Daredevil #104 Review

DAREDEVIL #104
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Michael Lark

Mr Fear is really frakking up Daredevil's life right now. Daredevil must have made fun of his haircut, kicked his dog and told him his mother dresses him funny because this is some messed up shit he's doing to Matt as of late.

Picking up where we left off, Matt has Ox chained up and the blowtorch fired up and ready to blow. Ox thinks he won't do it and, to be honest, neither did I, but Matt cuts into him with the torch to get things rolling. As predicted, it doesn't last, but he does improvise. Instead of burning him, he nerve strikes him, causing him to be blinded. Having the torch burning something nearby, he then proceeds to use precision nerve strikes, all of which he claim should hurt more than a blow torch burning him (how the hell does Matt even know that factoid?) to make it appear he is actually burning him. Yes, it's an odd, round about way of doing things, but I guess having the hero blow torch someone is best left for Punisher MAX and not the warm and fuzzy normal Marvel U.

Needless to say, Ox gives up the information on Mr Fear. Matt leaves him there to rot as he makes a date with Mr Fear. Unbeknownst to him, The Hood has been keeping tabs on him and floats down out of invisibility to have a chat with Ox. They come to an arrangement and call to warn Mr Fear of DD's arrival. Matt didn't like having to beat up thugs for nothing and heads home once he realizes the wife is probably in trouble.

Lily, who visited Milla at the end of last issue, seems to have triggered a response in Milla that drives her insane again and Milla, off panel, beat the nurse half to death before crumbling in the corner as she mental cracks under the strain of Mr Fear's drugs. Matt shows up to comfort her as the cops approach.

Finally, it turns out Mr Fear was off meeting The Hood at the behest of Ox. This was a great scene and Brubaker is doing an excellent job with the Hood character. He's very competent, even without the army of goons at his command, and I'm curious to see where this goes and how it's affected by the New Avengers Annual.

Verdict - Must Read. There's some excellent scenes and Matt's fall from grace continues as his world crumbles around him. Mr Fear teaming with Hood can only make things worse. Next month's cover is one that dares people to just try and not pick it up and I can't wait to read it.

Related Posts