Is there no end to his talent?Īt the midway point Waid pulls the rug out from under Daredevil wonderfully, and from there almost anything is up for grabs in a tense few final chapters. Samnee also writes a perfectly acceptable short story. As well as a new costume and the traditional outfit, Samnee also gets to draw Daredevil in his original yellow and black duds for a clever two-parter in which Daredevil first turns in a criminal, and then has to defend him as Matt Murdock. The result is possibly Daredevil’s most distinctive crimefighting gear yet. The collection opens with Waid considering why Daredevil still needs a costume if everyone now knows Matt Murdock is Daredevil.

A theme running throughout is that of Daredevil now taking the opportunity to write his biography seriously, reflected in the titles of the paperbacks combined for this collection, The Daredevil You Know and The Autobiography of Matt Murdock. It begins with the opening story’s return for another of Daredevil’s old antagonists, the Stuntmaster, latterly friend rather than foe. We see he wasn’t entirely messing about with the glimpse into the future seen in volume four, and his status as a master of misdirection is emphasised again and again as he leads readers into false conclusions. It’s mentioned because as he brings his run to a close, Waid concentrates more on pulling dangling plots together, meaning that’s not so much the case here, although there’s no shortchanging on the entertainment. The creators finish their run on Daredevil in style.īecause the series as a whole is so comprehensively engaging, it may not have been noticed how Waid switches the types of stories, but considered over the entire series, the variety is great. This final hardcover collection of Mark Waid and Chris Samnee’s Daredevil is the slimmest of the series, but thankfully quality doesn’t necessarily equate with quantity.

Daredevil, Volume 5 by Mark Waid