Dustin Gebel
The transition of creative teams has become a special process for Daredevil runs, serving as an opportunity for creators to put the character into new and difficult status quos. For modern Daredevil, this pass-off started with Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev dropping Matt Murdock into prison, it transitioned to Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark. It would continue with the lead-up to Shadowland, the restoration of Daredevil’s secret identity, and even the near death experience that set-ups the current run from Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto.
Now, a new passing of the billy club will occur this September, as the new creative team of Saladin Ahmed and Aaron Kuder takes over the title. The team was revealed during this week’s episode of the This Week In Marvel podcast, as both Zdarsky and Ahmed were interviewed about the transition.
Zdarsky spoke about his experience writing the series in the podcast: “Working with Marco, honestly, and Matt Wilson on colors. It was such a joy having those pages come in almost every day. It feels like the right time to leave. You know, when you finish the story, it’s kind of when you should get off the stage. But it’s my longest run on anything in comics, and it will probably end up being my longest running anything in comics because of the kind of character that you just want to hold onto for as long as you can.”
The Zdarsky and Checchetto run will end this August with issue #14, bringing a close to the current Red Fist Saga. The storyline saw Matt Murdock and Elektra marry, form the Fist to finally defeat the Hand, and battle the Beast possessed Punisher. Now, Ahmed will pick up the pieces as Murdock returns to Hell’s Kitchen and seeks to rediscover his place as a street level character. Elektra (and possibly her Daredevil identity) seems to be staying with Murdock, at least at the beginning of the new run.
Hints for the direction of the new story were also given by Ahmed during the interview:
“I wanted to only take this job on if I felt like I had a new, unique take on Matt and on Hell’s Kitchen. And so that’s at the center of this… him and his world, but it’s the Marvel Universe. What I’ve really enjoyed in talking with other editors, other offices, is finding ways through these first couple of arcs we have planned to keep this centered on Matt, keep this centered on his people, in his world, but to bring (in a very organic and surprising fun way) some familiar Marvel figures that I think are going to blow people’s mind when they pop up on the page!”
The full interview can be heard on the This Week In Marvel podcast. Marvel also provided the Checchetto’s cover to issue #14, the final for this run, along with a John Romita Jr. cover for the upcoming relaunch issue. Both can be seen below. 
Stay tuned to Comic Watch for more coverage of the end of The Red Fist Saga and the upcoming Daredevil relaunch.
