Daredevil has placed many New York (and San Francisco) criminals behind bars as ethical attorney-at-law Matt Murdock, but now the tides are changing in the new Daredevil #25 story-arc “Doing Time.”
Blood has fallen on Daredevil’s hands. His actions have lead to a chaotic death and the citizens of Hell’s Kitchen want accountability. Mayor Wilson Fisk (formerly the Kingpin of Crime) has won the hearts of the public and will take advantage of the situation to bring his old nemesis down.
The Daredevil creative team of Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto took over the title character in February 2019 and immediately joined the ranks of beloved writers Frank Miller, Kevin Smith, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, and Mark Waid, all of whom have established their own unique twist on The Man Without Fear. Zdarsky has certainly put Matt Murdock through the wringer. Not only did he have to face the Battle for Hell’s Kitchen, which saw some of his rogues gallery (Bullseye, Rhino, Bullet, Stilt-Man and Crossbones) transforming the New York City neighborhood into a warzone, but the start of the run focused on Murdock’s recovery from a near death experience, crippling and challenging him to to see if he was worthy of his famous "no fear" moniker.
Even though Daredevil has served time in prison before – the infamous, character-defining Brian Michael Bendis run left him and Fisk behind the gates of Ryker’s Island – Zdarsky promises to focus more on the internal damage Matt will have to face. Matt is a faith-based avenger who now has to struggle with the consequences of his exploits. Will the stubborn, self-sabotaging vigilante be able to serve time? And what happens when the criminals he’s locked away get a hold of him?
The Ed Brubaker series began with the twelve-issue “The Devil, Inside and Out” prison arc, picking up after Bendis’ stunning cliffhanger. It took a more intense thrill-ride approach to the situation – Matt Murdock was in the slammer with not only Fisk, but Bullseye, Hammerhead, and The Punisher. Matt had to reign supreme by single-handedly taking down every criminal in Ryker’s before they got to him. That is until The Punisher stepped in and helped Matt escape. And this was back when Matt’s secret identity had been outted, so to cover up his tracks, he had someone else simultaneously running around Hell’s Kitchen in the Daredevil outfit.
The Daredevil #25 cover art depicts a beaten and battered Matt Murdock in an orange prison jumpsuit, cowl hiding his identity, bleeding from the upper half of his face, bandaged and wounded knuckles, arms hanging through steel prison bars, hinting at a soul-searching journey that would allow Matt to reflect back on his skirmishes. Take a look at the preview details below.
The indicatively dark and brooding Daredevil #25 hits stands in December.
- DAREDEVIL #25
- CHIP ZDARSKY (Writer)
- MARCO CHECCHETTO (Artist)
- Variant cover by Salvador Larroca
- KNULLIFIED VARIANT COVER BY Jerome Opena
- “DOING TIME” Starts Here! After a landmark year that put Daredevil through the wringer, this December, CHIP ZDARSKY and MARCO CHECCHETTO are dropping the Man Without Fear into familiar territory: behind bars. But there are no conspiracies against Daredevil to be found here – just the truth that his actions led to a man’s death. Faced with the reality and consequences of his actions, will Daredevil have the stomach to serve his term? Worse still, facing down a prison’s worth of criminals he helped put away, will he survive it?