Daredevil & Echo #2: No Details for the Devil

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR DAREDEVIL & ECHO #2

Daredevil has one of the most fascinating status quo in comics at any given time, thanks to his status as the cusp of A and B-tier characters. Some years, the character can headline a movie, launch a Netflix Marvel universe, or headline events, while in others, he will plummet to new lows and be quiet on most people’s radar. That swinging between high and low feels apt for the character and his stories and is never more evident than looking at the current state of Daredevil comics. Going from Daredevil #12 to Daredevil & Echo #2 proves the whiplash in which the ol’ hornhead finds himself.  

Daredevil & Echo #2 – written by Taboo & B. Earl with art and colors from Phil Noto and letters by VC’s Clayton Cowles – continues the standalone story of the two vigilantes investigating demonic murders with ties to both their pasts. After the reveal of the Demagoblin’s last issue and a possible portal to hell, Daredevil and Echo investigate further after the villain gets away. The story continues its split between past and present as Creeping Death and Tommy Murdock examines the issues at Tommy’s local church. 

The group in the past discovered a ritual featuring body parts attuned to the classical elements (fire, earth, water, air, and spirit), which Tommy’s local priest plans to use to open the gate to hell. In the present, Demagoblin continues recruiting children for her machinations, this time kidnapping a teenage metalhead. Meanwhile, Daredevil tries to ask Doctor Strange for help, but the Doctor is out, and instead turns to his local church for more info. Echo attempts to track down the young girl from the last issue with the magical powers, but she is also missing. The duo does discover the teenage metalhead, and follow him back to the church but before they can question him, Ghost Rider appears, with a vengeance in his sight. 

The scripting for this issue loses the edge the previous installment brought due to a lack of running narration. Taboo and Earl frontloaded the first issue with everything to establish the context of this miniseries, and it shows, as the issue feels like it’s just passing the time. The switches between past and present feel arbitrary, and everything plays a coincidence as soon as Daredevil and Echo leave the church at the beginning of the issue. It feels like the duo is trying to seed a mystery or procedural plot built around superheroes, but instead, the final product is just the plot going through the motions to get the duo back to the end of the last issue. 

The most interesting element of the script could be the tension of a married (or at least committed Matt Murdock) feeling a reignited spark with Maya, but that is dismissed immediately. The brief moment of them planning after their failed attempt to find Doctor Strange is clunky, and the dialogue reads as stilted, showing the lack of chemistry written between the two. What could be the perfect emotional set-up for a team-up story instead sees the writers disengage to focus on a bland conversation between Daredevil and a local priest. The conversation only serves the purpose of revealing the Murdock connection and serves as an anticlimactic reveal. 

Noto’s art and coloring are the real reason to pick up this book; every page reinforces that summation. Noto plays with thicker linework and less stylized colors than in previous works, showcasing the fluidity of his picturesque style. His thicker lines around character silhouettes help to establish power figures for Daredevil, Echo, and even Demagoblin and give a dramatic sense to the page. The opening splash is the only real action sequence of the issue, and it isn’t enjoyable, as Noto’s work has only gotten more confident with time. The only other moment that the writing rises to the occasion of Noto’s art is the arrival of Ghost Rider, which allows the artist to engulf his world in chains and flames. 

Noto’s art and colors elevate the bland story that unfolds in the issue, and the art tries to infuse a sense of tension and emotion into the characters. Even as the dialogue feels stilted and rote, Noto ensures that each character’s expression and design at least make the pages enjoyable to look at. Noto experiments with how Daredevil and Echo interact, playing on Daredevil’s interrupted radar sense while hinting at the tension between the duo. The art becomes the subtext that the writing can only strive for, making for a richer experience without the words on the page. It’s a testament to Noto’s art style, which channels a romantic sensibility with every stroke.