Product Description: Matt Murdock takes a new case! Still reeling from the conclusion of his battle with Mr. Fear, an old friend drags Matt Murdock back into the light of day by bringing him the last-minute appeal of a Marvel villain now sitting on death row. What will Matt do when confronted with a bad guy who is completely innocent of the crime of which he was convicted? Collects Daredevil #106-110.
Defending the guilty from a sentence of death For those who read Daredevil, everyone knows that Matt Murdock, Defense Attorney is the alter ego of the blind crimefighter, for those who do not read Daredevil, won't matter, you would discover that within the first pages. A few laughs always occur with Marvel comics, one of the recurring themes is that Murdock only defends people who are innocent, he's actually a Defense Attorney of Innocent people because of ethical standards (although his ethical standards don't prevent him from beating muggers senseless, breaking the bones of villians, and even violating a few laws once in a while to get things done - c'mon, he is a vigilante). Cruel and Unusual is about a wrongly accused man sentenced to Death for the one of the few crimes he most likely never committed, the man happens to be an enemy of Daredevil, however, due to his ethical beliefs, Murdock has to accept the case, because he refuses to let any person, even an enemy, be punished for a crime they did not commit (for things they do commit, that's an entirely different story). It's humourous in an odd way, like watching Jesse Helms defend the honour of Jesse Jackson. What's even more humourous is the simple fact that accused does not walk out of jail. The accused is one of Daredevil's archenemies for a reason, mainly because he can bench press a Semi tractor with Trailor attached and not break a sweat, the guy is immense, and quite obnoxious. I found it amazingly funny that he would simply sit and await the decision of the jury while in the courtroom, although he Murdock (like most lawyers) has an incredible talent for conning people (or is it BS'ing clients?). The story line is wonderful, and multiple, simply because the main story revolves around the guilt or innocence of one man does not mean that is the only story, like every good story there are tangents. From Murdock's partner, to the recurring love-interest, to the investigation into why and who may have attempted to set-up one of Daredevil's archenemies (the accused believes it was Daredevil that attempted to set him up), which makes the story line even more fun as the guy wants his lawyer, Matt Murdock, to call Daredevil as a witness to the stand. And the plot gets more intriguing from there. It's been awhile since I have read this, not sure if Daredevil has to fight a lawsuit against a landowner in this one, but one of the reasons Daredevil takes the case is simply due to his belief in regard to the Death Penalty. He's not entirely against it, but he also believes in the Maxim by Ben Franklin and Thomas Paine - "Better a Thousand Guilty Men Go Free Than One Innocent Man Suffer the Harsh Cruelties of Unjust and Unfair Punishment." If nothing else, Daredevil and Matt Murdock are definitely guided by ethical codes, one of Law, one of Justice. Whom follows which code which is fairly difficult to say at times.
Daredevil back to basics. It pretty much sucks to be Daredevil. This consistent maxim has governed every popular run on his title since Frank Miller revolutionized the character in the 1980s; the Millers, Smiths, Bendises, and Brubakers of the world, who torment the character with little relent, are the ones who hit it off with audiences; in between, there are stories by talented writers like Karl Kesel and Joe Kelly, who give the old college try at making him a lighthearted adventurer again, but this never sticks. The current writer, Ed Brubaker, just ended a lengthy story that saw Daredevil's wife driven insane by the villain Mr. Fear; without a cure, she is institutionalized. So, obviously, Matt is not in a good place when this story opens.
The title of the main arc, which accounts for four of the five issues collected here (the first is an epilogue/prologue that establishes Daredevil's mental state following the end of "Without Fear" and sets up the next story), is "Other People's Problems", and that accurately conveys the major theme here: Matt Murdock's eventual realization that not everything is about his own suffering (of course, that depends on whether or not the writer of his title decides to make it all about him); for the first time in a good while, the central villain plot of the story is not to utterly destroy Daredevil: he is an incidental hero, arriving on the scene to rescue someone who needs help. This is the standard hero setup, but it hasn't been seen in the pages of "Daredevil" for a while. Daredevil is approached by Luke Cage to investigate the case of villain Big Ben Donovan, who is about to be executed for the murder of three children: Cage doesn't think Donovan did it. Daredevil doesn't care, but his friend, private eye Dakota North, does. Soon, Daredevil finds himself involved, and what ensues is a fine little crime/espionage/legal drama.
The series' regular writer, Ed Brubaker, is joined for an arc by Greg Rucka, his former co-writer on "Gotham Central". They are a great team. It is hard to pick out whose influence is where, but one cannot help but think, given his penchant for female leads, that Rucka was heavily involved in pushing Dakota North to centre-stage (a practice that continues after Rucka departs) (even Becky, the third lawyer at Matt's firm, gets a couple of important moments). One hopes for more Marvel work from Rucka in the future. Michael Lark continues to do a strong job on the artwork, with guest artist Paul Azaceta doing a good job of mimicking Lark's styel (it actually reminds me more then a bit of Sean Phillips' work on Brubaker's "Criminal").
This is a very enjoyable little story, recommended for those who are fans of Daredevil or the writers' past work in general.
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