Comic Review: Daredevil (2019-) #6

Daredevil (2019-) #6

Marvel Comics

Writer: Chip Zdarsky

Artist: Lalit Kumar Sharma

Matt Murdock quit being Daredevil. If you’re not up to speed, Daredevil kind of accidentally killed a guy. A Police Detective from Chicago, Cole North, transfers to New York and immediately starts hunting Daredevil. The two fight in the middle of the street and Daredevil gets a savior in the form of the Punisher. Accepting what he’s done, Matt Murdock decides it’s time to give up the horns for a simple civilian life.

In Daredevil #6, it’s been a couple of months since Matt Murdock quit being a vigilante. Things aren’t going great for the neighborhood. Detective Cole North having taken Daredevil out of action, is doing a bad job of taking down his next vigilante, Spider-Man. Other cops in his department are angry with him in one way or another for his part in taking down Daredevil. The Owl is charging shop owners for protection. All the while, Matt Murdock is living life, being a parole officer and flirting with women.

This is comics, obviously, so I don’t think it’ll be too long before Daredevil pops up again. But the journey to get there looks interesting to me. Matt Murdock’s Catholic guilt won’t let him stay away for too long, I imagine. There are also some interesting developments for the new character, Cole North. Even though he keeps telling himself all he cares about is stopping crimes, his crusade against Daredevil is eating away at him. It’s not shoving it in our face, but this issue does a good job of showing what happens in Daredevil’s absence. From civilians to cops to the Kingpin himself, Daredevil affects everybody.

There was a particular image in the first few pages of this issue that made me pause for a second. Matt Murdock is walking onto the sidewalk from some stairs, and he’s in a weird jumping/floating pose. It doesn’t look natural, to me at least. But, that’s only one page. The rest of it is really good. There’s a couple of close-ups on some characters that have great details, especially the Kingpin. Speaking of which, there’s a scene where Kingpin is fighting some prison inmates single-handedly. It gave me some really strong 1980s, Frank Miller vibes. It’s not the exact same pose or anything, but I think the inspiration is there.

This run of Daredevil is really interesting so far. It’s a different speed than the Charles Soule run before it, but I like what Chip Zdarsky is doing. It feels a lot more intimate, at least so far. This issue does a good job of showing us what happens when Daredevil is gone. Not immediate chaos, but trouble is definitely approaching. The art is good and gives some classic Daredevil vibes. This issue is definitely worth reading.