Matt Murdock is back to his senses and ready for action, but not before a little drama with his longtime partner and best friend, Foggy Nelson. Some fallout with Daredevil’s recent bout with the Mole Man comes back to haunt him and we take a look back (once again) at Matt and Foggy’s relationship, this time starring Stilt Man with the fantastic artwork of Mike Allred!

Read on for my review!

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Mike Allred has been busy over at Vertigo for the past couple of years with Chris Roberson’s cult favorite series, iZombie, but now that he’s done with that project it looks like he’s making a return to Marvel starting with this issue of Daredevil. For anyone who’s unfamiliar with Allred’s pop-art style and is curious how his and Matt Fraction’s upcoming FF title in November will look, this is an excellent example of what to expect. As someone who’s read a lot of Allred comics in the past I can say that he looks at home here, and this is some of the best work of his I’ve seen, especially in a superhero book. Often Allred’s artwork can come off as a little lacking in expression, but the emotions here are portrayed so strongly and touchingly. 

Of course, the art is able to be as strong as it is because Mark Waid is delivering a fantastic story. Often when we get a book that winds up being mostly a flashback it gets annoying and seems like a waste of time, treading water before heading into another story arc. Here, the flashback seems important for us to know about, and it’s a heartfelt story that once again iterates just how important Foggy Nelson is to Matt Murdock and to Daredevil alike, especially when he’s still trying to prove his recovery after the events of Shadowland to friends and heros alike.  However, the thing that hits the nail on the head as far as making this an emotionally resonant issue is when everything in the story comes together and we see how important Matt’s relationship with someone else in his life was — his father. 

While the issue does mostly take a break from the ongoing story in this series, it does give us a bit of a lead into the next arc, giving readers a bit of a cliffhanger in the end. Mark Waid’s touching emotional story paired with Mike Allred’s fantastic and expressive artwork turns this issue into a must-have, and is another extremely successful installment in this series. 

GO Rating: 4.5/5

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