Comic Review: Devil’s Reign #6

Marvel Comics

Writer: Chip Zdarsky

Artist: Marco Checchetto

Color Artist: Marcio Menyz

Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles

Marvel’s latest event, Devil’s Reign, has concluded. Issue #6 leaves main players Matt Murdock, Wilson Fisk, and Elektra Natchios in wildly different situations compared to where the story began.

The issue is structured almost entirely around two concurrent action sequences. Members of the Avengers and Champions try to hold off hordes of New Yorkers controlled by the Purple Man, plus Fisk’s Thunderbolts and the multiversal Ottos. Meanwhile, Daredevil and Elektra seek absolute vengeance on Fisk in a more intimate showdown.

In regards to the former, Marco Checchetto once again shows off his stylish takes on many Marvel favorites. Spider-Man and She-Hulk look particularly formidable in foreground shots, but even his background poses pack a punch. On page two, a large panel depicts chaotic action. Yet, your eyes will eventually find Jessica Jones in the way back, delicately touching town with her hair whipping in the wind. There’s also a fist-pump moment showing the timely arrival of–in Ben Grimm’s words–the Convict Calvary. 

But Devil’s Reign is about Daredevil(s) and, perhaps more so, Wilson Fisk. The final showdown begins with one of Elektra’s most memorable maneuvers in Zdarsky’s time with her: diving sai-first through the windshield of Fisk’s speeding car. Matt intervenes as Elektra prepares to gut Fisk and Mary, but not for the reason readers are accustomed to.

While Devil’s Reign may not be the first time a writer has humanized a heinous villain, Zdarsky has continuously portrayed Fisk and Mary’s relationship in a tender light. You kind of feel bad when Elektra absolutely destroys their getaway car. Kind of.

More poignantly, this entire event has revolved around an aspect of comics that often goes overlooked or underplayed: mind control. As he bellows “I was HAPPY!” at a bloodied Matt, Fisk goes off on the idea of another human violating his memory, his mind. Again, Fisk is scum. But the number of times Marvel’s “good guys” have casually erased someone’s memories or read their thoughts is innumerable. By comparison, the number of times the perpetrators have truly examined what kind of violation this is? What it means to rob someone of their sense of self? Far fewer.

The upcoming Devil’s Reign: Omega will see Luke Cage and friends cleaning up the mess Fisk’s regime left in New York. It will likely involve superheroes attempting to regain the public’s trust, though Fisk’s real parting gift will be much trickier to ameliorate. How Fisk goes about his final act in the city is one of the most visceral and satisfying scenes in the event.

The future for Matt and Elektra is a bit less clear, but their paths also lead away from Hell’s Kitchen. Without saying too much more, it now makes of sense why Zdarksy’s run will be getting another #1 this summer.