Review by Ian Keogh

Chip Zdarsky began his Daredevil run with three primary characters. Crimelord the Kingpin is now New York Mayor, enabling him to cast the crimefighting Daredevil as a dangerous vigilante. In between them is dedicated cop Cole North, but does he uphold the law or stand for justice? This murky blend of ethical concerns produced a strong first volume of To Heaven Through Hell, and with a considerably broadened cast the same is true of this continuation.

The cover promotes Elektra joining the cast, and she brings her usual certainty about what Daredevil ought to be, and questions why he’s discarded his costume and is skulking in street gear. That’s one of the many discussions Zdarsky continues to feature, probing at who people are and why, and it’s an effective method of defining personalities. See it from the Libris family point of view and their criminal activities are entirely logical.

For all of Daredevil undergoing change to the point of eventually accepting what he denied in the opening volume, it’s the Kingpin whose eyes are opened the widest. For many years every criminal in New York and well beyond has shown him deference, and that’s also supplied as Mayor, but there are people to whom both positions are merely pawns, and he’s introduced to even greater power. It’s cleverly done, and his reaction is chillingly portrayed.

Marco Checchetto draws most of the material here, as meticulous as he was in Vol. 1 in presenting engagingly drawn discussions, emotionally strong people and thoughtfully planned action, all in detailed surroundings. Page after page is stunning. The remaining three chapters are the work of Jorge Fornés, whose approach is very different, a more expressionistic form of realism with the viewpoint generally a little more distant. It’s also excellent art.

In paperback these stories were supplied as Through Hell and End of Hell, and Zdarsky plots both to end with a crescendo of violence. In the first case it’s small and intimate, yet even more brutally shocking than the invasion of Hell’s Kitchen by villains in the second case. The police have been ordered to stay away as carnage ensues, and there’s also a news blackout. It seems as if Bullseye’s presence among the invaders is negligible treatment of someone who could be of greater story value, but that’s just a prelude to his return in Vol. 3. By way of compensation Zdarsky and Checcetto supply a monumentally thrilling action sequence defining Daredevil’s place in the locality, and including a couple of great surprises.

Zdarsky’s Daredevil is a great read, and this hardcover combines the best of his run.