Sunday, May 26, 2019

Daredevil: Born Again

Daredevil: Born AgainDaredevil: Born Again by Frank Miller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When Daredevil's old flame sells his identity for a hit of heroin, the knowledge winds up in the hands of the Kingpin and he uses it to destroy Matt Murdock's life. But The Kingpin made one mistake: HE LET MATT MURDOCK LIVE!

Daredevil: Born Again collects issues #226-233 of Daredevil, written by Frank Miller and illustrated by David Mazzucchelli, the same team that would later create Batman: Year One. As much as I hate to say it, Born Again is the superior work.

When a man has nothing left, does he have anything left to fear? That's the question at the heart of this run. The Kingpin burns Matt Murdock's life down to the ground, seeing him homeless, defeated, and in the depths of despair. Then shit gets serious.

Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli were at the top of their game on Daredevil. Miller's writing is straight out of the old detective masters like Jim Thompson, Raymond Chandler, and Dashielle Hammett and that's what makes this run stand above countless others. Miller has read something besides comics in his life and that's what makes his voice so powerful. David Mazzucchelli's art is fantastic, the perfect moody accompaniment to the story. Both his character moments and his action scenes are spot on.

The story is all too plausible, the Kingpin using his influence to destroy Matt Murdock's life piece by piece. Matt struggles to keep his head above water until literally finding himself in the back of a cab as it plunges into the drink. Stabbed by a thug in a Santa Claus costume and stricken by pneumonia, Matt hits rock bottom until nursed back to health by an unlikely ally. It's orgasmic when old Hornhead finally puts the costume back on and embarks on the road to setting things right.

I rarely use the word "masterpiece" but Daredevil: Born Again is a fucking masterpiece. Five out of five blind lawyers.

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