Daredevil #9 Review: The Kids Are (Not) Alright

With almost every Marvel comic either embroiled in or preparing for an event of some kind, it’s a nice change of pace to read one that’s just doing its own thing. Daredevil #9 is like that, featuring the scariest group of kids since Children of the Corn as the offspring of the Purple Man exercise their power.

More from Comics

In general, I dig what Mark Waid is doing here. It’d be hard to imagine that Zebediah Killgrave, slimy jerk that he is, wouldn’t have used his powers at some point to hook up with members of the opposite sex, and the revelation from last issue that he had intentionally sired children in order to feel unconditional love seems perfectly within character.

My problem is with the Purple Children themselves. We’re supposed to buy the idea that together, they sort of multiply each other’s abilities to the point where they don’t even have to speak to influence the behavior of others. That almost gets them to Professor X or Jean Grey-level stuff, as if the Purple Man wasn’t powerful enough. The fact that he can heal rapidly from injury (an ability I forgot he had, to be honest) plus his mind control tricks make him insanely strong; giving even handier tricks to the kids is almost unfair for poor Matt Murdock.

Maybe that’s the point, given the way this part of the story ends, as all signs are pointing to a change in direction for the series. The best comics tend to have a proper balance of light and dark, and you can count me among the people who thought that this book had it right. Waid has had plenty of moments where things haven’t gone right for Matt, so I’m not sure I’d be thrilled if the upcoming issues get too dark. We’ve been there plenty of times with Daredevil in the past.

Before we get to the details, it’s worth mentioning that Chris Samnee continues to impress. This issue’s cover is outstanding, and some of the things he does with shadows on the interior art are pretty cool. Kudos to whoever thought to make the Purple Children sometimes speak in purple as well, which is a nice touch.

And now …

SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT!

The Purple Children, enjoying their newfound strength in numbers, decide to go joyriding in a cop car. Our hero is busy discussing the offer he got to write a book about his life — complete with an $8 million advance — with Foggy and Kirsten, both of whom point out that Matt is no wordsmith. There’s also an extended gag involving Foggy’s disguise (he’s supposed to be dead to the world at large) which is a fat suit that is none too convincing.

Foggy’s worry is that a biography would force Matt to relive all the most depressing parts of his life all over, and let’s face it: Daredevil has been through some messed up stuff, even in comparison to other Marvel heroes. The speeding police car forces a postponement of further discussion, as well as a quick change into Daredevil. Matt is able to stop the car before serious damage is done, but the Purple Children catch him by surprise, and things just get worse when riot police show up, as they become puppets of the kids.

It takes a bit of a leap of faith to swallow how quickly Daredevil gets to the bottom of what the kids can do, but I suppose it’s because pages are running out and Waid doesn’t want to stretch the discovery aspect on for another issue. In the end, Matt is worn down by the mental barrage of negative emotions. Also, despite looking good and dead last time out, Purple Man stumbles onto the scene on the very last page. Who needs Wolverine when Killgrave can regenerate like this? A healing factor has to be the most overused power in Marvel Comics.

Favorite moment: It’s tough to do funny blindness jokes without veering into the land of insensitivity, but Waid pulls one off when Matt goes into his pocket to make a big to-do out of showing his advance check to Foggy … only to learn that it’s his dry cleaning ticket.

Final thought: I’m glad that Killgrave had the presence of mind to put clothes on before he left the morgue. Purple and naked and full of holes is no way to go through life …

Home/Comics