with his long run on The Flash, where he expanded the mythology of the character and co-created the youthful speedster Impulse. His reputation grew further with the celebrated graphic novel Kingdom Come, created with artist Alex Ross, which imagined a future DC Universe shaped by generational conflict among superheroes. Over the years he has written many prominent series, including Captain America, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, and Superman: Birthright, bringing a balance of optimism, character depth, and respect for comic book history to each project. Waid has also collaborated with notable artists and writers on major ensemble titles such as Justice League and Avengers, while contributing ideas that helped clarify complex continuity within shared superhero universes. Beyond mainstream superhero work, he has supported creator owned projects and experimental publishing models, including the acclaimed series Irredeemable and Incorruptible, which explored moral ambiguity within the superhero genre. He later took on editorial leadership roles at Boom Studios, guiding creative direction while continuing to write extensively. In subsequent years he expanded his involvement in publishing and digital storytelling, helping launch online comics initiatives and advocating for new distribution methods for creators. His work has earned numerous industry awards, including Eisner and Harvey honors, reflecting both critical acclaim and enduring popularity among readers. Throughout his career Waid has remained a passionate student of comic book history, drawing on decades of storytelling tradition while continually encouraging innovation within the medium. His influence extends across generations of readers and creators, and his stories continue to shape the evolving language of superhero comics around the world today through enduring characters imaginative narratives and thoughtful reinventions of familiar myths within popular culture and modern graphic storytelling traditions.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Make Room For (Psycho) Daddy!!

A gang of purple-skinned kids are roaming all over San Francisco, messing with people’s emotions and terrorizing them. Their daddy:



It was the sugar rush and food dyes.

Okay, that’s not quite right. It’s this guy, Purple Man:



It seems that Purple Man, a villain who can talk people into doing anything, impregnated a few women, and now he’s back to play evil Father Knows Best. If the birth mothers get in his way, he can convince them to jump off the roof. It’s easy to see why Luke Cage wanted to open up a can of whip ass on him back in The New Avengers for what he did to Jessica Jones.

“Hey, Dad! You wanna have a catch?”



The kids have the same ability as Dads and they aren’t having any of it and they refuse to give him their crayoned paper ties they made in class for Father’s Day. What used to be a bowl before it got kilned, they’ll just toss it at his dome.

Mark Waid continues his terrific run on this title! Waid has a knack for banter and the scenes between Kirsten McDuffie and Murdock are one of the books highlights.

It’s happy fiftieth birthday to the comic and to Matt Murdock as we get a poignant glimpse into his future. Brian Michael Bendis also gives readers a prose (!?) story in the form of a will from Matt’s future wife. Thanks, Mr. Bendis but I thought this was a comic book.

Also: Matt/Daredevil gets some resolution with his mom, the nun. Awww!

[Kemper · Rating 4 out of 5]

You gotta love a comic book series with dialogue like this:

”So there’s a lunatic on the loose. Do you figure his parents just assumed he’d grow up to be evil when they named him ‘Zebediah Killgrave’?”

“Yeah. We call that the ‘Victor Von Doom’ paradox.”

Ha!

There’s two stories in this collection. The first is the obligatory tie-in into one of the giant crossover events with Matt dealing with the aftermath of a shattering revelation about his father that came out of Original Sin. Thankfully, it’s a well done story-line that’s wrapped up in just a couple of issues that involves Matt’s mother being extradited to Wakanda for a minor crime.

The second story involves Killgrave (a/k/a The Purple Man), and if you’ve been watching the new Jessica Jones series on Netflix then you’ve got a pretty good idea of what an evil bastard he is. It turns out that Killgrave has spawned a brood of kids that have inherited a variation on his mind control powers, and the emotional blast that Matt receives while trying to stop them leaves him teetering the verge of falling back into the pit of depression and despair that has defined the character since the days of Frank Miller.

Terrific stuff here with a long overdue conversation between Matt and his mom about why she left him and his father, and the story about Killgrave and his kids also highlights the delicate balancing act of Matt trying to leave the darker parts of his history behind him while not ignoring them either. The superhero parts of the story find Daredevil having to use his brain more than his fists as he’s confronted with problems that he can’t just punch his way out of, and that combined with the strong character bits makes for a highly entertaining comic.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

6 - In the aftermath of Original Sin, Daredevil goes to find his mother, now a nun, for answers about his father. But why is she in the slammer, due to be extradited to Wakanda?

Crossovers suck. Even Daredevil says so. Looks like he's headed to Wakanda in the next issue. It's good to have Daredevil interacting with the rest of the Marvel Universe but I'm not sure about a trip to Wakanda.

7 - Matt goes to Wakanda to bring his mother home.

I shouldn't have doubted Mark Waid. Daredevil going to Wakanda could have been bad but it turned out very well. Matt and his mother had a heartfelt moment. There was some good super hero action as well, showing why Wakanda is known as the most technologically advanced civilization on the planet.

8 - Matt and Kirsten go sailing with her father and The Purple Man does some parenting of his own.

Wow. Daredevil writing his autobiography? And the Purple Man uniting with his illegitimate children? And I thought the Purple Man was creepy...

9 - The Purple kids are free and San Fransisco is theirs for the taking!

The Purple Man was bad enough but the Purple kids don't even need to speak. The remind me of The Midwich Cuckoos quite a bit. How the hell is Daredevil going to beat them?

Nice touch that Daredevil couldn't tell what color they were.

10 - The Purple Man is gunning for his kids and Daredevil is caught in the middle.

That was pretty chilling, as most stories featuring the Purple Man are. I like that Matt and Kirsten's relationship is progressing.

"Do you figure his parents assumed he'd grow up to be evil when they named him Zebulon Killgrave?"
"Yeah. We call that the Victor Von Doom paradox."

Closing Thoughts: Another great Mark Waid Daredevil volume. I liked the Purple Man issues better than the Original Sin ones but they were all damn good. I'd say I was going to ration the remaining two volumes but you don't tell a drowning man to ration air. 4 out of 5 stars.

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. I've enjoyed Waid's entire run with Daredevil, but this just might be the best volume yet. How about that Original Sin tie in, which uses the event's big gimmick (secrets revealed!) to tell a surprisingly deep story about Matt's parents, and the real reason his mother left. Then there's the Purple Man arc, which starts out as a decently plotted story then then sort of swerves into a fairly thoughtful look at depression. Foggy and Kirsten make really good showings, too. She's really grown on me.

The 50th anniversary issue is a bit more spotty. I was surprised at how much I liked Waid's future story, with Matt's potential future child. Bendis's story just didn't sit right to me. Does Matt really need another fridged woman story? And the fake twin story felt much longer than it apparently was. Overall, just ok. But since the rest of the issues were really good, I'm still more than pleased with this volume.

[emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 but rounding up. the purple children story was rlly good but kirsten is the absolute star of the show for being matt’s healthiest relationship. she is truly ride or die and the last page of issue 10 literally made me cry

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well damn, Waid sure as hell stepped up his game on the second half of his run. I really dug the last volume and I liked this one even more.

We get to see a bit more of Matt's past, and that's never a bad thing. I loved both issues of him dealing with his mother and rescuing her. I also loved the last panel as it was very sad yet touching yet filled with hope.

I LOVED purple man's grand appearance and the twist on the kids he was using. It was some freaky shit and watching Matt break down piece by piece again is both heartbreaking and intriguing. The last panel again for this arc was touching and wonderful.

I enjoyed the opening, see the future of Matt, but it felt very rushed with his son. It would be cool to explore that future, flesh it out, but as it stands it just came off as "okay" at best. Still, it was a nice opening and change of pace.

If Waid's run continues to stay this good I'd say he earned his spot as "Good" Daredevil writers. Keep it up!

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

At this point, there's pretty much nothing that can stop this creative team from churning out awesome story after awesome story. Even Original Sin gets taken in Daredevil's stride as he tries to find out the truth about his mother's absence during his childhood, with a twist ending that is both heartfelt and completely unpredictable. The Purple Children three-part arc that follows is also great stuff, the Purple Man is always a despicable villain and none of that is lost here. Waid always makes sure that this is a Daredevil story - you couldn't swap him out with Spider-Man for example and get the same results, and the side-stories with his supporting cast are almost as engaging as the superheroics. As always, the artwork is top notch thanks to Javier Rodriguez and Chris Samnee. This series really can do no wrong.

[Peter Derk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why is it that superheroes always have such a diplomatic problem with Wakanda? I get it, we want to respect laws and shit. But...you don't really respect the laws where you live. You're swinging around, punching people in the face all night. How does that work? Why is it always this weird, diplomatic situation with Wakanda where you have to play your cards carefully, meanwhile you're in New York kicking someone's head off his body?

[Ryan Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book within (Daredevil's 50th Anniversary issue) is okay, though ultimately meaningless. The next story (DD #6-7) is a nice nod to Matt's mom, a character who hasn't had too much of a spotlight throughout his 50-year existence. The Wakanda side to the story felt like filler however and it's too bad we got a guest artist (Javier Rodriguez; who's work is serviceable but a far cry from our regular artist).
Which brings us to the last half of the book. The Purple Man 3-part story felt like such a breath of fresh air right from the first page. Mark Waid and Chris Samnee are unbeatable together and this series reaches higher levels just with them at the helm. It's nice to see a villain who's an old favorite (and a regular nemesis for DD) and although the story was quite dark there was also a fun, different sort of twist to it.
2 Stars for the first half + 4 Stars for the last half = 3 Stars

[Michael Emond · Rating 2 out of 5]

Argh - why does Waid refuse to write consistently on this title? The first volume promised a lighter tone but with this volume we get two story arcs that were dark and illogical. The volume actually starts with some future stories in honor of an anniversary so we get Matt taking care of his son - and that was sweet. The villain made no sense (she used internet eye drops to take away a lot of the population's vision) but it was sweet to see Matt Murdock with his child.

Then we get the arc of a story - Matt's NUN mother was arrested for protesting a military base and is being deported to Wakanda because it was a base they were using to test illegal weapons. So stupid. 1) Matt's mother is a nun and has never been portrayed as an activist 2) they are deporting her to another nation because she put graffiti on a wall? The "reason" is Wakanda is pissed they drew attention to the base but doesn't this draw MORE attention? And kill people for doing this? And the US is compliant? What? The? F888!?!? It is all a big stupid plot device to get Matt to Wakanda and have him emotionally invested in the outcome. He obviously wouldn't care if it wasn't his mom. The only redeeming part of the story was Waid delved into the reason the mom left and that was a touching part of the story.

Then the next arc has Chris Samnee art (a big plus) but also has the Purple Man - who I hate SOOOOO much. I hate mind control in general because it is such a weak story device. But Purple Man is the worst of the worst because once he is captured you CUT OFF HIS TONGUE!! He is too dangerous to let live but if you don't want to kill the most dangerous man alive at least stop him from talking. SMH. The twist in this story is Purple Man raped a bunch of women (wow, just shocking how that gets past censors) and had children with them so now he wants them to be his children so he kills the moms and takes them in. But they have his powers so craziness ensues.

These are by no means the worst stories but just frustrating ones in terms of the plot. But there are moments of nice when we see Matt develop his relationship with his new girlfriend. Just a lot of badness in the actual Daredevil stories.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sadly, after a strong first book in V4, Waid sputters out a bit here. he doesn't follow-up on the Shroud-related promises of the previous book and instead gives us a haphazard collection of stories. I suspect crossoveritis is part of the problem (though he does pretty well with his Original Sin secret).

The Future (#1.50). I hope that Marvel has gotten over their weird numbering obsession, but this is a great look at potential futures for Matty (with the one by Waid being by far the best) [5/5].

Into the Jungle (#6-7). Immediately taking Matt out of his new home in SF is a pretty bad choice, and the Black Panther crossover isn't that compelling, but what is compelling is Matt finally learning the truth about his mother, a plotline that's largely been elided for far too long [4/5].

The Purple Children (#8-10). This story does a nice job of introducing The Purple Children, who Soule would later use for his most controversial retcon. Still, it feels like a pretty minor story overall, without depth or stakes. Meanwhile, it's becoming increasingly obvious that Kirsten McDuffie is becoming one of the best things about Waid's run, because she's great here (and sadly another thing pointlessly sacrificed in Soule's mediocre reboot of the title) [3+/5].

[FortressOfBookitude · Rating 2 out of 5]

For me, this voume is lacking coherence.

First of all, there's a 50th anniversary story I didn't like which also includes spoilers for the rest of the volume... Great!
Next in line is a story about Matt's mother who left the family when he was a baby. I like the fact that the reader gets to learn her backstory, but I don't get why we needed her to be abducted to Wakanda. That was just weird and literally out of place.
The last bit is about Killgrave, the Purple Man. Although he's one of my favorite Marvel villains, the story didn't impress me. I guess it would need two to three more issues to have the impact it is meant to have.

So, three totally different stories in one volume. Well, I have to admit they all deal with the topic of parentage, but since they don't get their messages across in a decent way, they feel all the more disjointed from one another.

Also, I think the pun in the title sucks.

[Nancy O'Toole · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's so weird to me that Wakanda is the most technologically advanced country in the world, yet it's portrayal still feels weirdly backwards. I get in that our first glimpse of them was suppose to play off our our stereotypical expectations, but they did LITERALLY need to be chucking spears?

Anyway, the Wakanda visit (which is relatively short) is a sour note in what's ultimately a very strong volume of Daredevil. This is probably the best of the Orginal Sin stories I've read so far, and his encounter with The Purple Man is incredibly strong. I've heard that Waid will no long be writing the title post-Secret Wars (Charles Soule, a writer I quite like, will be taking over). This makes me sad, but all good things must come to a close. And it's really admirable that Waid has been able to keep the quality up over the years. I look forward to reading the last few issues.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great Daredevil run. I especially like the storyline with the "Purple Children" which has a Village of the Damned vibe. I've always thought the Purple Man was too dangerous a character to be running around the Marvel U. If they can't find a way to remove his powers they may need to just give The Punisher some ear plugs and send the Purple Man on his way.

Overall a good volume, with an Original Sin tie in that I didn't find to be the best but still wasn't bad. The art fits and Mark Waid is doing a great job with keeping Daredevil gritty while also throwing in some of the swashbuckling of the old days.

[Brandon Forsyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love how the Waid/Samnee DD has always flirted with extremely dark subject matter while having an utterly pop style. That being said, it does feel like this dynamic duo was kind of going through the motions at this point.

[Campo Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was a great follow up to the first volume if you're a daredevil fan check this out it has a lot of range and emotion and deals with with a lot of very human stuff which can also be one of its biggest flaws as it deals with a little too much at once. 4/5

[Jaye Berry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I just really love Daredevil tbh. The first 2 issues in this volume deal with Matt's mother and then going to Wakanda and it was pretty interesting. The queen was badass, loved her look. I loved the resolution and the conversation with his mother was very heartfelt. The whole thing kinda felt like a random side quest though.

But then the goddamn purple man shows up with his creepy purple children and oh lawd. It's so funny to me how he deals with him and so quickly meanwhile I remember the Jessica Jones show dicking around for many episodes not figuring out to just play music really loud lol. Also ew purple man is so gross and should have been thrown off a building. Also why is he purple?

Daredevil really be going through it and the panels showing his depression really be hitting. Good shit, loved the last scene in the last issue with him and Kiersten.

Also gotta give a shoutout to Matt literally wearing a DD branded polo shirt to the zoo. Iconic.

[Logan Harrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10:
There are some seriously awesome moments in this collection with Matt saving his mother’s life from Shuri, the Queen of Wakanda and current Black Panther and the return of Killgrave as a villain in San Francisco.

I’m really loving the dynamics we’re getting with Matt, Kirsten, and Foggy as it’s adding a ton of character depth to this trio. I can’t wait to see it continue as Matt’s depression has been drawn out by The Purple Children.

[morgan ☽ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Don't let the shadows pull you back in."

This one dealt with some more serious topics like suicide and depression. I think at this point I'm getting invested in the story.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn’t a fan of the opening few issues and they kind of confused me. But the last two really made up for it, with honestly one of my fave daredevil stories I’ve ever read.

[Juan Francisco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha gustado mucho. Puede que no pase nada excesivamente relevante, pero estás aventuras se disfrutan mucho. Punto positivo por tocar la relación de Matt con su madre. Ojalá se desarrollase más.

[Britton]

Admittedly, I was skeptical of Waid at first. I thought that he was another one of those 'nerds who pretend to be writers' (ala Dan Slott), and certainly he can fall into those cliches at times. Yet I was surprised to see that he was capable of spinning a good yarn, offering a more optimistic bent to superheroes in Alan Moore's shadow without seeming contrived or silly with his seminal work Kingdom Come. But sadly, there comes an age where a creative mind reaches his peak, and Waid has clearly passed his.

I understand that Waid was attempting to bring a lighter tone to the Daredevil world, but so was Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale with Daredevil: Yellow, and I found that story was more heartfelt, while not losing the tragedy that defines Daredevil's world. Waid certainly attempts to achieve a similar effect, but he seems to have no understanding on what makes Daredevil so compelling, instead making him into a snarky, wisecracking jackass no different than Austin Powers. I found awkward jokes, cringey moments, and the contrived, hokey storytelling that he had spent his career quietly subverting.

Now one might think of me as one of those angsty fanboys who can't accept change to an established character that I like. But I found that Andy Diggle's run and Shadowland, which is quite the opposite of Waid's take on the character, to also become unintentionally silly and ridiculous with how dark and intense that it got, with none of the mastery of tone that Bendis and Brubaker would take with the character, and one that Zdarsky would also take when approaching the character. But Waid proves that going in the complete other direction doesn't do much to help things either, and it only becomes more disheartening once you begin to see

Certainly, there were the good moments, there are times that Waid attempts to give more depth to Matt and the other characters and attempt to explain his reasoning as Matt attempting to hide the constant pain that he struggles with with humor and laughter, and admittedly that would be an interesting direction for the Man Without Fear to go, but I find that it falls flat for two major reasons. For starters, I found that there wasn't enough emotional investment to really grab me, most moments where it attempted to make a connection either became a cheap punchline or they went right back to snarky obliviousness. Secondly, there hasn't ever been a time in Daredevil's history where he's attempted to use humor to cover up emotional pain (that I know of, to be fair). Now, I'm not one who harps too much on continuity, but it has its importance where it allows the stories and runs on characters to come together cohesively, and I don't find that Waid stuck to it or even cared to get a grasp on the character. One could make an argument for Stan Lee's original run with the character or Daredevil or Loeb and Sale's Yellow, but I found that they were fun while also keeping the tragedy of the character intact.

Chris Samnee's art was a continual source of enjoyment throughout this series, he brings a nostalgic, cartoon like flare to the series that was reminiscent of the great Darwyn Cooke, though a bit more upbeat and 'safe' unlike Cooke, who brought an evocative and moody tone to his art work with his work on Batman: Ego and his adaptations of Stark's Parker. But I still quite enjoyed Samnee's artwork throughout Waid's run, even as my interest began to wane.

In the end, I found that what truly went wrong with this series is that they got the wrong team to do it. I find that they would have been better on an Avengers book rather than a Daredevil one. The style, tone, and themes that are usually befitted to Daredevil are not found here, and I didn't find that Waid went in a very interesting direction with his take on Daredevil. Then again, it's always sad to see a once great creator begin to lose his touch, and Waid makes the list as he goes along.

Note: I won't be discussing any of the controversies that have befallen Waid over the last several years, I am only judging the quality of the storytelling in this run alone, any other drama that he's involved with has to do with him and the other parties involved in the situation.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the handling of the Sister Maggie storyline, though the Wakandan angle was a touch far-out for an archetypically "street-level" character. Also, the Bendis scripted testament of matt Murdock's "wife" was weird, and kind of creepy- what kind of hero shows up at a lady who he just saved's apartment in the middle of the night to tell her he finds her "chemically appealing"?

I enjoyed the 50th anniversary stuff a lot, though, especially as it posits the question of a middle-aged retired DD trying to get on with his life, and the Purple Man stuff was excellent even if it did take a big step away from the "Happy Matt" material of the previous volume.

Lastly, this panel gets 5 stars all on its own:

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seriously boys, a spears-and-skulls-and-jungle cover for DD's trip to Wakanda, "the most technologically advanced nation on Earth?" What were you thinking?


(Or the jungle warriors stripped to the waist and body panted?)


We dismiss past this little blackface moment without a thought (hi, 21st century weak racism!) and move into a nice little redemption moment with DD's mom (and some insta-revisionist storytelling against DD's dad's temper). A bit preachy but seems like a reasonable piece to fill in on their origin story. (Wonder if it'll still work in 20 years?)

And that's the Original Sin crossover, folks!

At least Rodriguez can hold his own on the page layouts:

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Original Sin stuff manages to consistently work. I literally can't believe it. How many times can they go to the crux of something? But they do. I'm not saying it is unbelievably brilliant, but it gets the job done.

There's something really strange about portraying Wakandans as techno-savages. Like the irony that the spears are really powerful electronic weapons is fun. I get that. But it's not like Americans dress up like Revolutionary War solders and carry weapons that only APPEAR to be breech-loading muskets.

Finally, the future Daredevil stories were moderately fun.

[Anchorpete · Rating 4 out of 5]

SPOILER---


Daredevil's Mom!

I always assumed she was dead. I keep going back and forth. Her motivations for leaving Matt's life when he was a little child, do they make sense or does it show a great misunderstanding for something awful that happens to many people. You decide.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dealt with some touchy subjects (depression, postpartum depression) in an extremely well-done way.

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daredevil w rękach Waid’a przechodzi nie mniejszą rewolucję jak w pierwszej dekadzie XXI wieku, kiedy to tytuł znajdował się w rękach kolejno Bendisa, a potem Brubakera. A to powinno starczyć za rekomendację, bo każdy kto miał do czynienia z marką, wie jak cholernie dobrymi pozycjami są te tytuły.

I Mark Waid prezentuje nam historię, która nie ustępuje niczym swoim poprzednikom. Początek to takie coś na zasadzie, co by było gdyby. Mamy Matta, tyle że takiego o 15 lat starszego. Był już nawet burmistrzem, a aktualnie stara się być wzorcowym tatą. Traf chce, że córka Owl Mana zamierza tu mocno nabruździć…

Potem mamy bardziej osobiste nuty, bowiem w wyniku Original Sin, Matt ma przebłysk ukazujący w nieco gorszym świetle jego tatę, którego do tej pory uważał za wzór cnót. Przy okazji już na sto procent wiemy, że pewna znana Daredevilowi zakonnica jest jego matką. Niestety Murdockowi nie jest dane obgadać wątpliwości z mamą, gdyż ta bierze udział w małym akcie wandalizmu, który zostaje napiętnowany tak jakby był jakąś zbrodnią przeciwko ludzkości. Co za tym wszystkim stoi? W jaki sposób w cały ambaras wciągnięty jest naród Wakandy.

To jedno. Potem mamy powrót Killgrave’a (tak, ten z pierwszego sezonu serialowej Jessiki Jones), który postanowił zebrać owoc swoich lędźwi, które zostały poczęte de facto z… gwałtu, bo Purple Man zwykł po wykorzystaniu seksualny kobiety wmawiać im, aby zapomniały o całym zajściu. Motywacja przeciwnika jest nieco dziwna, ale jak już Fioletowe Dzieci wchodzą do akcji… podobieństwa do Dzieci Kukurydzy nachodzą w tych fragmentach same, choć nie są aż tak drastyczne jak wizja z opowiadania Kinga.

Samnee to nadal klasa sama w sobie i nie wyobrażam sobie na razie innego artysty, który pracowałby nad tą serią. Może nie ma już nadmiaru popisów w stylu jak to Matt widzi świat (rym niezamierzony), ale całość jest zwyczajnie świetna, dodatkowo nadając całości specyficzny klimat, któremu daję się ponieść.

Cóż się rozpisywać. Daredevil Waida to jedna z najlepszych serii Marvel NOW! i trochę żal, że Egmont przespał ten tytuł. Warto, zwłaszcza że ja na Allegro nabyłem ten egzemplarz za 7 zł... Przy czym za 30 zł kupiłem wszystkie cztery tomy i uważam to za mój deal roku.

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Waid's run on Daredevil so far has been inconsistent for me. Either it's been really interesting and filled with potential, or it's been a complete whiff of a bad idea. This is the first of his books that just felt like a mediocre, forgettable comic. There's nothing terrible about it. It's just dull execution of very trite comic-booky ideas.

We start off with the fiftieth anniversary issue, which takes place in the future. It's fine. Waid's story is ok. Bendis and Maleev reunite, but instead of a comic, it's a few Maleev illustrations with Bendis writing a wall of text, and it ends with Karl Kesel writing a fluffy nothing nostalgia story that totally melts in your eyes before engaging your brain.

This is followed with an Avengers & X-Men: AXIS tie-in. Axis isn't Waid's fault. It's probably the worst Marvel crossover event ever conceived. Someone in editorial thought it would be The Height Of Art if there was an event where up was down, villains were good, heroes were evil, the sky was the ground, and water was dry. All Axis really proved was that the editor had been exposed to ... whatever dumb ass plot device was responsible for Axis ... and he thought this piece of shit idea was entertaining and worth publishing.

The Daredevil tie-in focuses on Matt's relationship with his mother. And while it's hokey and over the top, and a little confusing if you haven't read the Axis book to know that all heroes and villains are behaving out of character, it's probably the best book associated with the event. Meaning, it's ok.

From there, we see The Purple Man for the first time in quite a while. Only now he has Purple Kids. This could have been an interesting idea. It would have been a great story to be in the background for eight or ten issues, and then come to the foreground for a spectacular showdown. As a two issue storyline, I wasn't invested, and felt that Waid wasn't invested, either. We do get the setup for what will be the final Waid Daredevil story, even though that's a couple of volumes away. That seems more promising.

[AJ Easterday · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would probably be a five star read and my favorite volume of Daredevil so far had it not been for the 50th anniversary issue in the collection, which I sadly think fell really flat.

The rest of the volume though? Phenomenal! I totally wasn’t expecting the Purple Children story arc to go so hard, but it has one of the most honest portrayals of a mental health crisis that I have ever read, and it really proves that Mark Waid knows how to balance the light and dark sides of Daredevil to write a brilliantly nuanced and thoughtful story. Additionally, this story does a great job of showing how Matt interacts with kids, and I just adore seeing him with young kids. He can go from being in Devil mode to caretaker mode in a snap. And even when he’s still struggling from a major depressive episode, he will still do anything for those kids! I love this man!

Plus this volume contains the Original Sin story arc in which we learn the backstory of Sister Maggie a.k.a. Matt’s mom. Huge props to this story for being maybe the only explicit portrayal of postpartum depression I’ve ever seen. For something that’s so prevalent, it’s not talked about nearly enough, and this story did a good job in my opinion. I especially appreciate them including information and resources at the end of the issue for people who might be struggling with it themselves. I am also so impressed that a story created entirely by men contains a pretty realistic and nuanced depiction of motherhood, because unfortunately that’s something I feel men don’t always know how to write very well. But this was just so, so excellent. I don’t know if Daredevil could possibly get much better than this.