Marvel’s Netflix Daredevil series was cancelled a little more than three years ago, but the Man Without Fear continues on through the medium that gave the character life. The current comic run of Daredevil strikes many similarities to the fan favorite Netflix series. From honest character insight during tumultuous periods to the similarities in costume design, Daredevil Volume 6 is the perfect place to start for anyone who is still reeling after the cancellation of the Netflix live-action show.
While Daredevil is a character with a long, long history in Marvel comics (he was created in 1964), each new volume attempts to give readers an easy way to start enjoying the character's adventures, and writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Marco Checchetto (among others) have been particularly successful in making Daredevil Vol. 6 accessible to anyone who is interested in the character.
Similarities to the show
One of the most critically acclaimed aspects of Netflix's Daredevil series was the use of realism and street-level grittiness, aspects Daredevil Vol. 6 doesn’t shy away from. From the beginning of the comic series, Daredevil is struggling with his faith after he accidentally kills a man while trying to stop a robbery. Similar to the crisis Matt Murdock faced in the live-action Daredevil Season 3, Daredevil in the comic series has to take a step back and reevaluate what it means to be Daredevil, and what the symbol of the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen means to the community as a whole.
Marking another similarity to the Netflix series, Daredevil meets with Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist to speak with them about the manslaughter he committed in Daredevil Vol. 6 #1. While the Netflix shows brought the group of street level heroes together to fight the Hand in The Defenders, Daredevil #5 shows the group in a different light. The Defenders are already established as friends in the comic, each offering Matt advice on how to move on from the accidental murder of the low level criminal. While their discussion leaves Matt even more confused about his situation than he was before, the coming together of the four heroes echoes the series but with the weight of much deeper relationships and many more adventures in the past motivating their interactions.
Before Luke, Jessica, and Danny come to the aid of Daredevil during his time of need, Matt Murdock’s grief drives him to more or less turn himself in to the police. While Daredevil is in the backseat of a police car in Daredevil #3, the police are bombarded with a rain of bullets, leading to a discussion reminiscent of what fans witnessed in live action in Marvel’s Daredevil season 2 episode 3. The Punisher frees Daredevil from the clutches of the police in Daredevil #3, taking the masked vigilante back to one of his hideouts. The reason Frank Castle is so motivated to help Daredevil in the comic is because he believes the vigilante has “seen the light”.
Similarly to what fans saw on that rooftop in New York City in the Netflix show, Daredevil #4 depicts a restrained Daredevil speaking with the Punisher on their very different views of morality in the face of vigilantism. The Punisher is under the impression Daredevil killed the criminal on purpose, making Murdock just like him in Frank’s eyes. The argument between Frank and Matt on the value of human life explores decades of fights, mistakes, and triumphs without requiring the reader to have read them directly, adding a lot more texture to the conclusions reached by each character.
Starting afresh
Aside from the same guest star appearances, Daredevil Vol. 6 depicts Daredevil’s journey as a hero in a similar fashion to the Netflix series. After the few less-than-productive conversations with his fellow street-level vigilantes (including Spider-Man), Matt Murdock looks within himself, facing the questions once again on what it means to be a hero and what the symbol of Daredevil means to Hell’s Kitchen. Upon inner reflection, Murdock decides that because of the life he took, the symbol of Daredevil has been corrupted, which leads the hero to change the look of his suit back to the nondescript “ninja” familiar from the show.
While the specific reasoning behind why Matt changes into his Prototype Suit in the comics versus the television series may be different, the overall purpose is the same; taking Daredevil back to basics so that fans can follow along with his redemption and reinvention. The symbol that is Daredevil no longer holds true in Matt Murdock’s eyes, and he reassesses his place in the world in a way which doesn't discount his decades of history but does welcome in new fans.
Daredevil’s chief enemy Wilson Fisk is likewise “reset” in a tantalizing way. Having become the mayor of New York, Wilson Fisk seeks to abandon his life of organized crime and ascend to true power, meeting new challenges and enemies along the way. While, again, this is a Wilson Fisk defined by decades of storytelling and character development, he's also embarking on a new phase in his life that's as palatable to longtime fans as those who don't know much about the character. Alongside new characters such as Detective North and the new Kingpin of Crime, writer Zdarsky has made a concerted effort to look at different parts of Daredevil's life and introduce fresh characters who are equally new and compelling to all readers. Subtly, and without bending comic continuity out of shape, Zdarsky has crafted a world which might feasibly be both a continuation of Matt Murdock's comic adventures and a flash-forward for the cancelled show.
While Netflix’s Daredevil and Daredevil Vol. 6 share some common plot beats, more than anything the two are similar in tone and style. Both mediums take Matt on the same hero’s journey, facing Murdock with moral dilemmas which cause him to struggle with his sense of self, his faith, and his career as a superhero. For fans of the Netflix series there is no replacing the Daredevil show, but Daredevil Vol. 6 offers the same storytelling techniques with an even deeper insight into the characters and the world around them, making Daredevil’s latest comic series perfect for fans who aren't yet following Hornhead's graphic adventures.