Daredevil 598: Double Duty

Mayor Fisk, Part 4

Writer - Charles Soule, Artist - Ron Garney, Color Artist - Matt Milla, Letterer - VC's Clayton Cowles, Main Cover Artists - Dan Mora & Romulo Fajardo Jr., Assistant Editor - Annalise Bissa, Editor - Jordan D. White, Editor in Chief - C.B. Cebulski, Chief Creative Officer - Joe Quesada, President - Dan Buckley, Exec. Producer - Alan Fine

Initial Reactions

This arc has been a bit of a slow burn, but the build-up could be something pretty awesome.  I am enjoying the issues because it is really showing us the balancing act Matt has to perform in order to be Daredevil and also keep an eye on Fisk from his current position as Deputy Mayor for The Kingpin, who is the Mayor!  Matt's dual life is already one of the most intriguing in comics, but seeing how he operates as a double agent of sorts in these conditions, is admirable.  As people of faith, we are also called to live as a kind of double agent.  We are called to live by the truth contained in Scripture, but we are to do it in this world, full of pain, suffering, and death.  Like Daredevil, we are to be a source of hope in the darkness.

The Story

We start with a news broadcast talking about the new street art containing masked heroes from the city.  We don't know much about the artist at first, only that he signs his work as Muse.  This is not welcome news for Kingpin, who has outlawed masked heroes and is has a warrant out for Daredevil, his greatest foil.   It is clear that he wants to control the narrative,  If Muse is able to gain the sympathy of the people, they will grow to distrust the Kingpin and want their costumed heroes back.

Meanwhile, we jump to Matt listening in to the Kingpin's office while he is supposed to be doing his busy work assigned to him in order to keep him under control.  Matt goes up to have a conversation the Mayor.  He pleads to allow him to use his friends who are costumed heroes to have shot at Muse.   This is where we see a pretty chilling exchange between Mayor Fisk and Matt. Once turned down, Matt says, "People are going to die, Fisk." and he responds by saying, "People die every day."  This exchange further reinforces that Kingpin will do anything as long as it helps his bottom line, no matter the collateral damage.

Next we see Daredevil, tracking Wesley, Fisk's right hand man.  He is off to meet with four villains from Daredevil's rogues gallery to try to get them in the city's cabinet.  The first visit is to Hammerhead, who is being offered the Department of Corrections.  Next, we see Black Cat being offered the Department of Education, followed by Leland Owlsley for Department of Aging, and finally Diamondback, who is eyeing Police Commissioner.  Again, this shows that Fisk has no interest in running the city for the good of the citizens, he is still treating this as he would his underground empire.

In our final scene, we get to meet Muse, finishing up a painting of the Punisher.  Two young women see him and recognize his work. They ask for a selfie with him, but the picture was distorted.  We learned earlier that Muse is a murderer, not just an artist. Muse starts to get really creepy, harassing one of the girls from the selfie.  The police arrive just in time, but Muse was able to dispose of them all quite easily, brutally murdering them.

The last page features Fisk, who ended the issue with these words, "A tragedy.  We can use that".  This shows Fisk's ruthlessness and severe lack of empathy for the fallen.  He will do anything to further his propaganda for the masses.

Final Thoughts

I liked this issue a lot.  There are a lot of strong differences observed between Fisk and Murdock, and we explore them here. Daredevil cares for this city, and Kingpin only cares for himself.  This issue is low on action, much like the arc as a whole.  However, I think we are setting up for a pretty crazy issue when Daredevil crashes the meeting of the rogues.  What did you think?  Have you ever had to toe the line between "real" life and church?  How easy is it to fall into the trappings of the world?  Let's continue the discussion in the comments section!

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