The Panel:

Daredevil Vol. 6 #28 written by Chip Zdarsky drawn by Marco Checchetto

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The Context:

An inmate Matt just defended from an assault commits suicide in his cell. The prison psychologist tells Matt the news personally because she is concerned about how he will react. She is right to be. He breaks down upon hearing about the death, blaming himself for Neil even being in prison. Dr. Hayes points out that Spider-Man caught Neil, not realizing that Matt was the prosecuting attorney in Neil’s case. This is what finally causes Matt to break down and admit to Dr. Hayes that his emotional and psychological health is poor and has been for a while.

My Thoughts:

I struggled with Soule’s Daredevil run, and a big part of where it fell down for me was making Matt a prosecutor. I know there was a big picture reason. And I won’t try to pretend it was out of character. But I found it distasteful. I can suspend my disbelief enough to accept violent vigilantism as an appropriate response to crime. I cannot further suspend it to enjoy the conflict of interest inherent in rooting for the person violently beating up criminals to also be behind their long-term punishment. So I approve of Zdarsky’s run challenging that portion of Matt’s history.

As for the specifics of this panel, I love the shadow. Mirrors and shadows often work in fiction to expose a character’s true or hidden self. When we see Matt’s shadow, it frequently has some devil horns attached to remind the audience of his hidden self. Here there are no horns. Matt has power as an attorney. He might even wield more power as a lawyer than he does as Daredevil, depending on the circumstances. And on this occasion, that power failed someone. And so, his shadow is the simple shadow of a man.

Question:

Do other people feel the way I do about Soule’s choice to make Matt a prosecutor? I’m not wrong, but everyone has their own limits when it comes to suspension of disbelief. I feel like I mostly see praise for Soule’s run from other Daredevil fans, so I wonder if I’m alone in this frustration.

Bibliography:

Zdarsky, Chip. Checchetto, Marco. Menyz, Marcio. Cowles, Clayton. “Are You Okay?.” Daredevil, vol. 6, no. 28, Marvel, 2021.

The Panel:

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The Context:

Frustrated by Matt’s initial reaction to Leo Carraro’s death, Peter has been one of Matt’s harshest critics throughout the run, and the friendship between the two men has been strained. In this issue, Matt goes to Peter and asks for help dealing with Fisk after he’s turned himself in. The mission is successful and ends with Peter and Matt talking. Peter apologizes for how harshly he reacted, admitting that his own unresolved feelings over having killed someone many years before may have played a role in how hard he came down on Matt. As Peter confesses what happened, Matt sees how distressed he still is years after the fact and comes over to give Peter a hug.

My Thoughts:

Full disclosure, I love Matt and Peter’s relationship, so a big part of what appealed to me about this panel is the focus on their friendship. Still, I also think it’s an interesting panel. Particularly, how startled Peter is by the hug. Peter is a character with so much anger, telling Matt something traumatic that only Wolverine knows about (not the person you want to be solely responsible for helping you through trauma), something that’s haunted him for years. A hug isn’t the reaction Peter expects in this moment. He especially doesn’t expect it from Matt, who is possibly even angrier at the world than Peter. And yet, a hug is what Matt offers. Matt, who’s spent much of this issue trying to appreciate people helping him, reaches out to comfort Peter—not to condemn him or even to stand in stoic silence and just listen—but to comfort. Peter’s surprise is the focal point of this panel. The background is simply a dark night sky. The top of Matt’s head is cut off. His stuttered “–I…” is the only text on the page. But the image still conveys so much information about who these characters are and where they are emotionally.

Bibliography:

Zdarsky, Chip. Checchetto, Marco. Menyz, Marcio. “Truth/Dare Part 3.” Daredevil, vol. 6, no. 23, Marvel, 2020.

The Panel:

Daredevil Vol. 6 #21 written by Chip Zdarsky drawn by Marco Checchetto

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The Context:

Cole North began his police career in New York as firmly anti-vigilante. He made it his mission to arrest Daredevil for the death of Leo Carraro, who died of complications from the concussion Daredevil gave him. However, as the gang war in Hell’s Kitchen became more complicated and Cole’s resistance to taking corrupt orders made him unpopular in the department, he found himself allying with Daredevil. Eventually, he began to like and support him. Now, after working with Daredevil to defend Hell’s Kitchen and end the gang war, Daredevil has turned himself in for Carraro’s murder, over Cole’s objections. As Cole drives him to the station, he clings to the idea that Daredevil turned himself in to Cole to make escaping easier, but Matt assures him that’s not the case. In this image, Cole is confronting how much impact his own words have had on Matt while fearing that Fisk and the anti-vigilante section of the government mean Matt is making a mistake.

My thoughts:

I’ve talked before about how I’m not great at reading expressions, and this panel is pretty much all expression. But I couldn’t help but choose it. I’ve enjoyed Zdarsky’s Daredevil run quite a lot, and Cole North’s character arc has been among the highlights. I am captivated by what the conversation must feel like for him. He’s technically fulfilling a goal he abandoned a while ago. By all rights, he should be proud, but instead, he is trying to talk someone he’s come to like, even admire, out of making a mistake. And in this moment specifically, Matt is justifying his choice by using Cole’s own ethics against him. Cole has gone from someone with a black and white view of the world to someone who has been forced to accept shades of grey. He still believes in what Matt is saying, that he knows right from wrong, and Matt killing Leo Carraro was wrong, but he has now accepted a shade of grey in knowing the consequences for Matt would be unjust. To talk about the actual panel for a moment, I think he looks contemplative here. He is listening to Matt and trying to determine the right thing to do.

Bibliography:

Zdarsky, Chip. Checchetto, Marco. Iacono, Mattia. Cowles, Clayton. “Truth/Dare Part 1.” Daredevil, vol. 6, no. 21, Marvel, 2020.

The Panel:

Written by Chip Zdarsky drawn by Marco Checchetto

The Context:

After what he intended to be a non-fatal concussion resulted in the death of a criminal Daredevil had apprehended, Matt Murdock tried to give up being Daredevil. He has spent the run up to this point trying to negotiate his guilt, martyr complex, innate need to help, violent tendencies, and legacy into a new understanding of himself. However, as Hell’s Kitchen falls into war, caught between a number of factions, Matt must realize that running from Daredevil was never the solution. Although he has been beginning to understand this for a while, this panel and Foggy’s words kick off his conscious reclamation of his superhero identity.

My thoughts:

Honestly, I chose this panel because putting Bullseye in an image with dialogue that kicks off Matt’s internal monologue reclaiming Daredevil fascinates me. On the one hand, it makes him this larger-than-life threat, pairing his image with “this is bigger than ‘Matt Murdock.’” Something he won’t be just a few pages later when Matt defeats him easily. On the other hand, it belittles him. Daredevil has been shown throughout Zdarsky’s run to be more than a costume, more than one man even. Bullseye, however, is only ever his costume. Yes, his skill matters, but he’s not the only incredible marksman in the Marvel Universe. His suit is his gimmick, whereas Matt’s costume is incidental. The imagery surrounding the true core of Daredevil. Another person can be Bullseye, and another person can be Daredevil. But for someone else to be Bullseye is, at most, for them to brag about their marksmanship. For someone else to be Daredevil is to take on a mantle and a cause. Bullseye, in this image, represents both the looming threat facing Hell’s Kitchen and the capacity for Daredevil to be far more than any potential threat.

Bibliography:

Zdarsky, Chip. Checchetto, Marco. Iacono, Mattia. Cowles, Clayton. “Inferno: Part II – …Lift Your Fists and Fight.” Daredevil, vol. 6, no. 20, Marvel, 2020.