Looking to move past his mistakes, Matt seeks to transform Daredevil into something new, new and in control. Spoilers for Daredevil #17 follow.
The previous issue of Daredevil was easily the weakest issue of the series so far. It was missing a lot of what had previously made the series so great and enjoyable. Nevertheless, there’s always hope that one issue is just an outlier of quality and the next issue will be better. Thankfully, this is exactly the case here. Daredevil #17 brings back what has made the series great since Chip Zdarsky has taken over and does so with aplomb. This is a great issue and the series seems to be back on track.
Starting off with an emotional whammy is exactly what the issue needed to do to set things back to normal after last issue. Matt has been carrying so much guilt over the death of a crook because of his mistake, but it’s never come to a head. It’s just been something that he’s been carrying and punishing himself for, as he should to a point. By starting off this issue with him going to the crook’s mother in order to absolve himself, it was exactly what the character and story needed. He got the absolution and forgiveness he was seeking, which allows him to grow beyond what he’s been for most of the series. It’s also just an extremely well-done scene with some excellent writing by Zdarsky and gorgeous art by Jorge Fornes.
The rest of the issue really dives deep into moving the plot of the series forward. So much time over the past ten issues or so has been spent on character moments with little to no plot progression. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but at a certain, the plot needs to move forward. This issue ends up doing so and doing so in a great way. There’s great set-up for the future while also acting as the end of a second act of sorts for this run, or at least the arc. Basically, this issue is the issue that feels like it would the last one in a collected edition.
Jorge Fornes absolutely kills it in the art department with this issue as well. There so many great, understated moments in this issue that are pulled off so well here thanks to his minimalist style. There’s no-frill to plenty of moments in this issue, instead focusing solely on emotion. This leads to the detail of everything, besides the face, to take a backseat, so that the emotional beats shine through even more. He does such a wonderful job in this issue. It’s a beauty of an issue.
