Review by Ian Keogh

Over the course of seven volumes Chip Zdarsky brought Daredevil, Elektra and the Kingpin to the crisis point of Devil’s Reign. The Kingpin is gone, Daredevil is no longer in jail, and Elektra still needs his help with deadly ninja clan the Hand. What Elektra knows that Daredevil doesn’t is that the prophecies of the Red Fist make it very clear one them will die.

Before that kicks off there are a few things to be settled in New York. Zdarsky handles these loose ends compactly, while bursting one of them right open in a way surely no-one saw coming from a vague comment left hanging in Woman Without Fear. It leads to a barely believable claim accompanied by a horrific incident puzzlingly explored. As presented, it makes very little sense, but given what Zdarsky’s supplied to date it’s surely going to be interesting seeing how it develops. The prelude section also drops a major surprise regarding how two known threats are connected.

Marco Checchetto continues as primary artist, now sharing the drawing with Rafael De Latorre, whose pages have a different look, but not so different it clashes with Checchetto, which was the case with other artists in later volumes of the preceding solo Daredevil series. Both are excellent artists, and both deliver the action and character moments.

It’s obvious Zdarksy is building to something big again, but he inflates the circumstances by noting late on that the coming conflict between Hand and Fist is both Daredevil and Elektra’s destiny, their very purpose on Earth. It’s not a battle they’ll fight alone, and among those already on site when Daredevil arrives are some familiar faces, not least Stick, the man who trained him, but whose methods he now despises.

Most of this volume is running through set-up as Daredevil gathers those he wants around him, and learns who it is he’ll be facing along with the Hand. It’s thrillingly efficient and chillingly suspenseful, and the needs of what Daredevil and Elektra are doing are going to generate conflict with many friends if they can’t be convinced of the truth. After an early solo meeting with Stick, Elektra’s role is definitely secondary for someone sharing the title, but her overall importance has been trumpeted for a long time, so that will surely change.

A strip by Ann Nocenti and drawn by Zdarsky is a nice bonus in what’s a compelling prologue, amd everything kicks off bit time in Part Two.