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The seventh issue of Charles Soule’s Daredevil came out on May 25, and once again the man has churned out a solid piece of work. If writing comic books were a race, then it is safe to say that Mr. Soul would be lapping most of his Marvel peers at this point. His writing is crisp, he isn’t forcing weirdly partisan stories down readers’ throats, his pacing is consistently smooth, and he seems to inherently get what makes for a cool Daredevil story.
If there is one Marvel book worth getting each month, then it belongs to Team Soule.
Here is what you need to know for Daredevil #7:
- The “man without fear”convinces Elektra to let him help unravel the mystery behind her daughter’s disappearance.
- Elektra gives Daredevil a cell phone that purportedly shows him training her daughter.
- Matt Murdoch takes the phone to Foggy Nelson despite the “rough patch” they’re going through, and Foggy says there is no video on the phone.
- Matt, thinking the child might be his, inadvertently destroys the phone in a fit of rage when he can’t figure out what is going on.
- Daredevil meets with Elektra and tells her there is nothing on the phone, but that he accidentally destroyed it. She is upset, but takes off to find answers on her own.
- Elektra (with Daredevil tailing her) confronts the man who gave her the phone after killing his partner. The man says “The tangled web we weave!” and she realizes someone took control of her mind. Someone wanted her to feel the pain of losing a child.
- Daredevil realizes that he knows the identify of the person who took control of Elektra’s mind, but does not disclose that information to her. She leaves with the intention of finding and killing the man who psychically abused her.
Complimenting Mr. Soule’s writing nicely is artist Matteo Buffagni, whose eye for awesome is incredibly keen. Besides the noir-perfect pitch, little details — like having Daredevil’s hand slightly hang out over the panel as he clings to a ledge in Hell’s Kitchen — indicate a creative team that is running on all cylinders. It is a shame that others within the company aren’t taking notes on what is clearly a winning formula.
In short, if you aren’t buying Daredevil then you should be. It’s only a matter of time before Mr. Soule steps aside and the next writer decides to come up with the “bold” **cough** twist that Matt Murdock has never been blind…
Douglas Ernst Blog 
Sounds good, but still not enough to make me pick up one of these.
“Sounds good, but still not enough to make me pick up one of these.”
Fair enough — but if you said you were a big Daredevil fan and you didn’t buy this book, then I would seriously question your judgment. This is the best I have seen Daredevil since the 1980s.
“This is the best I have seen Daredevil since the 1980s.”
Lucky you. Let’s hope he doesn’t fall into the pits of PC punditry.
“Lucky you. Let’s hope he doesn’t fall into the pits of PC punditry.”
He’s on the seventh issue and thus far it just seems like solid storytelling. That’s about 3 creative ice ages for most Marvel writers in terms of not getting stupidly political.
“He’s on the seventh issue and thus far it just seems like solid storytelling. That’s about 3 creative ice ages for most Marvel writers in terms of not getting stupidly political.”
A good look. Here’s to good storytelling. 🙂
I’m really tempted to pick up this series because of your positive reviews. I’ve heard that Soule is pretty good, and apparently he actually was a lawyer at one time, so it add some authenticity to Matt’s day job as a lawyer.
“I’m really tempted to pick up this series because of your positive reviews.”
Carl, get yourself a Paypal account and I will literally put $20 in it for you to buy a few issues of Daredevil. You’ve been reading this blog and commenting long enough that it’s the least I can do. If you want me to send you a few issues through the mail then let me know and I’ll contact you via the email address that you gave WordPress.
Just let me know what method works best for you and it’s done.
I met Charles Soule at the Comic Expo in Calgary last month and complimented him on DD (which I read after your recommendation Doug). Nice fella and seemed down to Earth. He suggested I read his creator owned work, Letter 44, which he considers his best work. Its on Comixology too!
“I met Charles Soule at the Comic Expo in Calgary last month and complimented him on DD (which I read after your recommendation Doug). Nice fella and seemed down to Earth.”
That’s pretty cool! I saw that he’s going to be signing comics in NYC in the near future and then noticed it was on a Thursday … at 7:00 p.m. D’oh! I’d love to give him a thumbs up for his work thus far on DD, but I’m not going to take off work to do it. 🙂