Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Art: Marco Checchetto, Marcio Menyz and VC’s Clayton Cowles
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: October 21, 2020

I love this Daredevil run by Chip Zdarsky, and it has become one of the few books that I need to read the minute I get my greasy fat fingers on it! I really shouldn’t eat a cheesesteak while going through my comics, but that’s how I roll! Well, it looks like Matt is going to roll himself right into jail soon, and while I hope he gets out of it somehow, I am intrigued to see him fighting out of prison, Ring of Death style. That’s for future Jim to enjoy, though, because we are eight days away from the trial, and Matt, Foggy, and some others are setting up for a future… a future that may not include Daredevil.

In a book full of surprises, the last issue’s cliffhanger was significant in a more subtle way. Matt’s old love, Kirsten McDuffie, showed up to help with Daredevil’s murder trial, and it ties in so well with what’s going on in this book. The issue opens up with a bit of an explanation for unfamiliar readers and continues through the issue. At a time when Matt is at his lowest and feeling guilty enough for what he’s done, Foggy throws yet another thing Matt hates about himself into the fold. He is so pissed, but Foggy throws it right back at him. It does an excellent job of showing us that this isn’t going to be a cakewalk trial, and Foggy is worried that his friend will be going to jail.

Before that goes down, though, Matt needs to set things right. He has a conversation with Elektra that felt like a “devil on his shoulder” kind of thing. Here he is, turning himself in for accidentally killing one guy while Elektra feels no remorse or guilt for all the blood on her hands. Not only does she not understand why Matt is doing it, but in a great bit of dialogue, accuses him of “selfishness masquerading as selflessness.” She also mentions The Hand, and with what went on in X-Force recently, she is going to need Daredevil (and more) if she plans on stopping them!

There are many moving parts in this book, and one of the most impressive things is how Zdarsky has juggled them around to give you just enough of each. We get that this week with Kingpin getting the crime bosses in line. He certainly has his groove back, and poor Hammerhead ended up being the exclamation point with that! While he crowns a new “Kingpin,” they get a visit from Daredevil and a plus one to show that even if Matt goes to jail, other heroes will be watching.

Matt spends most of the remaining pages making things right with a hero he’s recently had some issues with. Yea, it’s spoiled on the cover, but I don’t want to ruin everything here! I will tell you that somehow, Zdarsky has made me care so much about Matt that I got choked up here. It’s not just Matt, either, but the connection these two guys realize they have.

Of course, we need a big surprise, and we get it again as the cliffhanger. It was set up a bit in this issue, but also by the recent Annual that you should check out if you haven’t. It’s funny that Kirsten calls Daredevil’s defense the “Dream Team” when it continues being Matt’s worst nightmare.

Guess what? I loved this issue. There was no real surprise there, but if you were worried that Zdarsky would give us filler until the trial, you are wrong. In a comic landscape filled with issue after issue giving the reader crumbs, Zdarsdky is giving fans an all you can eat buffet…and I love buffets! Zdarsky’s writing and Marco Checchetto’s art are, let me pull a phrase from the Reviewers 101 Manual, a great combination of art and story, and this book is easily one of the best coming out right now!

Final Thoughts:

Daredevil is probably going to jail, and while I can’t wait for the trial to begin, Chip Zdarsky is making the lead-up to it a “must-read.” Add Marco Checchetto’s stellar art, and I don’t know why everyone isn’t reading this book.

9.5/10