Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #4 (of 4)
(W) Erica Schultz (A) Michael Dowling, Ivan Fiorelli (CA) David Yardin
Rated T+
In Shops: Oct 16, 2024
SRP: $3.99
THE WAGES OF SIN…IS DEATH!
Elektra Natchios knows better than anyone just how much blood is on her hands – but unfortunately for her, “anyone” in this case happens to be JOE GARRISON, THE NEW PUNISHER!
Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #3 (of 4)
(W) Erica Schultz (A) Michael Dowling, Ivan Fiorelli (CA) David Yardin
Rated T+
In Shops: Sep 25, 2024
SRP: $3.99
In the wake of the GANG WAR… Elektra Natchios has found herself a pawn in a criminal game. But where the mafiosos manipulating her are rank amateurs, Elektra is the most dangerous and lethal assassin the Marvel Universe has ever known! And while she may have turned over a new, nonlethal leaf in recent years, these mobsters and the brutal new PUNISHER proved to be her greatest challenge yet!
Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #2 (of 4)
(W) Erica Schultz (A) Michael Dowling (CA) David Yardin
Rated T+
In Shops: Aug 21, 2024
SRP: $3.99
DAREDEVIL VS. THE PUNISHER!
Spiraling out of the chaos of the main DAREDEVIL series, Elektra has learned a horrifying truth. Though whispered about in shadows and dive bars, her worst suspicions have been confirmed: A dangerous and violent new PUNISHER has been born in the Marvel Universe – and Daredevil is dead in his sights!
Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #1
(W) Erica Schultz (A) Michael Dowling (CA) Mahmud Asrar
Rated T+
In Shops: Jul 17, 2024
SRP: $4.99
SPINNING OUT OF DAREDEVIL #11!
After the stunning events of DAREDEVIL #11, Daredevil’s allies are left more vulnerable than ever before. If they’re able to survive, it will fall to Elektra and Matt Murdock to not only save their city as Daredevil, but also protect the people they love the most as they’re targeted by some of the most dangerous, violent elements the Marvel Universe has to offer!
Elektra isn’t done with the Daredevil mantle just yet! Spinning out Saladin Ahmed and Aaron Kuder’s thought-provoking run of Daredevil, Elektra will embark on an all-new solo adventure this July in Daredevil: Woman Without Fear. The series will mark writer Erica Schultz’s return to the character, following her work on Daredevil: Gang War. Schultz will be joined by her Hallows’ Eve collaborator Michael Dowling.
Elektra as Daredevil has been a celebrated evolution of the character, and her latest mission promises to be her most intense yet as she heads to the deadly streets of Madripoor to take on Crossbones, the new Punisher, and more. Readers will learn what pushes Elektra towards this quest in July’s Daredevil #11, a show-stopping issue where Matt and Elektra’s will have a brutal showdown with Bullseye and Kingpin!
After the stunning events of Daredevil #11, Daredevil’s allies are left more vulnerable than ever before. If they’re able to survive, it will fall to Elektra and Matt Murdock to not only save their city as Daredevil, but also protect the people they love the most as they’re targeted by some of the most dangerous, violent elements the Marvel Universe has to offer!
Check out the covers for both Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #1 and Daredevil #11 now and preorder them at your local comic shop!
When it comes to events, the spin-off comics are often of lesser quality. They tend to feel like cash-ins squeezing in characters or just milking the event. Devil’s Reign feels like the exception with the spin-offs often standing on their own without the event and each adding to their characters in some way. It doesn’t feel like side quests as much as it does fully formed storylines by themselves. Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #3 wraps up Elektra’s journey setting up a lot to come and possibly spoiling Devil’s Reign.
It’s Elektra versus Kraven the Hunter as ghosts of Elektra’s past come to haunt her. Through the action, writer Chip Zdarsky delivers a rather haunting tale of a woman dealing with her past. She had a mission when it came to Matt Murdock, she was a tool of an organization. What is she now? What’s the path forward? There’s an interesting mix of reflection, regret, and acceptance. Zdarsky delivers a comic full of fights and action but also one that feels like its true focus is its main character front and center.
The only knock on the storytelling is it possibly spoils Devil’s Reign which comes out the following week and when you get to the end, it feels a bit like it loses its standalone nature. We’ll have to see about that spoiler but it’s the end that makes the comic feel like a piece of the bigger story arc still to come as opposed to a three issue series that can be read on its own. It almost pulls that off.
The art by Rafael De Latorre is fantastic. The fights feel brutal but have a flow about them. Federico Blee‘s colors add to the atmosphere. Clayton Cowles‘ lettering is the cherry on top. Visually the comic is an interesting one as the battle goes from brute strength to something more subtle and “quiet”. That change in fighting styles is nailed down in the art where punches give way to tactical attacks. It also perfectly fits the sadness that permeates the story Zdarsky has spun.
Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #3 is a solid finale. It continues an event tie-in that has stood out and is one of the best I’ve read in a long time. It also has me wanting to go back and see what I missed in Elektra’s story but also excited about what’s to come.
Story: Chip Zdarsky Art: Rafael De Latorre
Color: Federico Blee Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.4 Recommendation: Buy
Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: comiXology/Kindle – Zeus Comics – TFAW
Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #3 (of 3)
(W) Chip Zdarsky (A) Rafael De Latorre (CA) Chris Bachalo
In Shops: Mar 02, 2022
SRP: $3.99
Elektra is forced to make a fateful decision. She’s sworn a vow to never take a life as long as she wears the DAREDEVIL cowl, but battered, bruised and with her back to the wall, will she be strong enough to keep it? If she is, will she be strong enough to survive the consequences of mercy?
Fans will get a chance to dive into Marvel’s most exciting new launches and ongoing series with new printings of Marauders Annual #1, Moon Knight #7, Silk #1, Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #1, She-Hulk #1, Silver Surfer: Rebirth #1, Devil’s Reign #3, and Conan the Barbarian #1 Facsimile Edition! These sold-out issues will be available at comic shops starting on March 9, complete with new second printing covers.
No one is safe from Kingpin’s wrath in Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto’s Devil’s Reign #3. New York City stands at the brink of disaster as MAYOR WILSON FISK has at last reached a breaking point, with an army of super villains at his back, and a deputized crew of super villainous THUNDERBOLTS on the streets and in every police station. Worse still, he’s put the Marvel Universe’s most powerful tools into (all six) hands of one of its most diabolical minds, unaware of the disaster that could befall the entire city as a result! As a gauntlet of super villains stand between Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man and Daredevil and liberating the heroes who have been captured by Fisk’s law enforcement, they’re ALL about to learn that the danger is closer than they ever thought possible.
Chip Zdarsky and Rafael De Latorre’s Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #1 brings readers the next pulse-pounding chapter in the saga of New York City’s Guardian Devil, this time starring Elektra as Daredevil! This continuation of Zdarsky’s landmark DAREDEVIL run spins directly out of the shocking revelations in the pages of DEVIL’S REIGN! Elektra is the world’s deadliest assassin – and she’s taken a vow not to kill. Someone puts themselves directly in her path with deadly consequences. What else would you expect from the MARVEL UNIVERSE’S GREATEST HUNTER?!
A new crew of X-Men set sail in Steve Orlando and Creees Lee’s Marauders Annual #1! With Kate Pryde at the helm, the Marauders are ready to renew their mission of mutant rescue! She’s got the mission – all she needs now is a new boat and a fresh crew to match. Pryde and Bishop must unite a crew of mutants, new and old, to spring Daken from imprisonment at the hands of a leader who’s as cruel as he is charismatic: the primal provocateur known as Brimstone Love! It’s the Marauders versus the Theater of Pain, a torture troupe that’s set up shop in Xavier’s School’s old backyard! Come aboard for the first adventure as Orlando takes the helm with the X-Men’s sea-faring mutant team.
Joined by artist Federico Sabbatini, Jed MacKay’s hit run on Moon Knight continues in Moon Knight #7! How do you fight someone that no one knows? Moon Knight is out for blood and hits the streets armed only with a name, but he soon finds out that in the twilight half-world of NYC super villainy, sometimes the streets hit back. And while he’s fighting his way through the super-crime underworld, he’d better watch his back.
The best character ever is back in her own series and about to glam up the whole Marvel Universe in Rainbow Rowell and Roge Antonio’s She-Hulk #1! Jennifer Walters is no longer savage and needs to put her life back together. She’s got a career to rebuild, friends to reconnect with (and maybe represent in a court of law) and enemies to… well, she may not want to connect with them, but they are DEFINITELY going to connect with her. And the last page of this first issue is going to send Jen down a road she’s never traveled and that will shake up her life and possibly the whole Marvel Universe.
Don’t miss the comics debut of stunning storyteller Emily Kim and the return of legendary comic artist Takeshi Miyazawa in Silk #1! Cindy Moon returns as the web-spinning Spider-Hero SILK in an all-new, all-star series! As Silk gains popularity in the public eye, Cindy is questioning her place in the world. But existentialism will have to wait when a powerful new villain is turned loose! In a race against the clock, Silk discovers the dangers of ancient Korean magic – and social media.
Legendary creators Ron Marz and Ron Lim returning to tell a story set during their fan-favorite run of SILVER SURFER in Silver Surfer: Rebirth #1! Someone has stolen the Reality Gem, an object that allows the user to fulfill any wish no matter the consequences! But whoever has taken it is doing things like bringing back the dead hero Captain Mar-Vell. It’s up to Silver Surfer to team up with the least likely of allies, Thanos, to find the Gem and restore reality to its proper form. The second printing variant cover will feature all-new artwork by Ron Lim.
Also returning to shops will be the special facsimile edition of Conan the Barbarian (1970) #1! Over fifty years ago, legendary writer Roy Thomas teamed with visionary artist Barry Windsor-Smith for the first comic book adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s pulp novel icon – introducing True Believers to swords and sorcery in the Mighty Marvel Manner! Conan comic books soon became a huge, industry-changing success story – and it all began with CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1 in 1970! Join the young Cimmerian warrior as he and an Aesir raiding party invade the land of Vanaheim – setting Conan on a path of adventure leading to winged demons, a dark temple and the mysterious Star-Stone, which would offer a vision of Conan’s future as a king! It’s one of the all-time great Marvel comic books, boldly re-presented in its original form, ads and all!
Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #2 (of 3)
(W) Chip Zdarsky (A) Rafael De Latorre (CA) Chris Bachalo
Rated T+
In Shops: Feb 02, 2022
SRP: $3.99
Elektra Natchios is the greatest assassin in the Marvel Universe – but having recently taken up the mantle of DAREDEVIL, she’s taken a vow to never take a life again. But that vow is about to be put to the ultimate test, as KRAVEN THE HUNTER has her dead in his sights…and, unlike Elektra, he has no reservations about killing. If anything, he likes it when his prey struggles. At least, he thinks he does.
Event spin-offs are an interesting mix. They often feel like cash grabs, delivering a quality that’s rather… lacking. The current Devil’s Reign feels different though. The main title is excellent so far and the tie-ins have all been really good. It’s the rare event that hasn’t disappointed in any way (so far). A prime example of that is Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #2 which picks up from the fantastic debut and has Elektra facing down Kraven the Hunter.
Written by Chip Zdarsky, what really stands out about Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #2 is his focus on the character. Sure, there’s a lot of solid action and fight scenes, but most of the comic is really Elektra thinking about her current situation and the past that got her there. This is someone that has done horrible things in her past and hasn’t faced them all. She’s unsettled and still debating on her actions.
As someone who has issues getting that sort of reflection out of my own head, this is a comic that just feels like reality. It’s the actions, at least the reflection, of a real person who is thinking about their past. What could they have done differently? How might have things changed? Should they do anything now? It’s that focus on a single event and dissecting it 20 different ways that hits home. It’s a very realistic and human thing to do for some people. It’s something I regularly experience. It’s something a lot of people experience. Zdarsky has taken the real reflection people do and put it all down on paper for our entertainment.
Rafael De Latorre‘s art is fantastic. With color from Federico Blee and lettering by Clayton Cowles, the art and design is top notch. This doesn’t feel like an event cash-in, it feels like the main event. The battle has a brutality in it that’s subtle. You never quite know when either combatant will strike which makes the art deliver a tense aspect about it all. It’s just fantastic to look at.
Daredevil: Woman Without Fear #2 is a tie-in but it’s a comic that can stand on its own. It feels like the event is almost secondary as Elektra reflects on her life. It’s a hell of an issue for a fantastic miniseries that has me begging for more. Even if you’re not reading Devil’s Reign, which you should, this is well worth picking up on its own.
Story: Chip Zdarsky Art: Rafael De Latorre
Color: Federico Blee Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy
Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: comiXology – Kindle – Zeus Comics
