Recap – “After being struck by a truck and fighting for his life on the operating table, Matt Murdock returned to Hell’s Kitchen with a newfound resolve to prove that Wilson Fisk, formerly the Kingpin of Crime and now the city’s mayor, rigged the election in his own favor. Daredevil and his investigative squad embraced their roles as vigilantes by kidnapping Fisk’s right-hand man, John Wesley, to get him to reveal the details of Fisk’s corruption. However, before Daredevil could extract information from Wesley, Fisk’s mysterious new assassin, The Vigil, interfered and killed Wesley, creating another dead end in their investigation and painting a larger target on Daredevil’s back…”

Daredevil 611

Written by Charles Soule

Drawn by Phil Noto

Matt is on patrol, high above the New York City skyline, when he realizes he’s going to have to go it alone for the time being, as he doesn’t want to put his squad or Foggy in danger. He is suddenly attacked without warning by Stilt-Man and tries to escape the villain’s clutches. However, there is an army of Stilt-Men after Daredevil, so he goes street level to avoid being detected. He enters an arena trying to hide for a minute to formulate his next step when he realizes he was led there to face familiar foes – Klaw, Ikari, Gladiator, Ten Fingers, Typhoid Mary, and Electro.

Matt tells the villains that it may look like six on one, but he will be the victor in this battle. Matt throws his billy club at Klaw, which makes him fire a sonic blast that takes Ikari out of the fight, knocking Ten Fingers and Gladiator off balance, their weapons firing at Typhoid Mary. Mary, enraged, uses her pyro telekinetic powers to retaliate against Ten Fingers and Gladiator. The fire created by Mary causes the sprinklers to activate and the water douses Electro, who discharges electricity toward the other 5 villains taking them all out of the fight.

Matt reaches the top of the arena, relishing his victory, when his billy club is shot out of his hands. He realizes now he is a sitting duck out in the open because there’s one assassin he forgot about – BULLSEYE! Bullseye shoots Matt in the leg, and is about to finish him off, when an unexpected person shows up to save the day – Mike Murdock. Mike shoots Bullseye, getting revenge on the villain for killing Karen Page. Matt realizes that his brother will surely kill him next, killed by “himself”. Instead, Mike dresses Matt’s wound. Mike tells Daredevil that he will help the hero take down Wilson Fisk and that Mike is Daredevil’s new best friend. TO BE CONCLUDED!

The penultimate issue of the Death of Daredevil is full of action and surprises. The arena battle sequence is worth the $3.99 alone. I had to do some digging on Mike Murdock and included a link in the review for those that need a refresher on the character. Will Mike keep his promise to help Daredevil or will Mike lead Matt to his untimely demise? Will Wilson Fisk be triumphant over Matt or will Matt have the last laugh? Will the identity of the Vigil be revealed before all is said and done? Hopefully all these answers will be revealed in the final issue of Daredevil!

Next issue- The whirlwind adventure of the fall ends here, in an oversized and overwhelming DAREDEVIL epic as only Charles Soule and Phil Noto could deliver it. Face forward, True Believers, this one’ll have you talking for MONTHS!