Elektra Natchios, former college lover of Matt Murdock and dangerous assassin has reappeared in Daredevil's life. But this isn't a social visit as Elektra comes to the Man Without Fear demanding the safe return of her child. But Elektra doesn't have a child or does she? If she does, if the protector of Hell's Kitchen the father? It will take all of combined resources of Matt and Daredevil to get to the bottom of this intriguing mystery.
Then Matt Murdock travels to Macau in order to enter a high stakes poker tournament. Featuring an epic team-up with the Amazing Spider-Man, this story reveals a little more about how Daredevil made the world forget that he and Murdock are one and the same. But the how the vigilante pulled it off is still unexplained.
Lastly, in two one-parters, Daredevil, with the help of a deaf superhero named Echo, must take on Klaw as the master of sound infects the Big Apple with a sonic virus and then our hero battles a villain named Gladiator who has buzz-saws attached to his hands and murder in his soul.
I loved the Elektra and Spider-Man stories. Both would very well written and had great twists and turns. Charles Soule's (Letter 44) writing is slowly winning me over throughout this Daredevil run. It's not Mark Waid quality but the mix of gritty and light-hearted is enjoyable. The artwork of Ron Garney (A+X) is really good and I like how he interprets what Daredevil sees with his sonar-vision. And man, do I dig those Bill Sienkiewicz covers on issues 6 and 7.
The last two stories, which originally appeared in Daredevil Annual #1; those I'm on the fence with. Soule does a fairly good job with both stories. (I think I would like the Gladiator story better if I knew who that character was.) Though how Echo and Daredevil are able to communicate with one another seems a little far fetched.
During Klaw's sonic attacks, Daredevil is wearing noise cancelling head phones. So how can he tell what Echo is saying to him if he's blind? Even worse, how can Echo understand what he is saying to her? Yes, I know that those who are deaf can sometimes read lips (and maybe Daredevil can too with his sonar) but in a couple of panels, the Man Without Fear has his back turned away from her! Did the artist Vanessa R. Del Rey forget that Echo can't hear?
The new Daredevil series (which some dub Back In Black) is gradually getting better. But there's still some rough edges, like with the stories contained in annual 1. But should I get my hands on further volumes, I can honestly say that I will continue to read them.
Worth Consuming
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
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