Daredevil 603: The Enemy of My Enemy
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Mayor Murdock, Part 3
Creative Team
Charles Soule - Writer; Mike Henderson - Artist; Matt Milla - Color Artist; VC's Clayton Cowles - Letterer; Chris Sprouse, Karl Story & Marte Gracia - Main Cover Artists; Emily Newcomen - Assistant Editor; Devin Lewis - Editor; C.B. Cebulski - Editor in Chief; Joe Quesada - Chief Creative Officer; Dan Buckley - President; Alan Fine - Executive Producer
Introduction to Daredevil #603
Muse, an Inhuman serial killer and street artist, broke out of prison to wreak vigilante-inspired street-art havoc. Sam Chung, a.k.a. Blindspot, onetime victim of Muse's terror and now a super hero, baited the murderous artist, and in the ensuing fight, Sam made a deal with The Beast, the demon overlord of The Hand, for the strength to defeat Muse.
But when Sam refused to kill Muse as sacrifice, The Beast sent The Hand to conquer Manhattan - with the city's new mayor, Wilson Fisk, as the target of their first brutal attack.
With Fisk in critical condition, his Deputy Mayor, Matt Murdock (a.k.a. Daredevil, The Man Without Fear) found himself promoted to Mayor of New York and tasked with stopping the oncoming ninja horde...
The Enemy of my Enemy...
This issue came out just a short time after issue 602, so our story of New York being taken over by supernatural ninjas continues to move at a pretty rapid pace. This seems appropriate, as The Hand's attacks spread over the city like a deadly virus. Matt Murdock is in a bit of a bind, as we are told the bulk of the police force has fallen, and the entire city is living in fear. Clearly Matt and his vigilante alter-ego Daredevil cannot fight The Hand alone. He needs to pool his resources, which includes some of the city's worst criminals. This will bring up some interesting questions of what is acceptable in a wartime-like situation.
Throughout the issue, Matt recruits his own version of DC's Suicide Squad. That is, he strikes deals with Elektra, Black Cat, Diamondback, The Owl, and Hammerhead to use their collective resources against the greater threat of The Hand. With Elektra, he offers her a chance at revenge against the clan of ninjas as well as revealing who has been messing with her mind from all the way back in issues 6 & 7. As for the others, he uses his position as Mayor to get them out of prison to join the battle. This is a setup for an upcoming issue, so we don't see the fight just yet. Will the band of criminals and anti-heroes be complete their assignment, or will they stab Murdock in the back?
That potential conflict will have to wait for the next issue, because the Beast of the Hand releases a gas that is hurting and possibly killing people. The purpose of this seems to cause fear throughout the city, and we conclude the issue with Murdock incapacitated and the rest of the city officials locked in city hall. I did appreciate the reveal at the end that the one person who seems prepared for this gas attack and will likely save Matt is his priest, Father Jordan. I'm not sure what is planned for him, but the potential for the priest to be the catalyst to fight the fear gripping the city has me interested.
One of the core attributes of Daredevil is his Catholic faith. You can regularly see him in confessional or consulting a priest in all his most contemporary incarnations. If they give Father Jordan an important role in the next issue it could present some interesting thematic elements. I am looking forward to what they have planned.
As for this issue, I want to explore the recruitment of the crime bosses and Elektra. It brings to light an ethical question of what lengths Murdock should go to in order to save New York from The Hand. He essentially forgives their past crimes and will only bring them back to prison based off their future actions. Matt has decided that it is better to deputize his influential adversaries than to let The Hand take control of the city. He is putting his faith that these men and women will get the job done.
Throughout Scripture we see that God uses the enemies of His people for His divine purposes. In Exodus He hardens the heart of Pharaoh in order to secure the freedom of Israel. He used the Romans and the Jewish leaders in order to bring salvation to the entire world through the death and resurrection of Jesus. He does not delight in the sinful actions of those who persecuted His people, but nonetheless He does use the negatives to bring about even better positives for those who trust in Him. Certainly Matt's decision to co-opt his rogues gallery is not on the same level, but he does intend to use them for the greater good of saving New York. The beauty of the deal they struck is that Murdock is not going to automatically imprison them again once the city is saved. He is offering them a chance for redemption, and if they stay clean, theoretically they can go on to live their lives. Matt is offering them grace, will the crime bosses take advantage? God offers you grace, don't throw it away by rejecting Him.
What did you think of this issue? I would love to talk about it with you. You can comment below, or find me @behindthecapes on Twitter, or by liking the Behind the Capes Facebook page. Also, something new, Behind the Capes has a group called Behind the Capes' Nerd Out Round Table, where we talk about a bunch of geeky stuff. It is technically a closed group, but anyone can join if they agree to the simple rules laid out in the group. I would love for this group to grow!
That potential conflict will have to wait for the next issue, because the Beast of the Hand releases a gas that is hurting and possibly killing people. The purpose of this seems to cause fear throughout the city, and we conclude the issue with Murdock incapacitated and the rest of the city officials locked in city hall. I did appreciate the reveal at the end that the one person who seems prepared for this gas attack and will likely save Matt is his priest, Father Jordan. I'm not sure what is planned for him, but the potential for the priest to be the catalyst to fight the fear gripping the city has me interested.
One of the core attributes of Daredevil is his Catholic faith. You can regularly see him in confessional or consulting a priest in all his most contemporary incarnations. If they give Father Jordan an important role in the next issue it could present some interesting thematic elements. I am looking forward to what they have planned.
As for this issue, I want to explore the recruitment of the crime bosses and Elektra. It brings to light an ethical question of what lengths Murdock should go to in order to save New York from The Hand. He essentially forgives their past crimes and will only bring them back to prison based off their future actions. Matt has decided that it is better to deputize his influential adversaries than to let The Hand take control of the city. He is putting his faith that these men and women will get the job done.
Throughout Scripture we see that God uses the enemies of His people for His divine purposes. In Exodus He hardens the heart of Pharaoh in order to secure the freedom of Israel. He used the Romans and the Jewish leaders in order to bring salvation to the entire world through the death and resurrection of Jesus. He does not delight in the sinful actions of those who persecuted His people, but nonetheless He does use the negatives to bring about even better positives for those who trust in Him. Certainly Matt's decision to co-opt his rogues gallery is not on the same level, but he does intend to use them for the greater good of saving New York. The beauty of the deal they struck is that Murdock is not going to automatically imprison them again once the city is saved. He is offering them a chance for redemption, and if they stay clean, theoretically they can go on to live their lives. Matt is offering them grace, will the crime bosses take advantage? God offers you grace, don't throw it away by rejecting Him.
What did you think of this issue? I would love to talk about it with you. You can comment below, or find me @behindthecapes on Twitter, or by liking the Behind the Capes Facebook page. Also, something new, Behind the Capes has a group called Behind the Capes' Nerd Out Round Table, where we talk about a bunch of geeky stuff. It is technically a closed group, but anyone can join if they agree to the simple rules laid out in the group. I would love for this group to grow!
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