Daredevil #28
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Ron Garney
Cover Artist: Ron Garney and Matt Milla credited, Mike Deodato Pencils
Colorist: Matt Milla
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Matt Murdock never forgets his friends. Blindspot, a young ward and training partner who sought him out for help to protect Chinatown, has sent a distress call to Matt and asked for his aid.
What You Need to Know:
Sam Chung was an illegal immigrant to the United States from China. He became a janitor at Columbia University and later developed a suit to make himself Invisible.He fought with Daredevil and saved a lot of people in Chinatown from Human Trafficking.
He was enucleated in a fight and became blind, thus ending the career of both a promising young mind and the protector of Chinatown.
Sam has called Daredevil to aid him in China, and Matt has answered his summons (pun intended).
What You’ll Find Out:
Sam and his Mother Lu Wei have set a trap for Daredevil and thrown in with the mysterious Hand ninja Clan. In trade for his returned eyesight, Sam will deliver Daredevil to a fortress in China to face a Demon called simply “The Beast”. Daredevil, despite all better judgment, rushed to help his friend and was caught in the grasp of the Hand.
What Just Happened?
The Beast is a Demon that delights in watching the hand inflict fatal wounds and then healing them to relive the trauma. He feeds off of the pain and has the power to heal the bodies of his tormented victims. Daredevil is beaten, but not broken. He is beaten and stabbed and near dead from the Ninjas of the Hand. The Beast touches him, and he is Healed! Just to be beaten down again. The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen will not relent and refuses to give up.
Sam and Lu have betrayed Matt, and they take their leave. They make it out to the roof, but Sam has second thoughts. Lu discusses how she had literally sacrificed her soul for her son. Sam has a change of heart and returns to save Matt.
Sam is able to release Matt with the unexpected help of Lu, but the Beast is not pleased.In their escape plan, Lu is taken by the leg and devoured by the Demon. Then the punishment gets much worse for Sam. He is once again rendered blind and Daredevil and Blindspot are left on the top of a cliff in China.
We end with the two at a city cafe, discussing what they will do now. Sam explains the problem with his immigration status, and how difficult it was the first time to establish himself for fear of losing everything, though now he has lost everything.
The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen speaks to him of his adversity, and of hope. Stating all the objections that the young man has are the very reason he needs to return.
Time passes, and we learn that the Beast had Matt trapped in his lair much longer than we thought. Sam is able to get a temporary Asylum in New York, especially since having a Ninja Death Cult on your tail is considered a danger in the Marvel Universe. Matt is startled and asks a woman in the airport to use her phone an call Foggy. What Foggy has to say is that Matt has been out of the loop for quite some time, and is not going to like what has happened in New York.
Matt says it’s Impossible!Referring to the one thing that would seriously be terrible if true that he has seen. Foggy responds, “I wish it were Impossible.” The book ends on a panel of Wilson Fisk on the cover of the Daily Bugle titled “Fisk Triumphant”. The Kingpin has been elected the mayor of New York.
Rating: 9/10
Final Thought: This comic has a lot of shared themes about loyalty, family, and hope.It takes the characters to the very core of themselves and does so in general by simply testing them with who they are as people. Their traits, and how they would react when tested. Would they betray a friend? And if so, would they pay a high price for redemption? That part alone was a compelling read, but where the story really got me was the tonal shift from mortal peril to the classic Matt Murdock legal jargon and optimism in the system to the final betrayal where in just a single Panel Fisk is able to reduce Matt to rubble. That has always been a sign of a great Daredevil book, not just how many Hand Ninjas he can beat (which is a real lot by the way). I am interested to see where this journey takes Sam, and if he will grieve for his deceased mother. How will Blindspot play into all of this? In the end, this story did what I expect a great comic to do. It took me one way and then another, and left me emotionally invested in the characters, and ended with a Cliffhanger. Daredevil will return with issue #595 (Marvel Legacy numbering).
Simultaneously simple and detailed. Pulled me right in.