Daredevil #4 - Comic Review

 

Daredevil is searching the streets for information that will lead him to the assassin Bullseye in this issue, but is finding it hard to juggle his commitments as Father Matthew and the masked vigilante.

This issue deals with a number of plot threads, and because of that it never really has a chance to get boring; but nor does it have a chance to really spend time with the characters and give things a chance to breathe. After interrogating a member of The Heat, Matt heads over to the Daily Bugle to meet with Ben Urich, who's been publishing slanderous articles about his church and the work that they're doing with local kids. Surprisingly, Ben doesn't seem to recognise who Matt is, though the explanation for this could very well be the demon that's looming over him.

Much like Elektra in the first issue, Ben seems to be possessed by a demon, making this the second person close to Matt to be in this situation. Interestingly, just before this there is a panel where Matt is swinging past a building, and his reflection looks different, with more demonic horns and glowing eyes. Perhaps this is giving us hints that it's not God who got him out of hell and gave him this second chance at a life, and that maybe Elektra and Ben aren't the only people with demons inside them.

The meeting ends when Matt overhears information of The Heat, and has to leave to go and track a lead before it's too late. It's during this that he's called by the cops, who have one of his kids under arrest for shoplifting. This means he has to jump back into being Father Matt to go and bail her out and smooth things over, leading to him being late to stop Bullseye. As such, the building is already under siege when he arrives, and he's barely able to stop Bullseye from killing his target, though he is seriously wounded and dozens of others are dead.

Whilst Matt is getting the injured man out of the building Ben Urich arrives on the scene, leading to Matt to have to do a quick exorcism to get the demon out of his friend. Like I said, a lot happens this issue.

Because there's so much here it does feel like the plot is moving forward, though some of that kind of feels artificial. The plot of Ashley getting arrested and Matt not giving up on her feels thrown in to just break things up, and it's a shame as Matt' relationship with the kids under his care should be a plot that gets some proper time, and shouldn't just be a throwaway things to give the writer a reason for why Matt is late to his mission. The same with the Ben Urich plot. Ben gets two scenes in this issue, one that establishes he's got a demon, the other gets rid of it. I can't help but feel this could have been the focus of an issue itself, and these two scenes are decent, but kind of clash with all of the Bullseye stuff.

Speaking of Bullseye, despite the characters not really getting much time to fight in this issue their fight is really entertaining. There's a great moment where Matt punches him hard enough to knock one of his teeth out, and Bullseye catches it as it flies out his mouth, and uses it to set off the fire alarm, flicking it to break the glass. This give him the chance to disorient Matt enough to get out of his grasp and escape. It's a cool little gag that highlights the kind of skill that Bullseye has, and how tricky a character he can be if given half the chance. 

The art on the book, by German Peralta with colours by Jesus Aburtov, looks good, and the fight with Bullseye is a particular stand-out, with a ton of energy and a sense of speed and movement to the characters that works well here. The moments with Ben Urich and his possession aren't depicted in the same creative way as Elektra was in the first issue, the creature is perched on his shoulders, tail wrapped around his chest, rather than being a part of him. But, these moments still look cool, and create for a striking look, especially when shown thorough Matt's radar hearing senses.

This issue is enjoyable, though the packing in of three different plots into a single issue, none of them really given the time they need to feel like they've been given a fair focus, leads to an issue that feels like it could have been better. Hopefully the pacing in future instalments improves somewhat, as it'd go a long way towards me liking it more.

Support Amy on Patreon

Buy Amy A Coffee

Go to Amy's Blog

Follow Amy on Twitter

Add Amy on Instagram