Daredevil # 1

Written by Chip Zdarsky

Art by Marco Checchetto

A man walks into bar and asks what the hubbub is all about. A woman replies by saying it’s a party to celebrate a man avoiding jail time. The man in question broke into a house. The homeowner came home and got shot in the scuffle. A witness saw the man run from the crime scene but suddenly can’t I.D him.  The man kindly asks the woman what time it is on the clock and retorts if he’s blind before noticing he is- Matt Murdock tells the woman he tries to keep his disability a secret the best he can.

Later that night, “Pistol” Pat Albano is found in the street with a broken leg, severely beaten. One cop wants to report that Daredevil did it, while the other wants to sweep it under the rug. Detective Cole North, recently transferred from Chicago, takes over reviewing the crime scene.

Matt has been back as Daredevil for a week. His encounter with Pat Albano was out of costume, a decision he knows was sloppy because bystanders could have seen the fight taking place. Daredevil decides to put his costume on and patrol the city via the rooftops. He wants as many people as possible to see him so that the rumors of Daredevil being back in action are true.

Daredevil investigates a break-in at a liquor store. He attacks two perps as they exit the store but misses a third perp behind him with a gun. Daredevil nearly misses being shot. As the three men gang up and attack Daredevil, Matt tries his best to defend himself, throwing one of the men against a wall. Daredevil, seriously overmatched, is beaten bloody as he incapacitates the other men. The cops arrive on scene as Daredevil escapes. Matt catches his breath on a rooftop, realizing he was almost killed by 3 low level criminals. He thinks he may have returned from recovering from his injuries a bit sooner than he should have.

Wilson Fisk is going over his meetings and interviews with his right-hand man, John Wesley, when the Kingpin turns on the T.V. A news report details the fight between Daredevil and the three robbers. Two of the men were released from the hospital and taken into police custody, while the other man, Leo Carraro, was pronounced dead at the scene due to severe head trauma.

Chip Zdarsky wastes no time ripping Matt’s world from its foundation. Wilson Fisk has a legitimate reason to go after Daredevil now and bring the vigilante to justice. Daredevil is unaware of the repercussions of the fight but its only a matter of time before the truth comes to light. Detective North will do whatever is necessary to bring the Man without Fear into custody. I am looking forward to seeing how this plays out.

Although this issue fills us in on the current events of Matt’s life, Zdarsky gives us a glimpse of the past with young Matt’s interactions with local priest Father Cathal. These flashbacks fill the reader in on Father Cathal’s effect on Matt’s life after the accident that took Matt’s sight and the debut of Matt as Daredevil. It’s these interactions that helped shape Matt into the man he is today. These interactions start to weigh heavily on Matt and his thirst for justice and vengeance. I hope we get more of these flashbacks in future issues.