Daredevil V5 Return of the King TP Ed Brubaker David Aja Kingpin 1st print NM

Description

Daredevil: Return of the King Paperback
by Ed Brubaker (Author), David Aja (Illustrator)

Nearly two years ago, the Kingpin left America to try to build a new life and find a new purpose for himself. Is that new life now coming to the attention of old enemies? And how does this connect to Matt Murdock and his troubles in New York with Lady Bullseye? Find out in Return of the King!

After his family is murdered by the Hand, a ninja secret society now led by Lady Bullseye, Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. the Kingpin, teams up with Daredevil to take down the group.

Collects Daredevil (1998) #116-119, 500.

Publisher Marvel; First Edition (Jan 1, 2009)
Paperback 144 pages
ISBN-13 978-0785133407
Weight 8.7 ounces

Ed Brubaker arrived on the “Daredevil” title with issue 82 of the present volume, following a mammoth run by Brian Michael Bendis that lasted for some 60+ issues and, with Brubaker’s consent, ended with Daredevil in prison awaiting trial, his identity having been exposed. Brubaker took this extremely difficult spot and ran with it, ran with it for around 40 issues of his own. This volume, which collects the final five issues of his run (#116-119, 500; the series resumed its old numbering), endeavours to leave his successor (Andy Diggle) in a similar predicament.

This is the second trade in a two-part story (“Lady Bullseye” being the first part; for whatever reason, Marvel has ceased renaming Brubaker’s trades into multi-part volumes, which was done with the first four collections, “The Devil, Inside And Out” and “Hell to Pay” vols. 1 & 2), as Brubaker revisits the Hand, the ninja clan introduced during the Miller era who have been reliable opponents for Daredevil ever since. In the preceding trade, they aimed to make Daredevil their leader, which he declined: now their gaze turns elsewhere, to Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin. With his return, Brubaker’s Daredevil comes full circle. The Kingpin was a major figure in the first arc, but, apart from a one-issue appearance at the end of the second, he has been off the board for the next two years’ worth of stories, while other villains occupied Matt’s attention. This arc is an absorbed finale to many of the themes that Brubaker has been working on since he started on the book.

At the same time, Brubaker conducts some of his own revisions of the Hand’s mythos, largely through the introduction of Master Izo, a multi-centenarian ninja who was, we are shown, the original founder of the Chaste, and sensei to Daredevil’s sensei, Stick. The final revelations in the climactic issue #500 suggest a completely new spin on the purpose of Daredevil’s life, which gives Andy Diggle quite a bit of new ideas to work with. Izo is one of the most interesting additions to the Daredevil mythos in quite a while. Likewise, Brubaker’s creation Lady Bullseye gets more of her history filled in here, and the character ends up in a situation that has me eagerly awaiting her next appearance.

Looking over the whole of Brubaker’s run from the vantage-point of the end, I think it’s very clear how much of it is a treatise on the consequences of his identity having been revealed in Bendis’ “Out”. Matt got out of jail fairly quickly, but this earlier act was far harder to escape. The middle period of Brubaker’s run documents Matt’s attempt to get his life back, but the grinding resolution requires him to accept that he can’t. This reaches its apogee in this arc, where he stops hanging on to his mentally-crippled wife Milla and more or less leaves his civilian life behind to take the Hand’s leadership. He leaves his most stalwart civilian allies, Foggy and Dakota, a note telling them to put his stuff in storage, and just leaves, the better so they can’t follow.

That, I think, is what Brubaker is arguing with this run: that Matt Murdock, lawyer, can’t exist anymore. The new trials ahead he will face as Daredevil. Given the crushing angst of his reality over the last decade, that might be a welcome new challenge. We will see where Andy Diggle takes it.

‘Daredevil’ Disney+ Series in the Works With Matt Corman, Chris Ord Set to Write

A new “Daredevil” series is moving forward at Disney+, with Variety having exclusively learned from sources that Matt Corman and Chris Ord are attached to write and executive produce.

Rumors have persisted for some time that a Disney+ series about the Man Without Fear was in the works, especially considering that two of the stars of the Netflix “Daredevil” series — Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio — have appeared in recent Marvel projects. Cox once again played Matt Murdock, the secret identity of Daredevil, in the film “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” while D’Onofrio reprised the role of Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. Kingpin, in the Disney+ series “Hawkeye.”

It now appears that the project is picking up steam with the hiring of Corman and Ord, although Marvel has yet to announce anything regarding the show formally.

Reps for Corman and Ord declined to comment. Marvel Studios reps do not comment on projects in development.

Corman and Ord most famously co-created the USA Network series “Covert Affairs” starring Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham. The show aired for five seasons on the basic cabler between 2010 and 2014. They most recently worked as executive producers and co-showrunners on the NBC drama shows “The Enemy Within” and “The Brave” as well as The CW series “Containment.”

Fans have been clamoring for more Daredevil ever since the Netflix series was canceled in 2018 after three seasons. They were in for a long wait, however, as Variety reported in 2018 that the deal with Netflix included a clause that prevented any characters from the Marvel-Netflix shows from appearing in any non-Netflix projects for two years after cancellation.

The move came as Disney looked to bring its Marvel heroes under one umbrella, with multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe shows having since debuted on Disney+. “Moon Knight” starring Oscar Isaac was the last such show to premiere, with a trailer for the “She-Hulk” series starring Tatiana Maslany dropping earlier this week.

Collects Daredevil (1998) #116-119, 500. Near mint, 1st print.