Daredevil Reborn #2-4

Hey X-Maniacs, it's the day before New Comic Day, and I don't have any new comics to read... For a change. So instead I'll go and review the three issues of Daredevil Reborn I haven't been able to get to yet. First things first, here's my review for DD Reborn #1 in case you want to get caught up. With that out of the way, let's get this taken care of.

Daredevil Reborn #2-4:

Summary: Having discovered a bunch of corpses wearing police uniforms in the small New Mexican town he was passing through, Matt Murdock, against his better judgment, decides to get involved and tries to figure out just what was going on here. To that end, Matt beats up two cops from the town and asks them about the bodies, getting nowhere. With that tactic failed, Matt calls the police station and tells the sheriff, a guy named Cole, that he didn't want anything to do with the town and was leaving. Cole heads to the quarry where Matt ran afoul the other two cops and frees them from the radiator they were handcuffed to. Cole scolds the two yokels and tells them that they had business to attend to with some guy named Calavera. Matt, who was hiding on a nearby rooftop, overhears this and decides that he couldn't leave this town until he found out what was going on. Matt stops a unmarked truck that was about to pass through the town and warns them that Cole and the police force were corrupt. The truckers reveal that they were taking unmarked guns that had been confiscated by various law enforcement agencies to be melted down into slag. With that, the truckers pistol whip Matt, cuff him, and toss him in the back of the truck, since they were planning on selling the guns to Cole. The truckers bring the truck to Cole, and tell him that they had captured a nosy guy warning them away from the town. Matt breaks out of the back of the truck, throws a smoke grenade down to disorient the crooked cops, gets into the truck, and drives away. Matt drives to a lake and pushes the truck off a cliff into the waters below, getting rid of the weaponry. By this point, a limo pulls up and Calavera gets out, obviously upset that his guns were now swimming with the fishes. Calavera takes off his sunglasses and looks at Matt, forcing Matt to relive his worst moments, which is apparently a talent Calavera has. With Matt devastated by what he saw, Calavera pulls out a gun and shoots Matt in the head, watching him fall into the waters below. Needless to say, Matt doesn't die(because if he did, the title of this mini would be WAY off), as we find out he was able to twist his body at the last minute, only getting grazed in the head by the bullet, but suffering two holes in his hands from the bullet. Matt staggers through the town and heads to the home of the blind boy he came across in the first issue of this issue, collapsing into the kid's bathtub. When Matt comes to, the kid pretty much begs Matt to fix the town, since Cole had killed the kid's father, who happened to be the sheriff before Cole stole that spot. After hearing the kid's impassioned plea, Matt asks the kid where his father's police equipment was, takes it and heads out. Matt finds Cole, the crooked cops and Calavera(along with his own goons) meeting in a warehouse trying to decide what to do about the lost guns. Matt leaps into the midst of them and attacks, beating near everybody down, until Calavera removes his sunglasses forcing Matt to relive his worst fears again. This time though, Matt is able to fight through his fear and knocks Calavera out with a nightstick shot to the face. From there, the DEA comes into the town and arrests the crooked cops, Calavera and Calavera's goons. The DEA agents question the blind kid on who cleaned up the town, but the kid doesn't rat Matt out. This mini ends with Matt returning to NYC and telling Foggy Nelson that they had some work to do.

Thoughts: Meh. I have to say, this mini didn't do it for me. I didn't really like the setting(Andy Diggle must REALLY hate New Mexico!), and the extremely hillbilly cops really got on my nerves... I did like Calavera a lot, as he had a very unique look, and some sweet powers. But the slack-jawed yokel cops, the back story with the blind kid that really didn't lead to anything, and Matt inevitably heading back to NYC to resume being Daredevil, even though he was wanted by the FBI, all left me flat. Will I be picking up Mark Waid's new Daredevil series in July? Absolutely. Here's hoping it's better than this mini was though.

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.Calavera? Good. Everything else? Not so much...

Daredevil Reborn #1(of 4)

Review: We begin things with the disgraced Matt Murdock(you may know him better as Daredevil)wandering aimlessly across the country, much like Superman. Matt winds up at a small coffee shop in the middle of some Podunk town in New Mexico. Upon arriving at the shop, Matt spots a young blind boy outside the shop trying haplessly to flip a coin and catch it. Matt heads inside and orders something to eat, but arises the suspicions of the waitress since he came walking over and wasn't driving a car. While he's eating, the waitress rushes in the back and makes a phone call. Upon leaving, Matt sits down next to the little blind boy and explains the best way to catch the coin, and is pleased to see the boy takes his advice manage to catch the coin. Upon getting up to leave, Matt is confronted by four dumb hicks. The hicks tell Matt that they don't like no city boys walking around their town, so Matt decides the best strategy is to leave. The hicks want to fight, so they jump Matt, and he decides to take the beating as opposed to fighting back. Eventually the sheriff comes by and breaks up the fight, but he is also concerned about Matt nosing around his town. The sheriff takes Matt to a bench near the bus station and tells him that the bus arrives early the next morning, and that Matt would be wise to leave town. Before leaving, the sheriff takes Matt's picture on his cell phone, and Matt decides to simply walk out of this strange town, even though all of his senses are telling him something is very wrong. As he is leaving town, Matt smells something peculiar and decides to investigate as the cops back at the station compare Matt's photo to the FBI database and realize who he really was. Upon realizing that there was a super-hero wandering around town, the sheriff tells his deputies to head out and pick Matt up and then take him down. Meanwhile, Matt discovers a mass grave hidden at a construction site containing several bones, and a sheriff star badge. The deputies from earlier find Matt at the construction site and draw their guns on him. Matt takes off and this issue ends with the two deputies feeling that they should be able to take care of Matt easily.

Thoughts: Before I get into this issue, first a quick question... Why isn't this mini-series taking place in the Daredevil series as opposed to Black Panther taking over the Daredevil series? Answer: Who the hell knows?! This was a very entertaining comic book, and a great start to this mini-series. It shows us that the real Matt Murdock is back, not the crazed, Hand leading one. Matt simply wants to be left alone, and not deal with the whole super-hero deal anymore, but as is his life, the insanity seems to follow him wherever he goes. Can a depressed Daredevil take care of a bunch of dumb hicks who have taken over a New Mexico town? Um yeah, probably, but I'll enjoy seeing how things turn out regardless.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.Huh, this comic REALLY made New Mexico look bad!