One Sentence Overview: Daredevil learns that both the Taskmaster and Tombstone's killing sprees are being controlled by another source and it is up to him to stop Tombstone take out his next target before the Punisher
One thing I'm impressed with in this second issue of Dan Chichester's run on the book is the sheer amount of story that shoehorned in between the covers. It's admirable, to say the least. As noted last time, Dan's writing is very much action focused and the four way punch up between Daredevil, the Punisher, Tombstone and the Taskmaster early on is very cinematic.
Look! Here comes the Taskmaster flying through the front window of a bus!
Look! Here are the Punisher and Tombstone bursting out of the same coach onto the top of a speeding taxi cab!
(Incidentally, great use of bizarre crypto-swearing by the taxi driver here, who calls the anti-social scrappers 'motherless', no doubt a PG-13 representation of the kind of language he would actually use in the situation.)
My favourite scene of this escapade is a nice little piece of action between Daredevil and the Taskmaster which shows off the villain's exquisite dry wit. Being knocked over, the Taskmaster can't help but quip, "Oooo! And the follow through! I am impressed!"
Dan's also at pains this issue to express Daredevil's skill with his billy club. The aforementioned Taskmaster incident was precipitated by DD intervening with his club by hitting the gear stick on the moving bus - not just static, mind, where Daredevil could focus on where the instrument was but moving, therefore being able to carry out some pretty neat 'Math' and work out, by sensing the bus's speed, where the gear stick would be at the moment of impact as opposed to where it was when he threw the thing. Phew! That's some skill. Though that's nothing to what DD does later on by hitting a knife thrown fired by Frank Castle with a bullet and sending it on a different trajectory.
Seems all those training sessions spent getting verbally abused by Stick did amount to something after all...
Daredevil also uses his club later on to knock a custard pie out of Tombstone's hands. Wow, wait a second, what did you just say? A custard pie? What is this, the circus? Indeed, in order to carry out some nefarious instructions, ol' Tomby intends to use a poisin filled flan to take out his next target at the launch of an Expo in the city and dresses up as a clown to avoid detection.
Incidentally, those 'nefarious instructions' I referred to come back to the fact that Tombstone and the Taskmaster have basically been indulging in bouts of one-up-manship, being given a list of targets to take out. We actually learn who is pulling the strings on the last page of the story and I'll come on to that next time.
In terms of developing Daredevil's character, there's a nice confrontation towards the end of the story that foreshadows Brian Bendis' take on DD. Having finally cornered the Punisher, Matt seethes, "This is my city - mine", a bit of cowboy machismo that is in line with the egomanical Protector of Hell's Kitchen Daredevil sometimes crosses over into.
When he adopts this stance, the character appears blind to his own moral failings or his own violent uses of justice, merely seeing himself as some kind of moral saviour. Interestingly, Dan doesn't shun away from Matt's dormant Catholicism here, later indicating in the text that, following this confrontation, he lights a candle in church, perhaps out of guilt or meditation over his actions.
Elsewhere the Kingpin plots and plans his media empire whilst it's revealed that Mr Comedy Texan is merely a pawn in the hands of another mysterious figure. I guess we'll find out more about that as time goes on...
Some of the execution of the action may be a little corny, relying as it does on Daredevil's skills (but, hey, he is a superhero, after all) but it's all deftly done. It's not brain food in the same way Ann's scripting was, we're more into blockbuster territory now but that's fine too.
Cast
Daredevil/Matt Murdock
Kingpin/Wilson Fisk
The Punisher/Frank Castle
Taskmaster
Tombstone
Baron von Strucker
Lt Garotte/Colonel Strang
Christine Harris
Simpson
Jonin (the Hand)
Rating: 7 out of 10
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