Review: Daredevil Vol. 5 by Mark Waid

Quick Summary

Pros: Matt and Foggy’s friendship is handled well and is hit with an earth-shattering twist. The mystery behind this story’s villain is build up perfectly. The end of this collection will keep readers in a tantalizing state of constant suspense.

Cons: There are a few small leaps in logic that are relatively easy to ignore.

Overall: This is an absolutely epic installment in the Daredevil series and one that fans of the character will really appreciate. Themes and plotlines that come to light here have been teased for a while and make for some tremendously satisfying reveals. In addition, the way character based moments are contrasted with intense heroics make for a diverse and wonderful story. This is a great book for Daredevil fans, especially those who have been reading his comics for a while.

Story

There is a lot of great stuff going on in Mark Waid’s Daredevil Vol. 5; in this collection, we see the return of Matt and Foggy’s friendship, some decompressed character moments, and the climax of a plotline that has been teased for nearly this entire series. This mixture of intense battles against supervillains clashes with somber moments between friends in the absolute best way possible. All together, this is a story any Daredevil fan can jump in and appreciate, especially those who are familiar with his past in the world of comics.

(spoilers start here)

For a while now, in this current Daredevil series, Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson have been on the rocks. Now, with misunderstandings behind them, the two are able to finally talk, explain themselves, and become friends again. What makes this reunion so enjoyable is how civil and mature the pair are about everything. In many comics, movies, and television shows, the plot will rely on unlikely miscommunications or irrational decision to push the story forward. Here, Mark Waid writes a story that you could see play out in real life and thus makes it a thousand times easier to connect with the characters.

After this beautiful reconciliation, Waid pulls off a completely unexpected, yet well executed, twist. Foggy Nelson has cancer. The doctor appointments, the test results reveals, and the visits to the children in the cancer ward are all shown, with each being more gut wrenching than the last. In and of itself, this is an emotional journey with monumental ramifications but, in the context of what has just happened, it is even more meaningful. After volumes of stories with Matt ditching his friend to save people, we now see him constantly by his friend’s side, despite being able to hear numerous crimes being committed. It shows how close these friends are and is the perfect compliment to everything the duo have been through recently.

One would think that a book with all of this going on would have no room for anything else, yet just the opposite is true. Alongside Foggy’s storyline is the conclusion to an arc that has also been teased for the last couple volumes. In these volumes, Daredevil has suspected that someone has been manipulating all of the villains he has been facing recently. Now the villain has escalated the situation to its endgame by sending an assassin after Daredevil. This assassin has all of Daredevil’s powers and uses them to nearly kill Daredevil. He only stops so that he can leave the “Man Without Fear” in a constant state of wonder about when his death will come.

By doing this, Waid has created the most tense and suspenseful situation of the series so far. Daredevil’s new enemy takes a perverse pleasure in taunting him, meaning that anyone he speaks to could be sent to kill him. One scene I particularly enjoyed involved Matt yelling at a stranger after suspecting he may be working for the enemy. When the stranger runs away, Matt follows him to apologize, only for the stranger to flash a devilish smile and say that Daredevil should be afraid. This moment and those around it were just spectacular.

The story ends by revealing the big bad as Bullseye, who Matt thought was dead. It is a surprising reveal and one that longtime Daredevil fans will definitely appreciate. With the help of his friends, Daredevil is able to beat Bullseye once again and finally live as the “Man Without Fear” once more. Thematically this does well in tying into Daredevil’s reliance on others and is a satisfying conclusion to the arc.

My only problem with this entire volume comes from a few very small logical leaps that the story makes. For example, Daredevil starts this collection by saying his powers were a one-in-a-lifetime occurrence that relied on the unique chemistry of his own body. Yet, later in the story, someone is able to replicate and nearly mass produce it. These negatives are only noticeable if you are really nitpicking the story though and do not have a major impact on the work as a whole.

(spoilers end here)

Art

Christ Samnee has a real talent for drawing the more cheery and lighthearted Daredevil that Mark Waid writes and utilizes that talent to its fullest throughout this collection. The pages are laid out great and present the Man Without Fear and his enemies in a way that make them feel dynamic and full of action. All of this, in turn, helps to make the book feel more energetic and solidifies it as a fun and entertaining superhero comic.

In addition, Samnee has become more and more creative in the way he chooses to highlight Daredevil’s unique power set. This can range from a EKG display showing someone’s pulse to a topographical view of the area to show how Daredevil perceives his surroundings. These little details add a lot of character and flair to the series and make it better to read overall.

Continuity

Daredevil Vol. 5 is a direct continuation of the events in Daredevil Vol. 4 (Review).

The story here will continue in Daredevil Vol. 6.

This volume also references stories from other comic books, all of which are detailed below:

• Spider-Man’s unusual behavior at the beginning of this volume is explained by Superior Spider-Man Vol. 1: My Own Worst Enemy.
• Iron Man’s armor is a different color because of the events of Iron Man Vol. 1: Believe (Review).
• The villain, at the conclusion of this volume, is in his current situation because of the events of Shadowland.