"The Devil Takes a Ride: Part One of Five"
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artists: Michael Lark & Stefano Gaudiano (p & i), Matt Hollingsworth (colours)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Having made such an impact on the book with his first arc that memories of Bendis' run on the title seems like a distant memory rather than a constant comparison, this issue sees Ed Brubaker kick off his second major story on Daredevil since he took over the writing reins. Decidedly different in tone to his previous, claustrophobic prison-set tale, "The Devil Takes a Ride" has Matt Murdock adopt a jetsetting James Bond-esque persona in an attempt to track down the man who ordered the hit on Foggy Nelson back in Brubaker's first issue. Setting this issue entirely in Monaco, Brubaker succeeds in capturing an exotic, glamourous tone of the kind that hasn't been seen in Daredevil for many years, and the first half of the book pulls off some excellent scenes which illustrate Matt's attempts to ingratiate himself with the criminal underworld. A high-stakes poker game makes great use of Murdock's powers in a less traditional superhero situation, and you can't help but cheer him on as he cheats the other players out of a fortune in order to attract the attention of a local mobster with ties to Alton Lennox, the lawyer who has been revealed to be behind Matt's troubles over the last few issues. However, when the issue takes Matt to a fancy dinner for high-society lowlifes with a bullfight as entertainment, Brubaker makes the dodgy choice to have Matt leap into action as Daredevil.
Regardless of the fact that his at-best-ambiguous public identity has been something of a burden for the last couple of years, Matt's mission in Monaco is directly linked to his past life as Daredevil, and the decision to pull on his red tights in full view of a bullfight crowd of criminals - including the man that he's trying to track down in secret - is frankly baffling. As a method of getting DD some action, it's a little forced, and although Gaudiano and Lark illustrate his fight with the new Matador with panache, it's difficult to get past the illogical and contrived nature of this part of the story. That said, the involving overall plot just about makes up for this mis-step, and Brubaker sets a lot of different story elements in motion in the space of this issue (including a teasing image of a character who seems sure to become the book's next man-behind-the-man, whose identity remains a complete mystery for me). Michael Lark and Stefano Gaudiano's artwork is still consistently good, even if the slickness of Frank D'Armata's colouring has been replaced with a very different style at the hands of Daredevil veteran Matt Hollingsworth: the art now carries quite a pale, yellowish look thanks to his colouring choices, which gives the bright and sunny climes of Monaco a certain sandy realism, but leaves the pages looking somewhat washed-out and not as vibrant as usual.
Brubaker has given himself a lot of leeway to do great things with his complex but uncomplicated story, and I'm very keen to see where it goes next. However, the "swashbuckling" elements that the writer has promised longtime fans prove to be a mixed bag this issue. I loved the slick secret-agent stuff and the gradually-revealed overall plot, but the inclusion of Matt's superhero alter-ego seemed like a concession to comicbook conventions that pulled me out of the story and made little sense for the character. Still, a middling issue of Daredevil is still better-than-average these days, and it hasn't dampened my enthusiasm for Brubaker's run on the book as a whole. Let's see where this goes.
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