I'd like to apologize for the lack of updates, but between school and various other engagements I simply haven't had the time. Well, perhaps I've had time, but...
I'll just come out and say it: Daredevil is my favorite superhero. I'm a huge fan of the character and his series. There were times in the last month where I had a few hours to spare, but I felt like DD deserved a more thorough and measured approach than me slapping an entry together in great haste. Granted, this isn't the Daredevil I know, but still.
Anyway, let's get started. This cover rules; Daredevil has a look of shock on his face as cocentric circles emanate from his head - forming a bullseye pattern. Here we see that this DD costume has a few elements of the original yellow suit, most obviously the vest. The mask looks solid, as if ceramic or something, and it has longer horns than any DD outfit I've ever seen, even Iron Fist's. It does have the "DD" symbol, in case you were wondering, though.
We begin on a walkthrough of a wrecked mansion. The beaten bodies of mob stooges line the place as we head upstairs, where a fat man in a white suit is expecting company. His visitor is Daredevil, who says he's come to "finish it." The fat man, the Kingpin, thinks this is interesting... because he's wondering what "it" is. "To know the end of a story... you have to know the beginning."
Flash back. Daredevil is pushing a suspected criminal to fess up - by clamping his face up against a railroad track with his boot. The rain pours down on them as guy says he wasn't even there, but DD knows he's lying. He can smell it, hear it in his heartbeat. He tells the guy that confession is good for the soul, but gets told to go screw. We get a Violence Discretion Shot in the form of a close-up on Daredevil's face as we hear a sickening crunch and a howl of agony. Daredevil narrates that he's not the only liar; in this block, there's a dozen more. In this neighborhood, a thousand of them. In this city... a hundred thousand. We're shown a beautiful, panoramic view of the city, framed in shadows. There's only one of him, though. Of course, he isn't like them. This is his home. We see him performing in a vaudeville act when he was a boy as he tells us it always has been. We see a flyer for a boxing match featuring "Battlin'" Jack Murdock. And then we see the cops finding the crook DD put the squeeze on. He narrates that if it has to be one by one... then so be it.
Later, we're at that same crook's trial. His lawyer's putting on a good show for his closing statements, acting like his client (whose head is all bandaged up) is only in trouble because he's from Hell's Kitchen. Granted, the prosecution appears to have a pretty weak case. We see that Matt Murdock and his friend Franklin "Foggy" Nelson sit in the gallery as the defense rests. Matt narrates that he wanted to be a lawyer. A flashback starts up... to his father's murder. "But the son of a Hell's Kitchen prizefighter doesn't go to law school." His father is shot down in an alley by a mob enforcer - because he was too proud to throw the big fight. The killer cracks young Matt's head against a wall, blinding him for life. "Battlin' Jack Murdock didn't raise any cowards. But who ever heard of a blind lawyer?"
Matt played the hand he was dealt. He soon realized he could do things nobody else had ever seen, especially from a blind kid. For instance, jumping from the top of a fire escape and landing unharmed. That's how he became Daredevil, an acrobatic act in a local vaudeville show. When those left for Harlem, he stayed in the Kitchen. Back in the present, the jury has returned from deliberations. They find the defendant not guilty. Matt hangs upon hearing this. As he and Foggy head outside, into the rain, Foggy cites this as an example of Hell's Kitchen justice. Matt narrates that there's a smell people give off when they get away with something. He thinks he hates that smell more than anything else in the world.
As they walk back to their office, Matt narrates about how the city can overwhelm him sometimes. He hears every busted carburetor, every screeching brake... a newsboy calls out from a corner about the "Bull's Eye Killer" striking again, killing three cops who were busting some bootleggers. Foggy makes small talk with Matt about the subject. They say this guy never misses, and every shot's a kill. What's more, he's one of local crime lord Halloran's boys, according to what he hears.
They head into a building and walk upstairs to the office of Foggy's detective agency, but Matt hears someone inside. Foggy tells him to stay back as he pulls out his gun and bursts into the room. Matt can tell their intruder is a young woman, and from her heartbeat she's either excited or scared. After Foggy makes his entrance, the woman, lounging in a chair by his desk, tells him to put the gun away - she hates those things. Matt says there's something about her that he doesn't get. She introduces herself as Eliza - and she wants to talk to them about Orville Halloran. She used to be involved with him, and he seems to think that's still going on. But she wants out. Matt's train of thought is locked on his inability to read this woman. He describes her being like "touching thin ice and feeling the water moving under it."
Anyway, when Halloran's stretch in Sing Sing ended, it looked like he might go straight. But the money in the liquor business was too much to resist. He got an old pal to set him up in the Kitchen. Foggy asks if he's involved with the Bull's Eye Killer, but Eliza doesn't know. All she knows is that he won't let her go. "I haven't always been an angel, Mr. Nelson, but Orville scares me." Luckily, she knows some choice info that could help. She knows where his places are... and where Fisk's places that he wants to take out are. Halloran wants a war, and he's used to getting what he wants. She gets up and says she has to go; Halloran will wonder where she's been. She leaves money on Foggy's desk and says goodbye - to Matt.
Once she's gone, the two of then consider their options. She left a lot of money, and Matt thinks that's fantastic. He's not sure what to think about Eliza. He doesn't like that feeling. He can always read people. She's in serious trouble, is Matt's take on it. Foggy agrees that this is a pretty big deal - Halloran's a veteran hitman who's got his own operation running now. He's not sure he wants a client like this... but he certainly could use the money. He suggest Matt work his magic, see if she's on the up and up. Matt says he's sure she's got the information she promised, but he doesn't know what they would do with it. Foggy guesses she wants them to leak it to Fisk so Halloran will get wiped out. He tells Matt to be careful while he's making his rounds. Isn't he always?
That night, Matt looks (well, not looks, but you know) out of his apartment window. The city. Home. He's restless. Every little sound is bothering him. "Some old Chinese guy taught me to meditate. Sometimes it makes the city bearable. But sometimes I can't find the place in my head. Like tonight." He can't stop thinking about Eliza. He suits up and goes on the prowl as Daredevil, and her story's checking out. Halloran's got a real booming business set up in Hell's Kitchen, as he can see from the goons unloading barrels from the back of a truck behind an old warehouse. He swings up to the roof with a grappling hook, and thinks about Halloran. Matt knew a lot of people Halloran put in the ground. He couldn't save them. "But when you can't save someone... you avenge them." He crashes into the warehouse through a window on the roof, and I'm no expert but this looks like a covert brewery. As he beats up goons, several of them open fire. With all these giant vats of alcohol around, this ends up starting a fire. Daredevil escapes to another roof and looks at the inferno from above. "I'd rather save them, always. But vengeance will do."
Meanwhile, Halloran meets with Wilson Fisk at a posh restaurant. Fisk has caught wind of Halloran's intentions and would like to avoid conflict by coming to an equitable arrangement. Halloran says he's never heard of these arrangements working in the long haul, and that it's better to just get it over with. But why come if he wasn't going to listen? Well, Halloran wanted to give Fisk the chance to back down. Retire. Fisk is surprised at this suggestion, and admits he hadn't considered it. Halloran tells him he should, because it's a one time offer. Fisk wants to know if he consulted the other local power. Not the law... Daredevil. Halloran isn't worried about him; DD busts up a few of his places every once in a while, but doesn't ultimately affect business too much. Halloran sort of wonders who he is, though.
Fisk agrees that somebody has to know. We flash back to him seeing Daredevil's act back in the day. Somebody knows... but he doesn't. He has heard a rumor, though. Matt Murdock, a local blind man who runs errands for a low-end P.I. Halloran finds this hilarious. "A blind man? What's he do, whip everyone with his cane?" However, he realizes something. He asks if Murdock's pop was a boxer, and he was. In that case, if there were a blind guy coming for him with his cane, it would be Murdock. After all... he's the guy who killed his old man. Halloran says he's not worried. If Daredevil keeps hassling him, he's got an ace up his sleeve. Fisk smiles.
We're back at the beginning of the story, so to speak. Fisk actually congratulated himself after that meeting, for planting the idea to take care of Daredevil in Halloran's head. That's why he didn't kill him that night, he tells his guest. Daredevil wants him to hurry the story along, but Fisk warns not to rush him. "Let the story tell itself, won't you? It's just warming up."
End of issue 1.
Christ, I did a terrible job with this one.
