Daredevil: Cage Match - Review

The usual monthly Daredevil title took a month off so Antony Johnston stood up and offered a one-shot that really filled the void in a very different way. Daredevil has been a dark and twisted tale of late and in the lead up to the DD event, Shadowland, things don’t look to be getting any brighter so it was nice to get a fluffy little Silver Agey tale before we descend into the depths of DD’s future. This issue hit shelves a few weeks ago but it was delayed coming to Australia so only now can you hit the jump to see what I thought.

Daredevil: Cage Match

Written by Antony Johnston
Pencils by Sean Chen
Inks by Sandu Florea
Colours by Matt Hollingsworth

We begin our tale some time ago; Daredevil and Luke Cage are swinging through the rooftops of Hell’s Kitchen and on their way to bust up some lowly street hoods. It’s just another night in the hot kitchen for our two heroic and friendly men of horns and tiaras.

During a routine bust up, Daredevil gets a gun pulled on him and Cage jumps in to crimp the barrel, stop the bullet, and save DD’s life. This begins a conversation that DD cannot always be so gung ho, he’s not bullet proof and he must play it smart. DD takes this to heart, a little, and some banter eventuates in the two organising a friendly fight with a thousand dollars on the line for charities of choice. It’s a simple set up and an enjoyable one. Johnston isn’t trying to set up some grim and gritty arc full of angst, he only wants to get in, out, and have everyone enjoy the ride.

The two sidekicks, if you will, of Foggy Nelson and Iron Fist discuss this arrangement with their larger than life friends with different reasons but both just wanting the fight called off. It’s a bad idea and someone is going to get hurt. While Iron Fist discusses this with his Hero For Hire pal, the entire plan is overheard by Turk who pulls his usual stunt by blabbing it to the streets so people can bet on it, and turning up at the right time to see the outcome.

Chen does an excellent job of making the pages of fighting in the boxing ring at Fogwell’s dynamic and not drag. He draws all of the characters with distinction and I really liked his Foggy and it seems that no artist can go wrong with drawing Iron Fist.

The tale ends simply, I won’t give away any victors, but it’s all meant to be a bit of fun. This story doesn’t decide who wins and who dies, the Marvel Universe will be the same afterwards, and you only need to strap yourself in for 22 pages and just enjoy the ride. And I did enjoy it, with special mention going to the last panel which has to be seen to be believed. Though, if you have seen Rocky III then you’ll have some idea of the level of awesome and just pure greatness that we are looking at here, and I can only hope that Johnston and Chen meant this moment as a very intentional nod.

Verdict – Buy It. It’s a simple issue and an enjoyable one. It stands alone and I know I’ll reread it plenty of times in the future. It’s almost a guilty pleasure and with the constant sadness that Matt Murdock gets put through it’s kind of nice just to step to the side and have one nice moment where the weight of the world wasn’t on his shoulders. We get to have some fun with our scarlet swashbuckler and I think it’s nice that a character get treated with some diversity from time to time. Pick this one up; if you like the idea that comic characters can still sometimes be used for fun then this one-shot is right up an alley in your own Hell's Kitchen.

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