Graphic Novel Review: Daredevil Back in Black: Supersonic

Matt Murdock is back in his old stomping grounds of New York City and somehow he has managed to hide his secret identity from the world once again . But there are some parts of his past that Matt can never escape. Ghosts like the first woman he ever loved and lost. Now, Elektra Natchios is back in the Big Apple and she’s got a deadly score to settle with the Man Without Fear! This will be far from a happy reunion, as Hell’s Kitchen knows no fury like an assassin scorned. Collecting: Daredevil 6-9, Annual 1

(Panini Books)

Having established ol’ Hornhead’s new status quo in the first volume of this series, writer Charles Soule now takes steps to reassert Daredevil’s role in the wider Marvel Universe.

Not only does he take sidekick Blindspot off the board for the majority of this volume, but he also barely touches on Matt Murdock’s altered position as a prosecuting attorney, which suggests he is confident of having established these elements previously, and can now explore other aspects of Daredevil’s world.

The return of Elektra, the first woman Matt loved and lost, takes on a different slant when he realises that efforts he took to re-establish his secret identity mean the former Hand assassin now believes she was cheating on Murdock while carrying on a secret relationship with Daredevil. But Elektra has other concerns at the forefront of her mind – namely the whereabouts of the daughter she gave up for adoption, a child who may very well be Matt’s, and is now in the hands of criminal blackmailers…

But the identity issue is at the heart of a team-up between DD and the amazing Spider-Man in the Far East, when the webslinger realises he has gaps in his memory when it comes to his friendship with long-term costumed ally Daredevil, and the trust which existed between them is now jeopardised at a point when Murdock needs it the most.

This volume wraps up with the latest Daredevil Annual, which features the return of another of Matt’s old flames, the gifted Echo, as the sonic menace of Klaw threatens to consume New York beneath a wave of all-controlling sound.

Soule obviously has a long-term strategy for his Daredevil run, and the strands of this begin to come together in this second volume, which also succeeds in highlighting new elements to Murdock’s powers and personality which other writers haven’t touched on, not bad for a character 50 years old. Worth investing in.