Daredevil #109

Overall- This issue is part 3 of 4 of a story entitled "Cruel and Unusual". I have no idea why I never finished this storyline, because I can remember it being really good. Sometimes I really can't figure myself out...

The earlier issues of this storyline dealt with a criminal by the name of Big Ben Donovan. It seems Big Ben is sitting of Death Row for the brutally murdering 3 children. Big Ben confessed to the crime, had a criminal background, and admitted to the cops that he committed the crimes. On top of all that, he has refused to file any additional appeals. Big Ben seems ready to die case closed, or is it?

Luke Cage, doesn't believe Big Ben is the true murderer, and sends Private Investigator Dakota North to try to talk to Ben. This doesn't go well, and as Dakota is leaving the prison, she is attacked and beaten up by a federal agent, who warns her away from the case. Ultimately, Dakota finds the crooked fed and roughs him up, but he doesn't reveal anything to her.

Luke and Dakota manage to get Daredevil involved with the case, even though he initially didn't want to help, since Matt was still reeling from the events surrounding his wife. After hearing his friends out, Matt agrees to help, and after talking to Big Ben, Matt also believes Ben is lying. Matt then goes to work as Daredevil, in an attempt to find out why Ben is willing to be executed while the real killer is still out there. As issue #108 comes to a close, we find out that Ben had tried to hang himself, but was discovered by the guards before he died. Whew. Now, on to this issue.

Oh boy, there is a lot to sift through in this comic book. Dakota North's father, who is a C.I.A. agent, stops by her apartment and warns her to leave the Big Ben case alone, stating that it was a matter of homeland security. Since Dakota and her dad really don't like each other, that's all he'll tell her, and she kicks him out.

Matt visits Ben in the prison hospital, where he wound up after the suicide attempt. Upon seeing Matt, Ben goes crazy, pleading with him to stop digging and leave his impending death sentence alone. Matt, can't leave the case alone, especially if the real child killer is still out there. The initial suspect in the murder of the children was their father, but when Ben confessed, the cops stopped looking at the father.

Matt discovers that the father of the dead children was a dock worker who worked for an old time gangster named Eric Slaughter. Daredevil pays Slaughter a visit, and as Matt tries to question Slaughter, who claims he has gone legit now, a helicopter shows up with a gunman pointing a sniper rifle at Matt.

As this was going on, Dakota discovered that Big Ben had a college aged son who has been living off of a mysterious trust fund. Dakota visits the kid and finds out the kid had no idea his father was responsible for the money, instead being told by his mother the money was from sports scholarships. As Dakota leaves the building, and walks towards her car, a single shot rings out, and Dakota drops to the street in a pool of blood.

Damn, a lot happened in this one issue! So, the F.B.I., C.I.A., and an old school mobster are all hiding something in the interest of homeland security?!?! What the hell? I can't wait to read the next issue, because I am dying to find out how master storyteller Ed Brubaker is going to tie everything together. For a score, I'll go with an 8 out of 10. There's still to many loose ends dangling for me to go higher then that, but I'm confident Brubaker is going to do his usual awesome job wrapping this story up.